A history of agriculture in pre-colonial India

Pages: 529-531
Mahender Singh (Department of History, Dayanand College, Hisar, Haryana)

It is quite clear from the archaeological excavations that the agriculture and animal husbandry went together. Even the pre-Harappan levels of Kalibangan in western Rajasthan, had domesticated cattle. India was also regarded as the home of Mung and mash. In the vedic and post-Vedic period mash enriched the Indian diet, cookery and religious ceremonies to great extent. It is thought that rice, which is the most extensively cultivated crop in the world and which serves as the staple food for the largest population these days, had its cultivation originated in India, Burma or Indo-China. India had 4000 varieties of rice. Eastern India, was, and is, the true home of rice. Thus the major achievements of the Neolithic revolution was the discovery of agriculture, horticulture, vegetation and animal husbandry. Furthermore, the Vedic literature indicates that the cultivators in the Vedic period possessed a fair knowledge of the fertility of land, selection and treatment of seeds, seasons of sowing and harvesting, rotation and other cultural practices of crops, manuring for increase of production of crops and the like. Jaittiriva Samhita mentions that rice would be sown in summer and pulses in winter on the same field. During the Buddhist period people retained their interest in agriculture. The usefulness of cattle was also fully realised by the people. The evolution of gardening is intimately associated with Buddhist temples and monasteries. The Mauryan period also, laid great stress on the promotion of agriculture, forest produces, pasture lands, cows, horses and elephants.