For millions of years, human beings lived as hunter-gatherers, moving from one place to another in search of food, water and shelter. They hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds, and gathered roots, fruits, nuts and seeds. They did not build permanent houses and did not grow crops. This way of life continued for a very long period in human history.
Around 12,000 years ago, a great change began to take place. People started to notice the plants growing near their campsites and slowly learned to grow their own food. They also began to tame and rear animals. This shift from hunting and gathering to growing food is one of the most important developments in the history of mankind. It changed the way people lived and led to the beginning of villages and settled life.
In this chapter, we will learn about the life of the earliest people, the discovery of fire, the domestication of animals, the beginning of farming, and the early villages that grew along the rivers. We will also study the important sites discovered by archaeologists, such as Mehrgarh, and understand how people gradually began to use metals like copper.
The earliest people depended completely on nature for their food. They are called hunter-gatherers because they hunted wild animals and gathered edible plants, fruits, roots and seeds. They lived in caves, under trees, and in shelters made of stones and branches.
The hunter-gatherers moved from one place to another because animals moved in search of food, plants ripened at different times in different areas, and the seasons changed the availability of food and water. Movement also helped them to search for new sources of water and food when the old sources dried up. They used simple tools made of stone, bone and wood for hunting and for cutting and scraping.
There were several reasons why the hunter-gatherers travelled from place to place:
Thus, the wandering life of hunter-gatherers was not aimless; it was a careful movement guided by the seasons and the availability of food and water.
Fire was one of the greatest discoveries of early humans. It is not known exactly when or how fire was discovered, but archaeologists have found evidence of fire at some early sites, such as Kurnool caves in Andhra Pradesh and Paisra in Bihar.
Fire was used for many purposes: to keep warm in cold weather, to scare away wild animals, to cook food, and to make better tools. Cooked food was easier to digest and tasted better. Fire also helped people to live in colder regions and to light up dark caves.
Gradually, people began to observe the animals that came near their camps to eat grass and grain. Instead of hunting all of them, they began to tame and rear some animals. The animals that were first domesticated included sheep, goats, cattle and pigs.
The practice of keeping and rearing animals is called domestication. Animals were raised for their milk, meat, skin and wool, and later they were also used to carry loads and to plough fields. The dog was perhaps the first animal to be domesticated. Herding gave people a steady supply of food and other materials, and reduced their dependence on hunting.
Around 12,000 years ago, people in different parts of the world began to grow plants and rear animals. People noticed that seeds dropped near their campsites grew into new plants. Slowly, they began to sow seeds and wait for the crops to grow. This was the beginning of farming or agriculture.
The early farmers grew crops such as wheat, barley, rice, lentils and peas. The most important effect of farming was that people no longer needed to move from place to place in search of food. They began to stay in one place to look after their fields, and this led to the growth of permanent settlements and villages. The period of early farming is part of the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age), when polished stone tools began to be used.
The change from hunting-gathering to farming and herding is called the Neolithic Revolution. The word "revolution" is used because this change was so important that it transformed the way people lived.
In the Neolithic Age, people: - Learned to grow crops and rear animals. - Began to live in permanent settlements. - Made polished stone tools like axes. - Invented the plough and the wheel. - Learned to make pottery for storing grains and liquids. - Began to weave cloth from cotton and wool. - Started to use fire for baking pottery.
These changes made life more secure and comfortable, and the population began to grow slowly.
As farming developed, small villages began to grow near rivers because the soil near rivers was fertile and water was available. Villages were settlements where people lived together in houses made of mud, wood and stone.
One of the most famous Neolithic sites in the subcontinent is Mehrgarh, located in present-day Pakistan near the Bolan Pass. At Mehrgarh, archaeologists have found evidence of early farming, rearing of animals, and the making of tools. People there used copper for making tools and ornaments, showing that this was one of the first places where the use of metals began. Grains like wheat and barley were stored in granaries, and bones of animals like sheep and goat show that people kept herds.
Besides Mehrgarh, many other early farming sites have been found in the subcontinent:
These sites show that farming began in different parts of the subcontinent around the same time, and that people in each region grew different kinds of crops according to the climate and soil.
The Neolithic people made better and more polished tools. Instead of chipping stones, they ground and polished them to make sharp axes, hoes and sickles. The ground stone axe was a very important tool used for cutting trees and digging the ground.
Pottery was another great achievement of the Neolithic people. They made pots of clay, which were used for storing grains, cooking food and carrying water. Some pots were painted with simple patterns. Later, the use of fire to harden clay led to the making of stronger baked pots. Pottery also became an important clue for archaeologists to understand the lives of early people.
In the beginning, people used only stones for making tools. Later, around 7000 years ago, people discovered that certain rocks could be heated to obtain metals. The first metal to be used by people was copper.
Copper was used to make tools, weapons and ornaments. However, copper was soft and expensive to get, so stone tools continued to be used for many purposes. The period when both stone and copper tools were used together is called the Chalcolithic Age. The discovery of metals was a big step because metals could be melted and shaped into any desired form.
Imagine the life of a Neolithic farmer. She or he had to sow seeds, water the plants, remove weeds, and protect the crop from birds and animals. Harvesting the ripe grain and storing it in pots and granaries was hard work. The herder had to take the animals out for grazing, protect them from wild animals, and look after the young ones.
These farmers and herders shared their work among family members and helped each other. The women gathered fruits, cooked food, and looked after children, while men hunted and later took up farming and herding. Slowly, surplus food was produced, which could be stored and exchanged with others. This surplus and exchange led to the growth of trade and the rise of more complex societies.
| Period | Main Features |
|---|---|
| Hunter-gatherer phase | Hunting, gathering, use of stone tools, wandering life |
| Discovery of fire | Cooking, warmth, protection from animals |
| Beginning of herding | Domestication of sheep, goat, cattle, dog |
| Beginning of farming (c. 12,000 years ago) | Growing crops like wheat, barley, rice |
| Neolithic Age | Polished tools, pottery, permanent villages |
| Chalcolithic Age | Use of copper along with stone tools |
| Site | Present Location | Special Evidence Found |
|---|---|---|
| Mehrgarh | Pakistan (near Bolan Pass) | Early farming, copper tools, rearing of animals |
| Koldihwa and Mahagara | Uttar Pradesh | Earliest known cultivation of rice |
| Daojali Hading | Assam | Stone and bone tools, burnt grain |
| Burzahom | Kashmir | Pit dwellings, farming |
| Chirand | Bihar | Farming and animal rearing |
The journey from hunting and gathering to growing food was a slow but momentous change in human history. It began with the discovery of fire, continued with the taming of animals, and finally led to the farming of crops around 12,000 years ago. This change, called the Neolithic Revolution, allowed people to settle down in villages, build houses, make pottery and polished tools, and store surplus food.
Settled farming brought security and comfort, and it set the stage for the growth of towns, trade and great cities. Sites like Mehrgarh, Koldihwa and Burzahom tell us how people in different parts of the subcontinent adopted farming in their own way. The change from wandering to settlement is thus a cornerstone of civilisation, because it was from these early villages that the great cities of the Indus valley later arose.