6.Chapter 11.The Iron Age Civilisation.History

Chapter 11

The Iron Age Civilization

The Bronze Age Civilization had flourished in the eastern part of the world as the western world was far less advanced at that time. Around 1200 BC, the Iron Age followed the Bronze Age. The discovery of iron led to manufacturing  of stronger tools like sickle, shovel, spades, ax, saw, nails, etc. They helped in a variety of occupations. For example, the ax helped in clearing of jungles which led to large-scale cultivation. There was an increase in the  number of cities and towns. They became the centers of trade and craft. Many civilisations started developing around the Mediterranean Sea. Trade between different parts of the world, migration of people and changes in territories due to wars helped in the exchange of ideas.  , in turn, helped in the development of the making of tools in Iron Age knowledge of art and crafts. The Barter system was replaced by the use of currency Do You Know? 4 Iron age is usually assoc ted with the Pai  nted Gray Ware.  It refers to the ceramics which have been fired gray and painted with black designs.  Plates and bowls were common vessels made out of painted gray ware.  The greatest achievement of the Iron Age was in the field of literature.  Great poems, dramas, grammar and history were written.  Writing was not only used to keep the records but, it became a medium for self - expression and communication of ideas.  The great thinkers wrote about the injustice that was prevalent in the society.  This period also saw the development of many religions.  Remains of some of the ancient civilisations during Iron Age have been found in many parts o!  the world like Greece, Rome and Iran.  The development of iron helped them to flourish.  94

in the table given below, we find a comparative study of the Greek, Roman and Iranian civilisations.  Civilisations Greek Civilization Roman Civilization Religions Occupations Inventions Worshipped many Gods Agriculture, Ship Calculated the circumference and Goddesses Supreme building Trading of the earth, Drew maps of God - Zeus.  Sculpting, Pottery the world, Olympic games.  Worshipped Goddess Agriculture, Trading, Concrete, Water System, Vesta, Venus and Gods Fighting (warriors) Roads, Latin names of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Juno.  months, Roman laws.  Worshipped Gods- Indra, Trading Ship building, Aramaic script, Decoration Vayu, Mittru.  Fire and Crafts - silk weaving, of palaces with gold, silver, Zoroastrianism.pottery, metal work.gem precious stones, ebony and cutting.  ivory Iranian Civilization Now let us study about another important Iron Age civilisation that existed in India: The Vedic Civilisation.  THE VEDIC CIVILIZATION The word Veda or rig means 'knowledge'.  The knowledge contained in Vedas is for the whole mankind.  Because of the term 'Veda', this period of Indian history is called the Vedic Period as Vedas are the main source of information about this period.  There are four Vedas - Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.  The Vedic Period can be divided into Early Vedic Period and Later Vedic Period.  The Early Vedic Period is also referred to as the Rig Vedic Period as the Rigveda provides us information about this period.  The rest of the vedic literature - Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvavedo, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upnishads provide information about the Later Vedic Period which is also known as the Epic Age.  Do you know?  Rigveda is the oldest veda, composed about 3500 years ago.  This includes more than 1000 hymns known as Sukta which means' well said.  Those who composed hymns called themselves Ayrans and their opponents as Dasas or Dasyus.  Political Condition Rigveda mentions Rajas who were different from the later vedic kings.  They neither had capitals, cities, palaces or armies, nor they collected taxes.  Kingship was not on hereditary basis.  But in the Later Vedic Period there were a number of small and big kingdoms, where Kingship was hereditary.  95

King of a small kingdom was called a Raja.  A Samrat or Maharaja controlled a large kingdom known as a Rashtra.  The king was assisted by Purohit (priest), Mantri (minister), Senani (Commander of Army) and Gramini (headman of the village).  The king consulted the Sabha and the Samiti on all important matters.  The Sabha was a small body of selected village elders and the Samiti was a large assembly that was responsible for policy making.  The power of the kings increased in the Later Vedic Period.  They performed Rajasuya and Ashvamedha yajanas (horse sacrifice).  The Rajasuya sacrifice was performed by the king to gain supreme power and the Ashvamedha was for declaring his power over a vast territory.  The increase in the power of the kings resulted in decrease in the power of sabha and samiti.  Social Condition The basic unit of the society was the family.  The eldest male member was the head of the joint family.  He was known as Grihapati.  Women were held in great respect.  They were educated, women, like Apala and Gosha, even composed hymns.  The participation of wife was essential in all the religious ceremonies.  The social evils like sati - pratha and child - marriage were unknown in the Early Vedic Period but they gained importance in the Later Vedic Period as the status of women declined.  Do you know?  The princesses were allowed to choose their husbands by Swayamvara.  Chandalas were regarded as 'polluted' or 'untouchables'.  These people performed burials and cremations.  They had to live outside the village, used discarded utensils, worn iron ornaments and clothes of the dead people.  The society was divided into four Varnas (caste) namely, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.  Brahmins looked after the religious matters and Kshatriyas protected the people from internal and external harm.  The Vaishyas were the cultivators and craftsmen.  The Shudras were the labourers who served the above three classes.  The people of different Varnas had the freedom to intermingle, marry or change their occupations.  But, in the Later Vedic Period, the Varna System became hereditary and very rigid.  No one could change the occupation or the Varna.  But there were many areas like north - east where social and economic differences were not very sharp, even the influence of the priests was limited.  The Upnishads divided man's life into four Ashrams of 25 years each.  A man had to spend the first 25 years of his life in a gurukul where he learnt the art of life and religion.  This stage was called Brahmacharya Ashram.  The second stage of 25 years was called the Grihastha Ashram when a man

worked hard, got married and raised a family.  During the third stage, i.e.  Vanaprastha Ashram, he retired to the forests to meditate, in the last stage, which is called Sanyas Ashram, he lived a life of complete detachment and spent his time in preaching.  
Occupation 
Agriculture was the main occupation of the people.  They used ploughs which were pulled by oxen.  During this period, people irrigated their fields with water from the wells, canals and lakes.  They grew wheat, barley, rice, beans, etc.  , and domesticated animals like cows, bulls, sheep, goats and dogs.  The Aryans also introduced horses in India which were brought from Central Asia.  The discovery of iron had provided stronger tools, like ploughs, sickles, shovels, spades, axes, saws, nails and tongs, which helped in a variety of other crafts like pottery, weaving, carpentry, jewellery 
Do You Know?  making, etc.  The Aryans were expert traders.  Trade was mainly carried on land.  They used in the Later Vedic Period, coins, like Nishka, Shatamana and Krishnala, were also used.  barter system.  (The cow was used as a standard of value religion 
Religion The early Aryans worshipped many gods representing the forces of nature. Indra was worshipped as the god of thunder, Vayu - the god of wind, Prithvi -the god of earth, Agni - the god  of fire and Surya - the sun god. Milk, ghee, grains and flesh were offered as a part of sacrifices at yojanas. The early Aryans did not build temples. In the Later Vedic Period, the yajanas became very expensive and the nature Gods were  Do You Know? Replaced by new Gods - Brahma, Vishnu, The Law Code of Manu (Manu Smiriti or Manav Shiva, Rama and Krishna. The Later Vedic Dharmashastra) was prepared by Manu. It is an period seen the birth of Brahmanism and important  law book for the Hindus. Hinduism Achievements The Vedic literature throws light on the achievements of Aryans in the field of science. The Aryans knew the use of iron. They used it for making stronger tools and weapons. The ax helped in clearing jungles and spreading  agric  ulture.  Craftsmen, like carpenters, blacksmiths and tanners, were able to develop their crafts with better tools, iron weapons, like spearheads, swords and shields, helped in conquering new territories.  Mathematics was known as Ganita.  It included arithmetic, geometry and algebra.  The vedic people had the knowledge of 'zero', which helped them to calculate large numbers.  They also knew the decimal system, cube, cube root, square root, under root, etc.  Astronomy was

the favorite subject of Aryans.  They studied the movement of heavenly bodies.  They knew about the movement of the earth on its own axis, around the sun and the movement of moon around the earth.  The Aryans could foretell solar and lunar eclipses.  The vedic literature proves that the Vedic Civilisation was quite advanced.  The people led a happy and simple life.  Their clothes were made of cotton, wool and skins of animals.  They wore ornaments, they used madhu (honey), and took sura and soma ras.  They played many musical instruments like flute, drums and harp.  They were also fond of chariot racing, dancing, etc.  Keywords, atanyakaz: sacred treaties based on brahmanas.  tarter system exchange of goods or service in exchange of goods or services.  bralimanas commentaries on Vedas.  currency a system of money, in general use, in a particular country, gurukul.  a place where students were given education while living there only.  joint family, an extended family arrangement consisting of several generations living together in the same house upanishads a text containing philosophical concept.  Page 98