TRADERS, KINGS AND PILGRIMSGRIMSGRIMS - NCERT

1 91 nJagini at the markJagini at the markJagini at the markJagini at the markJagini at the marketetetetetJagini looked forward to the fair in the village. She lovedto see and touch the pots and pans of shiny steel, brightplastic buckets, cloth printed with brilliant floral designs,and clockwork toys, all of which came from the city. Themen who spread out their wares came in buses and trucksand went back at the end of the day. Why were theyalways on the move? She wondered. Her motherexplained that they were traders people who boughtthings where they were made, and sold them to fw to fw to fw to fw to find out about trind out about trind out about trind out about trind out about trade and trade and trade and trade and trade and tradersadersadersadersadersYou read about the Northern Black Polished Warein Chapter 8.

2 This fine pottery, especially bowlsand plates, were found from several archaeologicalsites throughout the subcontinent. How do youthink it reached these places? Traders may havecarried them from the places where they weremade, to sell them at other India was famous for gold, spices,especially pepper, and precious stones. Pepperwas particularly valued in the Roman Empire, somuch so that it was known as black gold. So,traders carried many of these goods to Rome inships, across the sea, and by land in must have been quite a lot of trade as manyRoman gold coins have been found in south you think of how and why these reachedIndia?

3 CHAPTER 9 TRADERS, KINGS AND PILTRADERS, KINGS AND PILTRADERS, KINGS AND PILTRADERS, KINGS AND PILTRADERS, KINGS AND PILGRIMSGRIMSGRIMSGRIMSGRIMSTRADERS, KINGS ANDPILGRIMS2021-22n 92 OUR PASTS IA poem about trA poem about trA poem about trA poem about trA poem about tradeadeadeadeadeWe can find evidence of trade in the Sangam is one which describes the goods broughtinto Puhar, an important port on the east coast: (Here are brought)Swift, prancing horses by sea in ships,Bales of black pepper in carts,Gems and gold born in the Himalayas,Sandalwood born in the western hills,The pearls of the southern seasAnd corals from the eastern oceansThe yield of the Ganga and the crops from theKaveri,Foodstuffs from Sri Lanka, pottery fromMyanmar,And other rare and rich imports.

4 Make a list of all the things that are would they be used for?Traders explored several sea routes. Some ofthese followed the coasts. There were others acrossthe Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, wheresailors took advantage of the monsoon winds tocross the seas more quickly. So, if they wanted toreach the western coast of the subcontinent fromEast Africa or Arabia, they chose to sail with thesouth-west monsoon. And sturdy ships had to bebuilt for these long kingdoms along the coastsNew kingdoms along the coastsNew kingdoms along the coastsNew kingdoms along the coastsNew kingdoms along the coastsThe southern half of the subcontinent is markedby a long coastline, and with hills, plateaus, andriver valleys.

5 Amongst the river valleys, that ofthe Kaveri is the most fertile. Chiefs and kingswho controlled the river valleys and the coastsbecame rich and powerful. Sangam poemsmention the muvendar. This is a Tamil wordmeaning three chiefs, used for the heads of three2021-2293 nruling families, the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas(see Map 7, page 105), who became powerful insouth India around 2300 years of the three chiefs had two centres ofpower: one inland, and one on the coast. Of thesesix cities, two were very important: Puhar orKaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas, andMadurai, the capital of the chiefs did not collect regular taxes.

6 Instead,they demanded and received gifts from the also went on military expeditions, andcollected tribute from neighbouring areas. Theykept some of the wealth and distributed the restamongst their supporters, including members oftheir family, soldiers, and poets. Many poetswhose compositions are found in the Sangamcollection composed poems in praise of chiefs whooften rewarded them with precious stones, gold,horses, elephants, chariots, and fine 200 years later a dynasty known as theSatavahanas became powerful in western India(see Map 7, page 105). The most important ruler ofthe Satavahanas was Gautamiputra Shri know about him from an inscription composedon behalf of his mother, Gautami Balashri.

7 He andother Satavahana rulers were known as lords ofthe dakshinapatha, literally the route leading tothe south, which was also used as a name for theentire southern region. He sent his army to theeastern, western and southern do you think he wanted to control thecoasts?The storThe storThe storThe storThe story of the Silk Ry of the Silk Ry of the Silk Ry of the Silk Ry of the Silk RouteouteouteouteouteThe rich, glossy colours of silk, as well as itssmooth texture, make it a highly valued fabric inmost societies. Making silk is a complicatedprocess. Raw silk has to be extracted from theTRADERS, KINGS ANDPILGRIMS2021-22n 94 OUR PASTS Icocoons of silk worms, spun into thread and thenwoven into cloth.

8 Techniques of making silk werefirst invented in China around 7000 years the methods remained a closely guardedsecret for thousands of years, some people fromChina who went to distant lands on foot,horseback, and on camels, carried silk with paths they followed came to be known as theSilk , Chinese rulers sent gifts of silk torulers in Iran and west Asia, and from there, theknowledge of silk spread further west. About 2000years ago, wearing silk became the fashionamongst rulers and rich people in Rome. It wasvery expensive, as it had to be brought all theway from China, along dangerous roads, throughmountains and deserts.

9 People living along theroute often demanded payments for allowingtraders to pass at Map 6 (pages 76-77) which shows theSilk Route and its branches. Some KINGS tried tocontrol large portions of the route. This wasbecause they could benefit from taxes, tributesand gifts that were brought by traders travellingalong the route. In return, they often protectedthe traders who passed through their kingdomsfrom attacks by best-known of the rulers who controlledthe Silk Route were the Kushanas, who ruled overcentral Asia and north-west India around 2000years ago. Their two major centres of power werePeshawar and Mathura.

10 Taxila was also includedin their kingdom. During their rule, a branch ofthe Silk Route extended from Central Asia downto the seaports at the mouth of the river Indus,from where silk was shipped westwards to theRoman Empire. The Kushanas were amongst theearliest rulers of the subcontinent to issue gold2021-2295 ncoins. These were used by traders along the do you think it would have been difficultto use carts along the Silk Route?Silk was also sent from China by sea. Tracethe routes on Map 6 (pages 76-77). What do youthink would have been the advantages andproblems in transporting silk by sea?The spread of BuddhismThe spread of BuddhismThe spread of BuddhismThe spread of BuddhismThe spread of BuddhismThe most famous Kushana ruler was Kanishka,who ruled around 1900 years ago.