New Beginnings: Cities and States | CBSE Class 7 History Notes

This note covers the return of city life, early states and their rulers, assemblies, iron technology, coins and trade, social groups, routes linking regions, the growth of southern kingdoms, historical sources and the sequence of these changes.

What was the background to India’s Second Urbanisation?

What happened after the Harappan cities declined?

Urbanisation means the growth of towns and cities and the development of urban life. The Indus, Harappan or Sindhu-Sarasvati civilisation represented India’s First Urbanisation. Its cities had an organised urban way of life with specialised work and supporting institutions.

In the early second millennium BCE, meaning Before Common Era, this civilisation disintegrated. A millennium is a period of one thousand years. This decline took place over a few centuries after 2000 BCE.

Some cities were abandoned. In others, some people continued to live, but returned to a rural or village lifestyle. The disappearance of the larger urban order explains why remaining at an old city site did not necessarily mean continuing an urban way of life.

The earlier urban order included elaborate private and public buildings, crowded streets, busy markets and specialised occupations. Metalsmiths, potters, builders, weavers and other craftspeople had formed different working communities. Writing, sanitation, administration and a larger state structure supported this urban system.

Where did city life return?

For a whole millennium, urban life remained absent from India, though there may have been a few towns here and there in north India. Important regional cultures continued during this interval. The decline of cities did not mean the disappearance of all settled communities.

During the first millennium BCE, a new phase of urbanisation began in the Ganga plains, parts of the Indus or Sindhu basin and neighbouring regions. It gradually spread to other parts of the Subcontinent, the larger geographical region containing India and its neighbouring lands.

This phase is often called India’s Second Urbanisation. It has continued up to the present. The word “second” distinguishes this new growth of city life from the earlier Harappan phase. Its gradual spread reached the southern regions, where cities began emerging about 400 BCE.

How did janapadas develop into mahajanapadas?

What did a janapada mean?

Towards the end of the second millennium BCE, regional cultures in north India gradually reorganised. People formed clans, or groups, probably sharing a common language and common customs. Each clan became associated with a territory led by a raja, meaning a ruler.

This territory was a janapada. The Sanskrit components explain the idea: jana means people and pada means foot. Together, the word refers to where people had set foot or settled down. It connects a community with the territory in which it lived.

Trade networks expanded and linked these territories. As these connections grew, the janapadas also grew. By the eighth or seventh centuries BCE, some early states had merged into larger units called mahajanapadas. These were bigger states formed from the earlier political units.

How many larger states were there?

Ancient texts contain different lists. The more frequent list names 16 mahajanapadas, extending from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the east and Ashmaka in central India, close to the Godavari River. There may have been a few more.

Some smaller janapadas continued independently. Therefore, the growth of larger states did not mean that every smaller territory disappeared at once. The political landscape contained both larger units and surviving smaller ones.

The most powerful of the new states included Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa and Avanti. Their importance belongs to a wider process: communities, territories, trade and political authority became connected on a larger scale.

By 300 BCE or so, the mahajanapadas ceased to exist. By 300 or 200 BCE, almost the entire Subcontinent was interconnected, with goods and culture travelling between regions. The end of these states therefore belonged to a period of wider connections and fresh political developments.

Why did many states grow in the Ganga plains?

How did land, resources and trade matter?

Many mahajanapadas were concentrated in the Ganga plains. Several possible reasons help explain this distribution: agriculture expanded on the fertile plains, iron ore was available in mountains and hills, and new trade networks were forming. These are possible contributing factors, not a single certain explanation.

Iron ore is naturally occurring material from which iron can be extracted. Metallurgy means the techniques used to extract and work metals. Access to metal resources mattered because iron tools were becoming part of agricultural and other activities.

The growth of states was also linked to their capitals. A capital is the city from which a state is governed. Most mahajanapada capitals were fairly large and well fortified. Fortifications are defensive works, including the walls built to protect a settlement.

How were the capitals protected?

A moat, a deep and wide ditch filled with water, ran outside the fortifications as an additional defence. Gateways through the defensive walls were often deliberately narrow. Guards could then control people and goods entering or leaving the city.

Coloured regions show the mahajanapadas, with stars marking named capitals. Vatsa is labelled beside Kaushambi. The borders are approximate, so the coloured areas should not be read as exact boundaries.

See Fig. 4.3 in your NCERT textbook

Most of these ancient capitals continue as living cities today and are often 2,500 years old. This continuity connects ancient urban growth with present settlements. Their survival does not mean that every building, boundary or form of government has remained the same.

How did monarchies compare with ganas and sanghas?

What part did assemblies play?

Each janapada had a sabha or samiti, an assembly or council that discussed matters concerning the clan. These terms first appear in the Vedas, India’s most ancient texts. We may assume that most assembly members were elders within the clan.

The ruler was not expected to act independently or arbitrarily, meaning according to personal wishes without proper restraint. A good ruler was supposed to seek advice from the assembly, as well as from ministers and administrators.

Note: Some ancient texts mention an assembly removing an incompetent ruler. This does not mean removal was an established law. Evidence for these remote periods is incomplete, so a reported possibility must not become a universal rule.

Who held authority in a monarchy?

Some mahajanapadas were monarchies: the raja held ultimate authority, supported by ministers and an assembly of elders. The position was hereditary, meaning passed within a family. A raja would usually be the son of the previous ruler.

The king collected taxes or revenue, the income received by the state. He maintained law and order, built impressive defences around the capital and maintained an army. The army could defend the territory or fight neighbouring states, depending on the circumstances.

What was different in Vajji and Malla?

At least two mahajanapadas, Vajji, also called Vrijji, and neighbouring Malla, followed another system. Their assemblies had greater power. Important decisions were made through discussion and, if necessary, a vote. This included choosing the raja.

Such states were called ganas or sanghas. Their functioning might be called democratic because assembly members selected the ruler and made major decisions. Scholars have often called them early republics, among the earliest such systems in the world.

The democratic description concerns the role of assembly members. It should not be expanded into a claim that every resident had a vote. The important distinction is between the ruler’s ultimate authority and an assembly that selected the ruler and took major decisions.

How did iron technology and coins change daily life?

Why was iron important?

The Harappan civilisation had mastered copper and bronze metallurgy. A major technological shift associated with the Second Urbanisation was the use of iron. In several Indian regions, techniques for extracting and shaping iron were actually perfected from the early second millennium BCE.

Iron did not become part of daily life immediately. This took a few centuries. By the late second millennium BCE, iron tools were widespread and made agriculture on a bigger scale easier. Technological knowledge and widespread everyday use therefore belong to different stages of the development.

Iron also produced better weapons than bronze, lighter and sharper. Examples include swords, spears, arrows and shields. There is some evidence of warfare between neighbouring mahajanapadas, but how frequent or how intense it was is impossible to tell.

Military campaigns, and occasionally alliances, led to new kingdoms and empires. An alliance is an agreement to act together; an empire is a large political formation extending rule over territories. Warfare was therefore one route to political change, while cooperation also sometimes mattered.

How did trade encourage coin use?

Growing trade made the first use of coins in India necessary. The earliest Indian coins were silver. Because silver is soft, symbols could be punched into it. These objects are called punch-marked coins, meaning coins carrying symbols impressed into their surface.

Later, coins were also made from copper, gold and other metals. Generally, a mahajanapada issued its own coins. Coins from neighbouring regions were also used and exchanged in trade. Coin circulation therefore linked political territories rather than remaining confined within each state.

The photographs show a few punch-marked coins from various ancient cities of north India, with varied shapes and punched symbols. Several overlapping pieces and a close-up make the surface markings visible. These are photographs of objects, not a drawing of a transaction.

See Fig. 4.6 in your NCERT textbook

How did different social groups organise their work?

Why did occupations become important?

As societies grew more complex, they organised people into groups based on occupation, class or other criteria. Work included governance, administration, religion, education, trade, town-planning, agriculture, crafts and the arts. Different activities helped meet the needs of a complex society.

Ideally, these groups would complement one another and work in harmony. Most of the time, however, such divisions also led to inequalities. Some groups gained greater wealth, power or influence than others. Social organisation and unequal power could develop together.

What was a jati?

A jati was a community or group associated with a specific professional occupation closely connected to its livelihood. Skills in agriculture, metalworking, commerce or a craft were generally transmitted from one generation to the next.

Often, a jati divided further into sub-jatis, smaller groups within it. Each developed its own customs and traditions, including practices concerning marriage, rituals and food. A ritual is a customary ceremonial practice. These customs accompanied the occupational identities of communities.

What were the four varnas?

Varna was another category of social organisation, a concept emerging from Vedic texts. The four varnas described broad social roles. They should be distinguished from the many occupational communities represented by jatis and their subdivisions.

The wording of these roles matters. Kshatriyas were expected to defend society; Vaishyas were supposed to increase its wealth. These descriptions of social roles should not be turned into a claim that every individual always followed one occupation throughout life.

The varna-jati system brought together these two kinds of categories. It structured social and economic activities and gave society some stability. Its effects also changed over time, especially as earlier flexibility gave way to greater rigidity and discrimination.

What were the effects and limitations of the varna-jati system?

Could occupations change?

Historical evidence from texts and inscriptions, writings recorded on durable surfaces, shows that individuals and communities changed occupations in the early period when circumstances demanded. Occupational identity did not mean that such changes were impossible.

A long drought or a natural calamity could force a farming community to move to a city and take up different work. Some Brahmins turned to trade or even military activities. These examples show how changes in circumstances could affect people’s livelihoods.

There is broad agreement that the system was significantly different in earlier periods, particularly because it was more flexible. It became more rigid over time, in particular during British rule in India. This was a historical process rather than an unchanged condition across every period.

How did inequality develop?

As the system became rigid, it led to inequalities, meaning unequal conditions or access to advantages, and discrimination, meaning unfair treatment of particular groups. These affected lower jatis and some communities excluded from the varna-jati system.

The system’s contribution to organising work must therefore be considered alongside its unequal effects. The system gave society some stability but became more rigid over time. Recognising one aspect does not remove the other.

What does “caste” mean here?

The English word caste comes from the Portuguese word casta. Portuguese travellers used it while trying to understand Indian society in the sixteenth century CE, meaning Common Era. Scholars do not all apply this term in the same way.

A few scholars use caste for varnas; most apply it to jatis; others use it for the whole varna-jati system. Thus, treating caste as a word with only one agreed meaning can conceal differences between these categories.

The varna-jati system deeply influenced Indian society, but it was not its only organising mechanism. Understanding it requires attention to occupational groups, broader categories, changing circumstances and inequalities, without treating all Indian social life as the product of a single system.

How did routes connect cities, regions and ideas?

Which routes became widely used?

During the first millennium BCE, major communication routes opened for trade, pilgrimage, meaning journeys to sacred places, and military campaigns. Two routes, the Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha, became widely used and are often mentioned in ancient literature.

Kaushambi, near present-day Prayagraj, was a mahajanapada capital. The Dakshinapatha began there and proceeded across the Vindhyas towards the south. Knowing a route’s starting point and direction helps distinguish it from the northern connection made by the Uttarapatha.

Many connecting roads also reached other parts of India, especially important ports on the western and eastern coasts. A port is a place where vessels arrive and depart with people or goods. These coastal centres were lively places of trade.

How did teachings travel?

The same age saw new schools of thought, including late Vedic, Buddhist and Jain traditions, with their respective literatures. A school of thought is a body of related teachings or ideas. Scholars, monks and nuns carried these teachings across India.

Monks and nuns are men and women devoted to religious lives. Their journeys, along with journeys made by pilgrims, helped spread teachings and literature. Movement along routes therefore had cultural as well as commercial importance.

Indian art also underwent renewal and would blossom during the age of empires. Roads connected not just places where goods were exchanged, but people participating in intellectual, religious and artistic change. The expanding networks carried people, goods, ideas and teachings across different regions.

How did urban growth spread eastwards and southwards?

What does Shishupalgarh show about eastern cities?

Important cities emerged beyond the main concentration of mahajanapadas. Shishupalgarh, now Sisupalgarh and part of Bhubaneswar, was the capital of the Kalinga region. Its settlement followed a strict square ground plan, with imposing fortifications and broad streets.

The site was first excavated in 1948. Excavation is the careful uncovering of buried remains to study the past. Its gateway provides evidence of how the movement of people and goods could be controlled as they entered or left a defended settlement.

The photograph shows one of Shishupalgarh’s gateways through the fortifications, with a narrowed passage for controlling the movement of people and goods. A water-filled moat is visible outside the gateway.

See Fig. 4.7 in your NCERT textbook

When did southern cities emerge?

In the southern regions, cities began emerging from about 400 BCE, although recent excavations claim to find some signs of commercial activities going further back. The approximate date for cities and the qualified claim about earlier commerce should be kept distinct.

Around this time, three kingdoms emerged: the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas. Besides evidence from archaeology, the study of material remains, the most ancient Tamil literature mentions these kingdoms and several of their kings. This gives both material and literary ways to study southern developments.

The southern regions possessed precious and semiprecious stones, gold and spices. They traded these resources profitably with other Indian regions and with kingdoms and empires overseas. Trade connected southern production with wider networks of exchange.

By 300 or 200 BCE, almost the entire Subcontinent, including regions in the Northeast, was a vibrant interconnected land. Goods and culture travelled between regions and often beyond India to parts of Central and Southeast Asia.

About the same time, the mahajanapadas ceased to exist and new developments began reshaping India. Their disappearance did not end urban connections: the wider network of routes, exchanges and cultural movement remained central to the changing historical landscape.

What timeline helps explain the sequence of changes?

How should the dates be read?

A timeline arranges developments in chronological order, meaning their order through time. The broad periods below matter as much as individual numbers. The final two entries concern later vocabulary and modern investigation, not events during the Second Urbanisation. Words such as “early”, “late”, “about” and “by” preserve the difference between gradual developments and precisely dated events.

The timeline covers 1900 BCE to 300 BCE, with scale labels at 1900, 1200, 800, 400 and 300 BCE. Arrows show the Harappan civilisation, janapadas and mahajanapadas, including overlapping periods.

See Fig. 4.8 in your NCERT textbook

The overlap is important because smaller janapadas continued independently even after larger states appeared. Likewise, iron techniques were developing well before iron became common in daily life. A timeline should show these relationships without assigning an exact starting year to every gradual change.

The mahajanapadas ceased to exist by 300 BCE or so. By 300 or 200 BCE, almost the entire Subcontinent was interconnected. These dates are approximate.

What sources reveal this history, and what are their limits?

What can material and literary sources show?

Historical sources are surviving evidence used to study the past. Two main kinds establish the growth of ancient urban centres: archaeological excavations and ancient literature. Archaeology studies material remains, while literary sources are written works containing evidence about earlier societies.

Excavations have confirmed ancient urban centres. The gateway at Shishupalgarh, first excavated in 1948, is one example of material evidence for a fortified settlement. Coins and surviving structures also form part of the physical remains through which ancient urban life can be studied.

Late Vedic, Buddhist and Jain literature contains many references to the new urban centres. Ancient Tamil literature mentions southern kingdoms and several kings. Written evidence thus helps identify political communities and settlements as well as the ideas circulating through them.

Why must conclusions remain careful?

Different texts list mahajanapadas differently. The frequently given total of 16 should therefore not become a claim that no other states existed. Some smaller janapadas remained independent, and there may have been a few more mahajanapadas.

Similarly, texts mentioning the removal of an incompetent ruler do not prove an established law. Some evidence of warfare cannot establish its frequency or intensity. Historical reasoning requires matching the strength of a conclusion to the strength of its evidence.

Southern cities began emerging about 400 BCE, while recent excavations claim to show some earlier commercial activity. Earlier commerce and established urban centres are different claims. Neither should be silently substituted for the other.

Dates also need careful interpretation. About 400 BCE marks the emergence of southern cities, and 300 BCE or so marks the end of the mahajanapadas. By contrast, 1948 dates the first excavation at Shishupalgarh, not the foundation of the ancient city.

Read material remains and texts together, while retaining their limits. This approach explains major changes in cities, government, technology and society without making the surviving evidence more complete or more precise than it is.

Glossary

• Urbanisation — The growth of towns and cities, together with the development of urban ways of life.
• Janapada — A territory where a community had settled, associated with a clan and led by a ruler.
• Mahajanapada — A larger early state formed as some earlier political units merged and expanded.
• Sabha or samiti — An assembly or council that discussed matters affecting the clan and advised its ruler.
• Monarchy — A political system in which the ruler held ultimate authority, supported by ministers and an assembly.
• Hereditary — Passed within a family; a raja would usually be the previous ruler’s son.
• Gana or sangha — An early political system whose assembly selected the ruler and made important decisions.
• Moat — A deep and wide water-filled ditch surrounding a fort or fortified city for additional defence.
• Metallurgy — Techniques for extracting metals and shaping them into useful objects, including tools and weapons.
• Punch-marked coins — Coins carrying punched symbols; the first Indian examples were made from soft silver.
• Jati — A community associated with a particular professional occupation closely connected to its livelihood.
• Varna — One of four broad social categories emerging from Vedic texts and associated with particular roles.
• Uttarapatha — A widely used route connecting northwestern regions with the Ganga plains and eastern India.
• Dakshinapatha — A widely used route beginning at Kaushambi and crossing the Vindhya hills towards the south.
• Literary sources — Written works used as historical evidence, including references to ancient cities, kingdoms and social practices.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: The Second Urbanisation was the Harappan urban phase. Correct: The Harappan civilisation represented the First Urbanisation; the new phase began in the first millennium BCE.
• Misconception: Exactly 16 mahajanapadas existed, and every janapada disappeared. Correct: Sixteen is the more frequent textual list; there may have been a few more, and some smaller janapadas remained independent.
• Misconception: Every raja inherited the throne. Correct: In monarchies the raja would usually be the previous ruler’s son; assemblies selected the ruler in ganas or sanghas such as Vajji and Malla.
• Misconception: Removing an incompetent ruler was an established law everywhere. Correct: Some texts mention this possibility, but the incomplete evidence does not establish it as a law.
• Misconception: Warfare was certainly constant and intense. Correct: There is some evidence of warfare between neighbouring mahajanapadas, but its frequency and intensity are impossible to tell.
• Misconception: Jati and varna mean exactly the same thing. Correct: Jati referred to occupational communities; varna was a separate category of four broad social groups.
• Misconception: Occupations could never change in early society. Correct: Texts and inscriptions provide evidence of individuals and communities changing occupations when circumstances demanded.
• Misconception: Southern cities began in exactly 400 BCE. Correct: They began emerging about 400 BCE; claims about earlier commercial activity remain distinct from this approximate urban date.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Evidence: in a monarchy the raja held ultimate authority and would usually be the previous ruler’s son; in Vajji and Malla the assembly selected the ruler and made major decisions. Using this evidence, give two differences between the systems. [2 marks]

1. In monarchies, the ruler’s position was usually inherited; in Vajji and Malla, assembly members selected the ruler.
2. The monarch held ultimate authority, whereas the assemblies in Vajji and Malla took major decisions themselves.

Q2. Evidence: many mahajanapadas lay in the Ganga plains; possible reasons include agricultural growth on fertile land, nearby iron ore and new trade networks. Explain these three possible factors without treating them as certain causes. [3 marks]

1. The fertile Ganga plains offered conditions for agricultural growth. This was one possible factor behind the concentration of many mahajanapadas there.
2. Iron ore was available in mountains and hills. It could supply iron for tools that made agriculture on a bigger scale easier, providing another possible reason for the region’s development.
3. New trade networks were forming and connecting settlements. These connections were a further possible contribution, alongside agriculture and the availability of iron ore.

Q3. Evidence: in several regions iron extraction and shaping were perfected from the early second millennium BCE; everyday use took a few centuries; tools were widespread by the late second millennium BCE, helping larger-scale agriculture; iron weapons were lighter and sharper than bronze. Explain the development and importance of iron in four points. [4 marks]

1. Techniques for extracting and shaping iron were perfected in several regions from the early second millennium BCE. This describes an early stage of technological development.
2. Iron took a few centuries to become part of daily life. Knowledge of the technology and widespread use therefore did not begin simultaneously.
3. By the late second millennium BCE, iron tools were widespread. They helped make agriculture possible on a bigger scale.
4. Iron also improved weapons because they were lighter and sharper than bronze weapons. Its importance therefore extended beyond agriculture to military equipment.

Q4. Evidence: a jati was an occupational community; skills were generally passed between generations; sub-jatis often developed their own customs; texts and inscriptions show occupation changes when circumstances demanded; the system later became rigid and discriminated against lower jatis and some excluded communities. Explain its organisation and changing effects in five points. [5 marks]

1. A jati connected a community with a particular professional occupation. Its work was closely related to the livelihood through which members supported themselves.
2. Occupational skills were generally transmitted from one generation to the next.
3. Jatis often divided into smaller sub-jatis, which developed customs of their own. This shows that occupational communities could also contain further social subdivisions.
4. Texts and inscriptions show that individuals and communities changed occupations when circumstances demanded. Early occupational organisation therefore allowed changes in response to circumstances.
5. Later rigidity had unequal effects. Discrimination affected lower jatis and some excluded communities, so the system’s history includes both occupational organisation and harmful social divisions.

Q5. Evidence: the Uttarapatha linked the northwest with the Ganga plains and eastern India; the Dakshinapatha began at Kaushambi and crossed the Vindhyas southwards; connecting roads reached coastal ports; routes served trade, pilgrimage and military campaigns; travelling scholars, monks, nuns and pilgrims spread teachings and literature. Explain five ways routes connected regions and people. [5 marks]

1. The Uttarapatha connected northwestern regions with the Ganga plains and continued towards eastern India. It linked these regions through a widely used northern route.
2. The Dakshinapatha began at Kaushambi and crossed the Vindhya hills towards the south. It therefore connected its northern starting point with southern regions.
3. Connecting roads reached ports on the coasts. These roads brought coastal centres into the wider network of routes linking different parts of India.
4. Routes supported more than one kind of movement. Traders, pilgrims and military campaigns used them, giving the network commercial, religious and military importance.
5. Scholars, monks, nuns and pilgrims helped spread teachings and literature as they travelled. Routes therefore connected cultural life as well as the movement of goods.

Q6. Evidence: texts give different mahajanapada lists, with 16 the more frequent total; some mention removing incompetent rulers without establishing a law; warfare evidence cannot reveal frequency or intensity; southern cities emerged about 400 BCE, while excavations claim some earlier commerce. Identify four limits that a careful historian must preserve. [4 marks]

1. The total of 16 is a frequent textual list, not proof of an exclusive total. Different lists prevent treating it as an exact universal count.
2. Mentions of removing incompetent rulers do not establish a general law. A possibility described in some texts must remain qualified.
3. Evidence that warfare occurred cannot show how frequent or intense it was. Those questions remain unresolved by the evidence provided.
4. The date for southern cities is approximate. Claims of earlier commercial activity must remain qualified and should not automatically become claims of earlier cities.

Q7. Evidence: the earliest Indian coins were silver with punched symbols; later coins used copper, gold and other metals; generally a mahajanapada issued its own coins, while neighbouring regions’ coins also circulated in trade. Describe early coinage in three points. [3 marks]

1. The first Indian coins were made from silver and carried punched symbols. This combination of material and technique explains why they are called punch-marked coins.
2. Coinage later included copper, gold and other metals. The materials used therefore extended beyond the silver of the earliest Indian coins.
3. Generally, a mahajanapada issued its own coins, but neighbouring regions’ coins were also used in trade. Political territories did not completely confine coin circulation.

Q8. Evidence: southern cities began emerging about 400 BCE, with Chola, Chera and Pandya kingdoms emerging around this time; ancient Tamil literature mentions these kingdoms; stones, gold and spices supported trade within India and overseas. Give three connected features of southern development, using only this evidence. [3 marks]

1. Southern cities began emerging about 400 BCE, while the Chola, Chera and Pandya kingdoms emerged around this time. Both timings should remain approximate.
2. Ancient Tamil literature mentions these kingdoms. Written references therefore contribute evidence for studying the political developments associated with southern regions.
3. Resources including stones, gold and spices supported trade with other Indian regions and overseas. Southern development was connected with wider commercial exchanges.

Key takeaways

• The Second Urbanisation began during the first millennium BCE in the Ganga plains, parts of the Indus basin and neighbouring regions.
• Janapadas linked settled communities with territories; some early states merged into larger mahajanapadas as trade networks expanded.
• Monarchies gave the raja ultimate authority, while ganas or sanghas such as Vajji and Malla gave assemblies greater power.
• Widespread iron tools helped agriculture expand, while growing trade encouraged coin use and exchanges between regions.
• Jati and varna were distinct social categories; early flexibility gradually gave way to greater rigidity, inequality and discrimination.
• The Uttarapatha, Dakshinapatha and connecting roads carried goods, people, ideas and teachings across different Indian regions.
• Southern cities emerged about 400 BCE; Chola, Chera and Pandya kingdoms developed around this time and participated in wider trade.
• Historical conclusions must retain uncertain dates, differing textual lists and limits on what incomplete evidence can establish.

Test yourself

What does janapada mean?

It means where people have set foot or settled down, linking a community with a territory.

Why should the total of 16 mahajanapadas be qualified?

Texts contain different lists. Sixteen is the more frequent total, but there may have been a few more mahajanapadas.

Which two states selected rulers through their assemblies?

Vajji, also called Vrijji, and neighbouring Malla selected rulers through their assemblies.

What made a moat useful?

Its deep, wide, water-filled ditch added another defence outside a fort or fortified city.

How did the earliest Indian coins receive their name?

They were silver coins with symbols punched into their surfaces, so they are called punch-marked coins.

How did the Uttarapatha differ from the Dakshinapatha?

The Uttarapatha linked the northwest with the Ganga plains and eastern India. The Dakshinapatha began at Kaushambi and crossed the Vindhyas towards the south.

What change in the varna-jati system must be remembered?

It was more flexible in earlier periods, but became more rigid over time and led to inequalities and discrimination.

What two main kinds of evidence reveal ancient urban centres?

Archaeological excavations confirm urban centres, while ancient literature describes or refers to them.