Agriculture: A Survey

About this unit

This unit traces how farming developed in the Indian subcontinent, from the first villages of the Neolithic period to the detailed farming manuals of early medieval times. It looks at archaeological evidence, at what Sanskrit, Pali and Tamil texts say about land, crops and cattle, and at practices such as seed treatment, manuring, pest control, tree care and fishing. Agriculture shaped Indian society, festivals and language, so this unit also links farming to wider culture.

Key ideas

• Early farming sites such as Mehrgarh show domestication of wheat, barley, cattle, sheep and goats.
• Harappan farmers used ploughs and grew wheat, barley, pulses, sesame and cotton.
• Texts such as the Rigveda, the Arthashastra, the Krishi-Parashara, the Brihat Samhita and the Vrikshayurveda record farming knowledge.
• Land was classified by fertility and by water source (rain-fed or river-fed).
• Traditional methods included seed treatment, organic manures such as kunapajala, and herbal pest control.
• Cattle were central to farming, and texts give rules for their care.

How to prepare

• Learn which text belongs to which author and roughly which period.
• Remember a few key sites (Mehrgarh, Kalibangan, Lahuradewa) and what each one shows.
• Expect matching-type questions (text–subject, site–evidence) and questions on terms such as urvara, devamatrika and kunapajala.