The Political Economy of India's Economic Development: 5000BC to 2022AD, Volume I: Before the Indus Civilisation to Alexander the Great (Palgrave Studies in Economic History) 3031420713, 9783031420719

Table of contents :
Preface
References
Acknowledgement
Contents
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Before the Indus Valley Civilisation: 5000 BC to 2999 BC
Introduction
The Sohanian Culture and the Acheulian Culture
Middle Palaeolithic
Upper Palaeolithic
Mesolithic
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
Transition to the Indus: Harappan Civilisation
Conclusion
References
Chapter 2: The Indus Valley Civilisation: 3000 BC to 1600 BC
Introduction
Characteristics of the Harappan Indus Valley Civilisation
Economy and Trade
The Demise of the Indus Valley Civilisation
Climate Change and the IVC
Indus Valley Civilisation and Technological Innovation
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: The Vedic Age: 1500 BC to 500 BC
Introduction
The Early Vedic Period (1500 BC to 1100 BC)
The Sintashta Culture (2200 BC to 1800 BC)
The Andronovo Culture (2000 BC to 900 BC)
The Bactria-Margiana Culture (2250 BC to 1700 BC)
The Late Vedic Period (1100 BC to 500 BC)
The Kuru Kingdom (1000 BC)
The Panchala Kingdom (1100 BC to 400 AD)
The Videha Kingdom (600 BC to 300 BC)
Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: The Mahajanapadas and the Upanishads: 600 BC to 345 BC
Introduction
Emergence
Economy and Political Organisation
The Ascendancy of Buddhism
Magadha and Demise
Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: The Nanda Empire: 400 BC to 322 BC
Introduction
Economy
Military
Literature, Culture and Religion
Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: The Mauryan Dynasty: 332 BC to 184 BC
Introduction
Kautilya and the Arthashastra
Economy and Administration
Military
Religion, Culture and Society
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: Alexander the Great, Bactria and Indo-Greek States: 327 BC to 10 AD
Introduction
The Cophen Campaign
Battle of the Hydaspes (326 BC) and King Poros
The Mallians
Bactrian and Indo-Greek States
Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Introduction
The Political Economy of Trade
Sustainable Economic Development
Economic Development in India and China
India and Its Emerging Institutions
Conclusion
References
Index

Citation preview

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN ECONOMIC HISTORY

The Political Economy of India’s Economic Development: 5000BC to 2022AD, Volume I Before the Indus Civilisation to Alexander the Great Sangaralingam Ramesh

Palgrave Studies in Economic History Series Editor

Kent Deng London School of Economics London, UK

Palgrave Studies in Economic History is designed to illuminate and enrich our understanding of economies and economic phenomena of the past. The series covers a vast range of topics including financial history, labour history, development economics, commercialisation, urbanisation, industrialisation, modernisation, globalisation, and changes in world economic orders.

Sangaralingam Ramesh

The Political Economy of India’s Economic Development: 5000BC to 2022AD, Volume I Before the Indus Civilisation to Alexander the Great

Sangaralingam Ramesh University of Oxford Oxford, UK

ISSN 2662-6497     ISSN 2662-6500 (electronic) Palgrave Studies in Economic History ISBN 978-3-031-42071-9    ISBN 978-3-031-42072-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42072-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Paper in this product is recyclable.

For my mother and father, Nallathamby Sangaralingam and Pathmarani Sangaralingam Inuvil and Karinagar, Ceylon.

Preface

Two hundred years ago Napoleon Bonaparte said, ‘China is a sleeping giant, let her sleep, for when she awakes, she will shake the world’. China has indeed accomplished this. The failures of the Qing Dynasty led to stagnation, invasion and land grabs of Chinese territory when it was at its weakest. This led to revolution, a fledgling democracy which did not last because of the corruption of the Kuomintang and the invasion of China by the Japanese in 1937. This conflict did not stop until Japan’s surrender in 1945 following the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and then Nagasaki in August 1945. However, the pain and suffering of the Chinese people did not end there. A civil war broke out between Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang and Mao Zedong’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was the CCP which emerged victorious with Chairman Mao declaring the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949 in Tiananmen Square. For the first few years of the young Republic, the private sector, or its remnants, was squeezed out of the economy, and the heavy industrialisation economic strategy of the USSR utilised as the blueprint for China’s economic development. However, by the latter part of the 1950s Chairman Mao became disillusioned with the slow progress of the heavy industrialisation project and instigated the ‘Great Leap Forward’ strategy between 1958 and 1962. This involved the idea that industrialisation should be brought to rural China. But this led to a shifting of resources away from agriculture with the result that crop production dwindled leading to the hunger, starvation and the deaths of millions. By the beginning of the 1960s the CCP had vii

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become split into a right-wing grouping and a left-wing grouping. The former included Deng Xiaoping, who by 1961 mooted the idea that some form of privatisation was needed to act as an engine for China’s economic growth. However, Chairman Mao wanted to continue to follow Marxist ideology and between 1966 and 1976 instigated the Cultural Revolution to purge the right-wing elements from the CCP. By the time of Chairman Mao’s death in 1976, the Chinese economy was not doing well and the people’s lives had not improved under Communist rule. Following a power struggle in which Chairman Mao’s chosen successor Hua Guofeng was ousted as were the ‘Gang of Four’, Deng Xiaoping emerged as China’s paramount leader in December 1978. He then instigated economic reforms to transform the Chinese economy into a socialist market economy or a hybrid economy, including elements of central planning as well as free market forces. The reason why Deng Xiaoping may have resorted to radical economic reforms was the lack of economic growth in the Chinese economy and a realisation that unless the party delivered prosperity to the people its grip on power was tenuous. Moreover, Deng Xiaoping was returning China back to its economic strategy, as declared by Premier Zhou Enlai in 1964, of the four modernisations encompassing the agricultural sector, industry, science and technology, as well as defence.1 The integration of the Chinese economy into the world economy was also probably helped by the diplomatic recognition of the People’s Republic of China as being the sole representative of the Chinese people rather than the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1979 by the United States.2 The economic reforms instigated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 have within 45 years made the Chinese economy the second largest in the world. However, it may now have hit the constraints of economic growth particularly because of the rising numbers of older people being supported by a small number of younger people. By the year 2100 AD it is predicted that at the current rate of demographic change, China’s total population will fall below 800 million.3 Moreover, the level of youth unemployment in China is

1  Chow, G.C. (2004), Economic reform and growth in China. Annals of Economics and Finance., 5, pp. 93–118. 2  Rich, T.S. (2009), Status for sale: Taiwan and the competition for diplomatic recognition. Issues & Studies, 45(4), pp. 159–188. 3  O’Hanlon, M. (2003), China’s Shrinking Population and Constraints on Future Power, The Brookings Institution, China’s shrinking population and constraints on its future power (brookings.edu).

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increasing.4 Furthermore, the Chinese government has also recently advised unemployed Chinese graduates to do manual work.5 This stagnation of China’s economy must be seen in the context of a rising Indian economy. For example, in the fiscal year 2022–2023 real GDP in the first three quarters grew by 7.7%.6 However, China’s economic growth in 2022 was only 3% and is forecasted to be only 5.1% in 2023.7 This is in stark contrast to China’s double-digit economic growth between 1992 and 2007.8 Therefore, a scenario has arisen in which China’s economic growth may have stalled, but India is catching up. However, India and China are different in many ways in the context of their development as nation states. Moreover, in the context of climate change India’s economic development strategy needs to take a different path to that followed by China over the last 45  years. Therefore, the purpose of this book will evaluate India’s Economic Development from 2500 BC to 2020 AD in the context of four core themes. The first is with regard to the political economy of trade. This is because societies and nations have never been able to accumulate and prosper without trade with other societies and nations. The second core theme will be to determine development paths India can pursue which will allow it to develop sustainably in the twenty-­ first century. This is contextual in the current debate, which circumnavigates the world with regard to climate change and the growing demand of an increasing global population on the world’s limited resources. In this case, it is evident that India cannot successfully follow the development paths taken by other countries. The transition from the primary sector to the secondary sector, through the process of industrialisation and into manufacturing before evolving into the services sector. In any case, one particular feature of India’s economic development after independence from Great Britain has been the transition from the primary sector into the 4  Wigglesworth, R. (2023), The Chinese Youth Unemployment Problem, Financial Times, The Chinese youth unemployment phenomenon | Financial Times (ft.com). 5  Yu, S. (2023), China Urges Jobless Graduates to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and try manual work, The Financial Times, China urges jobless graduates to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and try manual work | Financial Times (ft.com). 6  World Bank (2023), Indian Economy Continues to Show Resilience And Global Uncertainties, Press Release, Indian Economy Continues to Show Resilience Amid Global Uncertainties (worldbank.org). 7  World Bank (2023), The World Bank In China, China Overview: Development news, research, data | World Bank. 8  World Bank, GDP growth (annual %) – China | Data (worldbank.org).

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services sector. A fundamental shift in the thinking of economists and policy makers within public policy, with regard to the focus of economic policy, is now also taking place with sustainable development practices very much at the forefront. This shift in economic thinking is one which emphasises the maintenance and accumulation of the six capitals rather than on a focus of maximising flows such as GDP. The six capitals includes physical capital, financial capital, natural capital, intangible or knowledge capital, human capital and social and institutional capital. The third core theme will seek to evaluate and understand why the economic development of the Indian sub-continent is so different from that of modern China. Moreover, China and India are different in many ways. This is specifically the case in the context of cultural values and institutions. Buddhism has spilled over to China over the centuries from India. Christianity also emerged in China following the country’s contact with the European powers whose appearance in China signalled the arrival of Christian missionaries. The works of Confucius have also dominated Chinese cultural life for centuries. Moreover, China has formed as one country with a common racial identity over the centuries. It is also the case that China transitioned in the twentieth century from a country which for centuries had been ruled by emperors to a one-party Communist state in 1949 when Chairman Mao announced the formation of the People’s Republic of China. Since that year China has been ruled as a Communist one-party state. However, China began economic reforms in 1978, which by 2010 would lead it to become the world’s second largest economy after the United States, overtaking the Japanese economy in doing so. On the other hand, India’s emergence has led a different path. First and foremost, India was never a united country until the departure of the British in 1947 after 190 years of colonial rule. The closest India came to become partially unified as a unitary state was under the Mauryan Empire in the fourth century BC. However, even then the southern region of the Indian sub-­ continent remained beyond the grasp of the Mauryan Empire. Furthermore, India is a country of many different languages although the dominant religion is Hinduism. But there is a sharp distinction between the pseudo-Aryan north India and the Dravidian south. In this case, some may argue that India is not one country but two distinct countries. The emergence of Hinduism following the arrival of the lighter-skinned Vedic Aryans at around 1500 BC coincided with the end of the Indus Valley Civilisation. There may have been a mix of the descendants of the people of this civilisation, who may have been darker skinned, and the arriving

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Aryans. A hypothesis exists that the caste system in India emerged in order to separate the darker-skinned people from the lighter-skinned Aryans, who were seen as Brahmins at the top of the caste system. Over time, domestic institutions such as the caste system, the Hindu religion, royalty, temples and Nadus,9 a group of villages in the eleventh century AD Chola dynasty of southern India, developed in India. In a historical context, the institutions which developed in India from the time of the Indus Valley Civilisation have been different to those it inherited from the British Raj. However, present-day India ended up using the institutions which it had inherited from British colonial rule. This rule, first by the British East India Company and then by the British state itself, lasted for about 190 years. It began with the British East India Company’s troops under the command of Robert Clive defeating the army of the young Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula in 1757.10 Robert Clive’s victory was only made possible because Mir Jafar, the commander of the Nawab’s military forces, betrayed his master.11 The father of Siraj-ud-Daula was the ruler of Bihar, and his mother was the daughter of the previous Nawab of Bengal, Ali Vardi Khan, who passed away with no successor. In order to prevent a power vacuum when the old Nawab died, Siraj-ud-Daula was named Crown Prince in 1752, ascending to the throne of Bengal in 1756 when the old Nawab Ali Vardi Khan died. The British East India Company expanded its territories on the Indian sub-continent, but its authority in India was replaced by the British state in 1857 following the Indian Mutiny. As a result, the British Raj followed, and India was a British colony until it gained its independence in August 1947. The institutions which India inherited from the British Raj included a multi-party democratic system based on the Westminster model of governance. Moreover, India inherited the legal system based on British Common Law but with some indigenous institutional elements.12 Furthermore, India’s educational system was also modelled on that of Great Britain, especially in the

9  Bhagwan, V. and Kumar, P. (2018), Village Administration System of Chola Empire: An Overview. Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research (AJMR), 7(4), pp. 9–14. 10  Butalia, R.C. (1998), The Evolution of the Artillery in India: From the Battle of Plassey (1757) to the Revolt of 1857. Allied Publishers. 11  Butalia, R.C. (1998), The Evolution of the Artillery in India: From the Battle of Plassey (1757) to the Revolt of 1857. Allied Publishers. 12  Roy, T. and Swamy, A.V. (2016), Law and the economy in colonial India. In Law and the Economy in Colonial India. University of Chicago Press.

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context of higher education quality.13 The latter can be associated with state government inspections and audits of schools and colleges; colleges and universities affiliating; and performance appraisal and reviews by funding agencies.14 The fourth core theme of this book is to evaluate whether the institutions in use in India today are the best for the country to be able to optimise economic growth or not. Christianity was also introduced to the Indian sub-continent by the British and the Portuguese. However, Protestant Christianity entered the Indian sub-continent in 1706 with the arrival of missionaries in Tranquebar.15 The latter was located on the coast of Tamil Nadu state in the south of India. Therefore, it is clear that institutions which were alien to the Indian sub-continent culture were imposed on its peoples by the British. In this context, it is evident that India would not be the unitary state it is today without the 190 years of colonial rule, first at the hands of the British East India Company and then by the British state after 1858.16 On the other hand, China was never under colonial rule in its entirety although parts of the coast were temporarily annexed by the European powers, Japan and the United States. Due to internal and external pressures the Qing dynasty collapsed in 1911 and was replaced by a parliamentary democracy based on Republicanism.17 The external factors included China’s defeat by the British in 1842, defeat by the Japanese in 1894 as well as the occupation of Beijing by foreign powers in 1860 and 1900. As a result of the abdication of the last emperor of China in 1911, China became the Republic of China. However, a conflict followed between the Republican Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party lasting between 1927 and 1949.18 The conflict would only end in December 1949 when Chairman Mao and his Chinese Communist Party defeated Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang, who fled to the island of Taiwan. In this case, China escaped the fate of the Indian sub-continent, from being 13  Stella, A. (2002), External Quality Assurance in Indian Higher Education: Case Study of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). New Trends in Higher Education. 14  Ibid. 15  Gross, A., Kumaradoss, Y.V. and Liebau, H. eds. (2006), Halle and the beginning of Protestant Christianity in India (Vol. 1). Verlag der Franckesche Stiftungen. 16  Carson, P. (2012), The East India Company and Religion, 1698–1858 (Vol. 7). Boydell Press. 17  Phillips, R.T. (1996), China since 1911. Bloomsbury Publishing. 18  Fong, B.C. (2011), Underground Front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong.

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colonised and its wealth looted. Moreover, as a result China has also been able to retain its institutions, which have developed over thousands of years, despite the country being controlled by the Communist Party. As a result, perhaps, once China began its economic reforms, the Chinese economy began its take off. On the other hand, India began piece meal reforms in the 1980s followed by more serious reforms in the early 1990s as a result of intervention by the IMF and the World Bank. In the third decade of the twenty-first century the Indian economy is growing. However, this growth is not as dynamic as that of the Chinese economy. The question arises as to whether this difference is due to the differences in the institutions between the two countries. Moreover, while wealth is being concentrated in the hands of the few, not many jobs are being created, and there is underemployment in many sectors. The volumes will evaluate the institutions which have emerged in the Indian sub-continent from 2500 BC to 2020 AD, which have facilitated economic development and the nature of this development. Moreover, in the case of institutional differences between the Indian and Chinese economies, the volumes will also seek to determine why the economic development of the Indian sub-continent has been so different from the economic development trajectory of modern China. Furthermore, the two volumes will provide a ‘database’ of all currently available frontier research with regard to India’s economic history and cultural, political and economic development from 2500 BC to 2020 AD. All available research to date will be used to evaluate India’s economic development in the context of trade and sustainable development: trade in the context that it is the foundation of all successful civilisations and nation states. The book will be of interest to students (undergraduate and graduate), academics, practitioners, policy makers as well as members of the public. In this case the market size is both substantial and significant but difficult to quantify. The volumes could be used to teach second- and third-year undergraduate courses in economic development as well as graduate-level courses. The subject areas/fields to which the project will have most appeal will be trade, economic development, the Indian economy, social and political history, as well as sustainable development. Oxford, UK

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References Bhagwan, V., & Kumar, P. (2018). Village administration system of Chola Empire: An overview. Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research (AJMR), 7(4), 9–14. Butalia, R.  C. (1998). The evolution of the artillery in India: From the Battle of Plassey (1757) to the revolt of 1857. Allied Publishers. Carson, P. (2012). The East India Company and religion, 1698–1858 (Vol. 7). Boydell Press. Chow, G. C. (2004). Economic reform and growth in China. Annals of Economics and Finance, 5, 93–118. Fong, B.  C. (2011). Underground front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong. Gross, A., Kumaradoss, Y. V., & Liebau, H. (Eds.). (2006). Halle and the beginning of Protestant Christianity in India (Vol. 1). Verlag der Franckesche Stiftungen. O’Hanlon, M. (2003). China’s shrinking population and constraints on future power. The Brookings Institution. China’s shrinking population and constraints on its future power (brookings.edu) Phillips, R. T. (1996). China since 1911. Bloomsbury Publishing. Rich, T.  S. (2009). Status for sale: Taiwan and the competition for diplomatic recognition. Issues & Studies, 45(4), 159–188. Roy, T., & Swamy, A. V. (2016). Law and the economy in colonial India. In Law and the economy in Colonial India. University of Chicago Press. Stella, A. (2002). External quality assurance in Indian Higher Education: Case study of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). New Trends in Higher Education. Wigglesworth, R. (2023). The Chinese youth unemployment problem. Financial Times. The Chinese youth unemployment phenomenon | Financial Times (ft.com) World Bank. (2023a). Indian economy continues to show resilience and global uncertainties. Press Release. Indian Economy Continues to Show Resilience Amid Global Uncertainties (worldbank.org) World Bank. (2023b). The World Bank in China. China Overview: Development news, research, data | World Bank Yu, S. (2023). China urges jobless graduates to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and try manual work. The Financial Times. China urges jobless graduates to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and try manual work | Financial Times (ft.com)

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the University of Oxford library services, where much of the research for these volumes was conducted. Furthermore, I would also like to thank Wyndham Hacket Pain of Palgrave Macmillan for facilitating the publication of Volume 1 of this two Volume series. Ms Tryphena the Project Coordinator for Springer Nature in Chennai, India, was also of invaluable assistance. My Research Assistant Sophia Richards also deserves a mention. She not only proof read the final manuscript of the book but also wrote concise and accurate abstracts for each chapter. I taught Sophia when she was an undergraduate student at the University of Buckingham and I also supervised her undergraduate research project. Currently, she is working in Pakistan but wants to continue her studies at postgraduate level. I would also like to mention my good friend and UCL colleague Dr Vasos Pavlika for his mentorship, guidance and support before, after and during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Finally, I would also like to thank Saj of SajHome in Fort Kochi, Kerala, India, where I spent some time working on the manuscript.

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Contents

1 Before the Indus Valley Civilisation: 5000 BC to 2999 BC  1 2 The Indus Valley Civilisation: 3000 BC to 1600 BC 37 3 The Vedic Age: 1500 BC to 500 BC 77 4 The  Mahajanapadas and the Upanishads: 600 BC to 345 BC109 5 The Nanda Empire: 400 BC to 322 BC145 6 The Mauryan Dynasty: 332 BC to 184 BC177 7 Alexander  the Great, Bactria and Indo-Greek States: 327 BC to 10 AD221 8 Conclusion273 Index297

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List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 The Indus Valley civilisation. (Source: The Map Archive) Fig. 6.1 The Mauryan Empire: 322–297 BC. (Source: The Map Archive)

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CHAPTER 1

Before the Indus Valley Civilisation: 5000 BC to 2999 BC

Introduction The colonisation of India by humanity spans a period of half a million years and can be divided into two distinct historical periods.1 The first period is the one before the emergence of writing and the latter is the period after the emergence of writing. The first period can be subdivided into the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages.2 The first of these periods, the Stone Age itself can be further subdivided into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.3 While the technology in all three periods was primarily based on stone, the nature of human existence varied between the first two periods and the third.4 In this context, during the Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic periods human existence was characterised as one which can be associated with a hunter-gatherer existence. On the other hand, during the Neolithic period human existence had ceased to be that of a hunter-gatherer, moving from place to place following animal herds, to a more settled existence associated with farming and animal husbandry. The transition from a hunter-gatherer to a settled existence also meant that the nature of the human habitat changed from jungle and forests to  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4.  Ibid. 3  Ibid. 4  Ibid. 1 2

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 S. Ramesh, The Political Economy of India’s Economic Development: 5000BC to 2022AD, Volume 1, Palgrave Studies in Economic History, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42072-6_1

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fertile plains alongside the banks of rivers where water was both easily accessible and plentiful. The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic period and the advent of farming brought about changes in the nature of the human economy as well as changes in technology and lifespans. The cultivation of crops as well as the undertaking of animal husbandry in a single geographical location meant that surpluses could be accumulated and there was more leisure time. The accumulation of surplus crops and farm animals meant that a community of farmers could trade with a community producing a special metal as copper. Leisure time would mean that communities would have more time to think as well as to innovate. Tools and weapons made of copper began to appear during the late Neolithic period, replacing the use of stone, leading to the transition to the Chalcolithic period. Once humanity had succumbed to the advantages of a settled existence, growing crops and engaging in animal husbandry, populations steadily began to grow. The result was increased urbanisation and the co-existence of villages, towns and small cities. In South Asia, the first place in present day, India in the northwest region is associated with the river valleys of the Indus and the Saraswati.5 The Saraswati River emerged from the Himalayas following the end of the Pleistocene Period around 10,000 years ago as glaciers began to melt due to warming.6 The mighty Saraswati River was mentioned in the ancient Hindu script, the Vedas; and flourishing and advanced civilisations have arisen along its banks.7 However, after an existence of 4000 years, the Saraswati River mysteriously vanished.8 A number of reasons have been put forward as to why the Saraswati River dried up and vanished.9 These include shifts in the tectonic plates causing structural changes in the Himalayas. This may have caused a diversion of the river’s water sources to other areas and regions. Furthermore, changes in the earth’s orbit may have caused climate change and desertification.10 Similarly, over time human activity may have caused the river’s water to diminish. However, whatever the causes of the river’s demise, as the Saraswati River began to diminish, the availability of water for growing crops and caring for livestock must have become increasingly difficult with  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4.  Sankaran, A. (1999), Saraswati  – the ancient river lost in the desert, Current Science, Vol.77, No.8, pp. 1054–1060. 7  Ibid. 8  Ibid. 9  Ibid. 10  Ibid. 5 6

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food shortages beginning to occur. As food became scarcer and scarcer, the peoples of the civilisation along its banks must have abandoned its towns and cities in order to search for sustenance.

The Sohanian Culture and the Acheulian Culture The Sohanian culture was located in present-day Pakistan and the north-­ west of India in the Siwalik Hills.11 It represents a pre-Indus phase of the colonisation of the area it encompassed in later centuries, encompassing the time period between the end of the Pleistocene and the Mindel-Riss interglacial period.12 The development of the Sohanian culture can be categorised into three distinct stages.13 These stages of development should correlate with the artefacts found at different soil levels or terraces. In turn, these terraces should correlate with the Pleistocene glaciation stages which occurred in the Siwaliks as well as in the Himalayas. However, in the case of the Pakistan location, there does not seem to be a link between the artefacts and the levels of the terraces.14 Furthermore, no evidence has been found of a Sohanian cultural tradition which could be classified as being independent.15 Nevertheless, in India the artefact-terrace link has been identified especially in the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh region along the banks of the Sutleji and Banganga rivers.16 Moreover, at the same time the region supported two distinct populations, the younger Acheulian culture and the older Sohanian culture.17 The latter occupying the valleys while the former occupied other less hilly and mountainous areas.18 The Sohanian culture existed prior to the emergence of the Acheulian culture. However, both were Homo Erectus cultures and may have overlapped. The ‘Pebble Tool Culture’, of the Narmada River in Central India, may in fact be the same pebble tools representative of the Sohanian culture, the  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4.  Mohapatra, G.C. (1976), Geotectonic developments, sub-Himalayan lithic complex and post-Siwalik sediments IN Perspectives of Palaeoanthropology, (ed.) A K Ghosh, A.K. (ed), Firma K L Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta. 13  de Terra, H., and Paterson, T.T.(1939), Studies on the Ice Age in India and Associated Human Cultures, Carnegie Institute, Washington DC. 14  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 15  Dennell R W., Rendell H., and Hailwood, E.(1988), Early toolmaking in Asia: two million year old artefacts in Pakistan, Antiquity 62 98–106. 16  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 17  Mohapatra, G.C. (1976), Geotectonic developments, sub-Himalayan lithic complex and post-Siwalik sediments IN Perspectives of Palaeoanthropology, (ed.) A K Ghosh, A.K. (ed), Firma K L Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta. 18  Ibid. 11 12

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basis for the emergence of the Acheulian culture.19 The upper region of the Narmada River yields the highest density of stone tools and fossils.20 The ‘Pebble Tool Culture’ of Central India emerged in the initial stages of the middle Pleistocene, and the tools resemble those found in the Oldoway Gorge in East Africa.21 The middle Pleistocene can be dated to be between 2.5 million years ago to 11,700 years ago.22 It was the Acheulian culture which proved to be the most efficient colonisation of the Indian sub-continent.23 Evidence that the culture existed can be found from the presence of archaeological artefacts in a geographical range from the northern Siwalik Hills to the south of Chennai.24 However, there is no evidence of the Acheulian Culture in the Ganga plains, the western ghats and its closest regions and the north-eastern areas of the sub-continent. The environment which characterised these areas may not have been sufficiently attractive to incentivise the Acheulian hunter-gatherers from settling there. Nevertheless, these hunter-gatherers did adapt and acclimatise to settle in the western part of Rajasthan, the alluvial plain of Gujarat as well as parts of the Eastern Ghats.25 But the highest concentration of Acheulian sites are to be found in areas, such as Central India and south of the Eastern Ghats, which were able to healthily accommodate both animal and plant life today and during the historical times of the Acheulian culture.26 Alluvium fossil evidence around the areas associated with the Godavari and the Narmada supports the assertion that plant and animal life was abundant in these areas during the Acheulian culture.27 Nevertheless, Acheulian sites are not so densely concentrated around the northern part of the Deccan plateau.28 Lack of evidence of 19   Khatri, A. (1962), ‘Mahadevian’: An Oldowan Pebble Culture of India, Asian Perspectives, Summer-Winter, Vol.6, No.1/2. 20  Khatri, A. (1963), Recent Explorations for the Remains of Early man in India, Asian Perspectives, Vol.7, No.1/2. 21   Khatri, A. (1962), ‘Mahadevian’: An Oldowan Pebble Culture of India, Asian Perspectives, Summer-Winter, Vol.6, No.1/2. 22  Ibid. 23  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 24  Misra, V.(1987), Middle Pleistocene adaptations in India IN The Pleistocene Old World: Regional Perspectives, Soffer, O. (ed), Plenum Press, New York. 25  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 26  Rajaguru, S. N. (1978), Palaeoenvironment of Bhimbetka; Aus. Archaeol, 8 103–104. 27  Badam, G. L (1979), Pleistocene Fauna of India with Special Reference to the Siwaliks, Deccan College, Poona. 28  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4.

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Acheulian sites in this geographical area may be because the region is made of basalt which is rapidly eroded over time unless it has an alluvial covering.29 However, excavations in Madhya Pradesh have shown that rock shelters and open-air sites represented the habitations of the local population.30 It would seem that rock shelters were sites of habitation during the long winter months as well as during the rainy season while open-­ air sites were used during the warmer summer months.31 At sites of habitation, archaeological evidence has been found for the construction of stone tools such as hand axes, blades, flakes as well as scrappers.32 It would appear that these stone tools were primarily used for obtaining plant and animal matter and then preparing these for consumption. There was also a technological shift in Acheulian industry represented by greater use of cleavers, flake tools and the soft hammer and less use of hand axes and scrapers.33 The shift in technology may illustrate evolutionary changes taking place in the Homo Erectus genome, as its level of development moved from lower to a more advanced level. Excavations in the Narmada River region in Madhya Pradesh have found a Homo Erectus cranium dated to 200,000  years ago which reflects an advanced form of development. Perhaps, even reflecting the beginning of the shift from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens.34 Furthermore, evidence has been found that Neanderthal Man habited Europe for millennia before the arrival of Homo Sapiens, and no archaeological evidence has been found to support the hypothesis that Neanderthal Man also existed in Europe. However, the stone tools used by this hominin species in Europe have been found on the Indian sub-continent.

29  Misra, V.(1982), Evolution of blade element in the stone industries of Rock-Shelter III F-23, Bhimbetka; IN Indian Archaeology, New Perspectives, Sharma, R.K. (ed), Prachya Niketan, Bhopal. 30  Jacobson, J.(1985), Acheulian surface sites in central India; in Recent Advances in Indo-­ Pacific Prehistory, Misra, V., and Bellwood, P. (Eds), Oxford-IBH, New Delhi. 31  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 32  Ibid. 33  Ibid. 34  Kennedy, K.A.R., and Chiment, J. (1991), The fossil hominid from the Narmada valley, India: Homo erectus or Homo sapiens? IN Indo-Pacific Prehistory 1990, Bellwood, P. (Ed), Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Vol. 1, pp. 42–58.

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Middle Palaeolithic The technology comprising the nature of the tools of the Middle Palaeolithic was primarily based on blades as well as on flakes.35 Flakes and blades were trimmed in order to produce other derivative tools such as borers, denticulates and end scrapers. The latter is a stone tool with one or more edges, resembling teeth.36 On the other hand, borers were small stone tools made from flakes; and were primarily used to pierce small holes, perhaps in the hides of slaughtered animals to either make clothes or the composites of shelters. However, the end scrapers were used to produce not only wooden tools but also to process animal hides.37 The sharp point of scrapers was also found to be useful and deadly when attached to wooden poles to become spears, which could be used for hunting as well as for defence. New techniques for shaping tools for use in specific tasks by more effectively removing flakes were developed. These techniques included the Cevallois as well as the discord core. The Cevallois technique was a specific way of stone knapping to remove flakes from stones. On the other hand, the discord core technique involves transforming stones in cores for the production of a specific tool such that it becomes more amenable for knapping to remove flakes. The shift in technology to produce stone tools was also paralleled by a shift in the stone types used from quartz and basalt to siliceous rocks, such as chert, which tended to be more finely grained.38 Chert contains silica, and it is a sedimentary rock. On the other hand, basalt is formed by the rapid cooling of molten lava from volcanic eruptions. Stone tools from chert and basalt were made concurrently on the Indian sub-continent. In this case, it may be thought that tools made from chert would tend to be stronger and longer lasting than tools made from basalt. This perhaps may be the case on the Stone Age Indian sub-continent. However, in other locations such as the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, researchers have found that stone tools made from basalt were stronger than those made from chert.39 Moreover, the  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4.  Kozłowski, J.K. (2014), Middle Palaeolithic variability in Central Europe: Mousterian vs Micoquian. Quaternary international, 326, pp. 344–363. 37  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 38  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 39  Key, A., Proffitt, T., and Torre, I. (2020), Raw material Optimisation and Stone Tool Engineering in the Early Stone Age of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Vol.17, Issue 162. 35 36

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researchers have cautioned that the findings of the Olduvai research may not be applicable to other geographical locations.40 Sites evidencing the mass sourcing of siliceous rocks such as chert and jasper have been found in Central India as well as in Rajasthan.41 Carbon dating has shown that the production of stone tools during the middle Palaeolithic covered a large time period during the Pleistocene.42

Upper Palaeolithic The Upper Palaeolithic is the last of the three sub-divisions of the Palaeolithic and covers the time period from 12,000  years ago to 50,000 years ago. It was a time period during which there was an emergence of more artefacts and evidence of human settlement. Homo Sapiens had been in existence for at least 300,000 years.43 But it would seem that it was only during the Upper Palaeolithic era that evidence has been found for advanced cognitive development. This is particularly with regards to the innovation surrounding the development of stone tools to acquire and process plant and animal matter for nutritional needs. During the Upper Palaeolithic period, the climate was cold and acidic with the formation of sand dunes as well as the changing of course of local rivers.44 Moreover, the westward shift of the river courses reduced the efficiency and effectiveness of the drainage system in the area.45 Simultaneous to the changes in the weather and changes in the course of rivers, there was also a thinning of vegetation across most of the Indian sub-continent as evidenced by carbon dating.46 At around 11,700 years ago, a period representing the end of the Pleistocene, there was also a drop in sea levels.47 Tool technology during the Upper Palaeolithic period emphasised the production of tools for cutting such as blades as well as burin tools.  Ibid.  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 42  Misra, B.B. (1989), A brief report of excavations at Kakoria – a Chalcolithic-Megalithic site IN An Encyclopedia of Indian Archaeology, Ghosh, A. (Ed), Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi. vol. 2, pp. 191–193. 43  Raven, P. (2022), How the living world evolved and where it is headed now, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Vol. 377, Issue 1857. 44  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 45  Ibid. 46  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 47  Banerjee, P.K. (2000), Holocene and Late Pleistocene relative Sea Level Fluctuations along east coast of India, Marine Geology, Vol.167, Issues 3–4. 40 41

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However, tool making during the Upper Palaeolithic period on the Indian sub-continent can be categorised into three main technological industries. These include flake-blade industries, burin and blade industries as well as the blade-tool industries.48 Flake-blade industries comprised a number of elements but the most common was scrapers. The blade-tool industries, on the other hand, comprised the production of a range of tools which included not only scrapers but also different-sized blades, points and burins on flakes.49 The blade and the burin industry focused on the production of burin elements, blades as well as backed blades.50 Burin elements were essentially stone tools used for sculpturing and engraving animal bones, antlers and wood. In addition to the three stone tool industries, which may have co-existed, there was also a bone-tool industry on the Indian sub-continent. However, archaeological evidence of this has only been found in the state of Andhra Pradesh in cave sites.51 There was also a refinement of techniques as well as the way in which finished tools were standardised, but at a regional level on the Indian sub-continent.52 The distribution of the archaeological evidence of bone and stone tools in the Upper Palaeolithic Indian sub-continent suggests that the hunter-­ gatherers of the period occupied a number of different sites. These sites included flat lands, hilly forests, deserts as well as riverbanks.53 However, the area where archaeological evidence of bone and stone tools is most dense is in the state of Meghalaya, formed by splitting districts from the state of Assam, specifically in the Garo Khasi Hills.54 The density of archaeological evidence in this region may be enough to support the hypothesis that the region acted as main artery for hunter-gatherers to migrate from South Asia to South-East Asia.55 Indeed, by the beginning of the Holocene period, 12,000 years ago the Indian sub-continent had become populated by Stone Age hunter-gatherers.56 And around 5000  years ago, the 48  Murty, M.L.K. (1979), Recent research on the Upper Palaeolithic Phase in India, Journal of Field Archaeology, 6:3, pp. 301–320. 49  Ibid. 50  Ibid. 51  Ibid. 52  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 53  Murty, M.L.K. (1979), Recent research on the Upper Palaeolithic Phase in India, Journal of Field Archaeology, 6:3, pp. 301–320. 54  Marak, Q. (2022), Northeast India Through the Ages, Routledge India. 55  Ibid. 56  Raghu, Y. (2022), Hunters and fowlers in the Tungabhadra Plains of Andhra Pradesh, South India: an ethnographical Study of Nir Sikaris, International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 6, Article 11.

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southern part of the sub-continent began to see the emergence of an economy based on a combination of pastoralism and some plant cultivation.57 Nevertheless, hunter-gatherer communities can still be found in present-­day India, in the Eastern Ghats lives a community of the Chenchus as well as the Yanadi of Andhra Pradesh. These communities of huntergatherers have migrated from hilly forests to the plains.58 The Upper Palaeolithic period was also one during which food procurement technologies may have emerged. This is particularly true of the Eastern Ghats and Central India where present-day tribal populations still use snares, traps and nets to capture animals. Bored stones and grinding stones have also been found in the Eastern Ghats region. Bored stones are still used by the Yanadi hunter-gatherers of Andhra Pradesh to sink nets to catch fish in rivers.59 Eastern Ghats sites of hunter-gatherer existence during the Upper Palaeolithic period are associated with rivers, lakes and coastal areas. This indicates that aquatic food was a critical component of the diet of these hunter-gatherers.60 Wild rice was likely processed into flour for consumption using the grinding stones.61 Developments in the technologies associated with the production of stone and bone tools and food processing may have facilitated the transition from a hunter-gatherer existence to sites of permanent habitation. This transition could have occurred at a universal level rather than at a spontaneous one due to the diffusion of knowledge from one hunter-gatherer tribe to another either as a result of amicable discourse or capture through conflict. It is not surprising then that the first human colonisation of the Indian sub-continent occurred during the Upper Palaeolithic period. Nevertheless, the increase in human settlements in the Indian sub-continent during this period may have not occurred due to technological innovation and its diffusion through human society, but also because of changes in the weather. For example, an increase in rainfall would have led to an abundance of plant life which would have allowed the animal populations to grow. Both of which in turn would have increased the food available for consumption for 57  Raghu, Y. (2022), Hunters and fowlers in the Tungabhadra Plains of Andhra Pradesh, South India: an ethnographical Study of Nir Sikaris, International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 6, Article 11. 58  Ibid. 59  Pappu, S. (2004), Down Ancient Trails: Hunter Gatherers in Indian Archaeology, Routledge. 60  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 61  Murty, M.L.K. (1981), Hunter-gatherer ecosystems and archaeological patterns of subsistence behaviour on the southeast coast of India: an ethnographic model; World Archaeol. 13, 47–58.

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the hunter-gatherers of the time. In this case, there may have been a convergence of forces, an abundance of food and advancements in technology which led to the establishment of sites of permanent habitation, and an increased population, on the Indian sub-continent. The abundance of plant and animal life is evidenced by pollen data62 from western Rajasthan salt lakes as well as the deep weathering of sand dunes.63

Mesolithic The excavations at Mesolithic sites are useful in trying to understand how human communities existed during the early Holocene period, 11,700 years ago64 at the end of the last Ice Age. The Mesolithic period followed the Upper Palaeolithic period. The radiocarbon dating of sites in Western and Central India suggests that the Mesolithic period spanned a period of time from 10,000 BC to 2000 BC.65 As in the Upper Palaeolithic period, the main features of the economy were characterised as being one which encompassed hunter-gathering. Although in the transition from the Upper Palaeolithic period to the Mesolithic period, there was also a transition from hunter-gathering to the production of food in situ. This occurred by about 6000  BC.66 However, the hunter-gatherer existence has not completely disappeared from the Indian sub-continent and this mode of existence still exists in modern-day India.67 During the Mesolithic period, the increased number of sites of habitation which have been uncovered by archaeological excavations suggests that the human population had begun to increase. This may have been partly due to climate change causing an abundance of plant and animals for human consumption and partly due to changes in the level of technology and the use of different materials to make tools. Furthermore, 62  Singh, G., Joshi, R D., Chopra, S.K. and Singh, A.B.(1974), Late Quaternary history of vegetation and climate of the Rajasthan desert, India; Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. 267 467–501. 63  Misra. V.N.(1978), The Acheulian industry of rock shelter IIIF-23 at Bhimbetka, central India – a preliminary study; Aust. Archaeol. 8 63–106. 64  Biagi, P. (2003–2004), The Mesolithic Settlement of Sindh (Pakistan): A Preliminary Assessment, Praehistoria, Vol.4. 65  Misra, V.N.(1989), Stone age India: an ecological perspective, Man Environ. 14 17–64. 66  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 67  Misra, V.N and Nagar, M.(1994), Survival of the hunting-gathering tradition in the Ganga plains and central India; in Living Traditions: Studies in the Ethnoarchaeology of South Asia, Allchin, B.(Ed), Oxford and IBH, New Delhi.

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excavations suggest that during the Palaeolithic period only a few rock shelters had been occupied in Central India. However, during the Mesolithic period excavations and radiocarbon dating have shown that the number of rock shelters used for either habitation or as sites of artwork had increased significantly.68 Moreover, in the semi-arid regions of Gujarat and western Rajasthan, Mesolithic artefacts can be found on an extensive scale in the sand dunes of these regions.69 The increase in the number of sites of habitation on the Indian sub-continent as well as the growth in the human population evidences the fact that the Ganga plains,70 West Bengal71 as well as the south of India72 were first colonised during the Mesolithic period. In conjunction with the increase in the human population of the Indian sub-continent during the Mesolithic period as a result of climate change during the Holocene period, there was also a change in technology. Blades became smaller and were known as microliths, which were typically 1–5 cm long.73 The microliths were essential components of weapons such as spearheads, arrowheads, knives, daggers and harpoons.74 In this case, the microliths were hafted onto arrowheads, spearheads and other weapons and held in place with adhesives such as gum and resin.75 The non-­ microlithic elements of weapons were made of either bone or wood. The microliths being fitted into shafts chiselled into these bone and wood elements. The use of weapons such as bows and arrows for hunting and warfare became widespread during the Mesolithic period. Carbon-dated paintings on rocks evidence the use of bows and arrows during this period.76 During the Mesolithic period, burin and scraper industries were common; and points which were bifacial in nature were part of the  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4.  Ibid. 70  Sharma, G.R., Misra, V.D., Mandal, D., Misra, B.B., and Pal, J.N. (1980), Beginnings of Agriculture, Epipalaeolithic to Neolithic:Excavations at Chopani-Mando, Mahadaha and Mahagara, Abinash Prakashan, Allahabad. 71  Lal, B.B. (1958), Birbhanpur, a microlithic site in the Damodar valley, West Bengal; Ancient India 14 4–48. 72  Rajendran, P. (1983), The coastal Mesolithic industries of south India and their chronology; Bull. Indo-Pacific Prehistory Assoc. 3 18–31. 73  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 74  Ibid. 75  Ibid. 76  Mathpal, Y.D.(1985), Prehistoric Rock Paintings of Bhimbetka, Central India, Abhinav, New Delhi. 68 69

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industries of Tamil Nadu.77 Moreover, the use of bored stones for sinking nets and weighting digging sticks became more prominent during the Chalcolithic and Neolithic periods, having already begun to be used during the Upper Palaeolithic period.78 Furthermore, archaeological evidence has uncovered the presence and use of grinding stones and shallow querns during the Chalcolithic and the Neolithic periods.79 The use of microliths for the heads of arrows and spears meant that the weapons were lighter and more effective at killing prey of bows and arrows using lighter microlithic heads led to an improvement in the efficiency of hunting.80 The use of blades in the processing of animal and plant life could also have increased the efficiency of the processing in terms of the amount of meat and plant matter collected.

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry The Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic periods represented periods of technological improvements in the resources used to produce stone tools as well as the shift to develop weapons such as spears and bows and arrows. Although, there was a shift from a purely hunter-gatherer existence to a semi-settled existence, the mode of economy remained primarily one of a hunter-gatherer existence rather than that of a settled production economy. In this case, there was a reliance on hunting animals, fishing as well as the gathering of wild plants, seeds and berries.81 Perhaps, as a result of hunting and gathering, the hunter-gatherers began to acquire and accumulate a knowledge of animals and plants. This knowledge allowed the hunter-gatherers to select suitable animals for hand rearing and plants for cultivation once they had opted for a settled existence along the banks of rivers. However, the shift from a hunter-gatherer existence to settled farming may also occurred because of climate change. As the earth’s climate entered a warming cycle at the start of the Holocene Period, glaciers and iced tundra melted with forests emerging. The large animals which had 77  Zeuner, F.E. and Allchin, B.(1956), The microlithic sites of Tinnevelly district, Madras State; Ancient India 12 4–20. 78  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 79  Ibid. 80  Misra, V.N. (1976), Ecological adaptations during the terminal stone age in western and central India, in Ecological Backgrounds of South Asian Prehistory, Kennedy, K. and Possehl, G. (Eds), Cornell University, Ithaca. 81  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4.

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supported the lifestyle of a hunter-gatherer existence disappeared, and hunter-gatherers had to turn to eating smaller animals for sustenance. This and changing technology may have led to the shift from a hunter-gatherer existence to settled farming and animal husbandry. The emergence of settled farming would have occurred in areas with an abundant supply of water, for it is along the banks of three great rivers, the Euphrates, the Nile and the Sarasvati River, which gave rise to the first three great civilisations of humanity, the ancient Egyptian, the ancient Mesopotamian and the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC). The latter was the largest, most technologically advanced and oldest of the three civilisations. Moreover, for its emergence and sustenance, the Indus Valley Civilisation depended on the Sarasvati River, which does not exist today but was mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Rig-Veda.82 The emergence of a settled existence, animal husbandry and plant cultivation occurred around 10,000 years ago, from the Levant region of the Mediterranean to Baluchistan province of present-day Pakistan.83 However, it is thought that before domestication, wild cattle, pigs and sheep were kept in ‘pens’ as a larder, and that proper hand rearing and breeding only began over time. Moreover, it is thought that such domestication began at different times at different locations.84 The first plants to be cultivated were wheat and barley and the first animals to be domesticated, breed and hand reared included cattle, sheep and goats.85 However, it is highly likely that wolves were domesticated when Homo Sapiens existed as a hunter-gatherer, being the first animal to be domesticated.86 Furthermore, in a geographical area extending from South Asia to SouthEast Asia and East Asia, the cultivation of wild rice and the husbandry of the pig was also accomplished. The domestication of cattle not only allowed for the availability of meat for consumption but also milk. Moreover, domesticated cattle were used to pull carts and were the means

82  Kaushik, A., Champati Ray, P.K., Kannaujiya, S., and Gunda, G.K.T. (2022), Implications of Geodynamics on Extinction of Vedic River Sarasvati, IN Mukherjee, A. (eds) Riverine Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87067-6_19. 83  Misra, V. (2001), Prehistoric Colonisation of India, J. Biosci, Vol.26, No.4. 84   Helback, H. (1959), How farming began in the old world, Archaeology, 22, pp. 183–189. 85  Ibid. 86  Higgs, E.S. (1965), Early domesticated animals in Libya, IN Background to Evolution in Africa, Bishop, W.W. and Clerk, J.D. (Eds), Chicago.

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of draught power before the domestication of the horse.87 However, the horse and its use especially in warfare was not brought to the Indian sub-­ continent until the peoples of central Asia migrated there.88 Only the bones of wild asses have been found in the Indian sub-continent, pre-IVC or post-IVC.89 It had long been thought that the Harappans had migrated from Sind to Gujarat where there was an abundance of carnelian and agate in the mid third millennium BC.90 Carnelian and agate are semi-precious stones and a sub-category of quartz, which were very much in demand in the Middle East, the Levant and Cyprus.91 However, the migration theory may prove to be untenable especially because of the archaeological evidence of a pre-Harappan population.92 This native population of Gujarat may have made up an element of the Harappan civilisation. Moreover, archaeological evidence in stratified layers has been found at Dholavira of a pre-Harappan Civilisation.93 Furthermore, most of the archaeological evidence at Dholavira is pink in colour and is known as red ware.94 Other archaeological evidence found at the site suggests that the construction of the buildings primarily used a wattle and daub technology.95 There may also have been some cultural exchange between the Harappans of Gujarat and the early farmers which could have been a relationship in which both depended on each other for survival.96 At Padri, the Salvalda culture (2000 87  Naik, S.N. (1978), Origin and Domestication of Zebu Cattle (Bos Indicus), Journal of Human Evolution, 7, 23–30. 88  Meadow, R. (1989), Continuity and Change in the Agriculture of the Great Indus Valley: The Palaeoethnobotanical and Zooarchaeological Evidence,’ IN Kenoyer, J. (Ed), Old Problems and New Perspectives in the Archaeology of South Asia, Madison. 89  Sharma, R.S. (1993), The Aryan Problem and the Horse, Social Scientist, Vol.21, No.7/8, pp. 3–16. 90  Shinde, V. (1998), Pre-Harappan Padri Culture in Saurashtrai The Recent Discovery, South Asian Studies, 14. 91  Possehl, G.L. 1977. The end of a state and the continuity of a tradition, IN Realm and Religion in Traditional India, Fox, R. (Ed), Carolina Academic Press, Durham, pp. 234–254. 92  Shinde, V. (1998), Pre-Harappan Padri Culture in Saurashtrai The Recent Discovery, South Asian Studies, 14. 93  Bisht, R.S.(1991), Dholavira: A new horizon of the Indus Civilization, Puratattva 20:71–82. 94  Shinde, V. (1998), Pre-Harappan Padri Culture in Saurashtrai The Recent Discovery, South Asian Studies, 14. 95  Dhavalikar, M.K. and G.L. Possehl.(1992), The Pre-Harappan Period at Prabhas Patan and the Pre-Harappan Phase in Gujarat. Man and Environment XVII