Agriculture

Drawing on Greek historians, Sanskrit sources and Jain scriptures, this paper reconstructs the state of agriculture in ancient India. Greek writers reported that the god Dionysos yoked oxen to the plough and taught people agriculture. The author notes that Dionysos has been identified with Balarama, the plough‑wielding elder brother of Krsna. This association implies that Greek accounts reflect an Indian tradition in which Balarama introduced the plough. Agriculture occupied the majority of the population; Megasthenes classified Indian society into seven classes and observed that husbandmen formed the largest class. Jain sutras confirm that land and houses were the main possessions of householders; most husbandmen lived in villages and seldom entered cities. The article examines the extent of cultivation. Cities and even suburban areas contained arable land, as illustrated by the Greek descriptions of Aornos and the field-bounds of Campi. Royal parks at Pataliputra included cultivated plants requiring special care. Urban people sometimes cultivated lands around their cities, and villages existed around towns such as Patala and the Malava settlement that Alexander encountered. Agricultural activity thus spread across both countryside and outskirts of urban centres. The state supervised agriculture through commissioners. Husbandmen were exempt from fighting and public services so that they could devote themselves to tillage, though caste rules in fact prevented them from bearing arms. The article suggests that Greek observers misunderstood this exemption, which arose from social norms rather than state policy. Because farmers were not recruited into armies, kings had to maintain standing armies at great cost; thus while soldiers fought in one part of the country, farmers continued their work peacefully elsewhere. The paper emphasises the esteem accorded to cultivators. Husbandmen were described as gentle and public benefactors. They were considered a sacred class and even enemies refrained from harming farmers at work. This respect meant that fields were rarely ravaged during warfare. The article concludes that agriculture was central to the Indian economy and that farmers enjoyed legal protection and social respect. The state actively supervised cultivation, and foreign authors like Megasthenes, Diodorus and Pliny corroborated Indian texts by noting the scale of agriculture and the exemption of farmers from military service. Through comparative analysis, the author illuminates ancient agricultural practices, the role of Balarama/Dionysos, and the importance of landownership in Indian society.

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