Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c5.8

c5.8

The study of the physical or the natural environment which is always the basis of all economic life and activity must precede our investigation. But the task becomes difficult when the period chosen is far removed from the present, as it is with us, and materials for our studies are silent on this point. We can therefore only have a general idea of this phenomena which should be taken for granted as not quite materially at variance with what it is at present. The geographical situation must have been the same as now, with little of geological disruptions. So also with climatic conditions. The Gangā-Yamunā plain was rich and fertile with plenty of water, and hence the plentiful growth of rice and sugarcane which we notice in the stories. Kalinga or Orissa suffered most from want of rain. The Central-Indian stretch of land was covered over with dense forests—the Mahākantāra of a little later period—which brought heavy rainfall. The richness and variety of flora and fauna that are to be seen in the *Jātakas* show the large extent of area and a great variety in physical features and climate of the country even in those days. As for the facilities of communication, they were decidedly few and that too bad. Roads were not well constructed and were infested with thieves and robbers thus impending free communication. Water transport was comparatively better. The coast was not developed, though natural and rough harbours did help the adventurous traders of Bharukaccha or Campā or Kavirapattana. On the whole, the conditions were, as may be expected, simple and primitive. Nature was ready to respond, but where was the human being to call and question her? But, then, can we expect this at a time more than two thousand years earlier in the history of evolution?