Traders, Kings & Pilgrims Summary Class 6 Social Science

Trade and Traders

• Traders may have carried them from the places where they were made, to sell them at other places.
• Traders carried many of these goods to Rome in ships, across the sea, and by land in caravans.
• Traders explored several sea routes. 
  • Some of these followed the coasts. 
  • Others were across the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, where sailors took advantage of the monsoon winds to cross the seas more quickly.

New kingdoms along the coasts

• Chiefs and kings who controlled the river valleys and the coasts became rich and powerful.
• The Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas became powerful in south India around 2300 years ago.
• These three chiefs had two centres of power: one inland, and one on the coast.
• Of these six cities, two were very important: 
  • Puhar or Kaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas.
  • Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.
• These chiefs demanded and received gifts from the people and also went on military expeditions.
• Many poets compositions are found in the Sangam collection composed poems in praise of chiefs.

Satavahanas 

• Around 200 years later a dynasty known as the Satavahanas became powerful in western India.
  • The most important ruler of the Satavahanas was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni.
• Satavahana rulers were known as lords of the dakshinapatha, literally the route leading to the south.

The Story of Silk Route

• The rich, glossy colours of silk and smooth texture, make it a highly valued fabric in most societies. 

Process of Making silk

• Raw silk has to be extracted from the cocoons of silk worms, spun into thread and then woven into cloth.
• Techniques of making silk were first invented in China around 7000 years ago.
• Some people from China who went to distant lands on foot, horseback, and on camels, carried silk with them.
  • The paths they followed came to be known as the Silk Route.
• Some kings tried to control large portions of the route because they could benefit from taxes, tributes and gifts that were brought by traders travelling along the route.

The Kushanas

• The best-known of the rulers who controlled the Silk Route were the Kushanas, who ruled over central Asia and north-west India.
  • Two major centres of power of Kushanas were Peshawar and Mathura.
  • The Kushanas were amongst the earliest rulers of the subcontinent to issue gold which coins were used by traders along the Silk Route.

The spread of Buddhism

• The most famous Kushana ruler was Kanishka, who organised a Buddhist council, where scholars met and discussed matters.
• Ashvaghosha, a poet who composed a biography of the Buddha, the Buddhacharita, lived in his court.
• During this period, a new form of Buddhism, known as Mahayana Buddhism developed .
• Mahayana Buddhism had two distinct features:
  • It included creation of statues of the Buddha in places like Taxila and Mathura.
  • Belief in Bodhisattvas or people who attained enlightenment also gained ground and spread in places like Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan.
• The older form of Buddhism, known as Theravada Buddhism spread to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia including Indonesia.

The quest of the pilgrims

• Pilgrims are men and women who undertake journeys to holy places in order to offer worship.
• The best-known of these are the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims:
  • Fa Xian, who came to the subcontinent about 1600 years ago.
  • Xuan Zang who came around 1400 years ago.
  • I-Qing, who came about 50 years after Xuan Zang.
• Each of these pilgrims left an account of his journey.

The beginning of Bhakti

• During this time, worship of certain deities, which became a central feature of later Hinduism, gained in importance. 
  • These deities included Shiva, Vishnu, and goddesses such as Durga.
• These deities were worshipped through Bhakti which is generally understood as a person’s devotion to his or her chosen deity.
• The idea of Bhakti is present in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred book of the Hindus, which is included in the Mahabharata.
• Those who followed the system of Bhakti emphasised devotion and individual worship of a god or goddess, rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.
• According to this system of belief, if a devotee worships the chosen deity with a pure heart, the deity will appear in the form in which he or she may desire.