Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.
Mahajanapadas were states that existed between 6th and 4th BC centuries. Buddhist and Jain texts mention sixteen Mahajanapadas. The name of all these are not uniform in all texts but some names are common and uniform which means they were the powerful ones. These Mahajanapadas are Vajji, Magadha, Kaushal, Kuru, Panchal, and Gandhar.
The important features of the Mahajanapadas are as follows.
- Most of the Mahajanapadas were ruled by powerful kings. However, there were some Mahajanapadas where rule was in the hands of people, we call them republics. In some states the king and the subject had collective control on the economic resources of the state.
- Every Mahajanapadas had its own capital. The capital normally would be surrounded by forts. The fortification of the capital was needed for protection and economic resources.
- It was around 6th Century BC, Brahmins began to compile scripture called “Dharma Shastra” which states rules of morality including that of monarch. Herein it was mentioned that the king should be Kshatriya.
- The main job of the king was collection of taxes from farmers, traders, craftsmen. They also accepted donations.
- It was considered fair to plunder neighbouring countries for riches.
- Gradually Mahajanapadas began to have full time army and officials. Soldiers were from the ranks of farmers.
Popular Questions of Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - I
- Q:-
Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.
- Q:-
How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?
- Q:-
Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.
- Q:-
How important were gender differences in early societies? Give reasons for your answer.
- Q:-
On Map 1, use a pencil to circle sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.
- Q:-
Look at Fig. 1.30 and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?
- Q:-
Discuss the evidence that suggests that Brahmanical prescriptions about kinship and marriage were not universally followed.
- Q:-
Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro.
- Q:-
Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.
- Q:-
Discuss how and why stupas were built.
Recently Viewed Questions of Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - I
- Q:-
List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.
- Q:-
List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.
- Q:-
Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.
- Q:-
Discuss how and why stupas were built.
- Q:-
This is what a famous historian of Indian literature, Maurice Winternitz, wrote about the Mahabharata: “just because the Mahabharata represents more of an entire literature ... and contains so much and so many kinds of things, … (it) gives(s) us an insight into the most profound depths of the soul of the Indian folk.” Discuss.
- Q:-
On Map 1, use a pencil to circle sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.
- Q:-
In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha sukta?
- Q:-
Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.
- Q:-
Discuss the notions of kingship that developed in the post-Mauryan period.
- Q:-
This is a statement made by one of the best-known epigraphists of the twentieth century, D.C. Sircar: “There is no aspect of life, culture and activities of the Indians that is not reflected in inscriptions.” Discuss.
- NCERT Chapter