EHI - 02

6th Part 

Block 7
Unit 27- Unit 28

Q. How did different categories of chiefdoms co-exist and interact?

A. There were three different kinds of chiefdoms in Tamilaham. They were of the kizar (little chiefs), velir (bigger chiefs) and vedar (the biggest chiefs) categories of chiefs. 

The Kizar were headmen of small villages (Ur), generally bound by kinship. The Chera, Chola, and Pandya were the three principal ruling houses of the biggest category of chiefs. They were known as Muvendar. They had several lesser chiefs under their service and paying tributes (tiarai). There was no notion of a demarcated

territory. The political authority functioned through control over peoples rather than privileges over basic resources. All chiefs, big and small, had to resort to plunder raids for satisfying the needs of their people. The chiefs redistributed the booty among their warriors, bards, and medicants besides their own kinsmen. The

institution of gift-giving (Kodai) was integral to the practice of booty redistribution. Gift-giving was considered to be the most important responsibility of any chief. Plunder raids and booty redistribution thus became the characteristic feature of the contemporary polity. Chiefs of all kinds indulged in plundering against one another. Lesser chiefs joined hands with the big ones in plunder campaigns and obtained their shares of booty. Cattle and grain constituted the routine items of booty. A state presupposes the existence of standing militia, regular taxation, bureaucracy, and

local administrative bodies. These had not evolved as yet. Nonetheless, the authority of the Muvendar was significantly different from that of the other categories of chiefs. Their subjugation of lesser chiefs was an ongoing process. The main concern of all the three ruling groups- Cheras, Cholas, and Pandyas was the subordination of velir chiefs who were next in importance. Apart from direct combats, the bigger chiefs tried to gain access to the velir domains through marriage relations also. There were

several instances of the Cheras. Cholas, and Pandyas taking their brides from velir families. In the case of the village chiefs of strategic areas, the bigger chiefs adopted the method of military control. They were subjugated and made subservient to the

bigger chiefs. Muvendar had several such subjugated chiefs as their subordinates serving them in plunder raids. The Muvendar was the most powerful political authority in contemporary Tamizakam. Next to them was the political authority of velir. The village chiefs of Kizar constituted the primary level of political authority. Although this gives the impression of a political hierarchy, there was no determinate chain of political control uniting these three levels of political authority. The integration of the lesser chiefs was in progress under the subjugative and marital policies of Muvendar. But a unified political system was still in the making. The traditional authority over resident communities based on kinship remained fundamental to contemporary political control. Traditional assembly of elders transacted the day to day affairs in

every settlement.

Unit 29

Q. Write three features of the barter system in ancient south India.

A. In the barter system of the far south, the following features can be noted:

i) Most of the items of exchange were of consumption articles.

ii) The exchange was not profit-oriented

iii) As in the case of production, distribution also was subsistence-oriented.

Barter was the most common mode of transaction in the context of the local exchange. Most of the items of barter were for immediate consumption. Salt, fish, paddy, dairy products, roots, venison, honey, and toddy were the regular items of barter in the far

south.

Q. Write about three lines on the Salt Caravans in Tamilaham.

A. Salt making was done exclusively by the community of Paratavas mentioned in the Sangam region as living in the nytal (coastal) region, and so they had to devote their whole time for these activities. The salt merchants were known as umanas in

Tamilaham. In the Coastal areas and the neighboring villages, the umana hawker girls carried salt in head loads and bartered it mainly with paddy. In the interior rural villages, salt was taken by the umanas. Big bags of salt were transported in carts drawn by bullocks or asses. The salt merchants moved in large groups. These salt caravans were called umanchathu. They bartered salt for the local products. Thus the umanchathu acted as the collectors of merchandise from different parts of the regions. The umanas moved in caravans with their families. No organization other than the family is known to have existed among the salt merchants. Most of the routes passed through dense forests and over hills where wild tribes lived. The wayside robbery was a perpetual threat to the merchants and the caravans employed guards of their own, in the absence of effective protection from the rulers.

Q. Write three lines on the local coins in South India.

A. Local coins of different varieties were prevalent in different regions in peninsular India. Ancient Tamil literature speaks about some of the coins like Kasu, Kanam, Pon and Ven Pon. In the Deccan, inscriptions refer to the use of Kahapanas which were silver coins locally minted and to Suvarnas which refer to gold coins either of the Romans or the Kushans. From the second century B.C. Kings of small localities, Maharathi and other families started minting coins in their own name. To these were added coins of Satavahana rulers minted in different metals from the

first century B.C. onward.

Q. Write seven lines on the Roman Coins and their use in South India.

A. The Roman coins were mostly in gold and silver while Copper coins were also in circulation although in small numbers. Roman money was brought to purchase items that were in demand in the west like ivory, spices, scented wood, etc. These items could not be procured by exchanging Roman things in bulk in the barter system and needs the money to procure items. Big transactions were done by means of gold coins while Silver coins were used for comparatively small purchases. The Roman coins were accepted in the form of bullion as they were made of Gold and Silver. In south India, these coins were used as ornaments too.

Q. Write five lines on the relations between the monasteries and the traders

A. Some of the famous ancient Buddhist cave sites and religious centers in the Deccan were situated on trade routes. These religious centers were helpful in many ways to the merchant-caravans. Besides providing food and shelter they even issued loans thus were facilitating the trading. The rulers also showed interest in the conditions of the routes. They donated liberally to Buddhist religious establishments which were located on the routes. The

relationship between rulers, commercial groups & Buddhist monastic establishments was responsible for introducing important changes in society and the economy of the region.

Q. Write five lines on the impact of trade and Urbanism on the local traders and artisans

A. The participation of local trading groups was necessary also for long-distance trade. So the advantage of this trade filtered down to the other levels of society. The wealth & prosperity of the artisans, craftsmen, and traders are reflected in their donations to the Buddhist monasteries. The guild organizations of artisans and

traders were instrumental in breaking old kinship ties and introducing a new type of relations in the production of handicrafts and in trading ventures. The relationship between rulers, commercial groups and Buddhist monastic establishments was responsible for introducing important changes in society and

the economy of the Deccan.

Unit 31

Q. What do you know about the literary conventions of the Tamil bardic tradition?

A. The Tamil heroic poems are called the Sangam literature since they were collected and classified by the Sangam which was an academy of scholars. Ettuttogai or the eight collections of poems & Pattupattu or the ten idylls are the two categories of anthologies that comprise the heroic poems. Narrinai, Kuruntokai, Ainkurunuru, Patirruppattu, etc. are the few examples of anthologies grouped under Ettuttokai, Mullaippattu, Madurikkanj, Kurunjippattu, etc. are the example of anthologies under Pattupattu. The anthologies are divided into akam, dealing with themes of subjective experience like love or affection, and Puram, dealing with themes of objectification like raid or plunder. Both the above categories of anthologies comprise collections of poems based on akam and Puram themes.

Akananuru, a collection of four hundred poems based on akam themes and Purananuru, a similar collection based on puram themes are two examples of the Ettuttogai category. In the same manner, there are examples of both akam and Puram anthologies in the Pattupattu category. Apart from the heroic anthologies,

the classified corpus of Sangam literature includes Tolkappiyam, a treatise on Tamil grammar and Patinenkizkanakku, the eighteen didactic texts also. The famous Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar is one of the eighteen didactic texts. Both Tolkappiya and Patinenkizkanakku were composed after most of the Ettuttogai and Pattupattu

poems had been composed. The diction and the techniques of composition of the heroic anthologies keep them distinct from other texts that are later.