Ancient Indian History: Villages and Towns

Arikamedu, located in present-day Puducherry, was a significant ancient port city that served as a major trade center between the Roman world and South India.

Shrenis were guilds or associations of craftspersons and merchants that provided training, procured raw materials, and distributed finished products.

The Kushanas had two main centers of power: Purushapura (Peshawar) and Mathura, which served as their second capital.

The Jatakas are a voluminous body of literature concerning the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form.

Dasa karmakaras were landless laborers who worked on the fields of others to earn their livelihood.

In the village structure of the time, besides the gramabhojaka (village headman), there were independent farmers known as grihapatis who owned smaller plots of land.

The gramabhojaka was the village headman, and because the position was hereditary, they were usually the largest landowner in the village.

In the Tamil region, the uzhavar were the ordinary ploughmen who worked the land.

In the Tamil region, the vellalar were the large landowners who held significant social and economic power.

The term Sangam refers to assemblies or gatherings of poets and scholars where Tamil literature was composed and compiled.

Sangam literature refers to the earliest known Tamil literature, composed between 300 BCE and 300 CE.

The use of iron in the Indian subcontinent became widespread around 3000 years ago, marking the beginning of the Iron Age.