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28 THEMES IN INDIAN H ISTORY THEME THEME TWO Kings, Farmers and Towns Early States and Economies TWO (c. 600 BCE -600 CE ) There were several developments in different parts of the subcontinent during the long span of 1,500 years following the end of the Harappan civilisation. This was also the period during which the Rigveda was composed by people living along the Indus and its tributaries. Agricultural settlements emerged in many parts of the subcontinent, including north India, the Deccan Plateau, and parts of Karnataka. Besides, there is evidence of pastoral populations in the Deccan and further south. New modes of disposal of the dead, including the making of elaborate stone structures known as megaliths, emerged in central and south India from the first millennium BCE. In many cases, the dead were buried with a rich range of iron tools and weapons. Fig. 2.1 From c. sixth century BCE, there is An inscription, Sanchi evidence that there were other trends as well. Perhaps (Madhya Pradesh), the most visible was the emergence of early states, empires c. second centuBCE and kingdoms. Underlying these political processes were other changes, evident in the ways in which agricultural production was organised. Simultaneously, new towns appeared almost throughout the subcontinent. Historians attempt to understand these developments by drawing on a range of sources – inscriptions, texts, coins and visual material. As we will see, this is a complex process. You will also notice that these sources do not tell the entire story. 1. Prinsep and Piyadassi Some of the most momentous developments in Indian epigraphy took place in the 1830s. This was when James Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the East India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi, two scripts used in the earliest inscriptions and coins. He found that most of these mentioned a king Epigraphy is the study of referred to as Piyadassi – meaning “pleasant to inscriptions. behold”; there were a few inscriptions which also Reprint 2026-27