The Mahajanapada era ran from 450-605 CE.
Information cannot be found in the sources consulted regarding the polity’s population, however the largest settlement is estimated to have had a population of between 12,000-48,000 people (based off the number of inhabitants of Rajagriha, the old Magadhan capital.)
[1]
Excavations show there may been four types of settlements during this period, ranging from less than six hectares, up to fifty hectares, and other very small sites represented by simple ceramic findings, which may have been agricultural areas or farmsteads.
[2]
[1]: (Kaul 2015b: 525) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/94XKJ54Q.
[2]: (Coningham and Young 2015: 380: 381) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DIGG6KVA.
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| absent |
| unknown |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| Year Range | Mahajanapada era (in_mahajanapada) was in: |
|---|---|
| (600 BCE 325 BCE) | Middle Ganga |
Estimating 50-200 inhabitants per hectares: "No more than 240 hectares for Rajagriha, the old Magadhan capital". [1]
[1]: (Kaul 2015b: 525) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/94XKJ54Q.
levels. Erdosy "recorded the presence of four distinct tiers of settlement in the Era of Integration between 600 and 350 BCE (Erdosy 1988 : 55). These included (1) Kausambi, which increased in size to 50 hectares, (2) two sites between 10 and 49.9 hectares, (3) two between 6 and 9.99 hectares and (4) seventeen less than 5.99 hectares. The smallest category of sites was represented by simple ceramic scatters and has been interpreted as agricultural sites, as they had no evidence of craft activities. Craft activities were represented in the next category, sites between 6 and 9.99 hectares, as slag was recovered from a number of those settlements surveyed. Erdosy has termed the next category, between 10 and 49.9 hectares, towns, and the site of Kara has provided evidence of metal, semi-precious stone and shell working and coins." [1]
[1]: (Coningham and Young 2015: 380: 381) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DIGG6KVA.
levels.
"Although the family books [early Vedic texts] reflect differences in rank and some inequalities in wealth, these do not add up to distinct socio-economic classes in the sense of significant differences in access and control over basic productive resources. However, the absence of a class hierarchy does not mean that Rig Vedic society was egalitarian... the rajan stood at the top of the ladder of political and social power and status, the dasi [slaves] stood at the very bottom."
[1]
Territorial states did emerge towards the end of this period, c.600 BCE, based on Later Vedic texts and other sources.
[2]
1. Clan Chief or rajan (or king after c.600 BCE) - "The word rajan (or raja) occurs many times in the family books of the Rig Veda. Since a full-fledged monarchical state had not yet emerged, this word is best translated as ’chieftain’ or ’noble’, rather than as ’king’. It is not always clear from the hymns whether the rajan was the chief of a tribe, clan, clan segment or several clans."
[3]
2. Community or jana (made of many clans)
[4]
3. Clan (a group of villages)
[4]
4. Village headman (gramani)
[4]
Below the village headman was the patriarch of the family (kula).
[4]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p191
[2]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p200
[3]: Singh, U. 2008. A History of Early and Medieval India. London: Pearson Longman. p187
[4]: Burjor Avari, India: The Ancient Past: a History of the Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200 (London: Routledge, 2007),p.73.
[1] "Hymns refer to warriors, priests, cattle-rearers, farmers, hunters, barbers, and vintners." [2]
[1]: J Duncan M. Derrett, ‘Social and Political Thought and Institutions’, in A. L Basham (ed.), A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), pp.128-129; Burjor Avari, India: The Ancient Past: a History of the Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200 (London: Routledge, 2007), p.73.
[2]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p190
There was a chief priest/priest caste. [1] "The royal priest accompanied the rajan to battle, recited prayers, and supervised the performance of rituals. The importance of royal priests such as Vasishtha and Vishvamitra is reflected in many Vedic hymns." [2] "The main offices within the palace of a raja of the late Vedic period would be held by the chief priest (purohit), the commander-in-chief (senani), the treasurer (samagrahitri), the collector of taxes (bhagadugha) and the keeper of the king’s household (kshata)." [3]
[1]: J Duncan M. Derrett, ‘Social and Political Thought and Institutions’, in A. L Basham (ed.), A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), pp.128-129.
[2]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p188
[3]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p73
[1] "The main offices within the palace of a raja of the late Vedic period would be held by the chief priest (purohit), the commander-in-chief (senani), the treasurer (samagrahitri), the collector of taxes (bhagadugha) and the keeper of the king’s household (kshata)." [2]
[1]: J Duncan M. Derrett, ‘Social and Political Thought and Institutions’, in A. L Basham (ed.), A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), pp.128-129.
[2]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p73
Inferred from small nature of royal household and that no direct evidence for specialized government buildings has been found. [1]
[1]: Burjor Avari, India: The Ancient Past: a History of the Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200 (London: Routledge, 2007), p.73; Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008),p.201.
Although on a very small scale, later Vedic texts refer to the royal household of the king having specialist functionaries which included the chief priest (purohit), the commander in chief (senani), the treasurer, the collector of taxes and the keeper of kings household (kshata). They did not have a state apparatus under them however: “The system of administration seems to have been fairly rudimentary.” [1] In light of the lack of concrete evidence for full-time, specialist bureaucrats and the apparent ’rudimentary’ character of administration, we have inferred this variable absent.
[1]: Burjor Avari, India: The Ancient Past: a History of the Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200 (London: Routledge, 2007), p.73; Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008),p.201.
In the below quote, Rocher argues that professional lawyers did not exist in India for much of its history. Unhelpfully, Rocher does not provide dates or much in the way of temporal boundaries. However, the use of the word “ever” in the sentence “no written source allows us to draw the conclusion that the experts on legal matters ever developed into a professional group whose regular activities consisted in representing parties in the court” may perhaps be taken to mean that professional lawyers did not exist in India before the colonial era.
“Thus, we believe that at an early date—let us roughly say at the time of the dharmasutras—professional lawyers or, to be more precise, specialized dharmasastrins could not exist. The Indian sage in those days was a specialist in all of the texts related to a particular Vedic school. His specialized knowledge concentrated on a specific version of the Vedic samhita and all its related texts: brahmana, aranyaka, upanisad, srautasutra, grhyasutra, dharmasutra, etc. There were no specialists on dharmasastra, and, a fortiori, no specialists on law that were part of it.
“But the situation changed. The texts on dharma grew away from the Vedic schools. Gradually there may have come into being a specialized group of learned men whose main interest was dharma, and the various dharmasastras as such.
“Finally, as the amount of textual material increased, we may assume that certain experts, without detaching themselves completely from aspects of dharmasastra and from Hindu learning generally, accumulated a very specialized knowledge of one aspect of dharma: vivada and vyavahara, or, in modern terminology, law. It is very possible that at this stage the nature of legal representation (niyoga) also underwent a certain change. We do not want to exclude the possibility that, at that moment, in a number of cases legal competence played a role in the choice of a representative. We are even willing to accept that Vyasa refers to the very special circumstance in which the representative was paid for his services. However, no written source allows us to draw the conclusion that the experts on legal matters ever developed into a professional group whose regular activities consisted in representing parties in the court. The impression which we gather from the texts is that, even in cases where the representative was chosen because of his special competence on legal matters, and, a fortiori, in all other cases, the necessary condition for a person to represent a party was the existence, between the former and the latter, of a certain form of close personal relationship.”
[1]
[1]: (Rocher 1969: 399-400) Rocher, L. 1969. "Lawyers" in Classical Hindu Law. Law & Society Review 3 (2/3): 383-402. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QKMEMIHW/library
The presence of a formal legal system is not discussed in the literature, and is therefore presumed absent. [1] [2]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi.
[2]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York.
The presence of a formal legal system is not discussed in the literature, and is therefore presumed absent. [1] [2]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi.
[2]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York.
The presence of a formal legal system is not discussed in the literature, and is therefore presumed absent. [1] [2]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi.
[2]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York.
"The Rig-Veda contains much information about farming in general. There are references to ploughs and plough teams drawn by a number of oxen; to the cutting, bundling and threshing of grain; to irrigation canals and wells; and to such foods as milk, butter, rice cakes, cereals, lentils and vegetables....there is no reference to any transaction of land that can be carried out by an individual. Most probably, therefore, there was some form of common ownership of land." [1]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p70
"The Rig-Veda contains much information about farming in general. There are references to ploughs and plough teams drawn by a number of oxen; to the cutting, bundling and threshing of grain; to irrigation canals and wells; and to such foods as milk, butter, rice cakes, cereals, lentils and vegetables....there is no reference to any transaction of land that can be carried out by an individual. Most probably, therefore, there was some form of common ownership of land." [1]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p70
"The earliest parts of the Rig-Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, may have been composed as early as, or even earlier than, 1700 BCE, but was written down only after 500 BC. For forty generations and more it was handed down by word of mouth by bards and poets, who chanted the sacred hymn and the ritual prayers." [1]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p76
"The earliest parts of the Rig-Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, may have been composed as early as, or even earlier than, 1700 BCE, but was written down only after 500 BC. For forty generations and more it was handed down by word of mouth by bards and poets, who chanted the sacred hymn and the ritual prayers." [1]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p76
"The earliest parts of the Rig-Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, may have been composed as early as, or even earlier than, 1700 BCE, but was written down only after 500 BC. For forty generations and more it was handed down by word of mouth by bards and poets, who chanted the sacred hymn and the ritual prayers." [1]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p76
Inferred from the fact that sacred texts had not been written down. "The earliest parts of the Rig-Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, may have been composed as early as, or even earlier than, 1700 BCE, but was written down only after 500 BC. For forty generations and more it was handed down by word of mouth by bards and poets, who chanted the sacred hymn and the ritual prayers." [1]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. p76
Although ethics (ekayana), dialectics (vakovakya), and spiritual knowledge are all topics referred to in the Chandagya Upanishad (7.1.2), later written down [1]
[1]: Singh, Upinder, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008, p.199.
"Gift-giving and receiving do not rule out other kinds of exchange, but trade in the Rig Vedic context was probably minimal. Barter was the mode of exchange and cattle an important unit of value. The word nishka seems to have meant ’a piece of gold’ or ’gold necklace’, and there is no indication of the use of coins." [1]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p191
"Gift-giving and receiving do not rule out other kinds of exchange, but trade in the Rig Vedic context was probably minimal. Barter was the mode of exchange and cattle an important unit of value. The word nishka seems to have meant ’a piece of gold’ or ’gold necklace’, and there is no indication of the use of coins." [1]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p191
"Gift-giving and receiving do not rule out other kinds of exchange, but trade in the Rig Vedic context was probably minimal. Barter was the mode of exchange and cattle an important unit of value. The word nishka seems to have meant ’a piece of gold’ or ’gold necklace’, and there is no indication of the use of coins." [1]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p191
"Gift-giving and receiving do not rule out other kinds of exchange, but trade in the Rig Vedic context was probably minimal. Barter was the mode of exchange and cattle an important unit of value. The word nishka seems to have meant ’a piece of gold’ or ’gold necklace’, and there is no indication of the use of coins." [1]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p191
Vedic civilization was a barter-only economy. Although gold pieces are mentioned, there is no evidence of money or coins proper being used. Cows were considered a source of value and may have been used in exchange. Kings collected ’tribute’ in the form crops and cows. There was ritual gift-giving in the religious context. [1]
[1]: Singh, Upinder, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.190-191.
Inferred from rudimentary nature of the state. [1]
[1]: Burjor Avari, India: The Ancient Past: a History of the Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200 (London: Routledge, 2007), p.73; Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008),p.201.
Evidence for fortifications is not discussed in the literature. [1]
[1]: Burjor Avari, India: The Ancient Past: a History of the Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200 (London: Routledge, 2007); Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008)
"Ancient Rajagriha, the first capital of Magadha, dates from the early phase of the NBP or at least the sixth century BCE ... There is a core of pre-NBP BRW occupation inside the hill girt area of Rajgir, which is also defended by a cyclopaean masonry wall at least at the major entrances to the valley." [1] Have no idea whether this wall was dry stone or mortared. Moats around defensive walls are known in the Ganga valley in India from about 500 BCE, or perhaps earlier. [2]
[1]: (Chakrabarti 2006, 14) Dilip K Chakrabarti. Relating History to the Land: Urban Centers, Geographical Unites, and Trade Routes in the Gangetic and Central India of circa 200 BCE." Patrick Olivelle. ed. Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (? 1990, 298) Amalananda Ghosh ed. 1990. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. Volume I. E J BRILL. Leiden.
NBP = Northern Black Polished Ware. "Also lying on this route is Jai Mangal Garh, a roughly 80-100 acre NBP-bearing site which is clearly surrounded by a moat but is perhaps without fortification." [1] Moats around defensive walls are known in the Ganga valley in India from about 500 BCE, or perhaps earlier. [2]
[1]: (Chakrabarti 2006, 16) Dilip K Chakrabarti. Relating History to the Land: Urban Centers, Geographical Unites, and Trade Routes in the Gangetic and Central India of circa 200 BCE." Patrick Olivelle. ed. Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (? 1990, 298) Amalananda Ghosh ed. 1990. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. Volume I. E J BRILL. Leiden.
"Ancient Rajagriha, the first capital of Magadha, dates from the early phase of the NBP or at least the sixth century BCE ... citadel surrounded by a mud rampart and a ditch outside the hill-girt valley ... There is a core of pre-NBP BRW occupation inside the hill girt area of Rajgir, which is also defended by a cyclopaean masonry wall at least at the major entrances to the valley. A recent survey (Harding 2003) has demonstrated that the only entrances were fortified; along the hilltops the so-called fortification wall was nothing more than a kind of marker defining the limits of the settlement." [1]
[1]: (Chakrabarti 2006, 14) Dilip K Chakrabarti. Relating History to the Land: Urban Centers, Geographical Unites, and Trade Routes in the Gangetic and Central India of circa 200 BCE." Patrick Olivelle. ed. Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
"Ancient Rajagriha, the first capital of Magadha, dates from the early phase of the NBP or at least the sixth century BCE ... citadel surrounded by a mud rampart and a ditch outside the hill-girt valley ... There is a core of pre-NBP BRW occupation inside the hill girt area of Rajgir, which is also defended by a cyclopaean masonry wall at least at the major entrances to the valley. A recent survey (Harding 2003) has demonstrated that the only entrances were fortified; along the hilltops the so-called fortification wall was nothing more than a kind of marker defining the limits of the settlement." [1] NBP = Northern Black Polished Ware. "Naulagarh is an unpublished NBP-bearing site of about one sq km and with a surrounding mud fortification wall ... basically unexcavated and lies, like Sikligarh, on the route which traveled east from Pataliputra by following the northern edge of the Ganga." [2]
[1]: (Chakrabarti 2006, 14) Dilip K Chakrabarti. Relating History to the Land: Urban Centers, Geographical Unites, and Trade Routes in the Gangetic and Central India of circa 200 BCE." Patrick Olivelle. ed. Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Chakrabarti 2006, 16) Dilip K Chakrabarti. Relating History to the Land: Urban Centers, Geographical Unites, and Trade Routes in the Gangetic and Central India of circa 200 BCE." Patrick Olivelle. ed. Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Coningham and Young describe a settlement surrounded by concentric walls, the old Magadhan capital of Rajgir: "Measuring just more than 5 metres wide, and surviving to heights of 3.7 metres, the wall was strengthened in places with rectangular bastions (Ghosh 1989 : 363) (Figure 10.19). An inner stone wall, 8 kilometres in circuit, further differentiated the settlement area in the interior, which had access to water from springs located within this inner wall (Marshall 1960 : 84)." [1]
[1]: (Coningham and Young 2015: 381) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DIGG6KVA.
Steel technology was not present at this time. [1] Which time was mentioned specifically? Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword (or a sword of Indian steel?) in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE). [2] At Naikund in Maharashtra: knowledge of steeling and hardening from 700 BCE. [3] Historical records show Indian steel was exported to Abyssinia in 200 BCE. (Biggs et al. 2013 citing Tripathi and Upadhyay 2009, p. 123). [4]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York.
[2]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi.
[3]: (Deshpande and Dhokey 2008) P P Deshpande. N B Dhokey. April 2008. Metallographical investigations of iron objects in ancient Vidharbha region of Maharashtra. Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals. Volume 61. Issue 2-3. Springer. pp. 135-137.
[4]: Lynn Biggs. Berenice Bellina. Marcos Martinon-Torres. Thomas Oliver Pryce. January 2013. Prehistoric iron production technologies in the Upper Thai-MalayPeninsula: metallography and slag inclusion analyses of ironartefacts from Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Springer.
Steel technology was not present at this time. [1] Which time was mentioned specifically? Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword (or a sword of Indian steel?) in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE). [2] At Naikund in Maharashtra: knowledge of steeling and hardening from 700 BCE. [3] Historical records show Indian steel was exported to Abyssinia in 200 BCE. (Biggs et al. 2013 citing Tripathi and Upadhyay 2009, p. 123). [4]
[1]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York.
[2]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi.
[3]: (Deshpande and Dhokey 2008) P P Deshpande. N B Dhokey. April 2008. Metallographical investigations of iron objects in ancient Vidharbha region of Maharashtra. Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals. Volume 61. Issue 2-3. Springer. pp. 135-137.
[4]: Lynn Biggs. Berenice Bellina. Marcos Martinon-Torres. Thomas Oliver Pryce. January 2013. Prehistoric iron production technologies in the Upper Thai-MalayPeninsula: metallography and slag inclusion analyses of ironartefacts from Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Springer.
It is not known what material armor was made from. [1] Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used. [2] First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found. [3]
[1]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.188.
[2]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi.
[3]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies.
Referring to Vedic texts: "Balls (guda) or metal or stone, to which the Epics refer, were hurled, presumably with the help of a sling." [1]
[1]: (Singh 1965: 116) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QW5EBAAU.
Inferred from mentions of bow, arrow and bow string makers in Vedic texts, in addition to the remains of arrowheads in burials in Baluchistan and in many PGW [Later Vedic] sites and levels. [1]
[1]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.199, 245.
Javelins, bows and various handheld weapons made of iron are present in the Later Vedic period, as shown by textual and archaeological evidence. [1] Other weapons are not mentioned and are therefore presumed absent.
[1]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.199, 245.
"Iron objects of various types - vessels, javelin heads, sword blades, arrowheads, spearheads, a horsehoe, and fishhook - have been found in cairn burial sites in Baluchistan... It is, however, difficult to data these burials. Some scholars data them between c.1100 and 500 BCE, but they may actually be much later". [1] The presence of swords has therefore been coded here, in the absence of evidence that the burials are from a different time period.
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p245
"Iron objects of various types - vessels, javelin heads, sword blades, arrowheads, spearheads, a horsehoe, and fishhook - have been found in cairn burial sites in Baluchistan... It is, however, difficult to data these burials. Some scholars data them between c.1100 and 500 BCE, but they may actually be much later". [1] The presence of spears has therefore been coded here, in the absence of evidence that the burials are from a different time period.
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p245
Javelins, bows and various handheld weapons made of iron are present in the Later Vedic period, as shown by textual and archaeological evidence. [1] Other weapons are not mentioned and are therefore presumed absent.
[1]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.199, 245.
The later Vedic texts write about the occupations of people and mention that, "Chariots (rathas) were used for war and sport, and people rode on horses and elephants." [1]
[1]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.199.
The later Vedic texts write about the occupations of people and mention that, "Chariots (rathas) were used for war and sport, and people rode on horses and elephants." [1]
[1]: R. S. Sharma, Material Background of Vedic Warfare, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Dec., 1966),pp. 302-307.
Referring to Vedic texts: "The use of shields and protective armour is throughout in evidence." [1]
[1]: (Singh 1965: 116) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QW5EBAAU.
In a hymn to arms (in the Rigveda Samhita 6.75) the use of gauntlets is mentioned: "It wraps itself around the arm like a serpent with coils, warding off the snap of the bowstring. Let the gauntlet, knowing all the ways, protect on all sides, a man protecting a man..." [1]
[1]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.188.
Referring to Vedic texts: "The use of shields and protective armour is throughout in evidence." [1]
[1]: (Singh 1965: 116) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QW5EBAAU.
Referring to Vedic texts: "The use of shields and protective armour is throughout in evidence." [1] Presence of breastplates is inferred from a mention in a hymn to arms in the Rig Veda (Samhita 6.75): "I cover with armour those places on you where a wound is mortal." [2] The hymn does not mention the material of the armor.
[1]: (Singh 1965: 116) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QW5EBAAU.
[2]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.188.