Day - 18 | History | Post Mauryan | UPSC CSE Prelims Foundation 2025 | Mr. Kishore Kumar

So, what we have seen so far is that we have seen what is there in Central Asian context, how the dynasties came, how their cultural intermingling happened, what kind of things they gave to Indian culture from their culture, what kind of assimilative narrative we gave to them, all these things from the film's and main's perspective, what are the important points for NCRT, we have seen all these in the form of a story. So, what we are going to do next is about Shatavagnas, and then in Dawn to the Deep South, we will see about the Megalithic culture. So, what we are going to see next is, last time I said that I did Shatavagnas in the next video, similarly, this time we will see about Shatavagnas. We will see about the age of Shatavagnas, and then we will also see about the Craft, Trade and Towns and Post-Mauryan Age. Craft, Trade and Towns. We will see this in detail. So, I have tried to take this Shatavagnas chapter in a different way. So, its notes will be different. Craft, Trade and Towns will be different. Tell me which one is easier for you to read. I will read each and every one of your comments. If you have any doubts, I will try to clear them. So, we can talk only through comments, because the video is recorded. So, if you have any doubts, you can freely ask me your doubts in the comments. You can also write your opinions. Like, I like this class, or it would be better if it was a little better. You can give me all these suggestions. I will listen to those suggestions as much as I can, and it will be as interesting as listening to you. I am very interested in taking this class specifically for UPSC. I am doing my duty. So, now we will go to the class. So, first of all, it is with respect to Shatavagnas. According to Shatavagnas, the next way to find out about the Mauryans is Shatavagnas. I mean, it is not the Mauryans' dynasty, but it is said that there might have been some petty principalities who were with them. Because the name Shatavagnas was not there in the Mauryan period. At that time, it was called Andhras. Historians feel that this Andhras should be Shatavagnas. The details and sources about Shatavagnas are in the Mauryan inscriptions. In the Mauryan inscriptions, it is called Andhras. Then, in the Puranas, especially in the Matsya Puranas, the lineages of Shatavagnas are mentioned. Next, as far as inscriptions are concerned, there are two important inscriptions, Nasik and Nanagat. In these two inscriptions, we get some details about Shatavagnas. Other than that, the details about Shatavagnas can be found in the book called Gadhi Saspasasi. It is written by a Shatavagnas king. His name is Hala. Through this, we get to know about the sources of Shatavagnas. Where did they live? How did they live? Who were their adversaries? If we want to know about Shatavagnas, we need to know about three important kings. Three important kings are very important. Who founded this dynasty? Founder of the dynasty is Simukha. Simukha founded this dynasty. From 2nd century B.C to 2nd century A.D, this dynasty lasted from 350 to 400 years. Three important kings are very important to us. One is Gautami Putra Sattakarni. He is a very important king. Without him, who else would have existed? We only know the name Hala. Then we have Sattakarni. Without him, we have Gautami Putra Sattakarni, Vasishtha Putra Pulamayi, and Yajnastri Sattakarni. All of them are important rulers. Where is their capital? Initially, even if they are called Andhras, they do not have their capital in Andhra. They first established their kingdom in Maharashtra. Their first capital is Vasishtha. Then Amaravathi is their second capital. Vasishtha is their first capital. Then Amaravathi is their second capital. The first important king is Gautami Putra Sattakarni. We do not know his exact age, but it is said that he ruled from 106 to 130 AD. Sathavagnas was a very important person because he disposed Sakas. The rulers of Sakas, the western Sakas, are very famous. In Indo-Greek, Rudra Dhaman is very famous. Rudra Dhaman came after him. Before him, he controlled the rulers of Sakas. He also defeated the ruler of Nagapana. How do we know that he defeated him? In Nasik, Nagapana has given coins. He is the one who introduces the silver coins in Greek style. He is that Nagapana. There is a bow and arrow at the back. This script is the Karasthi script. He introduces this. In Nasik, 8000 coins were found. These 8000 coins were struck and given back. These are called D-based coins. With these, we understand that Gautami Putra Sattakarni has destroyed the power of Nagapana. His grandson is Rudra Dhaman. We saw Rudra Dhaman in the last class. We saw him in the last class and the previous class. He is the one who wrote the Girnar inscription or Junagadh inscription. Both are the same name. In Junagadh inscription, Karasthi Sanskrit, he wrote that he repaired Sudarshanalekha. The next important ruler is Vasishtaputra Pulamayi. Vasishtaputra Pulamayi has lost to Sakka. That record is also there. But he is also a very important ruler. He set up his capital in Python. Prasishtan and Python are the same capital. Next is Yajnasiri Sattakarni. He comes as the next ruler. He strikes back the rulers of Sakka. Both of them are against each other. He loses to Rudra Dhaman. He loses to Rudra Dhaman I. Vasishtaputra Pulamayi. When we see the coins of Yajnasiri Sattakarni, we can see that he is not only an art lover, but also a ruler who gives importance to navigation. His coins have a boat-like structure. We can understand that he gives importance to navigation and trade. Next, let's see his pattern of administration. Sattakarni's pattern of administration. First, he wants to maintain the Brahminical rule. Sattakarni himself claims to be a Brahmin. He also claims to be the upholder of Dharma. He says that he rules according to the Dharma Shastras. He stops the color mixing. Dharma Shastras prohibit the color mixing. But, he is the first ruler who rules according to the Dharma Shastras. He does not allow the color mixing. So, he claims to be the Ekabrahmin. He claims to be the Ekabrahmin. So, he wants to rule according to the Dharma Shastras. At this time, Manusmriti and Dharma Shastras are written. Manusmriti, Dharma Shastras and many other Puranas are written. When does it become rigid? In the period of Guptas. Next, they claim to be the mythical heroes. They claim to be like Rama, Bheema, Arjuna and Keshava. They also claim to be the divine theory of kingship. They claim to be the divine theory of kingship. They also claim to be the divine theory of kingship. When it comes to the administrative division, they call their district as Ahara. There is a possibility to use these terms. This term was used during the time of Mauryan. They use this term for themselves. During the time of Mauryan, there were Amathyas and Mahamathras. They use these terms for the district. This is their importance in the district administration. Next is Senapathi. Senapathi is the commander of the forces. She is appointed as the provincial governor. Similarly, Gramika is appointed as Goumika. In village administration, Goumika. Goumika consists of 9 chariots, 9 elephants and 25 food soldiers. Goumika is the one who builds all these chariots. We don't have to go into that much detail. Goumika is the one who administers in rural areas. Similarly, they have made a military-based rule. Military camps turn into cities. The names of the people who turn military camps into cities are Kattaka and Skanda Varas. They turn into administrative centers. There is another important thing. It is enough if you know the above. But if you say Sathavaganas, the first thing that you should remember in terms of administrative matters is they only introduce the tax-free villages. Land grants are introduced first. In ancient India, Sathavaganas were introduced first. Land grants. They are the ones who introduce land grants first. What happens from this is as we introduce land grants, the value of the land gradually increases. In ancient Indian society. As the value of the land increases, it becomes a feudalistic society. In the past, it was called Samantha system. Sathavaganas were the first to introduce the Samantha system. But the land grants are not religion-based. They give land grants to Buddhists and Brahmins. According to Dharma Shastra, they give land grants to Buddhists and Brahmins. What do Buddhists do? In the villages given to Brahmins, they talk about the fees and the Buddha's philosophy. In the villages given to Brahmins, they try to establish Varanasi Dharma. These two are important. Next is feudalism. In the kingdom of Sathavaganas, there is a king. In the kingdom of Sathavaganas, the people below are divided into three groups. How are they divided? First is the king. The king is the first. Next is Maha Bhoja. Then Senapathi. King, Maha Bhoja and Senapathi. What does the king have? He has the right to collect coins. King, Maha Bhoja and Senapathi have the right to rule. They have certain administrative and economic powers. This is the administrative structure of the kingdom of Sathavaganas. Next is the economy. In the aspects of material culture, what is important for us is fusion. This is where the difference between the north and the south happens. Material culture is fused from the north to the south. How is it fused? Coins are used. Punch marked coins are used from Magadha. Burnt bricks are used. Then there is the art of uniting. It is when two objects are combined to form a single object. Things like this. Then there are wells. When these are created, when the structure is still standing, it becomes a state structure. Let's see what all we can see. Pilani has said that in the city of Sathavagana, there is a 30-walled structure. He has written it in a chart. When we go to places like Nagarjuna Konda, Amaravathi, we find these structures. These are the things we find in the charts. Similarly, when it comes to coins, the coins that Sathavaganas used were led coins. In the case of poten, they used poten as well. They used poten as well. But from Romans, from the Romans, they extracted it. They extracted it like a wire strip. From that, they gave the coins. Not only that, they gave bronze and copper coins. Mainly, they used gold coins. But they did not use it for regular transactions. For regular transactions, they gave coins like led or poten. Next, when it comes to crops, they used rice and cotton crops. When it comes to trade, we find a lot of Roman coins in Sathavagana. In the area where they ruled, in the phase where they ruled, we find a lot of Roman coins. Next, when it comes to society, as we said earlier, Gautamiputra Sathakarani wants to enforce the Brahminical religion. He wants to live according to Dharma Shastra. Next, the indigenous tribal peoples, what the Buddhist monks do is, they want to guide them in the path of Buddha. We saw the land grants first. They were the first rulers to make the land grants to Brahmins. There are many possibilities to hear this in the film. When it comes to merchants and artisans, in that period, nowhere during the ancient times, from pre-history to post-Gupta, in any period, if we compare, from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D., approximately 400 years, in any period, there was not much economic activity. Why is that? We will see that in the next class. So, whether it is art and craft, merchant activities, or coinage, everything in India flourished, flourished, and then played there. Why is that? What is the reason? Why? We will see that. Next, they were considered to be a matrilineal society. Because, look at the names of their kings. Gautami Putra. Gautami is a woman. Her son became a merchant. Or, Vashishtha. Vashishtha's son became a merchant. She is also a woman. Similarly, Yajna. Yajna Sri. Her son became a merchant. So, through the names of women, their lineage continues as a matrilineal society. There is a question like that. But, if that is true, if that is true, then they should have been women. But, they are men. So, they could have been a patriarchal, matrilineal society. That is what historians believe. Similarly, another thing. If you look at donations, religious gifts were given during their time. There was only one ruler. In the Sarthavakana period, there was only one ruler. During that time, the coin was on urgently. Through the inscription of Nana Gate, we can see that she had given huge donations. Religious gifts. Next is art and culture. As far as art and culture is concerned, when we look at religion, Vedic sacrifices were done by Sarthavakana rulers. Vedic sacrifices. We have seen that there are three important Vedic sacrifices. Rajasuya, Vijapaya and Ashwamedha. We know what Ashwamedha Yajna is. We have mentioned it in the Vedic period. If you don't know, you can watch the Vedic period video. So, they have done such Vedic sacrifices. Not only that, gods like Vaishnava gods, like Krishna, Vasudeva, they have worshipped such gods. They have worshipped such gods. Not only that, they have also promoted Buddhism. This is also very important. They have been secular. Even though they have worshipped a religion, they have also promoted other sects. The reason for this is, they may have their own private religion. But at that time, Buddhism was widespread in many places. So, to prevent the spread of local people, they have given grants and donations. Next, The important Buddhist sites in their places are, Nagarjuna Konda and Amaravathi. These are Buddhist sites and important sites. There are more. This is an important example of Amaravathi architecture. There are three important schools of architecture. When we study art and architecture, we will see in detail. First is Indogiri or Gandhara. Next is Madura. These are all Buddhist sites. Buddha, Bodhisattvas and Mahavira are all separate structures. But here, there is a narrative relief. It is like a story. This is a story. These are stories about gods and Buddha. Buddha came and went. Even in the stories of Kankuli Mama, they have depicted the story. Buddha goes to the Great Fort. He leaves everything. He teaches from heaven to everyone. There are many narratives like this in the Amaravathi structure of school of architecture. Next, It is very important to know where Amaravathi and Nagarjuna Konda are. Let us see that too. In Andhra Pradesh, Nagarjuna Konda is here. Amaravathi is here. Amaravathi is also in the news. So, there are many chances to hear about it. Please check and comment which river bank Amaravathi is in. Next, This is also an Amaravathi stupa. It is an Amaravathi architecture. This is Buddha. He is teaching from heaven to his followers. Next, According to art and architecture, they have built rocket caves. In Karli, Bajra, they have built Chaityas and Viharas. I have told you about Chaityas and Viharas in Buddhism class. If you don't know what it is, please watch the video on Buddhism and Jainism. If you know, please comment. Next, According to languages, This is a big statue in Nagarjuna Konda. This is a Buddhist statue in Nagarjuna Konda. According to languages, the official language is Prakrit. In that time, Prakrit was there. Next, This literature is also very important. It is written by a king called Hala. He is a king of Sathavakana. Hala is the king. It is written in Prakrit text. That's all about Sathavakana. You can hear about Sathavakana only in films. You won't hear about Sathavakana in the main. Next, Their art and craft. In which period? During the period of 200 B.C to 200 A.D. In this time, Let's see how the art and craft was. First of all, In this time period, Why the art and culture was so famous? China. Africa. Roman Empire. Eastern Roman Empire. India. Silk Road. This is Kushana Empire, on this side is Indo Bridge, on this side is Parthian Empire, on this side is Sarkar Empire, on this side is Satyavagnas, on this side is Cholas, Chelas, Pandiyas Kushana Empire controls the Silk Route Kushana Empire controls the Silk Route from China, so they get Gold through this On this side is Altai Mountains, they mine Gold from Altai Mountains Apart from this, they do internal trade, apart from this we get many important parks like Uttarapadha, Dakshinapadha, we get all these through this So because of these avenues, trade and commerce grows here So this is the first important reason Second important reason is, how do we know the sources? How do we know that trade and commerce has increased here? We can understand this through Literary Evidences Literary Evidence 1st is Digha Nayaka, Nikaya This is the last Digha Nayaka, where 5 Periyava's were separated In this, there are stories of Buddha, Jataka stories In Jataka Tales, when was this created? It was created in Pre-Modern Period In this, 12 Dozen Art and Crafts were spoken Similarly, in Maha Vastu, there are very less Art and Crafts But in Indo-Greek Period, Milinda Panho When I was talking about Indo-Greek and Central Asian Contacts, I have mentioned about him He was an Indo-Greek King, he tried to convert Nagasena to Buddhism Milinda used to ask a lot of questions and he used to answer a lot This compilation of questions and answers is Milinda Panho Milinda Panho is Questions of Milinda In this, 74 types of Crafts and Trades are mentioned in this book So, 12 Dozen Art and Crafts have increased You can see how much has changed Less has increased So, we can understand this This is an important Literature Not only this, if you see Architecturally, we can see many inscriptions Inscriptions are like Donative Inscriptions are like Donation Many traders have donated to Buddhists and Brahmins They have donated villages and small traders have donated to big guilds So, through these inscriptions, we can understand Many people who have donated to Buddhists and Brahmins have lived a prosperous life This period is called Post-Modern Period So, we can understand all these important things So, what are the important Crafts? Textiles Textiles are very important Crafts In Madura, there is a very important Textile Craft That is Satakka Satakka is very famous in Madura Textiles are also important in Uraivur Uraivur is famous in Madura Romans were the owners of these Textiles These Textiles are not ordinary Textiles These Textiles are made of Silk, Muslin So, we can buy Gold So, what are the sources of these Textiles? Literary sources Pilini In his Natural History, he has said Romans and Aristocrats were buying a lot of Indian goods They were buying and taking it from the Bureaus So, all these are very important Also, Coinage Coinage is very important In making Coins, Indians are very important Because, we have seen Indo-Greeks Indo-Greeks were the first to introduce Gold Coins Similarly, they are introducing many other types of Coins Like, how Saudi are making 14 Coins and LED Coins How Kushanas use Silk Route and how they have Altai Mountains They are using pure Gold Coins pure gold coins are being made similarly, in Roma Puri they are mimicking Roma Puri's gold coins Roma Puri's Dinar types of gold coins are being used in Kushana this is very famous in Guptarkal period but in Guptarkal period percentage of purity is reduced purity of the gold coins is decreasing in Guptarkal period we can easily see this in Guptarkal period coinage then, Terracotta Terracotta figurines are being made in many places, Terracotta figurines are found in Elleshwaram there is a district called Nalkonda in Andhra Pradesh there is a village called Elleshwaram that is why Terracotta figurines are very famous next is next important thing with respect to type of merchants type of merchants according to type of merchants they are formed as guilds we can see this in many Buddhist texts they are formed as guilds among them there is a name for merchants there is a name for head of craftsmen then there are traders or how to say caravan caravan traders they have a name who is the head of merchants they are called Srini Srini they are the head of merchants their guild name is Nihamas similarly, who is the head of craftsmen Chetaka Chetaka is the name of head of craftsmen similarly, what is the name of caravan Sartha Vahan if you see in Kanagi movie Kovalan is Sartha Vahan Sartha Vahan is the head of guild so these are the types of merchants apart from this there are small merchants not included in guilds they are the small merchants similarly there is a book called Garland of Madurai Garland of Madurai in this book it is said that shopkeepers would have been craftsmen in this book Garland of Madurai it is said so whoever creates it they have sold it middlemen similarly, there are some businesses in the local there are many businesses like this similarly, at that time the term merchant did not come yet merchant through those terms merchant was said after that it became merchant apart from that in that village some famous things the merchants for example, Gandhika Gandhika was famous for perfume they were famous for perfume that is why Gandhika became the name of the caste there are many such things in art and craft so next important thing is the mode of art and craft when it comes to the mode of art and craft how important are the routes what kind of routes are there there are two important routes Uttarapadha and Dakshinapadha you have to know what are the routes the important villages you have to know this is also how to say where is this village they will ask like this they will not ask connectivity but if you remember connectivity they will not forget so the important place where it starts it starts from Takshashila it is in modern day Punjab it is in the Punjab province Takshashila if you go up this is Pushkalavati that is Peshawar or Purushapura this is the capital of Kushanas from this Purushapura we can get the silk route that is why Takshashila is very famous next if you go down through Asinapuram we can reach Sravastri from Sravastri we can reach Pataliputra this is called Uttarapadha Uttarapadha means going up path to go up Uttarapadha after that from Sakala you remember Sakala through this we can reach Madura through Madura we can reach Ujjain from Madura or Koushambi we can reach Ujjain from here going down this is called Dakshinapadha so this is Uttarapadha and this is Dakshinapadha through this Ujjain the important port that is Sopara Barakochan is the broach we can go to these two ports through this we can go to Africa after that through Africa we can go to Egypt we can go to Eastern Romans we can go to Roman Kingdom so why this is so important this place why this place is so important above land path this land path in 1st AD BC 1st AD it is blocked because tribes, Indo-Parthians are blocking the land so we cannot go through silk route so India is perfectly in the middle so through silk route Ujjain through Sopara and Barochan we can go to through the sea to Egypt and Roman Kingdom why this is so important because of the discovery of discovery of monsoon monsoon in 1st AD in 1st century AD the mechanism of monsoon so through this what we can do through Sopara we can easily go to Africa the one who discover this is Hippalus Hippalus will discover this mechanism Hippalus will discover through this we can go so overall if you see why in this time trade, craft, art everything is increasing India is in a strategic position after that Central Asian province India is one of the important provinces it is becoming uncultured because of Kushana rules after that demand for art and craft is increasing we can create many technical because of the guild system we can create through guild system many economies are penetrated in this time we are getting many coinages without any time moreover through these coins we can reconstruct many heritages for example heritages like Indo-Greeks ok so all these are important before discovering these coins what we were saying about post-Mauryan period what we were saying it is a dark age because politically many armies came from Indo-Greeks, Kushanas Sakas, Parthians all of them came like an all India empire the Mauryan empire got disintegrated little by little things like Magadha so till the next Gupta the next Gupta will come till then these 500 years we thought it was a dark age but when we got to know about these coins we got to know what we understood from that even though it was a politically backward time culturally, economically socially we connected with this world a good sophisticated empire with a good economic base we lived a good life what is that in entire ancient India what is that many historians say it is this age so post-Mauryan is over for us what we need next is how was the Gupta period how about Gupta we will see that in the next videos thank you all the best, have fun