Class 9 CBSE Notes — State and Society up to 1000 CE

Society is a system of social relationships among people who share a common territory, culture and sense of belonging. It includes families or households, institutions such as marriage, and customs. Society is mainly regulated by customs and practices rather than formal laws.

A State is an organised political system based on rules and laws. It includes the rights and duties of rulers and subjects, methods of governance, and institutions that enforce law and order. States became more complex as societies grew larger.

Dharma means duty, obligation, righteousness and moral conduct—not merely religion. It is a way of life in which people perform duties according to their roles and responsibilities. The word comes from the Sanskrit root dhri, “to uphold”.

Endogamy is the practice of marrying within one’s own social group, community, clan or tribe.

Patrilineal describes a system in which family identity and inheritance pass through the male line.

A guild (śhreṇī) was an association of traders, artisans or merchants belonging to the same profession, craft or occupation. Guilds regulated quality and prices, maintained professional discipline, and also acted as banks, financiers and trustees.

During the first millennium BCE, the Ganga region saw more settlements, increasing use of iron implements, wider crop variety and the characteristic Painted Grey Ware (PGW) pottery. Later, Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) appeared as a smooth, glossy black “deluxe ware”. Agriculture expanded, grain output increased, and paddy became especially important.

The Vedas are the earliest known corpus of Indian literature. They existed orally for centuries before being written. The Ṛigveda was composed in the north-western subcontinent, especially the Sapta-Sindhu region, associated with the Indus, its five tributaries and the Sarasvatī.

Each Veda has four parts:

Do not confuse: Brāhman is a philosophical concept; Brāhmaṇas are texts; Brāhmaṇas/Brahmins can also refer to a varṇa category.

A jana was a clan or people bound by kinship. The Ṛigveda mentions about thirty janas. Five—Yadu, Turvaśha, Puru, Anu and Druhyu—were called the pañchajana, or “five peoples”. The rājā was primarily a clan chief who led the jana in warfare and protected its members. The name “Bharata” first appears in the Ṛigveda in reference to the Bharata jana.

Exam point: These assemblies suggest that the rājā’s power was connected with consultation and participation rather than being completely unrestricted.

Janapada literally means the place where a people (jana) first set its feet. Between approximately 1000 BCE and 600 BCE, identity shifted from being based only on kinship to being based also on territory. Control over land, agriculture and trade routes encouraged more complex administration.

From about 600 BCE to 300 CE, larger units called mahājanapadas developed. Historical sources refer to sixteen mahājanapadas. They included Magadha, Anga, Chedi, Avanti, Aśhmaka, Kāśhī, Malla, Vṛijji, Śhūrasena, Pañchāla, Vatsa, Kosala, Kamboja, Gandhāra, Matsya and Kuru. Magadha, in present-day Bihar, became the most powerful because of its strategic location, fertile plains and strong rulers. Its expansion contributed to the rise of the Mauryan Empire.

Political forms included:

The Cholas, Pandyas, Keralaputras/Cheras and Satiyaputras are mentioned in Aśhoka’s inscriptions. Early Tamil kingdoms flourished in fertile rice-growing regions. Their emblems were:

Sangam literature, composed between 300 BCE and 300 CE, is an important source. The three rulers were called the three crowned kings, or Vendar, of Tamilakam. These early kingdoms must not be confused with the later imperial Chola, Chera and Pandya kingdoms.

Kings were known by titles such as rājā, mahārāja and samrāṭ. The king was expected to:

Kingship was generally hereditary, but sources also mention kings being elected or expelled. Therefore, royal authority was not always absolute.

Early Indian rulers expressed a broad political awareness of the subcontinent through terms such as Jambudvīpa, Bhāratavarṣha, Pṛithivī, Aśhvamedha, Rājasūya and chakravarti kṣhetra. Pṛithivī was understood as the area between the Himalayas and the sea. A chakravarti kṣhetra was the domain of a universal paramount ruler. The ideal of a ruler exercising authority across the subcontinent continued through later periods.

Kauṭilya described the state as an organic whole made of seven constituents:

All seven had to remain integrated for the state to function effectively. The Arthaśhāstra emphasised that a king could not govern alone: “one wheel does not move the carriage.”

The mantri-pariṣhad was a small council of elder statesmen that advised and supported the king. It generally included the treasurer, chief tax collector, chief legal adviser and commander-in-chief. An Aśhokan inscription shows that the council could take decisions independently during the emperor’s absence in exceptional public-interest situations.

Kingdoms were divided into provinces, divisions, districts and villages. Names varied by region and period:

The village was usually the smallest administrative unit. Officers handled provincial, district and local administration. District officers often consulted bankers, caravan leaders, artisans and scribes.

The Uttaramerur inscription describes the Chola Kudavolai, or “ballot pot”, system. Eligible candidates’ names were written on palm leaves and put in a pot. A child drew the leaves publicly to select representatives. Selected members formed specialised committees for irrigation, justice and tax collection.

Aśhoka’s dhamma stressed moral conduct, family respect, ethical behaviour, non-violence and compassion. The Uttaramerur inscription required election candidates to have honest earnings and a pure mind.

Early Vedic texts do not show a fixed social status strictly determined by birth. Social identity could depend on ethnicity, subgroup, region, village, gotra, language and occupation. Occupations were relatively flexible. The Ṛigveda describes one family containing a poet, a physician and a corn-grinder.

The system was initially functional, with knowledge given the highest status, followed by political power and wealth. The Sutta Nipāta states that a person is a brāhmaṇa by deeds, not birth. Over time, flexibility reduced and jātis developed.

Social mobility: Rulers came from diverse backgrounds, including the Nandas, Mauryas, Śhuṅgas, Satavāhanas, Vākāṭakas, Guptas and Puṣhyabhūtis. Occupational mobility is shown by the silk-weavers’ guild that also practised archery and astrology, and by records of brāhmaṇas working as land managers.

The kula was the smallest social unit. Several families formed a grāma; groups of grāmas formed a viśha, headed by a viśhapati; above the viśha was the jana, protected by the rājā. Gotra meant a patrilineal lineage or clan traced to a common ancestor, traditionally a Vedic sage, and influenced marriage practices.

The āśhramas and their duties were intended to provide social, moral and spiritual fulfilment. Life was also accompanied by the ṣhoḍaśha saṁskāras, or sixteen rites of passage.

Artha was considered desirable when guided by dharma and directed towards social welfare.

The source presents women’s position as changing over time. In the Vedic period, women participated in learning, some rituals, chariot races and gatherings such as the sabhā. Hymns are traditionally attributed to Apālā, Viśhvavārā, Ghoṣhā and Lopāmudrā. Women also continued to contribute to household management, agriculture, crafts and religious practices.

Examples include:

Vedic worship included prayers and yajñas, with offerings often made into sacred fire. Deities were connected with nature—sun, rain, fire, earth and dawn. Around the middle of the first millennium BCE, renunciants such as parivrājaka (wanderer), bhikṣhu (one who lives by alms) and śhramaṇa (one who strives) became prominent.

Bhakti was a direct path of devotion to personal deities, without the need for elaborate Vedic rituals, and was accessible regardless of class or gender. It gained wide prominence in the Tamil region in the sixth century through:

Together they created an important body of Tamil Bhakti literature.

Early education was holistic. It cultivated truth, patience, regularity, humility, control of the senses, purity of self, awareness of the unity of life and nature, and respect for all beings. Students learned the Vedas, grammar, logic, philosophy, ethics, mathematics, science, medicine and astronomy, along with music, dance, painting, physical education, archery, yoga, meditation and service to the guru.

The gurukula was centred on the teacher’s home. The guru or āchārya was respected as a guide from ignorance to knowledge. Students lived with the teacher’s family and followed discipline, obedience and self-control.

Important centres of learning included Takṣhaśhilā, Nālandā, Vallabhī, Vikramśhilā, Vārāṇasī, Ujjayinī, Kānchīpuram and others. Literary traditions included Sanskrit grammar, Tamil literature, medicine, law and ethics.

Agriculture was the backbone of the economy and supported both livelihoods and state revenue. Under the Mauryas, village land was divided into individual holdings while pastures and some forests were protected as common or regulated resources. The basic land tax was generally one-sixth of the produce. Crops included rice, pulses, wheat, linseed, mustard, saffron, sugarcane, vegetables and fruits.

Dams, reservoirs, canals and tanks supported agriculture. Puṣhyagupta, a governor of Chandragupta Maurya, constructed a dam on Sudarshana Lake near Girnar. The Cholas built canals, lakes, tanks and connecting channels. The Grand Anicut/Kallanai, associated with Karikala Chola, continued to be used and repaired for centuries.

The major land routes Dakṣiṇāpatha and Uttarāpatha linked regions of the subcontinent. They moved goods, people and ideas and connected inland areas with coastal ports. Important ports included Muziris, Kāveripaṭṭinam, Arikameḍu and Masulipaṭnam. India also traded with Rome by sea and overland routes through Central Asia.

Guilds:

The Nāśhik cave inscription shows that donations were deposited with weavers’ guilds, which paid interest used to maintain Buddhist monasteries and caves.

Q1. What is a janapada?

A. A janapada was a territorial political unit; the term literally means the place where a jana first set its feet.

Q2. Name the three Vedic assemblies.

A. Sabhā, samiti and vidhata.

Q3. What was the basic Mauryan land tax?

A. It was generally one-sixth of the produce.

Q4. What is endogamy?

A. It is the practice of marrying within one’s own social group.

Q5. Name the two major land routes of early India.

A. Dakṣiṇāpatha and Uttarāpatha.

Q1. Distinguish between society and State.

A. Society is a system of relationships based on shared territory, culture and belonging, and is mainly regulated by customs. A State is an organised political system based on laws, rights, duties, governance and institutions enforcing order.

Q2. Give two functions of guilds.

A. Guilds regulated the quality and prices of goods and enforced professional discipline through guild courts. They also acted as banks, financiers and trustees.

Q3. Mention two duties of a king.

A. A king had to protect subjects from external and internal threats and administer justice impartially. He was also expected to work for public welfare.

Q1. Explain the three Vedic assemblies.

A. The sabhā was a smaller body of selected elites that mainly performed judicial functions. The samiti was a larger assembly representing the broader population and discussing policy and political affairs. The vidhata was a popular gathering of jana members that discussed warfare and other political matters.

Q2. Explain the development from janas to mahājanapadas.

A. Early Vedic society consisted of kin-based janas. Between about 1000 BCE and 600 BCE, people increasingly identified with territory, forming janapadas. From about 600 BCE to 300 CE, larger territorial units called mahājanapadas emerged because land, agriculture and trade routes required more complex administration.

Q3. Explain the four puruṣhārthas.

A. Dharma means righteousness, artha means material well-being, kāma means fulfilment of desires, and mokṣha means liberation from worldly ties. The source especially stresses that artha should be guided by dharma and social welfare.

Q1. Describe Kauṭilya’s Saptāṁga theory.

A. Kauṭilya viewed the state as an organic whole consisting of seven integrated constituents: the king, ministers and high officials, territory and population, forts, treasury, forces of defence and law and order, and allies. These were called svāmi, amātya, janapada, durga, koṣha, daṇḍa and mitra. The theory shows that effective government required cooperation among several institutions and resources; the king could not rule alone.

Q2. Describe the administrative system of early Indian kingdoms and empires.

A. Large kingdoms were divided into provinces, divisions, districts and villages. The king was the supreme authority, while governors and officers managed administration, justice, revenue and law and order at lower levels. District officers consulted important residents such as bankers, caravan leaders, artisans and scribes. Villages were the smallest units and often managed irrigation, roads, records, revenue and disputes through local assemblies. This combined central monarchy with decentralised local governance.

Q3. Compare varṇa and jāti.

A. Varṇa refers to four broad functional categories—brāhmaṇas, kṣhatriyas, vaiśhyas and śhūdras. Jāti refers to the many distinct social groups that developed through intermarriage, endogamy, migration, territorial differences and new occupations. The number of varṇas was fixed at four, while the number of jātis was not fixed. Early social roles were relatively flexible, but this flexibility gradually reduced.

Q4. Explain the importance of agriculture, irrigation, trade and guilds.

A. Agriculture was the backbone of the economy and supplied state revenue; the Mauryan land tax was generally one-sixth of produce. Dams, canals, reservoirs and tanks supported cultivation. Dakṣiṇāpatha and Uttarāpatha connected inland regions, cities and ports and enabled the movement of goods, people and ideas. Guilds organised occupations, regulated quality and prices, enforced discipline and provided banking and financial services.

Source coverage note: These notes cover the chapter’s political, social, ethical, religious, educational, economic, administrative, map and end-of-chapter question content. The source does not provide formulas or scientific laws; therefore none have been added.