Ambari excavations

The Ambari excavations show that

settlements were fairly developed in the sixth and seventh centuries. This is

supported by inscriptions. By the beginning of the sixth century the use of

Sanskrit and the art of writing are clearly in evidence.

The Kamarupa kings adopted the title

varmariy which obtained not only in northern, central and western India but also

m Bengal, Orissa, Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu They strengthened their

position through land grants to the brahmanas. In the seventh century

Bhaskaravarman emerged as the head of a state which controlled a good deal of

the Brahmaputra basin and some areas beyond it. Buddhism also acquired a

foothold, and the Chinese traveler Hsuan Tsang (Hieun Tsang) visited this state

The Formative Phase

Although different parts of eastern India

acquired prominence at different times, the formative phase ranged from the

fourth to the seventh century, In this period writing, Sanskrit Learning, Vedic

rituals, brahmamcal social classes, and state systems spread and developed in

eastern Madhya Pradesh, in north; Orissa, West Bengal, m a good, part of

Bangladesh and in Assam.

Cultural contacts with the Gupta Empire

stimulated the spread of civilization in the eastern zone. North Bengal and

northwest Onssa came under the Gupta rule; in other areas of these regions the

Gupta association can be inferred from the use of the Gupta era in

inscriptions. In Bengal new states were formed by feudatories, who maintained a

good number of elephants, horses, boats, etc., in their military camps.

Obviously they collected regular taxes from the rural communities to maintain

professional armies.

For the first time m the fifth and sixth

centuries wo clearly notice largescale writing, use of Sanskrit, formation of

varna society, and progress of Buddhism and brahmanism in the form of Saivism

and Vaishnavism in this area. We find only the remnants of communal authority

over land, but we can see the existence of private property in land, and the

use of gold coins with which it could be purchased. All this presupposes an

advanced food producing economy. Apparently it was based on iron ploughshare

agriculture, wet paddy cultivation, and knowledge of various crafts, Kalidasa

refers to the transplantation of paddy seedlings in Vanga, but we do not know

whether the practice was indigenous or came from Magadha. North Bengal produced

good quality sugarcane.

All this made for sufficient agricultural

production, which was able to sustain both people and government, and could

foster widespread rural settlements in such areas as were either sparsely

inhabited or not at all inhabited, a connected narrative of the princes and

dynasties and their feudatories, all revolving round a central power, cannot be

prepared. But there is no doubt about cultural evolution and conquest of

civilization in the outlying provinces in the eastern zone.