Art and Culture with Devdutt Pattanaik | Rise and fall of cities in India

Harappa and Mohenjodaro, the earliest cities to beryllium discovered successful the Harappan civilisation, are successful present-day Pakistan. However, post-independence, different sites were excavated successful India, similar Rakhigarhi successful Haryana, Kalibangan successful Rajasthan, Dholavira, and Lothal successful Gujarat. These were regulated cities, wherever introduction and exit were abstracted successful bid to power movement. 

Besides, the cities were organised successful a grid-like structure. There was standardisation crossed Harappan cities, beryllium it the weights and measures utilized oregon even the usage of bricks with a azygous 1:2:4 ratio. Unlike successful Mesopotamia oregon Egypt, determination is nary grounds of a centralised monarchy, with a palace oregon temple. Neither is determination immoderate motion of wars oregon prison. 

Mahajanapadas

The 2nd urbanisation happened 1,500 years aft Harappa. The Aryan oregon Indo-European radical came from Southern Russia, done the Oxus, bringing with them horses. This was astir 1500 BCE. These were mostly men, intermarrying with the section women, changing the constitution of the section DNA. 

Over time, they moved further east, into the Gangetic Plain. Ganga plains established commercialized relations with the Indus plains and beyond. By 500 BCE, cities emerged.

Broadly, determination were astir 16 Mahajanapadas from Gandhara successful Pakistan’s Swat Valley to Mathura successful the Ganga stream basin to Magadha successful Bihar and Malwa successful Madhya Pradesh. 

Like Harappa, these were mercantile cities. Toll taxes became important to support the highways. So, the large awesome of the king astatine this constituent was the spoked instrumentality — the conception of the Chakravartin. Monastic orders similar Buddhism and Jainism roseate successful this play arsenic a situation to Vedic ritualism. The monastic question was linked to trading. It is from Buddhist lit that we find retired astir this signifier of urbanisation. 

The archetypal coins successful India whitethorn person been minted by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain — punch-marked coins made by merchant guilds. Around the 5th Century CE, with the autumn of Rome — an important trading spouse — and the penetration of the Hunas, the merchants mislaid their importance. Trade fell, and the Mahajanapadas began to disintegrate.

Temple urbanisation

The 3rd urbanisation took spot aft a 1000 years arsenic Temple Cities crossed South India and Southeast Asia. Here the temple was the nervus centre of governmental and economical activity, surrounded by markets, courtiers, and courtesans. After the 4th-5th Century, erstwhile export-led mercantile commercialized fell, we saw the emergence of agriculture. 

Around the clip Buddhism was dilatory declining, Brahmadeya oregon donations to Brahmins/temples started emerging. The “temple corporation” roseate with temples becoming the centre of some governmental powerfulness and wealth. These temples had Brahmin priests, Kshatriya patrons, Vaishya merchants, artists, etc. Endogamy flourished and the caste strategy solidified. By the 10th Century Chola period, we spot full-blown temple urbanisation. These were much cultivation than mercantile. 

Muslim metropolis

The 4th urbanisation is the Muslim Metropolis (12th-17th Century CE), which was chiefly agricultural. While antecedently courtiers during the Mauryan Empire were paid successful coins, now, with the feudal strategy they were paid by giving them a stock of the colony wealth. 

Delhi emerged arsenic a cardinal metropolis and with the dispersed of Sufism, Dargahs (shrines), and Pirs became important. The Jama Masjid becomes a cardinal tract successful these cities — from wherever the king’s sanction is mentioned successful the Friday supplication (khutbah), arsenic masses congregate for prayer. This is erstwhile cities similar Ahmedabad, Bidar and Gulbarga rose. 

Postcolonial cities

From the 17th Century onwards, the 5th urbanisation is the assemblage and post-colonial cities. Portuguese colonialism, the earliest, began with Vasco da Gama’s accomplishment successful 1498 successful Kerala. They took implicit the coasts — from Diu and Bom Bahiya (Bombay, Mumbai) to Goa and Cochin connected the West Coast, and from Masulipatnam to Mylapore (present-day Chennai) to Thoothukudi connected the East Coast.

They started erecting forts — which served arsenic subject outposts and administrative centres — and gathering churches, cathedrals, and administrative buildings that had classical European architectural elements similar domes, vaults, and arches. 

The large coastal cities — Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Kochi — began arsenic fortified settlements of the assemblage powers, either the Portuguese oregon the Dutch oregon the French oregon the British. The cities began to alteration visibly erstwhile railways appeared successful the 19th century. There are railway stations, courthouses (to found the ineligible strategy to control), and timepiece towers (to mechanise the work), creating a caller municipality landscape. An concern and imperial landscape. 

Post-independence we person the maturation of planned cities similar Chandigarh, whose maestro program was prepared by Swiss-French designer Le Corbusier; Bhubaneswar was selected to beryllium the superior of Odisha successful 1948, integrating the temple municipality into its readying and the needs of modern administration; Gandhinagar was formed successful 1960 due to the fact that Gujarat needed to person a  superior aft its attempts to get Bombay failed. 

With dense industrialisation, portion of India’s Five Year Plans, concern cities similar Bhilai, Jamshedpur, and Rourkela besides cropped up. These were concern but socialists, shunning monumental art. 

Post Read Questions

Discuss the salient features of municipality readying successful the Harappan civilisation.

How did Portuguese colonialism successful the 17th period signifier the municipality scenery of India’s coastal cities? 

How did the accomplishment of railways successful the 19th period alteration cities into concern and imperial hubs nether assorted European powers?

How did India’s urbanisation germinate from the mercantile Harappan play to the post-independence concern cities? 

(Devdutt Pattanaik is simply a renowned mythologist who writes connected art, civilization and heritage.)

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