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Grass hoods history, history seen from below or the history of the common people, people’s history, and even ‘history of everyday life. The conventional history about the great deeds of the ruling classes received further boost from the great tradition of political and administrative historiography developed by Ranke and his followers. The history from below was an attempt to write the history of the common people. It is history concerned with the activities and thoughts of those people and regions that were neglected by the earlier historians. Peasants and working classes, women and minority groups, unknown faces in the crowd, and the people lost in the past became the central concern of this historiographical tradition.

According to Raphael Samuel, the term “people’s history” has had a long career, and covers and ensemble of different writing. The beginning of the history from below may be traced to the late 18^th century. In the classical western tradition, history-writing involved the narration of the deeds of great men. The common people were considered to be beyond the boundaries of history and it was beneath the dignity of the historian to write about them. Peter burke points out, ‘until the middle of the eighteenth century, the word “society” in its modern sense did not exist in any European language, and without the word it is very difficult to have any conception of that network of relationships we call “society” or “the social structure”.

In India, most of members of the subordinate classes, including the industrial classes, are not literate, therefore, direct sources coming from them are extremely rare, if not completely absent. Given this scenario, the historian trying to write history from below have to rely on indirect sources. As sabyasachi bhattacharjee points out, given the low level of literacy we have to depend on interferences from behavior pattern. Report on opinions and sentiments, on oral testimonies etc. oral traditions also have their problems. They cannot be stretched back too far and one has to work within living memory. These problems are outlined by one of the great practitioner of history from below, Ranjit Guha,the founder of the subaltern studies . Above all “history from below” has to face problem of the ultimate relative failure of mass initiative in colonial India,

Most talk about elitist origins of the evidences which the historians use for understanding the mentalities behind the peasant rebellions. This has come down to us in the form of official records of one kind or another –police reports, army dispatches, administrative accounts, minutes and resolutions of governmental departments, and so on. Non-official sources of our information on the subject, such as newspapers or the private correspondence between persons of authority, too speak in the same elitist voice, even if it is that of the indigenous elite or of non-Indians outside officialdom.

History from the below,  As the perspective of the common people in the process of history- writing. It is in against that concept of historiography, which believes I Disraeli’s dictum that history is the biography of great men. Instead the history from below endeavors to take into accounts the lives and activities of masses who are otherwise ignored by the conventional historians. Moreover it attempts to take their point of view into accounts as far possible. It is venture; the historians face a lot of problems because the sources are biased in favor of the rulers, administrators and the dominant classes in general.

From 4^th century B.C to fourth century A.D a number early empires emerged in the Indian subcontinent. The earliest of these was the Mauryan Empire (c-324-187BC). Then there came satvahanas(c-324-250       A.D), kushanas (c.AD-50-320), and guptas (c.AD320-570) successively. Kushanas, originally a central Asian nomadic tribe, established a huge empire with Bactrian (Balk in north Afghanistan) as its main centre. Under kanishka 1 (c.AD100-123) this empire extended over a large area by encroaching extensive areas of north India up to Champa or Bhagalpur in the east, the lower Indus valley and Gujarat in the west, Chinese Turkistan and areas lying to the north of the river oxus. The successors of kanishka 1 had little control over the areas to the east of Matura.

The economy of Kushana Empire can be best known from literature, epigraphy and numismatics, various archaeological sites explored and excavated in the later period also acts as good source for the study of the economy of the Kushana Empire. The kushana period was remarkable as kushana monarchs issued a large number of coins. Besides, there were numerous inscriptions, most of which are donatives in nature. Some of the Indian literatures like the Jatakas, the Angavijja, and the Lalitavistara highlights on the economy of the period.

Very little is known about the land system under the kushanas. During kushana reign agriculture was given due importance. No evidence can be put forward to prove this statement; in the north western part of the Kushana Empire a survey conducted by different scholars helped them to locate remains old canals, agricultural lands on the river courses and plain areas on the terraces of hills with means to canalized rain water from top to bottom.

It is evident from, archaeological evidences that agriculture was not the principal source of income in the kushana reign.  Trade was given utmost importance both internally and externally huge amount of resources were mobilized through trade. Besides crafts production mining and different kinds of taxes were imposed on the subjects carved bone and ivory products, potteries excavated from different areas within the kushana realm shows influence of ancient Matura and Taxila art. Movements of ideas and people in the form of merchants’ artists inside the Kushana Empire resulted in exchange of ideas related to culture, art and literature.

Besides internal trade, external trade both over land and maritime played a great role in the kushana economy. Roman Empire had trade links with china. There was a great demand for Chinese silk in roman market. The famous Silk Road from Loyang in china reached the two Mediterranean parts of Antioch and Alexandria by passing through central Asia, west Asia and Eurasia. Chinese silk had a great demand not only in the roman but also ion the European markets besides Indian wares, crafts, gems and spices were sold in the overseas markets. Better knowledge and utilization of the monsoon wind system through the Red sea cannels gave a fresh impetus to the flourishing trade during the kushana period. To maintain overseas trade with European countries two major parts of north India known as Barbaricum at the north of the river Indus and Barygara on the mouth of the river Narmada played a vital role and it was quite evident from perilous and Ptolemy’s geography. The city of Matura was a major political center. In case of trade with central and west Asia the cities of Taxila and pushkalavati acted as gateways.

Large scale commercial prosperity during the kushana period led to extensive monetization of the whole economy. kushana gold coins found in Ethiopia proves the value of kushana gold coins in international arena. These gold coins were mainly used in the overseas trade. The kushanas themselves struck silver coins only in the lower Indus area. Large number of copper coins were also struck and used copper coins and Bartend system which were very much in practice indicate that the impact of monetization ran parallel with system of exchange of goods on the basis of needs.

With the expansion of trade proliferation of crafts also took place. Crafts in practice during the kushana period were varied in nature and form. There were different occupations like constructions (navakarmikah), actors (sailakah), carpenters (vaddhaki), perfumers(gamdhika), goldsmith (suvarnakara), clothmakers9pravarika), ironsmith (lohakara), jewelers (manikara0 etc. the mining industry was directly under the state control. the of the state was augmented through mining and marketing of precious stones. Guilds mostly called srenis acted as an early form of bank in which money was deposited and only the interest could be utilized. Cities like Taxila, Matura, and Bactra were well planned and blossomed further during the kushana period.

Eighteenth century was a time of utter chaos in Indian history. Anarchism put it’s from footstep in the Indian subcontinent and gradually the whole of the subcontinent came into its grip. The crisis of the eighteenth century is one of the most debated issues in Indian history. The loose control exercised by the central authority in Delhi over its provincial governors, the failure of the provincial governors and the authorities in collecting revenues from the local agrarian society, failure of quell agrarian revolts, the virtual collapse. Of communications and networks and consequently the failure of easy movement of goods and credit, the contraction of demand o n the part of mughal ruling class for manufactured goods and items of trade and total collapse of governance are some of the serious impacts of eighteenth century disintegration. The crisis of eighteenth century which is one of the most debated issues of the mode times. In the eighteenth century significance changes took place in the existing commercial and political systems. The political stability was disrupted throughout the country except some places like Bengal, Bombay etc. on the other hand places like Gujarat underwent a serious crisis in terms of political authority and economic stability. And yet given the degree of integration in the Indian economy, it was only natural that the crisis affected all the regions in one way or the other especially in the sectors of trade and exchange. The decline of the Mughal Empire and penetration of European commercial giants inside the Indian sub-continent had a far reaching effect on the social, economical and political structure of Indian subcontinent, the emergence of factional politics with death of Aurangzeb in 1707. Wide spread rural disturbance in the regions and eruption of Maratha raids and emergence of many regional powers and gradual strengthening of their position. In Gujarat itself the premier maritime suba of the Mughal Empire, the crisis assumed complex aspect. Due to constant Maratha raids the regions remain isolation from the hinterland. Besides rapid contraction of the hinterland deprived, Guajarati traders of the markets of northern and central India, where their import items were usually marketed. Of greater consequence was the collapse of the administration within the region after 1720, when the incursions of the Marathas and their occupation of the Athavisi in 1723. The Athavisis was a conglomerate of twenty-eight village from where surat had traditionally drawn her revenues. In surat collapsing revenue structure saw the administration taking a different course to a policy of mercantile taxation which met agitation but in vain, The loss of markets in Hindustan and an instable condition all over west Asia. Due to the increased volume of Gujarat’s exports the markets in the western Indian Ocean markets voyages proved unprofitable for others. In the following decades the situation worsened further with the expansion of the British private trade. Ashian shipping gave way to British private trade as local freighters prepared to invest their cargo on European bottom in order to get rid of pirates. In a highly competitive market European traders began to dominate Indian markets. It was however instrumental in introducing the English east India company as a potential protector and political aspirant. The mass political crisis proved detrimental for surats export trade. The handy network was seriously undermined. By the 1760,s the problems of debased currency became serious. The Muslim shippers were the worst sufferer as they faced great loss from the competition of European private traders and their increasing political influence. The decline of surat was paralleled by the decay of Hooghly on the east coast. The increasing piracy in high seas forced more and more merchants to tie their cargo with English country shipping. In Bengal as else where English private trade strengthened. However the displacement of Asian merchants shipping, the rise of Calcutta and the English private traders and the articulation of their aspiration the fall out of commercial crisis of Hindustan did not bode-well. In the coming year expansion of English private trade in the Indian Ocean had far reaching effects. Not only did it adversely effect the operation of Indian traders, it fostered a growing tendency among company officials and private traders to intervene in the regional political set up and manipulate the prevailing disaffection to their advantage.

The earliest form of collecting land revenue in India was ghalla-bakhshi or batai. In this system the assessment was made on the basis of real harvest when the crops were still in the fields productivity per bigha of land was assessed by sher shah. It was known as rai and the assessment was made of three different categories of land good middling and bad. Assessment was made on three rais in average. Per bigha of productivity was multiplied with total areas under cultivation. Later demand was put forth as per prices prevalent at the court/camp. Generally these prices were quite high then the existing market prices. Thus it fell heavy upon peasants and they were not satisfied at all. Abul fazl informs is that instead of fixing rai on each harvest Akbar introduced a new system of revenue assessment called zabt system. Under this system a standard schedule was prepared on the basis of average rate sorted out from the last ten years rates. At the same time average of the prevalent prices for the ten years were taken. By commuting these average prices with average yields a final rate of revenue was fixed. The revenue system in uncultivable land areas were known as nabud. Later under shahjahan and Aurangzeb the zabt system further stretched towards Deccan. The other methods which co-existed with zabt are of varied types, like crop sharing in Kashmir, muqtai in Bengal, batai and zabti in rajasthan etc. Different rate of assessment existed under the mughals. The amount of fixed revenue also varied from region to region depending on the fertility of soil and also from harvest to harvest. Under sher shah 1/3 of the produce was standard claim. However Akbar, under zabti demanded almost ½ of the produce as standard. In certain fertile regions of Gujarat the demand was as high as 2/3. However in arid regions it was much lower. The average revenue demand in western rajasthan ranged between 40 and 42.5 percent suggesting it was lower than the mughal territories. In the marwar regions land revenue demand varied as per the nature of crop and season. pargana merta records show that here in the 17^th century proportion fixed on kharif crops was ½ while for rabi different rates for rain irrigated and irrigated lands were in operation. It was 2/5 the on the former and 1/3 of the produce on the lather. In pargana pokhran revenue was fixed at the rate 1/3 of produce while in sanchar assessment was made on the basis of ploughs /Hals known as muqata. As per castes also revenue demand varied. Banias, ghanchi, sabugar kumbhai etc were paying at the rate of 1/3 of the produce while rajputs ¼th and mali’s 1.5th. Here land tax was also imposed on mehtar at the rate of 1/6^th. Thus superior classes were exempted from paying revenues at higher rates. This was the main reason behind the insistence of the mughal emperors, not to convert raiyat kashta into khwud kashta. Though assessment was made individualistically (asamivar) the basic unit of revenue collection was the village. During the medieval period the collection was done at three different levels a) where state was collecting revenue directly employing its own machinery of officials. Such system was in operation in the khalisa territories under the mughals. B) Revenue assignees were permitted to collect the revenue in lieu of their salaries called iqta (under Delhi sultans) and jagir or tuyul (under the mughals). Here revenue assignees were sending their own agents (gumashtas) for collecting revenues. C) In the third category largely come port towns and their hinterlands where altogether a separate system was in operation.

India was unique in the sense that it saw sporadic development in field of colonization and decline of pre-colonial systems in Eighteenth century.  Rise of modern science itself coincided with the rise of capitalism . In the early eighteenth century the Indians attitude to keep themselves aloof from the British’s completed them to attempt conquest along with commerce and their success was virtually established and assured. Gradually the British rule was established. But there remain a long drawn difference between east and the west. The Indian world-view remained by and large tradition bound. The problems of eighteenth century India were compounded by an enormous intellectual failure. It was the same period when some resurgent nations, now ruling the waves, came in and through their trading companies chalked out large areas. Their sails, their guns, their training were substantially different. They had new knowledge behind them. In the midst of political intrigues, numerous local wars, plunder, social turmoil some official of the east India company could think of establishing a forum for knowledge ( the Asiatic society, 1784) and a college of their fort ( fort William college, 1801).trained surveyor accompanied the army. Naturally success was attained significantly. The British’s could succeed against their foes and competitors because they possessed a through and scientific knowledge about the country, they are marching through. In 1760 Renell surveyed Bengal and later Kelly surveyed the caratic region. The charts prepared by British engineers and surveyor were very handy in case of both military operations and revenue settlements. Survey and expansion moved side by side. One acted as a catalyst of the other. Every boat that touched the Indian shores had a medical man on board. Trained in the scientific seminaries of Scotland and northern Europe, he would be known as surgeon-naturalist, and true to his training, in his spare time, he would look for and report on the topography, minerals, flora, fauna and people of his area. They were scientific soldiers who were guided by scientific knowledge who extended the help of new knowledge to the process of colonial expansion and consolidation. Thus was born the phenomenon of ‘colonial science’. It represented a new form of science which was an advancement of pre-colonial science. It was for more systematic, methodical penetrative and pervasive. The characteristic of this science knowledge is its dynamism. It involved everything: politics geography, commerce, military etc. it is now a widely accepted and widely acknowledged truth, that techno scientific developments and colonial expansions had closer ties. No less important is to glean how the recipient culture sought to appropriate or redefine the metropolitan ideology of science. Colonialism as it was not a monolith had left several facts and question open to interpretation in a number of ways. Yet one thing is certain, colonial science lacked sovereignty. It contours were of course drawn on the colonial terrain, but it enjoyed a rather limited economy or autonomy which was further reduced as the colonial grip tightened. Several colonial scientists fell uncomfortable, yet they had to perform a dual rule to serve the colonial state and to serve science. This state claimed superiority in terms of structure, power; race etc. science claimed superiority in terms of knowledge and inter Alia helped the colonial state dismiss ‘other’ epistemological. Both needed each other and became mutually dependent.

The military technology of medieval India was marked by remarkable progress. Conventional weapons like Bow-arrow, sword etc were accompanied by different kind of firearms for the first time. The industrial technology during the sixteenth and the seventeenth century saw remarkable achievements in the form of artillery. The manufacture of cannon was then the real heavy industry, on the handgun were lavished all the fruits of the increasing mechanical sophistication attained during the period. Modern artillery was mainly brought to India, on the one hand by Babur, who had received it from Persia and on the other by the Portuguese early in the sixteenth century. Evidence has however, now been adduced of the presence of cannon during the later half of the fifteenth century. The specimens of handguns from the mughal period are hand enough in case of studying different methods of manufacture of firearms in India. In case of a handgun the most significant portion is the propelling mechanism. In the earliest guns the change was fired by applying a ‘match’ or burning rope or cord to the priming pan which communicated through the touch hole with barrel into which gun powder had been previously rammed. During the 15^th century and the 16^th century the match lock developed in Europe by first providing for a pivoted lever. With the help of this lever the match could be hold and a spring controlled the lever and then converting it into an arm. But Indian evidences are little in this context and the development of the match lock in India cannot be traced back. In Abul Fazl’s writing there are references to match locks being manufactured by Akbar’s arsenal but that it was also turning out a lock in which the match was done away with. The practical knowledge of the world emperor helped in evolving a gun which can be fired without the use of the match but with just a slight movement of the masha. At the same time the pellet is also discharged. Such a gun could either have a decider of the seventeenth century saw the appearance  of the flint lock in Europe, where it gradually, but not completely supplanted the match lock during the later half of the century. Its first appearance in India is difficult to date, but in 1623 it excited the great curiosity of the zamorin of Calicut, for their guns have only matches. The subsequent development of the flint lock in India again is not easy to trace. It would appear that Indian guns began to be equipped with flint lock during the later half of the seventeenth century. But the basis for this view is assumption and there is very little evidence to substantiate it. Bernier says that Indian sometimes imitated perfectly articles of European manufacture. He also says that “among other things, the Indians make excellent muskets, and fowling pieces. The barrel of the gun is a great problem for the blacksmith as it had to with stand the explosion inside it. Great accuracy was needed with regard to its bore and alignment.

In the manufacture of cannon, two trends were noticeable in the mughal period. The first was to make very large pieces. This was possible as long as they were cast of bronze. The method of casting such cannon pieces was apparently similar to the one employed by the ottoman Turks during the middle of the fifteenth century, A method which lasted in Europe until about 1750.Babur’s gun founders cast cannon by precisely the same means. Whether the process of bronze casting was further improvised in India or the alloy used was better, it would appear that by the end of the sixteenth century, the heaviest guns in the world were being cast in India. The climax being reached with the famous Malik Maidan cast in bronze at diameter at the muzzle, 5’5” and of the bore, 2’4 and half Inc which threw stone balls of 10 maunds.

The colonial economy mainly represented itself through overseas trade and provides an opportunity to the subcontinent to get merged with the larger global economy. At the same time the internal trading network acted as a base of Indians export trade and for the subsequent development of Indian economy. Prior to the First World War India’s indigenous merchant communities remained largely confined to what Rajat ray has called the world of the bazaar, which was different from the world of modern business and industry but remain closely inter-related. The bazaar was aligned to internal trade, especially to the marketing of agricultural produce, the financial of inland trade in commodities, the facilitation of movements of artisan production and peasant crops. Operating the bazaar were bankers or shroffs and commission agents. The history of India is records which substantiate the fact that India’s inland trade had strong links with maritime trade. The opening of the country through the railway network made the links even stronger. During the colonial period development of India’s internal railway network greatly benefitted the merchants because it expanded and diverted the movement of goods in the interior. For instance, the great Indian peninsular railway diverted cotton traffic that had in the eighteenth century moved along the Ganges River to Bengal was diverted from Nagpur in central India to Bombay. In the process old routes dried up. Boat and steamer traffic down the Ganges and Yamuna dwindled as the East Indian railway ran up to the Gangetic valley to Agra. The inland trade of India came to flow through the railway network that was eventually oriented to the export trade controlled by imperial interests, and which enabled the two leading foreign firms Ralli Brothers and Volkant Brothers to set up buying organizations, far into the interior of the country. Even though admittedly, the railway network was intended to facilitate the operations of the European export interests, the establishment of a far reaching network of distribution channels stood Indian merchants and middlemen in good stead as they worked in the capacity of brokers and upcountry dealers. It is also a true fact that the foreign firms had the pick of the business. On the other hand indigenous firms tended to operate in areas where foreign firms found it more risky on not sufficiently lucrative to operate. The trade in agricultural, industrial and other type of products were done by the help of railways network. Indian internal trade was predominantly dependent upon the railway network from the last half of the 19^th century. The configurations of the Indian trading economy in the high noon of imperialism were determined by the communication and transport revolution that accompanied colonial rule in the nineteenth century. Dramatic changes took place in sectors like shipping and transportation embodied by the railway and stream shipping fundamentally altered the organization and France of Asian trade and gave western capital mastery around the 1870s. The expansions of railway networks provide wide opportunities to the large European firms to extend their grip over the commerce of the east. Not only the European merchant, Italian merchants especially the Marwari’s were benefitted from the expansion of railway network. Volume of trade was increased with exploration of new markets. Beside easy accent and benefits like quick transportation also encouraged Indian merchants to do business on a variety of products other than the most essential and the accustomed one. New avenues were opened up for trade and business inside India. The accumulation of capital and skill and commercial intelligence enabled indigenous merchants to discover new avenues of commercial gain and discover new possibilities for export business that was at one level, outside the strict confines of the colonial economy and at another was part of the integrative operations of the capitalist world.

The oceanic trade in medieval world start, from around the seventh century to the mid eighteenth century. The period under discussion starts with the advent of Islam in Arabian world and ends with the British conquest Bengal. The rise of Islam towards the beginning of the seventh century, The British conquest of Bengal had changed the prevailing earlier. The rise of Islam had a great influence on oceanic trade not only in the Indian Ocean, but also in the Mediterranean. The Portuguese also played a vital role in the oceanic trade of Indian Ocean, though their presence was spectacular and significant, they were not able to make major changes in the Indian Ocean trade. The structure, dimension and organization of trade in the region remain unaltered until the coming of the European companies, especially the Dutch and the English. India’s overseas trade was greatly influenced by their presence. The European companies were involved in the export trade of three commodities mainly textiles, raw silk and saltpeter. These products had a great demand in the European market since Bengal was the main producer of these commodities; naturally it turned into an important commercial centre and the main centre of Asiatic trade, of the two major companies.  In the beginning the Indian merchants dominated the trade in the eastern archipelago. In the later period they are forced to abandon it and concentrate on the westerly trade. In the medieval period Arab and Muslim merchants build a vast commercial network. The coastal regions of the Indian Ocean between east Africa and the China Sea constituted a zone of intense commercial exchanges. From the middle of 7^th century to the end of the 15^th, the direction and structure of the Indian Ocean trade are remarkably clear, the transcontinental traffic going all the way from south china to the eastern Mediterranean. Up to the beginning of the 10^th century Arab and Muslim ships traded across the Indian Ocean to south Asia and china. The twin channels of the transcontinental trade of Asia. Constituted of the seaborne traffic through the red sea, the combined sea, river, and overland journey across the Persian Gulf, Iraq and the Syrian Desert. In medieval period trade of Asia was centered on four great products of eastern civilization-silk, porcelain, sandal wood and black pepper. In exchange for incense, thoroughbred horses, ivory, cotton textiles and metal goods were given. The Persian Gulf ships were sailed to canton in the late 7^th and early 8^th centuries. In 1280 Mongols conquered china. The two city parts of Hangchow and Zaiton flourished during the period. However there occurred important remarkable changes in the direction of the Indian Ocean trade from the end the 10^th century to the middle of 15^th. The decline of Abbasid caliphate and the rise of the Fatimid’s in Egypt shifted the routing of long-distance trade away from Baghdad and Damascus to Aden and fustat. In India, the Turkish sultans of Delhi conquered Gujarat in A.D. 1303-4, and its maritime towns were now within the reach of Islamic social and political influence. In the early medieval period continental Europe witnessed two great commercial movements, The One in the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic, the other in the Baltic and the North Sea. The trade of north Europe was not primarily based on oriental and Mediterranean commodities. At various times traders and warriors brought goods from the extreme north of Europe. The main currents of trade across northern Europe and between northern Europe and other countries flowed with products of northern hemisphere, cruder, bulkier and altogether more indispensable than the luxuries and the fineries. Indian maritime trade in the medieval period was also characterized by both continuity and change. In the past the products which had a good demand in the western market includes drugs, spices, the teak-wood of Malabar, precious stones and a great variety of exotic luxuries passed westwards. In lieu Indian markets were crowded with strategic war-animals, spices and medicaments, toys and exotic textiles. The trade between India and Indonesia was mainly concerned around various products including spices and raw materials of Indonesia. The rein of trade in Indonesia and Malay Peninsula was largely in the hands of Muslim merchants in the Indian Ocean. The Indonesian littoral was mainly inhabited by migrant Muslims from Gujarat. Cloths from Bengal were remarkably exported to Indonesian markets. There is also evidence to Indian trade with the horn of Africa and other communities of Arab peninsula. The discovery of direct maritime route to Asia round the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese under Varco d agama in 1498 marked the beginning of a new era in the history of euro-Asian trade, to monopolize the supply of Asian spices to European market and to control. Asian trade by force and to collect tax Portuguese formed a strong naval force and established some key outposts which would act as strategic bases. The capture of Goa from the bijapur sultan laid the foundation of future Portuguese maritime empire in the Indian Ocean.