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A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35.s7: Rural Economy

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35.s7

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English

Contents

Rural Economy

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R.S. Sharma states that in the Gupta period, land taxes increased in number, and those on trade and commerce decreased. Probably, the king collected taxes varying from one-fourth to one-sixth of the produce. In addition to this, whenever the royal army passed through the countryside, the local people had to feed it. The peasants had to supply animals, foodgrains, furniture, etc., for the maintenance of royal officers on duty in the rural areas. In central and western India, the villagers were also subjected to forced labour called vishti for serving the royal army and officials.

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The village headman managed the village affairs with the assistance of the elders. With the administration of a village or a small town leading local elements were associated. No land transactions could be effected without their consent.

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A striking development of the Gupta period, according to Sharma, was the emergence of the Brahman landlords at the cost of local peasants. Land grants made to the Brahmans brought virgin lands under cultivation. But these landlords were imposed from above on the local tribal peasants, who were reduced to a lower status. In central and western India, the peasants were also subjected to forced labour. The Brahmans were granted land free from tax for ever, and they were authorized to collect from the peasants all the taxes which could have otherwise gone to the emperor. Royal agents were not permitted to enter the villages granted to the Brahmans. The Brahman land-owners were also empowered to punish criminals.²

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² Sharma, R.S., Ancient India, pp. 130, 131, 132

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Our sources of information about the life of the people and their agriculture and horticulture in the Gupta age are Vatsyayana’s *Kamasutra*, Varahamihira’s *Brhatsamhita*, and Amarsimha’s *Amarakosha*. Vatsyayana’s *Kamasutra* is not only a text on sexology, but also provides information on gardens. Winternitz suggests its date as the fourth century of the Christian Era.

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Varahamihira was an astronomer, astrologer, and encyclopaedist. He flourished in the period A.D. 505-587. His *Brhatsamhita* provides information on agriculture, botany and zoology, apart from astronomy, medicine, metallurgy and geography. It describes specific characteristics of animals and the treatment of plant diseases. The *Brhatsamhita*, and the *Puranas*, particularly the *Agnipurana*, incidentally deal with the selection of land, manuring, cultivation, collection and the treatment of seeds, sowing, planting, reaping and grafting.

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The *Amarakosha* of Amarasimha, a scholar in the court of Chandragupta II, contains information on soil, irrigation and agricultural implements.

Soil Classification and Land Use

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The *Amarakosha* describes 12 types of land in its chapter on *Bhumivarga*, depending upon the fertility of the soil, irrigation and physical characteristics. These are: *urvara* (fertile), *usara* (barren), *maru* (desert), *aprahata* (fallow), *sadvala* (grassy), *pankila* (muddy), *jalaprayamanupa* (watery), *kaccha* (land contiguous to water), *sarkara* (land full of pebbles and pieces of limestone), *sarkaravati* (sandy), *nadimatrka* (land watered from a river), and *devamatrka* (rain-fed). In the *Vaisyavarga* are mentioned different kinds of soils and their suitability for the cultivation of specific crops, e.g., *ksetram*—rice and corn; *yavya*—barley; *tailinam*—sesamum; *maudginam*—green-gram, etc. There are also different names for lands ploughed once, two times and three times, and at several stages.

Use of Manure

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The *Brhatsamhita* prescribes that seeds which have been properly treated are to be sown with the addition of pork or venison into the soil (where previously the sesame crop was raised, dug up and trodden) and sprinkled daily with water mixed with milk (*ksira*). It says further, ‘To promote inflorescence and fructification, a mixture of one *adhaka* (64 *palas*) of barley powder, one *tola* of beef thrown into one *drona* (256 *palas*) of water and standing over seven nights should be poured round the roots of the plant.’ To ensure sprouting, and to promote the luxuriant growth of the stem and the foliage, the seed should be soaked in an infusion made of paddy powder, urad, sesame and barley mixed with decomposing flesh, and the whole mass steamed with the addition of turmeric. For the growth of kapittha (Feronia limonia), the seeds should be soaked for a short time in a decoction of asphota (jasmine), amalaki (Emblica officinalis), dhava (Grislea tomentosa), vasaka (Justicia adhatoda), vetula (Calamus rotang), suryavalli (Gynandropsis gynandra), syama (Echites fructescens) and atimuktaka (Aganosma dichotoma) boiled in milk. The soaked seeds should be dried in the sun and the process is to be repeated for a month. A circular hole is to be made in the ground (1 cubit in diameter and 2 cubits in depth), and the milky decoction poured into it. When it dries up, it is burnt and pasted over with ashes mixed with ghee and honey. Three inches of soil should now be thrown into it along with the powder of bean, sesame and barley, and then again three inches of soil. Finally, washings of fish are to be sprinkled and the mud beaten to a thick consistency. Now the treated seeds should be placed in the hole.

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According to the Agnipurana, a tree becomes laden with flowers and fruits by manuring the soil with powdered barley, sesamum and the offal of a goat mixed together, and soaked in washings of beef for seven consecutive nights. A good growth of these is secured by sprinkling the washings of fish on them.

Cites (5)