With reference to social conditions during Sangam age, consider the fo...
Introduction:
The Sangam age refers to the period between 300 BCE and 300 CE in ancient South India, particularly in the region of Tamil Nadu. It was a time of great literary and cultural development, with the Sangam literature being produced during this era. It is important to understand the social conditions that prevailed during this period.
Statement 1: Civil and military offices were held under both Cholas and Pandyas by rich peasants (vellalas).
Explanation:
- The term "vellala" refers to the rich peasant class in ancient Tamil society.
- During the Sangam age, the Cholas and Pandyas, who were powerful dynasties, held civil and military offices.
- These offices were not limited to the upper classes or the ruling elite but were also held by vellalas, who were considered to be wealthy peasants.
- This shows that social mobility was possible during this period, as individuals from the vellala class were able to hold positions of power and authority.
Statement 2: The pariyars were agricultural labourers who also worked with animal skins and used them as mats.
Explanation:
- The term "pariyar" refers to a specific social group during the Sangam age.
- The pariyars were primarily agricultural laborers, who worked in the fields and performed manual labor.
- Additionally, they also worked with animal skins and used them as mats.
- This indicates that the pariyars were involved in a variety of occupations, including agriculture and the production of goods from animal skins.
Statement 3: There were sharp social inequalities in this period.
Explanation:
- The social conditions during the Sangam age were marked by significant social inequalities.
- Society was divided into various social groups or castes, with each group having its own prescribed occupation and social status.
- The Brahmins occupied the highest position in the social hierarchy, followed by the Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras.
- The pariyars, who were agricultural laborers, belonged to a lower social group and faced discrimination and social exclusion.
- Similarly, individuals from other lower castes also faced social inequalities and restrictions.
- Therefore, it is correct to say that there were sharp social inequalities during this period.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, all three statements are correct. The Sangam age was characterized by the involvement of rich peasants (vellalas) in civil and military offices, the engagement of pariyars in agricultural labor and the use of animal skins, and the existence of sharp social inequalities. These social conditions shaped the dynamics of the society during the Sangam age.
With reference to social conditions during Sangam age, consider the fo...
- Rise of Social Classes: Income from trade, war booty, and agricultural produce enabled the king to maintain groups of professional warriors and also to pay the bards and priests who were largely brahmanas.
- The Brahmanas first appear in the Tamil land in the Sangam age. An ideal king was one who never hurt the Brahmanas. Many Brahmanas functioned as poets, and in this role they were generously rewarded by the king. Karikala is said to have given one poet 1,600,000 gold pieces, but this seems to be an exaggeration.
- Besides gold, the poets or bards also received cash, land, chariots, horses, and even elephants. The Tamil brahmanas partook of meat and wine. The Kshatriyas and vaishyas appear as regular varnas in the Sangam texts. The warrior class was an important element in the polity and society.
- The captains of the army were invested with the title of enadi at a formal ceremony. However, we have no clear idea about the vaishyas. Civil and military offices were held under both the Cholas and Pandyas by vellalas or rich peasants. Hence statement 1 is correct.
- The ruling class was called arasar, and its members had marriage relations with the vellalas, who formed the fourth caste. They held the bulk of the land and thus constituted the cultivating class, divided into the rich and the poor. The rich did not plough the land themselves but employed labourers to undertake this.
- Agricultural operations were generally the task of members of the lowest class (kadaisiyar), whose status appears to have differed little from that of slaves. Some artisans were not differentiated from agricultural labourers. The pariyars were agricultural labourers who also worked with animal skins and used them as mats. Hence statement 2 is correct.
- Several outcastes and forest tribes suffered from extreme poverty and lived from hand to mouth.
- We notice sharp social inequalities in the Sangam age. The rich lived in houses of brick and mortar, and the poor in huts and humbler dwellings. Hence statement 3 is correct.
- In the cities, rich merchants lived in the upper storey of their houses. It is not however clear whether rites and religion were used to maintain social inequalities. We notice the emergence of the Brahmanas and the ruling caste, but the acute caste distinctions of later times did not exist in the early Sangam age.
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