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Eternal India
encyclopedia
Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS AND TRADITIONS
The history of agriculture in India begins with the Indus Valley
riparian culture. The alluvial soil, relatively heavy monsoon rainfall
and the water from the Indus, provided substantial agricultural
support to the teeming populations of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
The river made transport, trade and irrigation easy.
One of the ideograms reveals the use of a toothed harrow for
cultivation. Flood-irrigation and the arrangements for drawing
water for irrigation by the use of a certain jar type pottery and long
rope on contrivances like the wheel, similar to that utilised in the
Near and Middle East, have been mentioned by Marshall and
Mackay.
The wheat unearthed during the Mohenjo-Daro period, which
were identified as
Triticum sphaerococcum
and
T. compactum,
are
still cultivated in the region of modern Punjab. Evidences exist that
agriculture during those days comprised cultivation of wheat, bar-
ley, sesamum, peas, cotton, datepalm, pomegranate and banana.
The querns (a stone handmill) found in the excavations show
how the grinding of the grain was done on an extensive scale.
Grinding Millstone
Rotary Mill
Flat quern with roller pin
Invocations to Gods of plenty and prosperity in
RigVedic
and
Atharvavedic
hymns indicate that agriculture was an important vo-
cation during the Vedic period. Agricultural practices had social and
religious significance. Domestic rites and festivals during the
Vedic period synchronized with the four main agricultural opera-
tions like ploughing, sowing, harvesting and threshing, animal hus-
bandry and maintenance of cattle. This practice is continued until
this day.
Similarities existing in the agricultural expressions in Vedic
India and Iran suggest possible similarities in the agricultural prac-
tices undertaken, at that time, in these two countries.
The mention of a plough (
langala)
drawn by six, eight, or twelve
oxen to bring the soil to the desired tilth by repeated ploughing;
sieve (
titau
) to separate grain from the straw, vessel (
urdara
) to
measure grain, choice of the use of dried cow-dung
(karisa
, as
opposed to fresh cow-dung),
sakrt,
as manure in several refer-
ences of the
RigVeda
and the process of cultivation and harvesting
using the plough and sickle, respectively in
Kathaka Samhita,
all
point to the level of agriculture during this period.
Agricultural production for the Vedic people had the same con-
notation as human reproduction, for mention has been made of
cultivation of crops in
Atharvaveda
to “Scatter the seeds in the
prepared ground
(yoni
)”.
Even though mention exists of the cultivation of wheat and
barley during the RigVedic period, rice must have been growing
wild. It was not until the time the
Taittiriya, Kathaka Samhitas
and
the
Atharvaveda
were written that rice must have been domesti-
cated and the technology developed because references to good
quality rice (
tandula, vrihi, sali )
as opposed to wild variety (
ni-
vara),
husked (
karna
) and unhusked (
akarna
), and rotation of
crops, involving sowing of rice in summer and pulses in the winter,
exists. During this period two harvests were undertaken. Rox-
burgh, the famous botanist, acknowledges crop rotation as an
Indian contribution to the Western world. The farmer seemed to
possess a fairly good knowledge of the fertility of the land, selec-
tion and treatment of the seeds, seasons of sowing and harvesting,
rotation and other practices, manuring for increased production etc.
Amongst the several domestic animals were bulls, oxen,
sheep, goat and cows. The usefulness and importance of the cow is
extolled in the RigVedic hymns.
Seal of a bull - Mohenjo-Daro
During the Vedic period farmers were also conversant with the
principles of collecting water from catchment areas in hilly terrain
and carrying it through canals. Mention also exists of
'asmachakra',
a water lifting wheel device made of stone to which pails were
strapped with leather belts,
'drona', 'ghatayantra'
or
'udghatana'
which are drum shaped wheels to which
'ghata'
or earthen pots
were tied at equal distances which were operated by endless ropes.
During the post-Vedic, Magadha period, when political unifica-
tion was attempted, taxes were collected from subjects who fol-
lowed different livelihoods
(vartta
or
vritti),
vocations like agricul-
ture (
krishi
), cattle raising (
pasupalana
) and trade (
vanijya
).
The
Arthasastra
of Kautilya also mentions settlement of sub-
jects in unoccupied (
sunyanivesa
) lands with an aim to increase
agricultural production. Construction and maintenance of irrigation
works ensured continued productivity of land. Keeping fallow of
fertile uncultivated land was considered a culpable offence. Land
use classification based on the status of cultivation or position was
attempted. Similarly, the suitability of land to the crop was also
well documented.
The
Arthasastra
also defined the qualifications and job de-
scriptions of the
“Sitadhyaksa”
or the Director of Agriculture, who
should be conversant with the suitability of the soil, ploughing,
preparation of the soil, selection of seeds etc., and correlate to the