A picture of society in the Mauryan times, we get from Arthashastra of Kautilya, Magesthanese’s Indica, the accounts left by the Greek Historians and the edicts and pillar inscriptions of Ashoka. Besides, the Buddhist religious books, works of contemporary art and architecture throw valuable light on the social and economic history of the period. India witnessed many social and cultural changes during this period. With the passage of time this region became the scene of social and cultural hotch potch. A large number of Bactrians, Iranians, Scythians, the Greeks and the people of other west Asian races had immigrated into the Punjab. Inter-marriages between different races must have further increased the number of mixed races. The purity or orthodoxy of manners of the people f the Vedic India which was the hall mark of the Vedic period was gradually lost. The people of Gangetc valley however, adhered to old customs and traditions and continued preserving the ancient order and culture. The orthodox Brahmans looked upon these areas as a land of Sin, sacrilege and impurity because of its close contact with the mlechhas or Greeks and other foreigners. Budhyana, who seems to have flourished before the time of Ashoka calls these people of mixed origin. Magesthanese writes that Varna and the caste system were developed in India during his time. He divides the Indian population into seven parts namely, philosophers, husbandmen, herdsmen, artisans, and traders, soldiers, overseers and councilors. These represented classes and not castes as supposed by Magesthanese. Theoretically, the Brahman class enjoyed the highest position in the society and claimed to be “god on earth”. Megasthenes writes that though the Brahmans were in minority, they enjoyed a high status in society. They performed religious rites and practiced astrology. Megasthenes mentions working class along with the philosophers and Brahmans. In the royal edicts also the laboring class is mentioned side by side with the Brahmans. It seems that the Buddhist monks, Jaina and Ajivika monks enjoyed the same status as Brahmans. Due to the influence and the intermingling of the foreigners with the people of India, the concept of cast became loose and dim and social promiscuity became the order of the day. Meat eating had become a common feature of society. Wine was a common feature of the people of India during these times. In his Arthashastra Kautilya mentions a special officer in charge of drinks. The food [...]
Archive for May 9th, 2009
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Swords are Out- The Fight is On
May 9th, 2009 
Aman For the second time in the second edition of IPL Chennai Super Kings will measure swords with the Rajasthan Royals. Since the last edition of the tournament the fight is on between both the teams. In the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League Chennai Super Kings came up as the team to be watched however the Rajasthan Royals were considered under dogs. There are reasons behind this. In the Dhoni managed Chennai Super Kings, it was team studded with starts like Hayden, Morkel, Ntini etc where as on the other hand there were no star player in the Rajasthan Royals if you leave behind Graham Smith. In the finals of the first edition of the tournament the way Rajasthan Royals played and the way they defeated Chennai Super Kings everyone was surprised to watch the same. Since then Dhoni and company was egar to meet them again on the ground. In the first league match of the second edition of the tournament this year they defeated Rajasthan Royals. Today once again both the giants are about to meet again. There is not much difference in both the teams now. Chennai would like to clinch the win over Royals to continue their winning streak whereas the Rajasthan Royals would like to square the positions in the league with their last year finals rivals. What you may want to watch would be the batting of Mathew Hayden, Raina and Dhoni himself from the Chennai side and Yusuf Pathan and smith from the Royals team. On the bowling front Morkel and Shane Warne would be the players to be watched. In the first match that we will watch Kings of Punjab would like to better their position and jump the table tally by registering a victory over the Deccan Chargers. Well Deccan Charger who has registered four consecutive wins in their first four matches would not take this game lightly as well. By registering a victory they would also like to consolidate their standing in the table tally and their chances to enter the semi finals. We have Gilchrist, RP Singh and Rohit Sharma from the chargers side where as Yuvraj himself would like to take lead supported by Simon Katich and Irfaan Pathan. Also to be noted is that from here onwards Kings XI Punjab will have to win all the games that they are going to play to [...]
