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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s3.t3: (c) Sowing

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s3.t3

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English

(c) Sowing

v1.c24.s3.t3.1

Sowing being an important process in cultivation, it was given serious attention and care. Befitting its importance solemn religious rites were performed on the occasion. Panini (IV.3.45) shows that farmers selected auspicious days for sowing seeds; the full-moon day of the month of Agrāhāyana was one such auspicious day. The Arthaśāstra (II.24.27) advises the Superintendent of Agriculture (sītādhyaksa) at the first sowing to sow the first handful after immersing it in water containing gold and recite the mantra meaning “Salutation to Kāśyapa, the Lord of Creation, and to the god (of rain) always. May the divine Sītā prosper in my seeds and my grains”. The Vr̥kṣāyurveda (verse 59) of Surapāla requires the master to bathe and become pure, put on clean clothes, worship the gods, salute the preceptor, make the gift of money or land to a meritorious person, make obeisance to the presiding deity of the land (vāstupuruṣa) and then himself first sow a few seeds, after which the attendants are to sow all over the field.

v1.c24.s3.t3.2

A significant development in regard to sowing was the practical realisation of the quantity of seed required for sowing in a particular field. Pāṇini (V.1.45-46) provides for the formation of terms to refer to fields according to the quantity of seed sown in them. These and other distinctive terms are found in the Amarakośa (II.9.10) also. The literary references are confirmed by epigraphic records, which, in mentioning the fields (kṣetram) granted, specify the quantity of seed required to sow them¹⁷. The cultivator was also required to know how seeds of a particular type were to be sown, thickly or sparsely (Medhātithi on IX.330)

v1.c24.s3.t3.3

The selection of one of the crops of a particular crop season depended to a great extent on the amount of water available (AS.II.24.19). The Arthaśāstra (AS. II.24.22) says that a region where the foam strikes (river bank) (phenāghāta) is suited for creeper fruits; regions on the outskirts of overflows (parivāhānta) for long pepper, grapes and sugarcanes; those on the borders of wells (kūpaparyanta) for vegetables and roots; those on the borders of moist beds of lakes (haraṇiparyanta) for green grasses; and ridges (pālya) for plants reaped by cutting, such as perfume plants, medicinal herbs, uśīra grass, hrībera, piṇḍāluka and others.

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