Q1.
Wear the hat of a historian. Look carefully at the artefacts presented on the spread on the next page. What conclusions can you draw about people and life during the Mauryan era?
Answer
A historian reads objects the way you read sentences. Here is what each artefact on pages 110–111 tells us.
| Artefact | What you can see | What it tells us about Mauryan life |
|---|---|---|
| Fig. 5.21 Terracotta dancing girl | Elaborate headdress, styled hair, heavy jewellery, a flowing lower garment | Dance and music were part of life; people cared about fashion and ornament; there were skilled jewellers |
| Fig. 5.22 Terracotta female deity | A figure with an ornate headdress and outstretched arms | Worship at home, not only in great monuments — small clay images that ordinary families could afford |
| Fig. 5.23 Yakshī holding a fly whisk | Highly finished stone, shown from front, side and back; necklaces; the whisk (chāmara) | Master sculptors at work; the fly whisk is a symbol of royal attendance, so art served both religion and royalty |
| Fig. 5.24 Terracotta Saptamātrikās | Seven mother goddesses in a row on one plaque | Worship of the mother goddess — and the caption notes it is “a continuing tradition”, so some beliefs have lasted over 2,000 years |
| Fig. 5.25 Head of a terracotta horse | An elaborately designed bridle | Horses mattered — for war, transport and status — and harness-making was a developed craft; probably also a child's toy |
| Fig. 5.20 The Sarnath capital | Four lions, a ring with elephant, bull, horse and lion, and the dharmachakra; a mirror-like polish | Mauryan stone polishing was a technique of astonishing skill; royal power and the Buddha's teaching were displayed together |
| Fig. 5.26 The Great Stūpa at Sanchi | A huge brick core later enlarged in stone, with railings and gateways | The state could organise large-scale building projects; Buddhism had royal patronage; stūpas, chaityas and vihāras served worship, study and meditation |
| Fig. 5.27 Dhauli rock elephant | A life-size elephant carved out of the living rock, beside an Aśhokan edict | Sculpture was used as public communication — art and message placed together where people would pass |
| Fig. 5.29 Punch-marked coins | Silver pieces stamped with several symbols | A money economy, brisk trade, and a state that guaranteed the weight and purity of coins |
The historian's conclusions, in short:
- Society was prosperous and specialised — sculptors, potters, jewellers, harness-makers, metal-workers all making a living from their craft.
- Terracotta was the people's art and polished stone the state's art; we can therefore see both ordinary and royal life.
- Women appear constantly — as dancers, as deities, as the yakshī — so they were central to both art and worship.
- Religion was varied: mother goddesses and yakshīs alongside Buddhist stūpas.
- The state was strong and wealthy enough to fund monuments, mint coins and carve rock.
Tip: A good historian also states what the objects cannot tell us. These artefacts survive because they were made of fired clay and stone. Cloth, wood, food and the houses of the poor have all perished — so the picture is real, but incomplete.