CIVIL SERVICES (PRELIMS) SPECIAL

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Notes on
Indian History
Trade and Commerce in the preGupta and Gupta period
1. Metallurgy is as old as pre-historic
times. Mining of metals was known even
in pre-Vedic period and during the
Harappa period various metals like copper, lead, silver were in use.
2. During Vedic period, metal (ayas)
was chiefly of two kindskrishna ayas
(black metal or iron) used during later
Vedic period and loh ayas (copper).
3. The Jatakas refer to eighteen
important handicrafts and industries.
4. The Vaishyas developed institutions like Sreni, Nigama and Puga to regulate trade and avoid intrusion by other
varnas and develop monopoly.
5. Proper rules of conduct of trade
were laid by the head of trade guilds,
known as Sarthavaha or Srenipramukha.
The rules were called Samay and
Srenidharma.
6. Taxila, Pushkalavati, Kapisa and
Vidisha prospered as trade centres, under
the Indo-Greek rulers.
7. Kautilya asked the king to develop
measures to stop obstruction of the trade
routes by his favourite men (vallabhas).
Frontier guards (Antapalas) were also
appointed.
8. The close contacts between the
commercial classes and the kings court is
very clear from the rules of the settlement
layout of the historic city of Patliputra.
Here, people lived in various parts,

according to their social status.

9. Kautilya looked upon artisans and
traders as big thieves and held them
under suspect. He demanded strict control over them, as also with the often
indisciplined frontier guards (antapalas).
10. Guilds of merchants were properly registered and even served as banks.
11. During Mauryas, most important
trade route was from Taxila to Patliputra.
12. Ships in ancient period were
usually of the two-masted type. In the
2nd century A.D., a regular sea-route
was in operation for the quest for gold
(swarna).
13. Monsoons (Arabic: Mausam) were
discovered by Hippalus (Greek captain)
and this discovery in 45 A.D. that monsoons could sail ships from Alexandria to
Western India in just a 40-days period,
tremendously increased the Roman seatrade, due to shortening of trade-route.
Muziris (Cranganore, Kerala) and
Puhar (in Cholamandalam) were major
sea-ports and foreign settlements.
14. Among land-routes, the silk-route
was very often in use till Kushan period.
Later period saw it becomming unsafe,
due to robbers.
15. The Periplus of Erythrean Sea is a
travellers handbook (Erythrean SeaRed
sea). It mentions more than 20 trade ports
like: Barygaza (Broach), Suppara
(Soparal), Kalliena (Kalyana), Muziris
(Pondicherry), Soptama (Madras), Puhar
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(Orissa), Masalia (Masulipatnam).

16. The important exports from India
were: Fine textiles from Varanasi,
Malabathrum (spicy leaves) from
Tamralipti (Tamluk, R. Ganges, Bengal),
muslins (Pondicherry), pepper (Muziris),
ivory (Puhar, Orissa).
17. Pepper was a very valuable
export till 13th century A.D. Marco
Polo (Italy) mentions that a ship was
measured by the number of pepper baskets
contained in it.
18. Trade suffered a setback in 3rd
century A.D. But in the 4th century A.D.,
silk trade increased and silk was brought
within reach of the common man. The
decline in the westward trade towards the
2nd-3rd century A.D. was later compensated for by the prospering trade now
developed with the south-east Asian
States like the Suvarnabhumi, Kambuja
(Kampuchea), Champa (Annam).
19. During Guptas, there was no
material change in the previous traderoutes, trade practices, organisation, currency system, etc. The one note-worthy
change was a decline in the Roman trade
and the three major ports of Muziris,
Arikamedu and Kaveripattinam.
20. In his plays, Kalidas potraits a
good view of the town markets and
trade transactions. The internal trade
now expanded to several inland trade
centres.
21. Roman
emperor
Aurelian
declared Indian silk to be its worth in
gold. Indians acted as intermediaries to
the Chinese silk trade and the Western
States.
22. Among spices, pepper always
held the first place and was declared passion of the Yavanas (Romans).
23. The demand for Roman goods
was smaller than that of Indian goods
abroad and it suffered an adverse trade
balance of trade. To make up this balance,
the Romans supplied gold and silver
coins to India. This ever-increasing drain
of wealth was once complained by the
emperor Tiberious (22 A.D.). The author
Pliny also laments such losses.
24. The Kushanas remoulded the
Roman coins so that they could be used as
currency.
25. Among imports, there were
singing boys, virgins for the rulers
harem, slaves and valuable corals

CIVIL SERVICES(PRELIMS) SPECIAL

(Mediterranean Red Variety), dates,
Italian vases and wines, sweet clovers,
glass, tin (Spain), emeralds, etc.
26. The Divyavadana refers to the science of testing gems. The merchants sons
were trained in 64 Angavidyas or finearts,
according to Vatsyayana.
27. Rome, the Chief importer of
Indian muslin, once banned it, due to the
rising loss of morals of its females.
28. Narada, Katyayana and
Brihaspati gave specific instructions
towards the rights and duties of guild
members, in their smritis. Gupta sites of
Basarh (Vaisali) and Bhita (Allahabad)
bear the names Nigama and Sreni
Sarthavaha Kulika Nigama at Vaisali.
29. India obtained brass, lead and
gold from foreigners, whereas Indian iron
and steel (saikya ayas) was very advanced
in quality and was exported.
30. Milindpanho mentions 75 trades,
60 related to crafts, 8 to metals.
31. Charaksamhita (on Indian traditional medicine and surgery) recommends
the use of saikya ayas for operations.
32. Nasik cave inscription tells that
srenis often acted as law providers also.
(Sresthis, are now called as Seths, Settis in
South India and also Chettiyars).
33. Rate of interest fluctuated greatly,
but was usually near 15% (higher for
loans for sea-trade).
34. The common coins were: Nishka
and Pala of Gold, Shatmana of silver, Kakini
of copper and brass. The most common
coin Karshapana was made of various metals.
35. The major source of revenue for
Guptas was land revenue.
36. Textiles formed a major industry
in this period. Rock cutting also evolved
as another important occupation due
to the rapid rise in use of statues for
prayers.
37. India imported horses from
Arabia, Iran and Bactria.
38. Ujjain was the most flourishing
trade centre in and around the Gupta
period.
Agrarian Structure in Post-Gupta
period
39. A lot of confusion about agrarian
structure of post-Gupta period exists, due
to the contradictory picture provided by
several Smriti writers and other sources.

40. There were several land grants,

both secular and religious in nature. The
secular grants were mostly towards the
high officials while religious grants were
towards the Brahmins and the temples.
41. The practice of land grants finally
developed feudalism. The peasant, who
was initially free was now under severe
burden. There were several intermediate
classes of land owners.
42. There was an increase in the
forced labour, Vishti, due to the emergence
of a landed aristocratic class.
43. The peasants were mostly sudras.
In fact, peasants were thought of as
sudras.
44. All land was supposed to be
under the State ownership, but in practice
individuals were owners of land.
45. Various categories of ownerships
existed, like Sakta (land owned by individuals), Prakrsta (tilled by certain individuals), Kaustambakshetra (fields owned
by cultivators themselves).
46. In a few land grants, villages are
described as also carrying with them the
right towards all traders living in it. The
grants were rent-free.
47. Aprada, Sasana, Chaturvaiya-grama,
Brahmadeya, etc are names of land grants.
The rights were hereditary.
48. The Kashmiri ruler Shankaravarman used to usurp lands from grant holders.
49. During Harsha, cash payments
were usually for military services only.
50. Agrahara land was granted only to
brahmins.
Social Changes
51. Rig Vedic society was chiefly pastoral and semi-nomadic. Their chief
wealth was the gau (cow) and a wealthy
person was called gomat, the king or head
was called gopati or gopa.
52. Vedic society in early period had
no such serving class like the shudras.
53. Early literature of the Buddhists
provides a picture of a settled agricultural
economy and an emerging commerce in
urban centres.
54. Mauryas saw a tremendous
increase in trade.
55. The Gupta period saw changes in
agrarian structure due to system of land
grants.
56. Varna Samkara denotes mixed
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castes, considered ritually impure, included tribes or descendants of intercaste marriages.

57. A child born out of brahmin and
vaishya combination was called ambastha
and that of brahmin and sudra as nisada,
vaishya and sudra as ugra, brahmin and
sudra as parsava.
58. In the later vedic period, there
were as many as 17 kinds of priests looking into various sacrifices. The Brahmin
was one such priest, who gradually surpassed them and became their representative.
59. Besides the four varnas, there was
a Panchamvarna (5th varna), comprising
the untouchables.
60. The principal tax-payers were the
vaishyas.
61. The social transformation of
vaishya and sudras was under crisis in the
3rd century A.D., due to refusal to stick to
their occupations and pay taxes. The practice of land grants was started by a few
rulers to relax the tax collections, now
entrusted to grant holders.
62. The term Rajanya, existing in literary sources as well as in coins, signifies
kshatriyas.
63. In the Buddhist texts, the social
order is denoted as: kshatriya, brahmin,
vaishya and sudra (i.e. brahmins at 2nd
place, not first). Vaishyas are called grahapatis or householders.
64. The samskaras were important
religious sacraments for the human body.
They are generally 16 in number.
65. There are eight forms of marriage,
according to the Dharmasastras. The
approved ones are: Brahma, Prajapatya,
Daiva and Arsa. Divorce was severely condemned. The unapproved ones were:
asura, paisacha, rakshasa and gandharva
(love marriage). Re-marriage was allowed
by the Brahmanical law givers as well as
by Kautilya.
66. Polygamy was generally practiced by the socially upper classes.
67. Intercaste marriages were generally in Anuloma system (marriage of high
caste male with low caste female).
68. There were several mixed castes
also, arising out of tribals and foreigners.
69. The asura form of marriage
(marriage by purchase) was quite prevalent, even though not approved by the
shastras.

CIVIL SERVICES(PRELIMS) SPECIAL

70. The position of women declined
during the pre-Gupta and Gupta times
and further more in later periods.
71. The use of veils (purdah) by
women can be noticed near Harshas
times (his sister Rajyasri used it)
and increased during the advent of
Muslims.
72. Some smritis encourage the practice of sati. The first definite historical incident of sati is recorded in 510 A.D., in the
case of wife of Goparaja (a general of
Bhanu Gupta). It existed mostly in Deccan
and Central India.
73. Smritis recommend an austere life
for widows. The skanda purana advocates
the shaving of heads of widows.
74. During post-Gupta period,
Vaishnava Dharma was prevalent in India.
Lalitaditya of Kashmir, Sens of Bengal,
Chandels and Chauhans were mostly
Vaishnavites. However, the epicentre of
Vaisnavism was the Tamil region.
75. Alwar saints brought the worship
of Vishnu to new heights, mainly in the
9th and 10th centuries. Two famous
female Alwar saints were Andal and
Namallalwar.
76. Among Hindus, Shaivites were
most numerous. The Pala rulers of Bengal
were Buddhists, but their inscriptions
begin with Om Namah Shivaya.
77. Ganesha became a popular deity
of the Hindus in the 10th century A.D.,
especially in the western States, where
Ganapati cult arose and held Ganesha as
higher than other deities. Ganesha
Chaturthi celebrations (mentioned in Agni
Purana) are believed to originate somewhere around 9-10th century A.D.
78. Huen Tsang, speaks of a flourishing Buddhist faith, even in the 7th century
A.D., besides other faiths, especially in
U.P., Bihar and Bengal.
79. The Kayastha caste was also born
somewhere during Gupta period. They
were usually scribes under State service.
First mention of Kayasthas is made by
Yajyavalkya. During Guptas, they existed
only as a social class and later they got
converted into a caste.
80. Antayajas were a class of people
living outside the town, as they were considered untouchables. The synonym
Chandala has also been used for them.
They were considered even lower than the
sudras.

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