Introduction

• Urbanisation in the early medieval period (600-1300 CE) of Indian history was linked with the growth of regional kingdoms and the expansion of Indian Ocean trade.

• Macro-level changes led to new patterns of interaction and socio-economic formation.

• The Agrahara system of land grants by royalty created a new class of landholders.

• These land grants brought about substantial changes in the material milieu and helped the agrarian economy grow alongside the formation of state societies.

• Villages were interconnected with apex political centres through local administrative tiers.

• Agrarian economy promoted the growth of the non-agrarian sector, contributing to urbanisation.

• Early medieval urbanisation was characterised by changes in the agrarian economy, more complex political structures, and expanding Indian Ocean trade.

• Locating urban centres and understanding their growth is complex. Epigraphic and textual data can help identify pura, nagara, or pattana, terms for urban centres.

• Epigraphic and textual sources are primarily used to understand early medieval urbanisation, with travel accounts, kavya literature, and secular texts often describing cities.

• Archaeology is less helpful in studying early medieval urbanism due to the lack of excavations.

• Studies on urban centres often rely on textual sources, such as accounts from Arab geographers, Alberuni, and works like Manasara, Mayamata, and Samarangasutradharawere.

• Pushpa Niyogi noted that towns and cities along trade routes became commercial centres, citing Anahilapura in the 12th century, with eighty-four markets making it a trade hub.

• Town planning was studied using texts like Mayamata, Aparajitaprchchha, and Sukranitisara.

• B.B. Dutt argued that Indian streets were arranged in a rectangular chessboard system based on texts like Manasara and Mayamata.

• Many texts refer to urban centres without considering their historical emergence, making them appear as compilations of urban place names.

• B.N.S. Yadav noted that though the descriptions of cities became conventional in the post-Gupta period, they still provided insights into city life.

• The texts examined by Yadav included Padataditakam, Kadambari, Navasahasankacharita, and others, which described cities like Ujjayini, Kundinapura, and Pravarapura.

• Urban features identified in these texts include fortifications, ramparts, moats, localisation of trading communities, magnificent mansions, and bustling trade activities.

• These works describe urban centres but do not focus on the process of urbanisation.