A History of Agriculture in India v1.c33.s9: Temple Gardens
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c33.s9
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Temple Gardens
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The Buddhist priests planted groves of flowering trees around their monasteries. They had plenty of leisure, and they lived in peaceful surroundings conducive to tranquility. Such conditions are ideal for the craft of gardening. In fact, the evolution of gardening is intimately associated with Buddhist temples and monasteries.
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Fig. 190. Top, Bhakhar a scraper in common use in the black-cotton-soil areas of Madhya Pradesh; Bottom, A closer view of the bhakhar
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Fig. 191. Black-pepper (Piper nigrum) was the favourite spice of Indians till the Portuguese introduced red-pepper (Capsicum frutescens) from Peru, South America, in the sixteenth century. Black-pepper is grown in Kerala, trained on posts of Erythrina variegata var. orientalis
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Fig. 192. Women drying berries of black-pepper in Kerala
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Brick-wells. The use of kiln-burnt bricks became popular in the Kushan period. In the sites which have been excavated in northern India, the use of kiln-burnt bricks for floors and tiles for floors and roofs is common. The Kushan bricks from Sanghol in the Punjab are large, 32 × 20 centimetres, and 6 to 8 centimetres thick. An agricultural innovation which can be attributed to the Kushans is the construction of brick-wells, which were used for irrigation.
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Horses. The Kushans used riding horses on a large scale. In sculptures of the second century of the Christian Era, riding-horses are depicted with saddles and reins, though there are no stirrups. The early stirrup was possibly a rope with a loop.
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The Hariana Cattle. A Gandhara relief, now in the Lahore Museum, shows a farmer ploughing a field. The bullocks are humped and are of the Hariana breed. The plough is heavy and resembles a type of plough still used in the Solan area of Himachal Pradesh (Figs 187 and 188). Similar ploughs are also in use in the Junnar area of Maharashtra.