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A History of Agriculture in India v1.c3: Preface

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c3

Language
English

Preface

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Agriculture is the source of perpetual creation on which civilization depends. It has a dominant role in the Indian economy. It contributes nearly half of the national income and provides employment to about seventy per cent of the working population in India. It provides raw materials for most of our industry. It also accounts for sizable share of the country's foreign-exchange earnings. Apart from these material considerations, it is a way of life, unique and irreplaceable in human values. It is surprising that in spite of such importance there is no book dealing with the history of agriculture in India.

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In most European countries and the U. S. A. agricultural history has been documented by scholars, and there are societies and journals devoted to this subject. In India, however, this subject has not received the recognition it deserved. My association with agricultural development since 1934, with agricultural research since 1945, and with the administration of a premier agricultural university from 1968 to 1976, has given me the necessary background to prepare a work of this nature. When I wrote to Dr M. S. Swaminathan, former Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and a scientist and scholar of eminence who has played a key role in promoting Green Revolution in India, he accepted the need for writing a book on India's agricultural history. The Governing Body of the ICAR at its meeting held on 2 September 1976 sanctioned the scheme, which, for the purposes of funding and administration, was located at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

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On 14 January 1977 the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of the Government of India appointed me Chairman of a Committee to examine all agricultural universities in India, so that their working is improved. This assignment enabled me to meet agricultural scientists and farmers all over India and enabled me to fill gaps in my knowledge. On a visit to Bhopal, I saw the newly discovered cave paintings at Bhimbetaka and also met Dr V. S. Wakanker. On the way to Jabalpur, I saw the rock shelters and cave paintings at Adamgarh. I also noticed that whereas in Punjab and Haryana modern agriculture with the use of inputs such as tractors, threshers, electric motors and fertilizers is being commonly practised, in some parts of Madhya Pradesh the old wooden Persian wheel still persists, and threshing of wheat is done by treading the harvested crop under the feet of teams of bullocks tied with a rope to a wooden post, as in the Buddhist period. How the past persists in many parts of India! At Deccan College, Pune, I met Dr H. D. Sankalia, eminent archaeologist of India, who showed me his finds from Navdatoli and Nevasa. After seeing the new campus of the Agricultural University at Rahuri, I crossed the Pravara River on my way to Aurangabad. It was on the banks of this river that the chalcolithic farmers and hunters of Maharashtra lived. At Bombay I saw the collection of Harappan finds from Mohenjo-daro which the Museum had recently acquired. Apart from pots it also has the terracotta toy representing a plough. On a visit to Hyderabad to see the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, I saw the collection of Mughal miniatures in the Salar Jung Museum and discovered some interesting paintings of wild sheep and markhor.

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Agriculture can be properly understood only in the light of the evolution of life and the material culture of man. Man is part of an unbroken stream of life. That stream in the dawn of life on earth manifested itself in the form of single microscopic cells. Hundreds of millions of years later, after transformation through forms of polyps, of worm-like creatures, of lancelets, it flowed through thousands of generations in the form of fish. It emerged on land as the amphibian. The amphibian evolved into the reptile. It covered itself with hair, acquired warm blood and fed its young with milk, and it transformed itself to become fully mammalian. Four-footed, tailed and hairy, it took to the Eocene forests. It grew into lemur, into monkey, into ape; and finally hominid. The hominid grew to the dignity of man.

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Man learned to control and use fire. He fabricated stone tools for hunting wild animals and skinning them. He domesticated the dog, who became his help-mate in hunting, as well as sheep, goat, pigs and cattle. He learnt to cultivate crops. He invented the wooden plough and learnt the art of ploughing and irrigation. He domesticated the horse, and with its aid acquired command over vast areas. He discovered the secret of smelting iron ore, invented the iron axe and plough-share, and with their aid cut the jungles and conquered hard soil.

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Apart from discussing the evolution of man in the light of the most recent findings of research, I have dealt with the evolution of his material culture in this book. This is necessary so that the evolution of man and his culture is firmly linked with the evolution of his animal ancestors. Moreover, the findings of modern archaeology, assisted by the 14carbon-dating method and by palynology, about man's material progress, such as the domestication of plants, are as spectacular as those of geology. Besides, I felt it necessary to provide history with the perspective of geological time so that historians realize how brief is the span of human history. When one considers the vicissitudes through which living beings have passed in the long geological history of the earth, the troubles which the present generation is facing seem insignificant. The findings of geology provide a new background to human history and impel us to discard the old ideas of the golden age in the past, for it has been proved beyond doubt that the material environment of man has progressively improved through the ages, and the comforts which are now enjoyed by the common man were not available even to the kings in the past.

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It is felt that this approach will provide the necessary corrective so that history is not overladen with inconsequential details about kings and their wars. No doubt some of the kings like Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka, Chandragupta I and Harsha were outstanding leaders who gave a new lead in the march of culture. Barring these exceptions many of the rulers were insignificant men, who strutted about on the stage of history, and in due course were lost in oblivion. Their only contributions were internecine feuds and wars and they were constantly nibbling at each other's territory. It is the misdeeds, crimes and conspiracies of such monarchs which figure prominently in traditional history books. What is important is an account of the life of the common people, their crops and cattle, and their food and dress. A culture is powered by the techniques of agriculture and industry. The man who discovered the technique of transplanting rice has done more good to humanity than all the kings put together.

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Since man started cultivation of crops and intercourse among people living far apart began through trade, diffusion of cultivars also occurred. Indigenous crops of India are few, viz. rice, urd, moong, kulthi, sarson, cotton and sugarcane. As far back as Harappan times wheat, peas and chana came from western Asia via Iran. Africa gave us jowar, bajra and sesamum. The best evidence of this statement is in the finds of foodgrains from archaeological sites and supported by cytogenetic and phytogeographic research. ¹⁴Carbon-dating and pollen analysis have further helped in elucidation of the facts concerning ancient plant economy.

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¹⁴ Carbon-dating and pollen analysis have further helped in elucidation of the facts concerning ancient plant economy.

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Agriculture should not be considered in isolation from the life of the people and the political scene. Emerging from a tribal society, the Hindu kings had to knit together far-flung areas. In the absence of roads and means of communication it was a difficult task. Only a large army, and a bureaucracy to support it, could accomplish this task. As such, large quantities of surplus food had to be produced to feed the army and officials. At that stage it could only be done by bringing larger area under the plough after cutting jungles. This was what happened in Mauryan India. The government had to be kind to the farmers in its own interest. This was no longer the case when India came under the rule of aliens later on.

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The history of ancient India has been slowly discovered due to the patient work of scholars, Europeans and Indians. In the first phase Sanskrit classics were translated into English. Sir Charles Wilkins translated the Bhagvadgita (A.D. 1785) and the fables of Hitopdesha (1787). Sir Willam Jones (A.D. 1964-94) translated the Code of Manu. Franz Bopp (A.D. 1790-1867), a German scholar, founded the science of Comparative Philology. In early forties of the nineteenth century, the French Orientalist, Eugene Burnouf, laid the foundations of Vedic scholarship in Europe. One of his pupils was F. Max Müller (A.D. 1823-1900), who produced the first edition of the Rig-Veda in six volumes. Burnouf and Lassen, with the publication of their *Essay on Pali* (1826), laid the foundation of the study of Pali. It was thus that the secrets of Sanskrit and Pali texts were unlocked for the English-reading people.

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Between 1834 and 1838 James Prinsep deciphered the inscriptions of Asoka. This laid the real foundations of the superstructure of Indian chronology that has since been erected.

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Sculptures and paintings also give us a glimpse of the life of the people in the past. The Buddhist sculptures at Bharhut, Sanchi, Mathura and Amaravati convey to us vividly how the Indians lived, what was their dress, what were their favourite trees and domestic animals. In them we can even identify breeds of cattle as well as flowering and fruit trees.

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The records of foreigners who came to India also inform us about the agriculture of ancient India. These authorities are the Greek Megasthenes (c. 300 B.C.), the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims Fa Hian (A.D. 399-415), and Hiuen-Tsang (A.D. 629-45), and the Central Asian Alberuni (A.D. 1031).

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Following the travel account of Hiuen-Tsang, Alexander Cunningham discovered during 1861-1902 a number of Buddhist monuments in northern and central India. From 1904 to 1939 Sir John Marshall, the first Director-General of Archaeology in India, excavated the sites at Taxila, Nalanda, Sanchi, Sarnath, and Bhita. He also paid attention to Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. He was followed by K. N. Dikshit, who excavated Harappa. During the period since Independence valuable work in digging up the past has been done by A. Ghosh, B. B. Lal, M. N. Deshpande, B. K. Thapar, S. R. Rao, Y. D. Sharma and H. D. Sankalia.

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It is for the first time that a synthetic picture of agriculture in ancient India from the very beginning to the twelfth century is presented. It is based on evidence from archaeology, rock paintings, sculptures, coins, ancient Pali and Sanskrit literature, and travel accounts of Greek, Chinese and Central Asian travellers and scholars. Considering the magnitude of the task, I am aware of the imperfection of this synthesis. At the same time, I feel that it is the best which could be done in the present state of our knowledge of India's past. I hope that in due course persons who are better qualified than me will improve upon the text and fill the gaps in our knowledge. It is better to make a modest start than to wait for perfection.

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Kharar (near Chandigarh) 2 May 1980

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M. S. RANDHAWA

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