Increased Use of Iron Tools: 

• Iron tools came into use at the end of chalcolithic age.
• Some iron tools have been found from the megalithic burial sites.
• The use of iron tools increased around 2500 years ago.

Benefits of Iron Tools: 

• Iron is stronger but lighter than stone.
• It is much easier to give shape to iron.
• Much sharper and lightweight tools could be made from iron than what was possible with stone.
• The iron tools made the task of workers a lot easier.
• Use of iron in ploughshare made it possible to increase the area under cultivation.
• Many other iron tools made farming much easier, e.g. sickles, axe and spade.
• This helped in increasing the farm yield.

Effect of Irrigation on Agricultural Production:

• At the beginning of the Iron Age, people began transplantation of paddy.
• This helped in increasing the production of paddy.
• Thus, transplantation of paddy was a major innovation at the beginning of the Iron Age.
• People began to make special structure for irrigation.
• This also helped in improving farm productivity.
• Canals, wells and tanks were built for irrigation.
• During this period, the size of the kingdoms increased.
• The kings needed more taxes from people.
• Farmers were the main contributors towards taxes.
• So, some methods had to be found out to increase farm productivity.
• To ensure this, the kings made arrangements so that canals, wells and tanks could be built.
• This helped farmers to increase farm production.
• This also helped in increasing tax revenue for the kings.

Social Structure in villages:

Let us take two examples to understand social structure of villages during that time. One example is from a south Indian village and another is from a north Indian village.

South Indian Village: A village of south India could be divided into following categories of people:

1. Vellalar: Large landowners were called vellalars.
2. Uzhavar: Ordinary ploughmen were called uzhavars.
3. Kadaisiyar and adimai: Landless labourers and slaves were known as kadaisiyar and adimai.

Sangam Literature: The literary compositions in Tamil which were created around 2300 years ago are known as Sangam Literature. These were composed in assemblies of authors. Such assemblies were held in Madurai. The term ‘sangam’ means assembly. This explains the naming of Sangam Literature. Sangam Literature has been used to get information about social structure of south Indian villages of that period.

North Indian Village: A village of north India could be divided into following category of people:

Grambhojaka: 

• The village headman was known as the grambhojaka.
• His position was hereditary in nature.
• So, the members of the same family held that position for many generations.
• A grambhojaka was also the largest landowner of the village.
• He kept slaves and hired workers to work in his farm.
• He was very powerful.
• He had the authority to collect taxes from other farmers.
• He also served the function of a judge and sometimes, that of a policeman.

Grihapati: 

• The independent farmers were called the grihapati.
• They were usually small landowners.

Dasa karmakara: 

• The landless men and women were called the dasa karmakara.
• They worked in other farmer’s fields.

Crafts persons also lived in villages, e.g. carpenter, potter, weaver, etc. Villages were the main centres of food production. A village served as source of food grains and other farm produce for the people in cities.

Thriving Cities:

• A place where agriculture is not the main occupation is called a city.
• Many cities thrived in India about 2500 years ago, e.g., Pataliputra, Varanasi, Mathura, Ujjain, Madurai, Taxila, etc.
• A city was the hub of trade and other activities.

Mathura:

• Around 2500 years ago, Mathura was an important city.
• It was at the junction of two major trade routes, i.e. from the northwest to the east and from north to south.
• The city was fortified from all around.
• There were many shrines in the city.
• These shrines were used by people for gathering and for spending spare time.
• Food for the city dwellers came from farmers and herders from the adjoining areas.
• Mathura was also a centre of production of some fine sculpture.
• Mathura was an important religious centre as well.
• It was an important centre of worship of Lord Krishna.
• Buddhist monasteries and Jain shrines were also present in Mathura.
• The remains of gates and pillars reveal many inscriptions which give valuable information about the life in Mathura.
• The inscriptions usually show donations made by people.
• From these inscriptions, historians have come to know about various occupations during that time.
• Donations were made by kings and queens, officers, merchants, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, weavers, basket makers, garland makers, perfumers, etc.

Crafts and Crafts Persons:

• Different kinds of crafts were made in Mathura.
• This city was famous for very fine pottery; called the Northern Black Polished Ware.
• The pottery was black and had a fine gloss over it.
• Since such pottery was usually made in north India, hence it was called the Northern Black Polished Ware.
• Many crafts may not have survived the vagaries of time.
• However, various texts from that period tell about them.
• Varanasi and Madurai were important centres of textiles production.
• Both men and women worked in the textiles industry.

The crafts persons and merchants formed associations. Such associations were called the shrenis. Following are various responsibilities of the shreni:

• Training of crafts person,
• Procurement of raw materials and
• Distribution of finished products.
• There was the shreni of merchants as well.
• It organized the trade.
• The shreni of merchants also worked as banks.
• Rich men and women could deposit their money in such banks.
• That money was invested in trade and the interest was returned to the depositor.
• The interest could also be used for supporting religious institutions such as monasteries.

Arikamedu:

• Arikamedu was in modern day Pondicherry.
• About 2200 to 1900 years ago, it was a coastal settlement.
• Ships from distant lands came and were unloaded at this centre.
• A massive brick structure had been found on this site.
• Historians guess that it was a warehouse.
• Pottery from the Mediterranean region had been found from this site, e.g. amphorae and stamped red-glazed pottery. (called Arrentine Ware). 
• Amphora is double handled jar for keeping liquids; like wine and oil. Red-glazed pottery is called Arrentine Ware.
• It got its name after an Italian village named Arezzo; which is now a city.
• Many local made potteries have also been found from this site. But the local potteries also contain Roman designs.
• Roman glassware, lamps and gems have also been found from this site.
• The potteries from Arikamedu show that there was big influence from the Mediterranean; especially from Rome.
• Small tanks have also been found.
• They were probably used as dyeing vats; for dyeing cloths.

Other Proofs of the Life in Those Times:

• Many sculptures from this period depict scenes from the day to day life.
• These sculptures were used for decorating pillars, railings and gateways.
• These sculptures show various occupations during this period.

Ring Wells: 

• During excavation in many cities, rows of pots or ceramic rings have been found.
• The ceramic rings were arranged one over another.
• Such structures are known as ring wells.
• Historians believe that they were used as toilets or as drains.
• They were usually present in individual houses.
• Very few remains of palaces and homes have been found.
• There could be two reasons for this.
• One of the reasons can be that historians have yet to find those remains.
• Another reason is that most of the structures were made of wood and mud bricks and hence they may not have survived the vagaries of time.

Bharuch:

• Historians have also found many proofs from accounts of travelers and sailors.
• For example; a Greek sailor had mentioned interesting account about Bharuch.
• Bharuch is in modern day Gujarat.
• Its Greek name was Barygaza.
• According to that sailor, the gulf at Bharuch was very narrow.
• It was difficult to navigate through the gulf at Bharuch.
• Only locally trained fishermen were able to steer a ship to the shore.
• Such fishermen were employed by the king.
• Bharuch was an important point for imports and exports.
• The main items of imports included; wine, copper, tin, lead, coral, topaz, cloth, gold and silver coins.
• The main items of exports included; plants from the Himalayas, ivory, agate, carnelian, cotton, silk and perfumes.
• The merchants also brought special gifts for the king; such as vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful women, fine wines and fine cloth.
• Coins were often used as a means of exchange.
• Punch marked coins were in use at that time.
• Some form of barter system was also in practice. Salt was an important tool of barter.