A History of India, Third Edition

THE GREAT ANCIENT EMPIRES

Social differentiation and political organisation started with the need for
defence against raiders. The early nuclear areas along the great rivers were
initially isolated from each other by large stretches of forest or barren
lands. They could thus give rise to local principalities. At the same time
these principalities could profit from maritime trade.
South India was known even in very ancient times as a rich land to
which, according to the Bible, King Solomon may have sent his ships once
every three years carrying gold, silver, ivory, monkeys and peacocks.
Megasthenes reported that in the late fourth century BC the wealth of the
Pandya rulers of the South was derived from the trade with pearls. The
Arthashastra lists shells, diamonds and other precious stones, pearls and
articles made of gold as South Indian products. Initially this kind of trade
may have been of marginal importance only but in due course it
contributed to economic growth. The organisation of trade accelerated the
political development of the coastal nuclear areas and the local rulers
gradually extended their sway over the surrounding countryside. It is
significant in this context that ancient geographers like Ptolemy in the
second century AD mention not only the ports of South India but also the
capitals of rulers located at some distance from the coast.

Five types of regional ecology

The pattern of gradual penetration of the hinterland of the southeast coast
is clearly reflected in ancient Tamil literature. In the texts of the Sangam
period five eco-types (tinai) are mentioned again and again. These types
are: the mountains, forests and pastures, dry, barren land, the valleys of the
great rivers, and the coast. These different eco-types were not only
characterised by the particular plants and animals found there but also by
different modes of economic activity and social structure.^1
The mountainous region (kurrinci) was the habitat of hunters and
food gatherers like the tribe of the Kuruvars. Below this region there
was the forest and brushland (mullai) which also served as pasture for
tribes of herdsmen like the Ayar. Agriculture was scarce in this area
where only millets would grow. Rice was introduced later and only in
the small areas which offered conditions similar to those prevailing in
the great valleys.
The Sangam texts indicate that the relations between the hunters of the
mountains and the forests and the herdsmen in the adjacent region were
often strained. They did share the same religious cults of Muruga, Lord of
the Mountains, who was also worshipped as the god of war by the
herdsmen. But constant cattle raids were a source of conflict here just as
they had been in northern India in the Vedic Age. The Sangam literature
abounds with stories about such cattle raids, the term for such a raid being
synonymous with that for war.