State and Society up to 1000 CE Class 9 Notes SST Chapter 5

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Class 9 State and Society up to 1000 CE Notes

Class 9 SST Chapter 5 State and Society up to 1000 CE Notes

Class 9 SST Chapter 5 Notes – State and Society up to 1000 CE Notes Class 9

• Archeological evidence of the past is supported by literary texts like the Rig Veda, which dates back to at least 2000 BCE.
• These text sources provide details about the social, political, cultural, and moral systems of ancient times.
• The earliest social systems were based on family relations or blood ties (kin- based), which were known as kula and jana.
• Over time, these small social units developed into larger territory-based political areas called janapadas and maltajanapadas.
• These territories eventually grew into large empires, such as the Mauryas in the eastern part of the Gangetic plain, Guptas in northern India and the Cholas in southern India.
• The political idea of a unified (Pan-Indian) ruler was shown through rituals like the ashvamedha yajna and the concept of the chakravarti samrat.

The moral and social rule of dharma also continued to be a long-lasting principle throughout these changes.

Understanding Early Indian State And Society

• When large groups of people live together, they develop shared rules and norms over time to maintain peace and order. These rules connect different social groups into a structured system that helps to govern and organise people properly.
• Indian society created several organisational systems based on existing traditions, customs, and accepted cultural practices from early times.
• A Society is a network of social relationships among people who share the same territory, culture, and sense of belonging.
• It includes basic units like families, institutions like marriage, and cultural customs that guide individuals and social life.
• Apart from formal laws, a society is usually managed by its customs and cultural rituals.
• A State is an organised political system that functions according to official rules, laws, and governance structures.
• It contains clear rights and duties for both the rulers and the citizens, along with institutions to maintain law and order.
• In ancient times, these political systems grew as human societies and became larger and more complex over time.

The Beginnings…
The Vedas are the earliest known collection of Indian literature, particularly because the script used by the people of the Sindhu- Sarasvati civilisation has not been decoded yet.
Before it was finally written down, the Vedic literature was passed down orally from one generation to the next for many centuries.
The Rig Veda was composed in the northwestern part of the Indian tAl-i iHl” Manuscript subcontinent, and both the Rig Veda and the Sindhu-Sarasvati civilisation were familiar with the use of copper.

Rig Veda Manuscript

State And Administration
The Vedic Period
There are four Vedas: The Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva

• The Rig Veda, the earliest of the four Vedas, consists of 1,028 hymns dedicated to various deities and universal themes like birth and death.
• The Yajur Veda explains the rituals of yajnas and elaborates the hymns mentioned in the Rig Veda with comprehensive explanations in prose.
• The Sama Veda consists of musical hymns taken from the Rig Veda, and its chanting style forms the basic foundation for the seven svaras of Indian music.
• The Atharva Veda contains a variety of hymns meant to protect against evil and to cure different physical and mental sicknesses.

Every Vedic text is divided into four sections; the Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka, and Upanishad.

• Samhitas are collections of prayers used to call upon gods and offer sacrifices during a yajna.
• Brahmanas are books written in prose that give detailed explanations on how to perform religious rituals.
• Aranyakas contain the philosophical thoughts and ideas of wise sages who lived in the forests.
• Upanishads discuss deep spiritual topics regarding the Inner-Self (Atman) and the Ultimate Universal Being (Brahman).
• Historians study Vedic texts to learn about ancient geography, such as the Sapta-Sindhu region where the earliest parts of the Rig Veda were written.
• These texts are foundational to Indian culture because they provide deep insights into the social systems, politics, economy, and religious traditions of the people.

Political Institutions In The Vedic Period
Early Vedic society was structured into small clans or groups of people called janas.

The Rig Veda mentions nearly thirty different janas like the Puru, Anu, Druhyu, Yadu, and Turvasha together called thepanchajana.

During this time, the raja acted mainly as a leader of the clan who protected the people and led them during battles.

The Rig Veda and Atharva Veda mention three important political assemblies known as the sabha, samiti, and vidhata.

• Sabha was a smaller assembly consisted of respected elders of the society. It acted as a court of law, settling disputes among people.
• Samiti was a larger body that resolved political affairs and introduced new policies. It even selected the kings and helped them make crucial political decisions.
• Vidhata was a key gathering of nobles, serving as a forum for community decisions, knowledge-sharing, and discussions on politics, warfare, and defense.

Early Kingdoms And Republics
Between 1000 BCE and 600 BCE, the political system changed from family- based groups to territory-based areas called janapadas.

The word janapada means the place where a group of people first sets foot, showing that people developed a sense of belonging to a specific land.

As land control, farming, and trade routes became important, societies developed more complicated administrative systems.

Between 600 BCE and 300 CE, larger political units calledmahajanapadas developed, and historical texts mention sixteen of them.

Magadha, located in modern-day Bihar, became the most powerful mahajanapada due to its prominent location, fertile soil, and capable rulers.

The growth of Magadha eventually led to the rise of the Mauryan Empire, which was one of the largest and most powerful empires in early India.

By 600 BCE, Vedic culture shifted from the Indus and Sarasvati valleys to the Ganga plains, leading to major improvements in agriculture and larger social structures.

The political landscape of northern India during this time included two types of governments: monarchical states (rajyasj and republican states (ganas or samghas).

In the Deccan region, the Satavahana empire took over after the Mauryas and ruled for nearly 500 years from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE.

In southern India, regional powers like the Cholas, Pandyas, Keralaputras, and Satiyaputras developed, and their names are recorded in the inscriptions of emperor Ashoka.

Duties And Ideals Of The King
From the 6th century BCE, rulers took titles like raja, maharaj, or samrat based on the local political traditions of their regions.

Early Indian sources like Kautilya’s Arthashastra state that a king must be active and hardworking so that his officials follow his example.

According to the Yajur Veda coronation oath, a king must judge both the strong and weak fairly, protect the country from disasters, and work for the public welfare.

The Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata guides rulers on moral behaviour, justice, and their duty to protect citizens from outside attacks and internal trouble.

• Kings were responsible for handling legal cases like robbery, theft, and kidnapping, and they gave severe punishments or even death penalties for serious crimes.
• Royal power was usually passed down through families, but some historical references show that kings could also be elected or removed from power.
• Ancient Indian rulers had a geopolitical awareness of the entire Indian subcontinent, using terms like Ashvamedha, Rajasuya yajna, Prithivi, Jambudvipa, Bharatavarsha, and Chakravarti-kshetra.
• Emperor Ashoka used the word.Jambudvipa in his edicts, while the Arthashastra defined prithivi as the land between the Himalayas and the sea.
• The desire to rule over the entire subcontinent continued for centuries, as seen when the southern Chera king Nedunjeral Adan claimed to reach the Himalayas.
• In the 11th century CE, the Chola ruler Rajendra I took the title Gangaikonda to celebrate his military victories near the Ganga River.

Council Ministers

• Kautilya stated that the state is made up of seven essential parts, which are the king, the ministers, the territory, the forts, the treasury, the army, and the allies.
• The state can work successfully only when all these seven components function together in an integrated manner.
• The Arthashastra is an early and systematic book on statecraft that explains administration and stresses the need for training the king in governance.
• The council of ministers was a central group of experienced statesmen meant to advise and assist the king.
• This council usually consisted of important officials like the treasurer, the chief tax collector, the chief legal advisor, and the army commander-in-chief. It could take independent decisions for the public wellbeing if the king was not present.

How Were Empires Administrated?

• Early Indian kingdoms and empires were divided into provinces, divisions, districts, and villages to manage administration.
• In the Satavahana empire, administrative divisions were called aharas and were managed by ministers known as amatyas, while village headmen were called gramikas.
• District governors, orpradeshikas, handled judicial and administrative duties after consulting important local residents like writers, bankers, traders, and artisans.
• City governors were responsible for gathering revenue and maintaining law and order.
• Between 300 CE and 800 CE, administration became decentralised, leading to different regional names for provinces, divisions, districts, and village groups like pattana, adhishthana or nadu in Northern and Southern India.

The Guptas kept most of the earlier administrative systems, where the mantri led the civil administration alongside the army commander, the general, and the palace guards chief.

A new post called sandhivigrahika, or the minister of peace and war, was created during the Gupta period.

The amatyas changed into a broader group called kumaramatyas, who administrators.

According to the Damodarpur copper plates of the Kumaragupta I period, the district office consisted of five members, including the chief revenue collector, head officer, chief banker, chief trader, and chief artisan.

The Pallava dynasty (c.275-897 CE) in the South used a mix of centralised monarchy and decentralised local governance, dividing the kingdom into taluks, provinces, districts, and villages.

A major feature of the Pallavas was giving tax-free land grants to villages, which were known as Brahmadeya villages.

Pallava village assemblies worked independently through small committees called variyams to manage tasks like managing gardens and temples, and irrigation.

The Chalukyas of Badami followed a similar monarchical and decentralised system, but they gave land grants to Brahmin settlements known as agraharams.

Some Chalukya agraharams, like the ones at Badami and Aihole, turned into major centres of learning over time.

• The Palas, Gurjara-Pratiharas, and Rashtrakutas fought for control over the capital city of Kannauj (today’s Uttar Pradesh), which is known as the tri-partite struggle.
• All three of these kingdoms used a mix of monarchy and decentralised administrative units, with the village remaining self-reliant and independent in daily functions.

• The Imperial Chola empire (9th-11 th century CE) was divided into mandalams (provinces), valanadus (districts), nadus (village groups), and urs (villages).
• Chola village assemblies and councils operated as independent institutions that managed local affairs, collected revenue, and maintained infrastructure without depending on government support.

Figure: Uttaramerur Inscription

• The 10th century Uttaranierur inscription of Parantaka I, found in a temple in the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu, provides detailed information about village governance during the Chola period.
• The village assembly used an election system called Kudavolai, where names of candidates were written on palm leaves, put in a pot, and drawn out one by one by a young child during a public gathering to choose representatives.
• The chosen members were divided into specialised committees called variyams to manage essential local duties like irrigation, justice, and tax collection

Ethics: The Foundation Of Law And Life
Early Indian texts like the Vedas and epics discuss the nature of the universe, reality, and right conduct to show how life should be lived ideally.

The Bhagavad Gita highlights the importance of virtue, knowledge, faith, action, and leading an ethical life.

• The principle of samatva, or sameness, states that all bodies are made of the same matter and all consciousness comes from one supreme source, which the Vedas describe as satya (truth) and rita (right) and the invisible root of all things.
• The Mahabharata and other epics critique discrimination by presenting goodness as non-discriminatory and defining a good ruler as someone who works for the welfare of all.
• Rita is described in the Rig Veda as a cosmic order that maintains harmony, balance, and moral values in both nature and human society.
• Justice is connected to dharma (or dhamma in Buddhism), which does not mean religion but refers to duty, righteousness, and moral conduct based on one’s role in society.

Emperor Ashoka’s edicts promoted cihamma by encouraging moral conduct, family respect, non-violence, and compassion in daily life.

The tenth-century Uttaramerur inscription shows that ethical governance continued into later periods by requiring election candidates to have honest earnings and a pure mind.

Literary works like Banabhatta’s Kadambari and Kamandaka’s Nitisara provided advice on kingship, showing the long-lasting link between ethics and political power in Indian history.

Social Structures And Everyday Life

Varna and Jati

• The society was devided into four categories generally reffered to as Vamas— brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras.
• Early Vedic texts show that social status was not strictly fixed by birth but was shaped by complex factors like region, language, occupation, and gotra.
• In the early stages, occupations were flexible and mobile, as seen in a Rig Veda verse that describes different professions existing within a single family.

Karuraharm tato bhishagupalaprakshini nana
Nanadhiyo vasuyavo ’nu ga iva tasthimendrayendo pari srava
Meaning: “I am a poet; my father is a physician (healer); and my mother grinds com upon the stone.
With different minds and jobs, all seeking wealth, we follow our desires just like cattle follow paths in a pasture.”

• The earliest mention of the four social categories appears in the Purusha.cukta hymn in Book 10 of the which eventually became associated with specific duties.
• Brahmans were expected to study, teach, and perform rituals, while Rajanyas (Kshatriyas) were responsible for warfare, protection, justice, and maintaining social order.
• Vaishyas focused on economic activities like agriculture, trade, and pastoralism, while Shudras were expected to assist the other groups but practically engaged in farming. crafts, and trade.
• The yama system was originally a functional division of labour based on a hierarchy of values that prioritised knowledge, followed by political power and wealth.
• Buddhist texts like the Sulla spala support this functional view by stating that a person’s status as a Brahman or an outcaste is decided by their actions, not by birth.
• Over time, this occupational flexibility decreased, and ihejati system emerged due to factors like intermarriage, migrating communities marrying within themselves, and regional differences.
• Unlike the vama system which was strictly fixed at four categories, there was no limit on the number of jatis, which kept growing as new social groups and occupations developed.

Social Mobility
Varna and jati were not always rigid and there was significant social mobility that allowed several rulers to come from diverse social backgrounds.

Historical records show occupational flexibility, such as the Mandsaur Stone Inscription which describes a group of silk weavers who were also skilled in astrology, archery, and other professions.

Inscriptions like the Karitalai copperplates show further occupational changes, recording instances where Brahmans worked as land managers.

Sangam literature, the Tolkappiyam, mentions a four-fold social division based on occupation rather than birth, including kings, traders, farmers, and Brahmans. Works like thePattinappalai describe a successful trade-oriented society where different occupational groups interacted actively.

Sangam Literature, the Tolkappiyam
Works like the Pauinappa!ai describe a successful trade-oriented society where different occupational groups interacted actively.

Family and Society
In Vedic society, the kula (family) was the smallest and most basic social unit, which combined with other families to form a bigger unit calledgrama Ak (village),

A group of gramas formed a visha led by a vishapati. and multiple t’ishas formed ajuna, with the raja serving as the chief protector of the people.

The goira system represented an ancestral line (paternal) traced back to a common Vedic sage and played a major role in regulating marriage practices.

Life was divided into four stages orashramas; brahamacharya (studentship), grihastha (householder). vanaprastha (life in forest) and samnyasa (abandonment), where individuals were expected to perform their specific duties to achieve social, moral, and spiritual harmony.

An individuals life was marked by sixteen rites of passage, known asshodasha samskaras, which celebrated milestones from birth and education to marriage and final death rites.

Society recognised four goals of life, orpurusharíhas, which included righteousness (dharma), material well being (artha), fulfilment of desires (kama), and liberation (moksha).

Role of Women
During the Vedic period, women held a respectful position, participated in scholarly learning, attended social gatherings, and performed rituals alongside men.

Several Rig Vedic hymns are dedicated to women sages like Vishvavara, Apala, Ghosha1 and Lopamudra, while goddesses like Usha (Goddess of dawn) andAditi (the mother of Gods) held prominent positions.

Post-Wdic texts like the Manu.smriii also expressed respect for women, stating that gods rejoice where women are honoured and rituals become fruitless where they are not.

Although the social position of women declined over time, they continued to contribute significantly to household management, farming, crafts, and religion.

In the Gupta-Vakataka period (4th-6th centuries CE), literary works showed women as highly educated, and historical records highlight royal women like Prabhavati Gupta, who ruled as a regent and issued land grants.

Sangam literature describes women participating actively in the economy through tasks like farming, cattle rearing, and salt production, while also highlighting famous poetesses like Awaiyar.

During the Chola period, inscriptions show that royal women, such as Sembiyan Mahadevi, actively supported temple construction and religious institutions.

Religious Life and the Emergence Of Bhakti
The Vedic Gods did not have a rigid hierarchy, and different nature deities were praised as supreme in different hymns through prayers and sacrificial rituals like yajnas.

Vedic worship was closely linked to nature, as deities represented elements like the sun, fire and rain, a tradition that continues today in festivals like Chhath Puja and Makar Sankranti.

Over time, Vedic traditions shifted toward the worship of personal deities like Vishnu, Shiva, and Shakti, laying the groundwork for the Bhakti movement.

Bhakti offered a direct connection to God without complex rituals and was accessible to everyone, regardless of their class or gender.

The organised Bhakti tradition became prominent in the sixth-century Tamil region through the Nayanmars (sixty-three Shaiva saint-poets) and Alvars (twelve Vaishnava saint-poets).

Together, the Nayanmars and Alvars created a large body of Tamil devotional literature, marking a major cultural and religious development.

The Quest for Knowledge

• In early India, education was integrated and aimed at cultivating inner values like patience, truth, humility, self-control, and respect for all living beings.
• Students were trained by the gurus to live according to dharma, which required them to fulfill their duties toward parents, teachers, and society while developing a good moral character.
• The curriculum provided both theoretical knowledge and practical skills, covering subjects like the Vedas, mathematics, science, medicine, arts, crafts, and martial arts.
• The teacher-student relationship (guru-shishya parampara) was considered sacred, with the guru acting as a guide to lead students from ignorance to knowledge.
• Education took place in a gurukula, which was the teacher’s home, where students lived a disciplined life as part of the teacher’s extended family.
• Higher education flourished across the subcontinent in multiple prominent learning centres that attracted students from India and abroad.
• India produced a massive, diverse body of literature on subjects ranging from philosophy and grammar to agriculture and architecture, which continued to survive despite political changes.

Literary Heritage Of Early India
Prominent Texts for Sanskrit Grammar
Pingala’s Chhandashastra, Ptanjali’s Mahabhashya & Panini’s Ashtadhyayi

Smriti Literature based on Dharma, Law and Ethics
Vishnu Smriti, Manu-smiriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti & Narada Smriti

Classical Works on Medicine
Sushrutasamhita & Charakasamhita

Kavya and Sanskrit Poetry
Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava & Raghuvamsha

Tamil Literature
Sangam texts including akam (love), war, social structures and economic services, and Tamil epics manimekalai and Silappadikaram & Tiruvallavar’s Tirukkural.

Economy
Agriculture and land revenue

The Mauryan state created an organised administrative system to control and supervise economic activities.

Village land was generally divided into individual farms, while shared resources like meadows were kept for grazing cattle.

The government encouraged people to clear forests to expand farming activities, though specific categories of forests were protected by law.

Land tax was fixed as a specific share of the crops, which was generally one-sixth of the total produce.

According to Kautilya’s detailed records, village land was classified into different types, such as wasteland, cultivated land, high and dry land, sown fields, and groves.

Farmers grew a large variety of crops across different areas, including pulses, rice, wheat, mustard, vegetables, sugarcane and fruits.

The Buddhist text Milindapanho outlines eight detailed stages of farming, from preparing and weeding the fields to harvesting and threshing.

Agricultural expansion in the Deccan region boosted cotton cultivation because the local black soil was highly suitable for the crop.

The Amarkosha, a Sanskrit dictionary, contains a special chapter on crops, forests, plants, and manure.

Sangam literature highlights the fertility of southern India, noting that the Chera region was rich in turmeric, jackfruit, pepper, sugarcane and ragi.

Irrigation

• Farming depended heavily on water, making the construction and maintenance of dams, reservoirs, and canals highly important.
• The Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman I records that Pushyagupta, a Mauryan governor, built a dam on Sudarshana Lake in Gujarat.
• This inscription proves that the Mauryan state took an active role in building irrigation infrastructure to support agriculture and secure state revenue.

Trade: Trade Routes And Ports
The growth of organised states allowed trade and commerce to expand significantly.

The Arthashastra labels trade as a primary economic activity, listing items like pearls, gems, textiles, coral, metals, and minerals traded between Magadha and other regions.

Salt was a major commodity whose production was completely regulated by the government.

The state protected trade routes from danger, stopped the adulteration of goods, and protected consumers from unfair trade practices.

By the 6th century BCE, two major land routes called Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha connected inland regions with coastal ports, linking overland and sea trade systems.

Major Indian ports like Kaveripattinam, Muziris, Masulipatnam and Arikamedu developed over time, attracting both Indian and international merchants.

Maritime trade used both coastal and long-distance sea routes across the Indian Ocean, leading to a major expansion of trade with Rome through sea and overland routes via Central Asia.

The Silappadikaram mentions two main routes in Tamil Nadu — one from Kanchipuram to the port city of Poompuhar, and another from Kanchipuram to Kanyakumari, both extending northward into India.

Guilds

• During this time the economy was supported by collective organisations of traders and merchants called guilds (shrenis), which were formed by people in the same profession.
• These guilds became highly important for expanding trade and commerce after the rise of the mahajanapadas in the 6th century BCE.
• The silver metallic punch-marked coins, began circulating during this period to support economic activities.
• The Jataka literature mentions eighteen different types of guilds, showing that they were well-established and influential parts of early Indian economic life.

• Guilds controlled the quality of products and fixed prices to protect both the craftsmen and the buyers.
• They supervised the behaviour of their people through guild courts, which made sure professional standards and discipline were followed.
• Besides managing trade, guilds also worked as banks, financiers, and trustees for the people.
• Industries continued to grow into later periods because of available raw materials and the skills of artisans, with cities like Kamarupa, Mathura and Kashi becoming major textile centres.
• References to specialised groups like silk weavers and various merchants’ categories highlight that the trade and textile industries were highly organised.
• The political, social, economic, and cultural developments of this early period laid a strong foundation for many traditions that still shape life in the Indian subcontinent today.

Guilds As Financial Institutions
The 2nd century CE Nashik cave inscription of the Shaka king Nahapana and his son-in-law, Ushavadata, explains the economic role of guilds in ancient India.

The inscription records that cash donations were deposited directly with these professional guilds.

The guilds were required to pay a fixed rate of interest on the deposited funds.

This evidence proves that guilds did not just represent craftsmen and traders, but also functioned effectively as secure banks and credit institutions.

State and Society up to 1000 CE Class 9 Short Notes

→ Abduction: The act of forcefully taking a person away against their will.

→ Administration: The process of managing and organising people and resources.

→ Adulteration of goods: The illegal practice of mixing cheap or inferior substances into pure products.

→ Adultery: Unfaithfulness or improper conduct within a marriage.

→ Affiliation: A formal connection or association with a particular group or community.

→ Agrarian: Relating to cultivated land, farming, and agriculture.

→ Ailments: Illnesses or medical health conditions.

→ Allies: Friendly states or rulers who cooperate and support each other.

→ Animal husbandry: The branch of agriculture concerned with breeding and caring for farm animals.

→ Ashvamedha yajna: A horse-sacrifice ritual performed by kings to prove supreme power.

→ Aspiration: A strong hope or ambition to achieve something.

→ Assemblies: Formal gatherings or councils met to handle public matters.

→ Attributed: Dedicated to someone.

→ Authority: The legal right and power to command or make decisions.

→ Autonomous: Independent and self-governing without outside control.

→ Calamities: Disastrous events causing great damage, like natural disasters.

→ Chakravarti samrat: An unchallenged universal emperor ruling a vast territory.

→ Clans: Groups of families sharing a common ancestor.

→ Commemorate: To honour or remember an important event or person.

→ Commodities: Raw materials or primary agricultural products that are bought and sold.

→ Compassion: Pity, sympathy, and concern for the sufferings of others.

→ Composition: The act of creating a literary or musical work.

→ Comprised: Made up of or containing specific parts.

→ Concrete: Real, definite, and solid evidence.

→ Conquest: The act of taking control of a territory through military force.

→ Consequently: As a direct result of an action.

→ Consolidation: The process of combining small parts into a single strong unit.

→ Constituents: The essential parts or components that make up a whole system.

→ Constitute: To form or make up a whole.

→ Contemporaries: People or kingdoms living or existing at the same time.

→ Corpus: A large collection of written texts or literature.

→ Cosmic: Related to the entire universe and its natural order.

→ Coveted: Highly desired or wanted by many rivals.

→ Critique: To examine and point out the faults or problems in a system.

→ Deciphered: Decoded or successfully read an ancient script.

→ Delve: To search deeply into a topic or text.

→ Democracy: A system of governance where power lies with the people.

→ Discrimination: Unfair treatment of people based on their group, class, or birth.

→ Economic pursuits: Activities undertaken to earn money and a livelihood.

→ Elites: A small, powerful group of high-status individuals.

→ Endogamous: The practice of marrying only within a specific local community, clan, or jati.

→ Enriched: Improved or made better in quality.

→ Epigraphic sources: Written historical records found engraved on stones, pillars, or metal plates.

→ Equates: To consider or treat one thing as equal to another.

→ Estimates: Rough calculations or guesses based on evidence.

→ Expelled: Forced to leave a place or country.

→ Fallow land: Cultivated land left unplowed and unsown for a period to restore its fertility.

→ Fertile: Soil that is rich and highly capable of growing healthy crops.

→ Framework: A supporting structure or system of rules.

→ Guild: An organised association of craftsmen or merchants working in the same trade.

→ Hereditary: Passed down automatically from parent to child.

→ Hymns: Devotional songs or poems written to praise deities.

→ Ideologies: Systems of shared beliefs and values.

→ Impartially: Treating everyone fairly and equally without bias.

→ Indian subcontinent: The large geographical landmass of South Asia.

→ Inscriptions: Words or records engraved on hard surfaces like stone or metal.

→ Insights: Deep and clear understandings of a topic.

→ Invoking: Calling upon a deity for help or blessings through prayer.

→ Irrigation: The artificial supply of water to land or crops to help them grow.

→ Janapadas: Small tribal territories or kingdoms in ancient India.

→ Kin-based: Organised around family ties and blood relations.

→ Lexicon: A dictionary or alphabetical list of words belonging to a language.

→ Machinery: The organised system of officials and offices running an administration.

→ Mahajanapadas: The sixteen great powerful states of northern India.

→ Manifestations: Distinct forms or physical expressions of an idea or spirit.

→ Monarchical states: Kingdoms ruled by a single hereditary ruler like a king.

→ Moral dimensions: The ethical or right-and- wrong aspects of life.

→ Oath of coronation: The formal promise made by a king during his crowning ceremony.

→ Officiate: To conduct or lead a religious ceremony or ritual.

→ Pan-Indian monarch: A supreme king ruling over the entire Indian subcontinent.

→ Pantheon: A collective group of all the recognised gods in a specific religion.

→ Patrilineal: Tracing ancestry or inheriting property strictly through the male line.

→ Patronage: Financial support or protection given by a king or wealthy person.

→ Peninsular: Relating to a piece of land surrounded by water on three sides.

→ Performative aspects: Elements involving action, singing, or chanting during rituals.

→ Perspective: A specific viewpoint or way of looking at things.

→ Pervading: Spreading through or present in every part of something.

→ Philosophical speculations: Deep thoughts and theories about life and the universe.

→ Preoccupation: A matter or concern that takes up most of the state’s or person’s attention.

→ Proficient: Highly skilled or expert at doing a specific job or activity.

→ Provinces: Large administrative divisions or territories within a kingdom.

→ Punch-marked coins: Early metallic coins manufactured by stamping symbols onto sheets of silver or copper.

→ Qualitatively: Based on the standard or excellence of something.

→ Renunciation: The act of giving up worldly pleasures, wealth, or desires for spiritual life.

→ Renunciatory connotation: A meaning or tone that suggests giving up worldly life for spiritual paths.

→ Representative: A person chosen to speak or act for a larger group.

→ Republican states: States ruled by an assembly of representatives instead of a king.

→ Retained: Kept or continued to have something from the past.

→ Revenue: The income collected by the state, usually through taxes.

→ Royal emblems: Special symbols used by rulers to show state authority.

→ Scribes: Professional record-keepers or writers who copied documents by hand.

→ Sense of belonging: The feeling of being connected to a community.

→ Sheds light: Provides clear explanation or helps to reveal new information about a historical event.

→ Socio-ethical principle of dharma: The moral code of duty and righteous conduct.

→ Sovereignty: Supreme power or independent authority over a state.

→ Statecraft: The art or skill of governing a country.

→ Subsequently: Later or afterward.

→ Substantial: Large in size, amount, or importance.

→ Succession: The process of inheriting a royal title or throne.

→ Supplement: To add extra material to complete something.

→ Svaras: Musical notes or vocal pitches used in chanting.

→ Territorial entities: Defined geographical areas managed under one administration.

→ Trans-regional (Trans original): Stretching across or connecting different geographic regions.

→ Treachery: An act of betrayal or breaking trust.

→ Treasury: The place where state funds and wealth are kept.

→ Treatises: Written books that systematically explain a specific subject.

→ Tributaries: Smaller rivers that flow into a main river.

→ Universal paramount: Supreme, unchallenged power over the entire world or region.

→ Universal thoughts: Core ideas that apply to all human beings everywhere.

→ Uphold: To support, maintain, or defend a law or moral principle.

→ Votive inscriptions: Short records engraved on objects or walls to mark a religious gift or donation.

→ Ward off: To prevent or protect against something harmful.