Ancient towns
Topic: Human Settlements and Urbanisation in India · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Human Settlements"
Meaning
Ancient towns are Indian towns with more than 2,000 years of history. Most grew up as religious and cultural centres. Pilgrim routes and trade routes often overlapped, so holy places also became market towns. Town life in India is even older. Harappa and Mohenjodaro of the Indus valley civilisation show that towns existed in prehistoric times. After that, towns kept rising and falling until the Europeans came.
Example
Varanasi on the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh is an ancient town that is still a major religious and cultural centre. Prayag (Prayagraj), Pataliputra (Patna) and Madurai are other ancient towns.
Don't confuse with
- Medieval towns: these grew mainly as capitals of kingdoms, often as fort towns, not as religious centres.