Urbanization
Travellers coming to
India in the medieval period noted that there were a number of urban centres of
various sizes, from cities to small market towns throughout India, though the
country was primarily rural. The urban population was probably quite small as a
proportion of the total, but it had an economic and cultural significance which
was much greater than its actual size.
What were the factors
which facilitated urbanization? It has been observed that cities and towns
fulfilled diverse and overlapping roles in the economy. The large cities were
centres of manufacturing and marketing, banking and financial services. They
were usually located at the intersection of an extensive network of roads which
connected them to other parts of the country. Smaller towns were marketing
centres in local trade connecting the immediate rural hinterland. Cities also
served as political and administrative centres, both in the capital region (for
instance, Agra and Delhi) and in the provinces (Patna, Ahmedabad, Lucknow). Major
pilgrimage centres like Varanasi also grew into cities, because the regular
inflow of pilgrims provided a market that attracted manufacturing and trade.
In South India,
especially the Tamil region, urbanization went hand in hand with temples.
Temples were large economic enterprises requiring a variety of goods and
services to function. They needed and employed a large number of people to man
the religious services, the kitchens and for other work. Devotees coming to
worship at the temple needed many services and goods, so that temple towns also
became marketing centres. The pace of urbanization increased during the
Vijayanagar period when there was a great increase in the construction of
temples across Tamilnadu.
It must be remembered
that the distinction between rural and urban was not as marked as it is in the
present day. Most urban centres also displayed rural characteristics. For
instance, it was not uncommon to find fields with crops within a city. But it
is interesting to note that most of the large cities and market centres which
existed in the medieval period are still to be found in north and south India,
even though their relative importance might have changed over the centuries.
The medieval period
covering more than seven hundred years of Indian history was a time when
momentous changes took place in the political landscape which also transformed
the social and economic fabric of the country.
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