Changes in Social Organisation:

We find that the above trend in  social organisation  led to a tendency which eventually stifled the progress of  these civilisations and led to their decay. The surplus. or whatever was left of  food production after the consumption needs of  the society were met, came to be appropriated by  a small group of administrators. They eventually became priests and kings and formed an exclusive group.  The successors of  the original administrators gradually lost touch with agriculturil  ilechniques, as well as with knowledge and techniques related to production of other articles of consumption and trade.  They gave their time and attention to building monuments. temples and palaces of leisure to impress the  rest of  the society or to emphasise their exclusiveness. They raised armies to take over more and more productive land.  Their priestly influence also grew. They cultivated the  idea that  they had divine powers and were created by God to'show the way  to the common people and be  their natural leaders. Thus, society got divided into exclusive classes of  producers and appropriators. The tragedy of  this process was that those who used knowledge.and  technique in  the beginning to  increase production became isolated from the basic production techniques and knowledge which had given them power.  Recourse was taken  increasingly  to magic and spreading of false beliefs instead of  scientific observations and use of  technology to solve material problems.  The farmers and the craftsmen who used  the techniques to produce goods were weighed down with the daily problems of existence. They had very little resources for innovations.  Thus, the practitioners could not  improve the techniques to solve the problems they faced; and the appropriators who had  the time, resources and power to do so were no  longer interested in  these things.  As a result of these developments,  the progress of  technique was thwarted and science stagnated.