Discuss the main feature of trade and urbanization in the period 200 B.C- 200 A.D?
Answers
The flourishing trade and crafts and growing use of money was an incentive to the growth of new towns.
Vaishali, Pataliputra, Varanasi, Kausambi, Sravasti, Hastinapur, Mathura, Indraprastha etc. were some of the prosperous towns of North India during the Kushan period.
These towns find mention in the old Chinese texts or records of Chinese pilgrims. The town-sites of Sonpur, Buxur, and Ghazipur in Bihar also flourished during the Kushan age. Excavations have unearthed several Kushan towns in Meerut and Muzzaffarnagar districts. Ludhiana, Ropar and Jalandhar in the Punjab were among the flourishing towns. Ujjain was an important town of the Saka kingdom because it was nodal point of two trade routes – one from Mathura and the other from Kausambi.
During the reign of the Satvahana rulers also several towns flourished. Among them were Paithan, Broach, Sopara, Amravati, Nagarjunakonda, Arikamedu and Kaveripattanam which were highly prosperous centers of trade.
Causes of the Growth of Towns or Urban Settlements:
There were many causes for the growth and prosperity of several towns in the Post-Mauryan period, i.e. from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. In that period under the Satvahanas, the Kushans, the Indo- Parthians and the Saka rulers, India’s trade with Rome and Central Asia was at its zenith.
Several towns flourished in the Punjab and Western Uttar Pradesh. All these places were situated in the heart of their respective empires. Particularly, the Kushan kings ensured the security of the trade-routes which was one of the causes for the prosperity of these towns. But in the third century A.D. with the decline of these kingdoms, the glory and prosperity of these towns also declined.
Science and Technology in Post-Mauryan Period:
There was a great progress in the field of Science and technology, particularly in the field of crafts, mining and metallurgy from c. 200 B.C. to c. 300 A.D.
Remarkable strides were made in the fields of arts and craft during the reign of the Sakas, the Kushans, the Satvahanas and the Tamil Kings (c. 200 B.C. to c. 300 A.D.) Mahavastu a composition of crafts catalogues 36 kinds of crafts being practiced in the town of Raggu and Milinda Panha or the ‘Questions of Milinda’ enumerates 75 of them.
Great advances and specialization had been reached in metallurgy, glass manufacture, architecture, sculpture, weaving, carpentry, ironsmithy, making arms, dye making, fishing etc.
The post-Mauryan period saw remarkable progress made in the crafts of weaving silk and cloth making. Mathura was a great center of cloth-making. Ivory crafts were at its zenith. Articles of ivory have been found at Rome and Afghanistan.
The Indian craftsmen were well-versed with the art of glass melting and manufacturing glass articles. The bead-cutting craft and sculpture making were highly developed.
The rich wore necklaces made of diamond beads. Perfumes and several other articles of luxury were also made in abundance. Making arms and jewellery were also popular crafts. Architecture, sculpture and construction of caves were at its zenith. Indian workmen were considered master craftsmen. As already discussed the Gandhara School of Art developed during this period. The chief centers of art were Gandhara, Sarnath, Amravati and Mathura. Several monasteries, Viharas and caves were constructed during this period.
Mining and Metallurgy:
In the post-Mauryan period (200 B.C. to 300 A.D.) India made much advancement in mining and metallurgy. In the contemporary literature, there is reference to eight crafts associated with the working of gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, brass, iron and precious stones or jewels. Various kinds of zinc, brass, antimony (brighter metallic substance and red arsenic (Sankhia) have also been mentioned which clearly prove the advancement made in the field of metallurgy.
Especially, much progress was made in the work and technology of iron. Not only different weapons, balance rods, socketed axes, hoes, sickles, ploughshares, razers and ladles (or large spoons with a cup or bowl) began to be made but steel was also manufactured. Indian iron and steel, including cutlery were in great demand in western Asia. According to Pliny, the Romans were prepared to pay anything for Indian cutlery.
Following were the main features of trade and urbanization in the period 200 BC-200 AD.
1. The internal trade was flourishing during the period.
2. The external and long distance trade via Silk Route made great progress during this period.
3. More and more crafts and craft specialization in Urban areas was another main feature.
4. Trade and crafts were organised into guilds called Shreni, Nigam etc.
5. Coins of gold, silver etc were more and more used in the exchange of goods which was the main feature of trade during the period.
6. Malwa, Kaushambi, Gandhar, Taxila, Mathura etc became important centers of trade and other activities.
7. Balance of trade was in favor of India.