Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c34: Chapter 28. The Kingdoms of South India

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c34

Language
English

Contents

Chapter 28. The Kingdoms of South India

v1.c34.2

PANDYAS, CHERAS AND CHOLAS FIRST CENTURY OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO A.D. 300 CULTIVATION OF RICE, RAGI, SUGARCANE, PEPPER AND TURMERIC AND TANK IRRIGATION

v1.c34.3

The kingdoms of South India had a history and character of their own. This was on account of the barrier of thick forests on their northern boundary which isolated them from northern India. This isolation endowed South Indian culture with a powerful originality. Broadly, they fall into two groups, viz. the Tamil group of Pandyas, Cheras, Cholas and Pallavas and the Deccan group comprising Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas.

v1.c34.4

The source of information about the economy and social life of the Tamil States is *Sangam* literature which was compiled in the period *c.* A.D. 300-600. The *Sangam* was an assembly of Tamil poets held under the patronage of a Pandya king at Madurai. Another source is *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* (A.D. 81-96), which informs about the trade between the Roman Empire and South India. The Greeks of Egypt under the Ptolemies of the last three centuries B.C. traded regularly with India, and when Egypt became a Roman province this commerce was further developed by the Romans.

v1.c34.5

In *Sangam* literature, there are references to substantial buildings. Burnt bricks and lime were used for the construction of buildings, but it seems wood was extensively used. The use of wood should not be equated with primitiveness. Beautiful homes and palaces can be created with the use of timber, as in Kerala and Japan. The palace at Padmanabhapuram in Kerala is made of timber. It is very much like the Nijo Castle of Kyoto. From *Maturaikkanci* we learn that houses were built over the town gates. *Perumpanarrappadai* describes a port town with multi-storeyed buildings, large warehouses, and a tall lighthouse reached by climbing a ladder. *Narrinai* refers to a venerable town having shops along streets where many carts stood, while *Nedunalvadai* mentions a prosperous old town having streets broad like a river.¹

v1.c34.6

¹ Stein, B, *Essays on South India*, p. 15

v1.c34.7

The most important development of this period is the spread of irrigated rice cultivation. Most probably it diffused from the adjoining area of Orissa to the coastal area of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the Iron Age, about 300 B.C. It meant a secure food supply and probably led to a population explosion. It is no accident that the early Tamil kingdoms were located in deltaic areas of rivers.

v1.c34.8

The Sangam literature provides information regarding the various occupations followed by the population. Apart from farmers, there were shepherds, hunters, and fishermen. The village artisans included blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, leather-workers and salt-makers. In the towns were merchants, shippers, customs agents and horse-importers. The people were entertained by drummers and dancers. The kings were surrounded by chieftains, warriors, scholars, poets and priests.

v1.c34.9

The Tamil States were constantly fighting among themselves and nibbling at each other's territory. It is not their petty wars which are of any significance. It is their contribution to the agriculture and the culture of India which is of tremendous importance.

Pandyas

v1.c34.s1.1

The Pandya territory occupied the southernmost and the south-eastern part of the peninsula, roughly corresponding with the modern districts of Tinnevelly, Ramnad and Madurai. Tambaraparani and Vaigai provided fertile soil as well as water for irrigating fields. The capital was at Madurai, the Mathura of the South, which was a religious and literary centre. Its population included the Buddhist and Jain monks, who were patronized by the royal family and rich merchants. The earliest Pandya king about whom we hear is Nedunjeliyan (A.D. 215). He is described as a performer of Vedic sacrifices and as a hero of many battles.

The Cheras

v1.c34.s2.1

The Chera country lay to the west and north of that of Pandyas and roughly corresponds with the present-day Kerala. Its recorded history begins in the middle of the second century of the Christian Era when a great battle was fought between the Chera king, Adan I, and a Chola king. The greatest Chera king was Senguttuvan (A.D. 180). After the second century of the Christian Era, the Chera power declined.

The Cholas

v1.c34.s3.1

The Chola kingdom lay to the north-east of the Pandya kingdom, between the Pennar River and the Velur River. The delta of the Cauvery, with its moisture and fertile soil, provided an excellent economic base for the Chola kingdom. The historical period begins in the middle of the second century of the Christian Era, with the reign of Karikala (A.D. 190). He defeated the combined forces of Cheras and Pandyas. He built the new capital of Kaveripattanam on the coast. He raided Sri Lanka and captured 12,000 men. With this slave labour force, he constructed an embankment along the Cauvery, 160 kilometres long, to protect the land from floods. He also built a number of irrigation tanks. He promoted agriculture by clearing forests.

Trade with Rome

v1.c34.s4.1

In the first century of the Christian Era, the monsoon was discovered. This discovery facilitated trade between India and the countries under the occupation of the Romans, viz. Spain, Gaul, Dalmatia, Italy and Egypt. Roman and Greek merchants visited the ports of southern India in considerable numbers and established themselves in small colonies. They came in quest of spices and cotton cloth for which South India had become famous in the ancient world. A Pandyan king sent an embassy to Augustus Caesar (27 B.C. to A.D. 19). There were Roman warehouses in South India, and there was also a temple dedicated to Augustus at Cranganore on the Malabar coast.

v1.c34.s4.2

Rome received fine cloth, pearls, spices, sandalwood, gems and drugs from South India. An important evidence for Roman trade with India is the great number of Roman coins found in South India. The Periplus states that gold and silver coins were profitably exchanged at Barygaza, and that in the Tamil country great quantities of coin were imported. The largest number of Roman coins has been discovered from the Coromandal coast and in the Coimbatore and Madura districts. This drain of gold coins became a source of alarm to the Roman government. Apart from gold coins it seems that Rome also exported wine. K.V. Raman recovered a dozen amphorae (two-handled wine containers) from Nattamedu in Tamil Nadu, some with resin as residue from the wine.²

v1.c34.s4.3

² Stein, B. *Essays on South India*, p. 29

v1.c34.s4.4

The early literature of the Tamils provides a vivid picture of the activities of the foreign traders. A Tamil poet relates that the large beautiful ships of the Yavanas bring gold to the thriving town of Muchiri (Muziris) and return laden with pepper. The Periplus states that silk, tortoise shell, and betel-leaf came to Muchiri from Southeast Asia.³ Poems describe the abodes of the prosperous Yavanas at the mouth of the Cauvery River, of Yavana mercenaries who guarded the gates of the fort of Madura and the Tamil king's tent. For the king, they brought costly vessels of silver, singing boys, and beautiful maidens for the harem.

v1.c34.s4.5

³ Ibid., p. 16

v1.c34.s4.6

Periplus then lists the market towns of the Dachinabades (Deccan), together with their trade and situation. Calliena (Kalyan), he says, was hostile to Greek ships landing there, and they were escorted to Barygaza. Farther south, he comes to the Damirica (Tamil country). Of Muziris (modern Cranganore), he says, "it abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia and by the Greeks." He also mentions Nelcynda of the Pandyan kingdom, of which the Dravidian equivalent might be Melkynda, “western kingdom”, and its situation is suspected to be somewhere in the Cochin backwaters. He says, “There are imported here in the first place a great quantity of coin, among other things, and exported fine pearls of all kinds, diamonds, sapphires and tortoise shell.”⁴

v1.c34.s4.7

⁴ Schoff, W.H. *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, p. 208

v1.c34.s4.8

Regarding the state of agriculture in Tamil land, Sastri and Srinivasachari observe, ‘Cultivable land was abundant and the necessities of life plentiful. The fertility of the lands watered by the Cauvery is a recurring theme of Tamil poets. The natural forest produce of Pari’s principality included bamboo, rice, jack-fruit, the *valli* root, and honey. Ragi, sugarcane, pepper, turmeric and cotton were cultivated. Society was organized in castes with habits and traditions of their own; but the population of large cities and port towns tended to be cosmopolitan.”⁵

v1.c34.s4.9

⁵ Sastri, K.A.N. and Srinivasachari, G, *Advanced History of India*, p. 179

v1.c34.s4.10

During this period we hear for the first time about the cultivation of turmeric (*Curcuma longa*) and pepper (*Piper nigrum*). Harlan considers India and Malaysia as the countries of origin of turmeric.⁶ Known as *haldi* in Hindi and *manjal* in Tamil and Malayalam, turmeric is used as a condiment in every Indian home. It is mainly grown on the east coast of India in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu. There is a wild variety also, *Curcuma aromatica*, with fragrant stems. The Guntur, Krishna, and East and West Godavary districts in Andhra Pradesh are the main growing areas. In Tamil Nadu, Trichur, Salem and Coimbatore are important turmeric-growing areas.

v1.c34.s4.11

⁶ Harlan, J.R. *Crops and Man*, p. 75

v1.c34.s4.12

The pepper plant is indigenous to the forests of Kerala. It has been cultivated in Kerala from about the second century B.C. Harlan claims South-East Asia as the place of its origin. In Indonesia also, there is extensive cultivation of pepper. In Kerala, it is grown below the Western Ghats. Pepper is a climber which is grown on standards of *Erythrina variegata* var. *orientalis* (Fig. 191). The berries are originally green and when they ripen they become orange. They are dried in the sun (Fig. 192), and their outer skin becomes black and assumes the characteristic wrinkled appearance. As a preservative of food and for flavouring meat, pepper was in great demand by the Romans.

v1.c34.s4.13

The poets of the *Sangam* period (A.D. 300-600) counselled the kings as to how to store water, enrich the land and improve the conditions of the people. They emphasized the dignity of labour. The wet lands, as a geographical division, were called *marutham*. The people occupying that land division were referred to as *ulavar* or *vellalar*. In many places, *marutham* was also called *panai*. *Panai* means fertile land or rich soil. The farmers were called *kalamar*. *Kalam* means the fields.

v1.c34.s4.14

Ilango Adigal (second century of the Christian Era) said that the farmers were responsible for the triumphs of the kings and the well-being of the poor. There were two classes of farmers—the tenants and the *vallalas* or landlords. The *vallalas* had the prerogative for marital alliance with the royal households.

v1.c34.s4.15

The *vallalas* did not plough the land themselves, but employed labourers for this purpose. The transplanting and harvesting of paddy and the digging of root crops were done by women workers. The *vallalas* were, in fact, only managers and supervisors. This schism between the farmers and farm labourers is a prominent characteristic of South Indian agriculture even at present. During the ploughing season, you would notice a man with an umbrella (the owner of the land), standing on an embankment, while the farm workers plough the muddy field.

v1.c34.s4.16

Rivers such as the Cauvery, the Vaigai and the Palar enriched the soil of Tamil Nadu. In dry lands, minor millets such as *samai* and *ragi*, and pulses such as lab-lab and *Cajanus* were cultivated. Eighteen varieties of cereals and millets were grown. *Thirukkural* Thiruvalluvar has a separate chapter on agriculture. ‘Agriculture involved hard manual labour, yet it is peerless among all the professions. The farmers are the pivot of civilization’. Valluvar further explained in detail how the farmers were responsible for the prosperity of the kings. If they were respected and encouraged, the kings strength and reputation would endure.

v1.c34.s4.17

The *Perumpanatruppadai*, another ancient Tamil poem of the Sangam Age (before the second century of the Christian Era), describes the different farming operations, viz. ploughing with bullocks, the levelling of land, the transplanting of paddy seedlings, hoeing and weeding, harvesting, transporting the sheaves to the threshing-floor, the threshing of crops by using cattle, and winnowing.

v1.c34.s4.18

The transplanting of paddy seedlings was the most important agricultural operation. Fields were irrigated from lakes and wells. Some farmers irrigated their fields by drawing water from the ponds to the accompaniment of songs. Bullocks were used to draw water from the wells. *Thulas* were also in use.

v1.c34.s4.19

In *Pattinappalai* of the Sangam Age (before the second century of the Christian Era) and *Chillapathikaram* (second century of the Christian Era), descriptions of the various agricultural operations are given. *Chillapathikaram* also speaks of sandal (*Santalum album*) growing in the Malaya mountain. This was the name by which Western Ghats were known. According to the poet’s fancy the sandal-trees were covered with serpents. *Chillapathikaram* further mentions that ships sailed directly from Southeast Asia to the Chola coast with silk, sandal, camphor and spices.⁷ These spices most likely included cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon, etc., which grow in the Spice Islands and are even now imported into India.

v1.c34.s4.20

⁷ Stein, B. *Essays on South India*, p. 16

v1.c34.s4.21

Jivaga Chinthamani says, ‘When there is plentiful rain the peasants are happy. They hail the rain with shouts of joy, and beating of drums. When there are breaches in the banks of the river, the people are informed by the beat of drum, and they rush to the spot and work together to repair the breach. The wives of the peasants encourage their husbands to work untiringly in the fields by serving liquor to them.

v1.c34.s4.22

‘The land is ploughed with the aid of bullocks and male buffaloes. The work of transplanting paddy seedlings is done by women. Sugar (jaggery) is also manufactured by the peasants. As a result of peasants’ untiring work, food is produced in abundance. The peasants help others by liberally giving them grain. The surplus produce is sent by carts to be sold in different parts of the country. Carts carrying imported goods are also much in evidence. Because of this trade the peasants are enriched and live a happy life.’

v1.c34.s4.23

In Chillapathikaram ‘Nadu Kan Kathai’, agricultural operations are thus described.

v1.c34.s4.24

‘Field labourers, their arms blackened by exposure to sun, came running with the farm owners. Their shouts could be heard from distance. The travellers could also hear the melodies of women singing in drunken voices. Their broad shoulders and large breasts were soiled with mud. Having cast away the flowers from their hair, they were sticking the tender sprouts of rice into the water-soaked ground. These graceful women looked like bronze statues sprung from the mire of the fields. Then the hymns sung by the ploughmen were heard. They walked behind their sharp ploughs, which ripped open the soil. From afar the travellers could hear the farmers’ threshing songs as their bullocks trampled the harvest to separate the grain from the straw; and the cheers of those who were listening to mud-soiled drums played by vigorous young minstrels.’⁸

v1.c34.s4.25

⁸ Translation provided by Dr Rajammal Devadas

v1.c34.s4.26

‘There was an abundance of necessities of life and a reasonably brisk inland and maritime trade. The level of material culture was fairly high and in the spiritual sphere there was occurring a progressive integration of the new Aryan with the old pre-Aryan forms and conventions. The general impression left on the mind by this early Tamil literature is one of social harmony, general contentment and happiness.’⁹

v1.c34.s4.27

⁹ Sastri, K.A.N. and Srinivasachari, G. *Adavanced History of India*, p. 181

v1.c34.s4.28

Harlan, J.R. *Crops and Man*, Wisconsin, 1975 Jairazbhoy, R.A. *Persian Influence in Ancient India*, Bombay, 1963 Randhawa, M.S. *Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in India*, New Delhi, 1958 Sastri, K.A.N. and Srinivasachari, G. *Advanced History of India*, New Delhi, 1970 Schoff, W.H. (Jr) *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, London, 1912 Sharma, R.S. *Ancient India*, New Delhi, 1977 Stein, B. (Ed.). *Essays on South India*, New Delhi, 1976

Cites (10)