NCERT HISTORY CLASS-VI
CHAPTER-XI PART-I
THE IRON PILLAR
Ancient Indian contributes a lot to the metallurgical history of the world. Many excavations had proved that the Harappans had knowledge of copper metallurgy, produced bronze by mixing copper and tin. These Hrappans belonged to the Bronze age while their successors belonged to the Iron age. Also, they were mastered different crafts. A perfect example of their skill is the Iron Pillar at Mehrauli, Delhi. It highs about 7.2m and weighs around 3 tonnes. There was also an inscription, mentioning that this pillar belongs to Chandragupta around 1500 years ago.
BUILDINGS
A mound-like building called Stupas, which are of different types depends upon its size and shapes with a small box placed at the center (heart) of the Stupa. This box contains some valuable belongings of Budhha or his followers called Relic casket covered with earth and a layer of baked bricks on top and dome-like carved stone is placed. A path is laid around the stupa with railings and gateways decorated with cultures. The devotees walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction. Many buildings were hollowed out of the rock to make artificial caves, but still, a magnificent stupa exists in Amaravati with many stone carvings. The earliest Hindu temples were built in this period. The important part of the temple where the priest performs various rituals to the Chief Deities (such as Shiva, Vishnu, Durga) was known as Garbhagriha. At most of the temples, there was a tower at the top of the Garbhgriha called Shikhara. And the place for discussion for people is called mandapa.
STEPS FOR BUILDING
The several stages of stupas were explained in the following steps.
- The Kings or Queens should consider and decide to build stupas due to their expensive nature.
- Good qualities of stones had to be quarried, transported to the chosen place.
- These rough blocks of stones were carved into the desired structure and placed at the right position in the building.
- The craftsperson who build these remarkable structures had to be paid from the treasury of the kingdom with the approval of the king or queen.
- The devotees, merchants, farmers, perfumers, smiths, Hundreds of men and women who all visit the Stupa, often pay gifts and other products which were used to decorate the buildings. Many of their names were known from the Inscriptions that stuck in the temples. These were mentioned for the visiting people to understand the hard work of the people.
PAINTINGS
Many paintings were found in archaeological sites and remain as beautiful as then. Several caves were hollowed out of the hills over many centuries in Ajanta. Most of them were hollowed to build monasteries for monks and decorated with beautiful paintings which were done using lights as there are darker inside. They were colored using plants and minerals, but the names who created them were unknown.