Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

encyclopedia

Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems

Lalitaditya and during the ninth century, Minister Surya during the

reign of Avantivarman in Kashmir were credited with providing

canals to prevent flooding and irrigation by construction of dams

and irrigation canals.

The

Brihatsamhita

mentions that in the Gupta period there

were three harvests — summer, autumn and spring crops. The

seeds sown in the summer would be reaped in

Shravana

(early part

of autumn). The harvest was known as summer crops. The seeds

sown in autumn ripened in the spring and those sown in early spring

gave summer crops in

Caitra

Vaishakha.

The first two crops

would have been rice and wheat, the last was of pulses, beans etc.

Knowledgeable farmers attuned to cultivating their crops according

to the season, soil, rainfall etc. produced rice, wheat, barley, peas,

lentil, pulses, spices, vegetables etc.

Kalidasa in

Raghuvamsa

refers to transplanted rice in Bengal.

Amarakosha

mentions vegetables like cucumber, onion, pumpkin

and gourd; sugarcane to succeed rice and harvested during winter;

cotton grown in Saurashtra or Kathiawar; pepper and cardamom in

the valleys of the modern Nilgiris in southern India; coconut in

coastal areas of Bengal, Orissa and Madras. In addition, reference

exists to other spices like mustard, clove, ginger and turmeric;

saffron, betel-nut, tamarind, sesamum, linseed: and other fibre

species like silk, cotton, flax, hemp, and aloe etc., and dye crops like

indigo. Amongst the fruit crops mango was the most popular.

Surapala's

Vrikshayurveda

written in the 10th century A.D.

classifies diseases of trees into two groups viz. 1) Those arising

out of internal disorders and those attacking from the outside.

Internal diseases were caused by disorders of the wind (

vata

phlegm

(kapha)

and bile

(pitta)

while external diseases were

caused by vermin, frost etc. The methods of treatment recom-

mended involved, the administration of flesh, lymph, fat,

ghee,

fumigation of the tree with fumes of white mustard etc.

Breeding, feeding and maintenance of domestic animals and

livestock received special attention. The

Krishi Parashara

outlined

rules of tending cattle. Every village possessed common pasture

and places of drinking water for the cattle. The

Agnipurana

stipu-

lates fumigation with vapours of the resin from

Pinus deodara

(devadaru),

shorea robusta or sal resin

(guggulu),

asafoetida

(hing)

to prevent diseases. Oilcake was considered good for the

nutrition of cattle.

Even though agriculture in ancient India demonstrated vigorous

growth, the practices were not free from superstitions and astro-

logical beliefs. Every event in agriculture was guided by the

movement of the planets and every activity was planned to propiti-

ate prevailing planetary influences.

Agricultural practices in India are replete with pithy sayings

and proverbs, which keep guiding the agriculturist in the rural India

even today.

Centuries of experience based on adoption of long trial and

error methodologies in a diverse topography that exists in the rural

scenario of India have led India from the ancient to the medieval.

Introduction of new crops, introduction of new plants of horti-

cultural importance brought by the foreign traders and introduction

of new land tenure systems by the erstwhile rulers marked the

medieval period. While the agricultural practices were more or less

the same as in ancient India, the geographic distribution of the main

food-crops was more or less as it is today. Renewed efforts at

irrigation resulted in construction of canals of greater length in

north-western part of India, whereas smaller projects were imple-

mented in south India.

In addition to the principal food crops, cultivation of cotton was

on the increase and sugarcane spread widely during the Moghul

period. Bayona region was planted with indigo, Malwa and Bihar

with opium, Western Ghats was initiated to coffee during the sev-

enteenth century, Western Kashmir with saffron and fruits, the

Pandyan kingdom in South with ginger and cinnamon, Malabar with

cardamom, the modern Ooty with sandalwood and Kerala, south

Kanara and Bengal with coconuts.

Potato and cashew from South America, pineapple from the

United States of America; guava and custard apple introduced by

the Portuguese in the early 16th century; tobacco and chillies

(capsicum) in the latter half of the 16th century, formed some of the

new crops introduced. Grafting of mango during 1550 A.D. revolu-

tionised mango as a horticultural cash crop.

Irrigation from wells in Upper Gangetic plains; arhat or rahat

(Persian wheel) in the Punjab, the Charas (bucket made of leather)

in Agra and surroundings and the Denkli based on the lever principle

were adopted. The tank at Porumilla constructed in 1291 A.D., and

the Great Anicut at Srirangam across the Kaveri by a Chola king,

provided water for irrigation in the south. Tank building or restora-

tion for irrigation purposes was treated as a benevolent act. Water

lifting from wells was done with the help of a pulley wheel device

fixed to a horizontal bar through which a rope is passed, to one end

of which is tied the bucket, which is lowered into water and after

filling is pulled by the free end by hand.

Dykes were erected and kept in constant repair to prevent

flooding and prevention of entry of salt water from the estuaries

during high tide and consequent waterlogging in the lowlands of

Kerala and Goa to enable cultivation of rice in the valleys.

Land in the hill tops was reserved for grazing as well as for

obtaining firewood. Rest of the land was assigned to joint families

for raising plantations. The forests on the slopes were used for

slash and burn cultivation by the farmers.

Longest canals were constructed in the early eighteenth century

like the eastern Jamuna canal; Nahar-i-Bihist or Shah Nahar built

by Shahjahan to bring water to Shahjahanabad in Delhi and to bring

water to Lahore from the Ravi at Raipur near the Siwalik hills.

According to B.A. Keen, Director of the Imperial Agricultural

Research Institute, at Pusa during 1930-’31, as supported by Dr.

Anderson of Fort St. George, Madras, seed drills, with wooden

bowls with three or four tubes for depositing seeds, which were

introduced in England in the first quarter of the 18th Century were

being used in India much earlier.

Herdsmen as expert cattle breeders were known in medieval

India and the report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture (1928)

attributed some of the finest breeds of cattle named after the

regions where they have been bred like the Punjab, Gujarat,

Mysore, Ongole etc.

There has been elaborate proof that there was all-round dete-

rioration during the medieval period. The causes are: a) Foreign

invasions, b) Internal squabbles, and c) Impoverished farmers.

This led to agriculture being relegated to the background.

(J.R.)