Page 68 - SST Class 06

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Growth of Trade and Towns

The origin and growth of towns in India came increase the productivity of such type of soil.
into being as early as 6000–5000 BC. But, these Consequently, first in the north and then in the
were mostly based on Neolithic agrarian culture. south, there was an extension in agricultural
Later on with the inventions of plough, wheel- activity.
cart, boat, metallic implements, etc., and also Growth of Crafts
system of watering fields ushered development The history of Indian handicrafts goes back to
and valleys of Nile, Tigris, Euphrates and Indus almost 5000 years from now. There are numer-
started surplus food-grains production. ous examples of handicrafts from the Indus Valley
Consequently, there evolved a social organisa- Civilization. The tradition of crafts in India has
tion in which certain strata comprising religious, grown around religious values, needs of the
administrative, trading and artisans’ communities common people and also the needs of the ruling
could appropriate for themselves part of the elites. In addition to this, foreign and domestic
produce grown by the cultivators. trade have also played an important role in the

Such groups settled in towns to perform non- evolution of different craft forms in India. The
agricultural activities. Thus, in the river valleys, craft traditions of India have withstood the
began a culture of certain groups who were depredation of time and several foreign invasions
having skill for writing, accountancy as well as and continue to flourish till date. It is mainly due
knowledge of solar calendar and bureaucracy. to the open mindedness of the Indian handi-
There in the real sense town-cult began around craftsmen to accept and assimilate new ideas.
3000 BC. After this, up to nearly 2,000 years, the Going back to the Indus valley civilization, we find
ancient urban process ceased. Early cities went a rich craft tradition and a high degree of techni-
into eclipse. cal excellence in the field of pottery, sculpture

AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION (metal, stone and terracotta), jewelry, weaving,
The most important development during this etc. The Harappan craftsmen not only catered to
period was the use of iron implements in agricul-
ture. This greatly increased agricultural produc-
tion. It became possible to practice intensive
agriculture and to produce more from the same
piece of land. Also, more land was brought into
cultivation. Iron implements such as the axe
helped clearing of forests. The land that was
cleared was used to produce food crops. Certain
regions, where the soil was hard, needed deep
ploughing. The iron plough made it possible to
Crafts of Harappan Civilisation

Social Science-6 68