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ASSIGNMENT SOLUTIONS GUIDE (2014-2015)

M.H.I.-5
History of Indian Economy
Disclaimer/Special Note: These are just the sample of the Answers/Solutions to some of the Questions given in the
Assignments. These Sample Answers/Solutions are prepared by Private Teacher/Tutors/Auhtors for the help and Guidance
of the student to get an idea of how he/she can answer the Questions of the Assignments. We do not claim 100% Accuracy
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Solutions. Please consult your own Teacher/Tutor before you prepare a Particular Answer & for uptodate and exact
information, data and solution. Student should must read and refer the official study material provided by the university.
SECTION - A
Q. 1. Discuss major trends in colonial historiography. Provide Marxist interpretation of the colonial viewpoint.
Ans. The colonial historiography of India was based on the pre-conceptions and debates about the orient in the then
European society. This resulted in the creation of the stereotype of the Indian society which was the other to the
European society.
The term colonial historiography applies to (a) the histories of the countries colonised during their period of colonial rule, and (b) to the ideas and approaches commonly associated with historians who were or are characterised by a
colonialist ideology. In British India the term was used in the first sense and only since independence the second meaning
of the term has come into prominence. In a sense colonial history as a subject of study and colonial approach as an
ideology are interconnected. The theme of empire building in the historical works of the British naturally gave rise to a set
of ideas justifying British rule in India. This justification included, in different degrees in different individual historian, a
highly critical attitude towards Indian society and culture at times amounting to contempt, a laudatory attitude to the
soldiers and administrators who conquered and ruled India, and a proneness to laud the benefits India received from Pax
Britannica, i.e. British Peace. We shall study this ideology in detail later but it is important to note here that lack of
consciousness of the ideological dimension was a characteristic of colonial history writing. The influence of Leopold von
Ranke and the positivist school of history had, for the major part of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, created a belief
in the objectivity of the historian and this made it difficult to perceive the possibility of ideological leanings in historians discourse. The ideological dimension of colonial historiography was brought to the surface only in the post-independence critique of earlier historiography. This critique was launched mainly in India while, as late as 1961, C H Philips of
the School of Oriental and African Studies of London, in The Historians of India, Pakistan and Ceylon, did not raise the
issue at all in a comprehensive survey of historiography.
Historiography to the mid-19th century (to the rise of Marxist historiography). In ancient times, even before the
appearance of writing, historical concepts and some elements of historical knowledge existed among all peoples in orally
transmitted tales and legends and in the genealogies of ancestors. The origin of classes and of the state increased the need
for historical knowledge, and the emergence of writing permitted the beginning of the accumulation of such knowledge.
In early class societies some conditions for the development of historical cognition began to arise, including the elaboration of various systems of chronology. The first historical records appeared at this time, such as the historical inscriptions
left by kings and pharaohs and yearly records of events. Religion exerted an enormous influence on the description and
interpretation of historical events, all of which were explained as the will of the gods. Such historical concepts were
consolidated in sacred books, such as the Bible.
Classical historiography represented an important stage in the progressive development of historical cognition, finding its supreme expression in the works of the ancient Greek historians Herodotus (called the father of history) and,
especially, Thu-cydides. The latter rejected as an explanation of history the intervention of divine forces, probed the inner

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causes and consequences of events, and attempted to separate facts from invention. The works of these historians are no
longer fragmentary accounts, but coherent literary narratives dealing mainly with political history-the history of the
Greco-Persian Wars and of the Peloponnesian War.
Q. 3. What was the composition of rural masses engaged in the agricultural production in post-Gupta north
India?
Ans. To the nationalists, the Gupta period surpassed all other periods in ancient Indian history in its achievements in
political unity, economic prosperity, art, architecture and literature. In the post-independence era, the Marxist historians
in a critique of the nationalist historiography postulated the theory of 'Indian Feudalism' from the Gupta period onwards.
The Marxist historians R.S. Gupta, B.N.S. Yadava, D.N. Jha etc. propounded that the Guptas began with the regular
practice of landgrants to brahmanas with fiscal privileges and the post-Gupta rulers gave away administrative and
judicial rights along with fiscal rights initially to brahmanas temples and on to officials and even to merchants. Hence,
the Guptas and their successors including Harsha perpetuated a feudal political structure in which landed intermediaries
ruled rural society and politically fragmented and decentralized India. Landgrants brought feudal, practices in economy
as trade and urbanization declined in the post-Gupta period and exploited peasantry with increasing burden of taxes.
Obnoxious practices like Tantricism marked the cultural and religious aspects of Indian feudalism. As a critique of 'Indian
Feudalism', B.D. Chattopadhyaya and Hermann Kulke forwarded the processualist model/integrative model of state
formation for the study of the post-Gupta India or early medieval India. Chattopadyaya and Kulke argued that landgrants
to brahmanas and temples, instead of decentralization of the political authority of bigger and smaller states, legitimized
the exercise of royal authority in the countryside and hence, integrated the territorial units and chiefs into the emerging
local, sub-regional and regional states.
Bhairabi Prasad Sahu in his presidential address to the ancient Indian section of the Indian History Congress refers to
the integrative/processual model of studying states in the Gupta and post-Gupta periods. Nandini Sinha Kapur has
demonstrated the integrative forces in the formation of two near contemporary states to the Guptas, the Vakataka state in
Vidarbha and the Maitraka in Gujarat. Instead of disintegration, the integrative model highlights integrative forces in
ancient Indian history.
In the days when historians of 'Golden Ages', the Gupta period was described as such, civilizations were said to have
a Golden Age when virtually every manifestation of life reached a peak of excellence. The Gupta period was selected
largely because of impressive literary works in Sanskrit and the high quality of art, which coincided with what was
viewed as a brahmanical 'renaissance'. Since India civilization had early been characterized as Hindu and Sanskritic, the
initial spread of brahmanical culture as 'high' culture on an unprecedented scale was described as golden period.
The distant past had an advantage, for it allowed greater recourse to imagination in recreating that past. Now that
historians are commenting on all aspects of society, the notion of a uniformly Golden Age that encompasses an entire
society has been questioned. The description of a Golden Age reflected the life of the wealthy and their activities along
characterized such an age. There are at least three epochs when artistic and literary expression achieved impressive
standards - the post-Mauryan and Gupta period; the Cholas; and the Mughals. The precursor to the culture of the Gupta
period was not restricted to northern India, since the Deccan shows a striking evolution of cultures.
The classicism of the Gupta period is not an innovation emanating from Gupta rule but the culmination of a process
that began ealier. New artistic forms were initiated during the pre-Gupta in north India, such as those associated with
Buddhism and which also found parallels in other religious sects, with the writing of texts on technical subjects and
creative literature of various kinds. Much of the articulation is in Sanskrit, but it is of Sanskritic culture assumes certain
kinds of social and cultural exclusively and demarcates social groups it attempts a transition towards a uniform, elite
culture, but in the process becomes a catalyst for many others. The description of the Gupta period as one of classicism is
relatively correct regarding the upper classes, who lived well according to descriptions in their literature and representations in their art. The more accurate, literal evidence that comes from archaeology suggests a less glowing life-style for
the majority. Materially, excavated sites suggest that the average standard of living may have been higher in the preceding
period.
Q. 4. State the importance of pastoral and forest products in the medieval economy.
Ans.Pastoral nomadism is a livelihood form that is ecologically adjusted at a particular level to the utilization of
marginal resources. These resources occur in areas too dry, too elevated, or too steep for agriculture to be a viable mode
of livelihood, and the nomadic pastoralist thus makes use of resources that otherwise would be neglected. The chief
economic product of forests is timber, but the economic benefits, in terms of climate control, pollution abatement, and
wildlife maintenance, have rarely been calculated. The economic importance of non timber forest products is also in-

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creasing. The forest is also vital as a watershed. Because of the thick humus layer, loose soil, and soil-retaining powers of
the trees' long roots, forests are vitally important for preserving adequate water supplies. Almost all water ultimately feeds
from Forest Rivers and lakes and from forest-derived water tables. In addition, the forest provides shelter for wildlife,
recreation and aesthetic renewal for people, and irreplaceable supplies of oxygen and soil nutrients. Deforestation, particularly in the tropical rain forests, has become a major environmental concern, as it can destabilize the earth's temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels.
NOMADISM, a way of life and human existence that is connected with permanent and more or less regular movements of people between different locations. The migrational movements of nomads are connected with clearly defined
routes and destinations where the nomads spend equally clearly defined periods of time with the ultimate goal of pursuing
economic activities and ensuring their livelihood. Three forms of nomadism can be distinguished: nomadic hunters and
gatherers, pastoral nomads, and non-sedentary people whose economic activities focus on tinkering and trading.
Section - B
Q. 8. What was the impact of colonial interventions on tribal economy?
Ans. Tribal peoples constitute roughly 8 percent of the nations total population, nearly 68 million people according
to the 1991 census. One concentration lives in a belt along the Himalayas stretching through Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh in the west, to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur,
and Nagaland in the northeast (see fig. 1). Another concentration lives in the hilly areas of central India (Madhya Pradesh,
Orissa, and, to a lesser extent, Andhra Pradesh); in this belt, which is bounded by the Narmada River to the north and the
Godavari River to the southeast, tribal peoples occupy the slopes of the regions mountains. Other tribals, the Santals, live
in Bihar and West Bengal. There are smaller numbers of tribal people in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, in western
India in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and in the union territories of Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. India
was a direct colony of the British and the impact of this colonial rule over the economy and society of India has been
immense. It must be stated at the outset that direct colonial rule leaves a total impact on the colonized society because
every aspect of social life is influenced by colonial policies of the colonizers. A direct colony (as was the case with India)
is under the complete control of the colonizers and colonial policies and interests influence every aspect of social life of
a colony. Another important fact about India is that the colonial rule lasted for a very long time and this longevity of
colonial rule over India affected the vitals of the Indian society.
India in the pre-colonial period had a stable economy. Self-sufficient agriculture, flourishing trade and rich handicraft
industries. Subsistence farmers, organized in small village communities carried on agricultural operations in India. Landlords were not landowners; they only had the right or privilege to collect taxes from the peasants (Rothermund, page 1).
A village was more or less a self-sufficient economic unit and its business contacts with the outside world were limited to
payment of land revenue (generally in kind) and the purchase of a few necessary things from the town nearby. The farmer
raised only those crops, which he needed for his own use and shared the same with the village artisan who supplied him
with simple manufactures that he needed for his domestic consumption. Means of communication were of a primitive
type. Therefore, trade in agricultural produce, was somewhat limited. The farmer usually raised enough produce to feed
himself and the non-agricultural members of the village community.
The British conquest of Malabar changed the situation by strengthening its control over the whole area and tightening
its grip as acentral imperialistic power extending to every aspect of peoples life and activity. The British came into
contact with the tribes in Malabar during their efforts for the consolidation of the Empire. In the beginning the colonial
Government did not want to go into the roots of tribal problems as they have no interest in their development. It did not
evolve a consistent policy for tribal development during the 19 th century, but in the 20th century, a littleattention was
paid only to the welfare of the tribes in those areas where the colonial agents lived.
Tribals in the following words, far from being of immediate benefit to thetribes, the establishment of colonial rule in
India did most of them much moreharm than good. It may be said that the early days of British administration were
highly detrimental to the economic position of tribes through ignorance and neglect of their right and custom. The preindependent approach to tribal welfare or development was of a different type. Some policies and legislations were
implemented andenacted during this period to mitigate the sufferings of the tribals and prevent their exploitation by
outsiders. Though these policies of the Excluded and Partilly-Excluded Areas were meant to protect the tribals they were
in fact politically motivated. They wanted to secure their own stability and therefore, they were not necessarily meant to
help the people to advance on the road to progress. These policies helped to isolate the tribals and therefore, prevented
them from coming in contact with the general mass. In such a colonial attitude there was no deliberate attempt to strengthen
the economic base of these downtrodden communities. A few missionary and voluntary organizations were doing some

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welfare works among them with their vested interests and limited resources at that time. Later on, the British administrators, however, became increasingly involved in the welfare of the tribal communities in the inter-war period. Senior
officers were deputed in most of the provinces to go into the problem faced by them and to suggest remedial measures.
These were, however, interrupted by the Second World War and consequent economic changes.
Q. 10. Write short notes on any two of the following. Answer in about 250 words each.
(i) Plinnys account on Pepper
Ans. Penny Pepper is a spoken word performer, all round writer and veteran disability arts activist. Her work is
described as subversive, saucy and provocative.
Published extensively in the UK, her performance material has been showcased at the Edinburgh Fringe, Trafalgar
Square, and beyond. She is an old hand at Open Mic slots and recently she performed at the National Theatre. In 2010,
she was a finalist as Emerging Artist, at DadaFest International.
Currently she is developing a spoken word cabaret called Adventures in the Dark and Light, a title which reflects
Penny's unique approach to her work and to life.
The Natural History is an early encyclopediapublished circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder.
It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover
all ancient knowledge. The work's subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history; Pliny
himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life".
The work is divided into 37 books, organised into ten volumes. These cover topics including astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography,anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horticulture,pharmacology,
mining, mineralogy, sculpture, painting, and precious stones.
The Natural History became a model for later encyclopedias and scholarly works as a result of its breadth of subject
matter, its referencing of original authors, and its index. The work is dedicated to the emperor Titus, son of Pliny's close
friend, the emperor Vespasian, in the first year of Titus's reign. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived and the last
that he published, lacking a final revision at the time of his death during the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius.
(ii) Brahmadeya grants
Ans. Land ownership rested with the king, who could make revenue grants to his officers and land grants to Brahmans or else continue to have the land cultivated by small-scale cultivators and landlords. The status of the village varied
according to the tenures prevailing and could be one of the three: the most frequent was the village with an inter caste
population paying taxes to the king in the form of land revenue; less frequent were the brahmadeya villages were the
entire village were donated to a single Brahman or a group of Brahmans. Associated with the brahmadeya grants were the
agrahara grant, an entire village settlements of Brahmans, the land being given as a grant. These were also exempted from
the tax but the Brahmans had to provide free education to the local people. Finally, there was the devadana (donated to the
God) villages, which functioned more or less in the same manner as the first category of villages except that the revenue
from these villages were donated to the temple authorities. Land grants to religious institutions were called Brahmadeya,
(i.e. donated to Brahmins) Devadana (donated to Gods) and Agrahara (Settlement - of priests) These lands donated to the
temples and monasteries apart from being used as normal tenancy also carried a right vested with the temple authorities to
call for unpaid labour (called Vishti) as a religious service to the temple from the tillers on the donated land.
Lands were given as brahmadeya either to a single Brahmana or to several Brahmana families which ranged from a
few to several hundreds or even more than a thousand, as seen in the South Indian context. Brahmadeyas were invariably
located near major irrigation works such as tanks or lakes. Often new irrigation sources were constructed when brahmadeyas
were created, especially in areas dependent on rains and in arid and semi-arid regions. When located in areas of intensive
agriculture in the river valleys, they served to integrate other settlements of a subsihena level production. Sometimes, two
or more settlements were clubbed together to form a brahmadeya or an agrahara. The taxes from such villages were
assigned to the Brahmana donees, who were also given the right to get the donated land cultivated. Boundaries of the
donated land or village were very often carefully demarcated. The various types of land, wet, dry and garden land within
the village were specified. Sometimes even specific crops and trees are mentioned. The land donations implied more than
the transfer of land rights.

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