History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s5.26

v1.c24.s5.26

In modern India also there are some regional variations in crop seasons on account of the variations in the timings of rains and other seasons. There are generally speaking two main crops: the Kharif and the Rabi. In ancient India also the pattern of two crop seasons parallel to the Kharif and Rabi was the general rule. This is implied by the *Gobhila Gṛhyasūtra* (I.4.29) referring to the two harvests of rice and barley. It requires a householder to offer *Āsasyabali* consisting of barley from the barley harvest in the hot season till the rice harvest in autumn and that consisting of rice from the rice harvest till the barley harvest. Megasthenes points out that as there is a double rainfall in the course of each year the inhabitants of India almost always gather in two harvests annually (Majumdar, pp. 233, 252). In the *Mahābhārata* (XII. 100.1-11) the season of the two main crops of Caitra and Margasirsa is mentioned as the time for invading any kingdom. The *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* (XXXIX. 13-14) also mentions two crops *graiṣmika* and *śarada*. In some inscriptions the fields are described in terms of their being manageable to the two crop seasons of *śaradya* and *graiṣmika* (vide Note 49).