Ans. Urbanisation in the early medieval period (c.600-1300CE) of Indian history was connected with the growth of regional kingdoms and an expansion of Indian Ocean trade. Macro level changes took place which produced new patterns of interaction. Agrahara system of land grants by the royalty created a new class of land holders which was a new socio-economic formation based on land grants. There was a substantial change in the material milieu from the earlier period as a result of these land grants. Expansion of agrarian economy could be perceived along with state format and expansion of state societies in the periphery. Thus early medieval urbanisation could be characterised by change in the agrarian economy, greater complexities in the political sphere and an expanding Indian Ocean trade network.
Urban
centres are present in epigraphs and also in literary texts as space or spatial
units which can be distinguished from "rural" spaces and specific
terminologies are used to distinguish an urban centre. Urban centres are
present in epigraphic records from about the 9th Century AD. Hatta or mandapika
emerge as key terms for understanding the core of the urban space structure.
They combine manufacture and exchange two dominant activities of any settlement.
The term hatta could mean a trade centre in an urban area, in addition to its
more common connotation of a rural exchange centre. Urban areas, belonging to
the non-agrarian sector of the economy, were linked up with trade centres, and
many of urban centres were major centres of trade and commerce.
The
first archaeological documentation of decline of urban centres was provided by
R.S.SHARMA. He meticulously examined evidence relating to four broad regions,
the North, middle Gangetic plains and Eastern regions, Central and Western
regions and the South. According to him, material, artefactual remains
signifying artisanal and commercial activity involving exchange in metal money
in an archaeological horizon lend urban character to it. Among other factors if
a marked decrease particularly is noticeable in trade, handicrafts and the use
of metal money, such a scenario would denote de-urbanisation. During his
endeavour to understand the growth and decay of an Urban centre, these criteria`s
were measured. He associated decline of trade and Urbanism with feudalism. In
his preface to his book, "Urban Decay in India", Sharma makes it
clear that de-urbanisation is viewed by him as an integral part of a new
pattern of production marked by agrarian expansion. He then goes on to explain
the new phenomenon which was obviously the result of agrahara system of land
grants which resulted in the expansion of rural economy. Thus self sufficient
rural economy is portrayed as the principal agent behind the disappearance of
cities in India. He culled inscriptional references to migration of brahmanas
from towns to rural areas. The decay of urban centres is also seen as an impact
of the languishing long distance trade. Sharma viewed languishing trade as a
major ingredient of feudal formation in India. Thrust was put on the
transactions in high-value, small quantity, portable luxury items completely
disregarding the more sustained and important trade in daily necessities.
B.D.Chattopadhyaya,
argued that foreign trade was never central to the growth of urban centres and
a decline in foreign trade might not necessarily imply a decline in internal
trade or petty commodity decline. In order to assess the viability of such a
thesis B.D.Chattopadhyaya attempted to structurally examine "Urban
centres" which were projected as a crucial variable in the idea of Indian
feudalism. The source used by him was primarily epigraphic as there is a
paucity of field archaeology materials during this period. It is interesting
that Chattopadhyaya choose inscriptions from the regions like Rajasthan, the
upper and middle Ganga river valley and Malwa which formed a part of the
erstwhile Gurjara Pratihara kingdom which was incidentally one of the core
regions of Sharma`s study.
Ranabir
Chakravarti`s studies on Mandapika and Pentha as middle category market centres
based mostly on epigraphic data and literary sources brought to light the
linkages between the market places of cities and villages in the early medieval
period.
Nagarams
located on important trade routes and at the points of intersection by
itinerant traders developed into large towns, both in terms of their size and
volume of trade and commerce. K.R.Hall, suggested that nagarams served as
markets for the nadus or locality level centres. They were potential centres of
urban growth and became a part of a wider network of inter regional and
overseas trade from the 11th century AD.
The
historians who support the thesis of urban decay argue that as urban centres
lost their primary relevance as trading zones, they became religious centres
which did not play the role of centre of production or exchange. Xuan Zang`s
account has been used among other things, to show that towns and shops were
given away to temples and monasteries for meeting their needs. Text like
Manasara, a text on architecture, complied around or after 12th century was
used to point out the distinction between a village and a town. It is said that
the text discusses the planning of the villages and the town in such a manner
that one cannot be differentiated from the other.
Conclusion
These
researches thus negate the thesis of urban decline as a universal phenomenon
and moreover stress the linkage of an urban centre with an outside space and
interaction, a regular urban activity. Proliferation of land grants in the
early medieval period is taken to be suggestive of a new socio-economic
formation leading to the formulation of Indian feudalism, according to many
historians. It is suggested that expansion of agrarian economy through land
grants impacted growth of urban centres.
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