Conclusion

The work aims to study “Economy of Ancient India from 200 BC to 300 AD”.
The period is known for the political instability because there were continuous foreign
invasions which changed the political scenario of India. There was political
decentralization as there was no single and centralized empire emerged during the
period. Though India was divided into small kingdoms ruled by both local and foreign
dynasties. Indian society was generally divided into four Varnas and each Varna had
its own role and duties. As a result of social and economic changes, the conditions and
status of lower classes were improved during this period. The foreign people who
came India as invaders or immigrants adopted Indian culture and incorporated
themselves in the Kshatriya Varna known as Fallen-Kshatriya (Vrata kshatriya). The
condition of women seems improving but Smriti literature does not show much favor
to them as it depicts the poor image of the women. The social, political and economic
changes of this period had great impact on the culture including food, habits, and
dresses etc.

The geographical location and physical settings of India played an important

role in shaping its economy since early times. Monsoon played an important role in
bringing periodic rainfall in India which was the main source of irrigating the fields in
the absence of any modern irrigating technology. It also helped in the moments of
ships in the Indian Ocean which facilitated trade and commerce. There was diversity
in the climate, topography and soils of India which in turn created diversity in the
natural resources. These three factors were the main determinants of meeting the
requirements of natural resources which were suitable for their genesis and
production. These natural resources were chief sources of economic prosperity and
development.

There was the large production of agricultural crops along with the
horticultural produces. These crops were also confirmed by the Paleo botanical
remains which have been reported from some archaeological sites of this period. The
rulers of this period played an important role in the development of agricultural
production. They provided good irrigation facilities for better ensure of crops. They

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got dug wells, ponds, lakes etc. These irrigation sources brought income for the state
in the form of irrigation tax and these irrigation works needed huge labourers, so an
employment were generated by the rulers of this period. Better agricultural tools and
implements were used in agriculture which became the main factor for better
agricultural production. Individual farming was also done during the period. State had
its own farms, laborers and slaves who were employed on its own farms for
cultivating the land. The labourers were paid in cash on the basis of works which was
judged by their masters. The mining and forest’s role cannot be ignored in the
economic development of this period. Through the mining, various metals such as
gold, silver, copper and other metals were obtained even Strabo informs that Indians
were not expert in the art of mining but this view is not fully accepted because Indian
sources do not comply with Indian sources as Arthsastra gives detailed information
about the mining. A large number of products including both plants and animals were
obtained from the forests which had economic values and were also used as trade
commodities. This period proved instrumental for the emergence of feudalism in
India. A large number of land grants and villages were given to the ascetic classes.
Even their lands were rent free lands and they were subjected to pay land revenue and
not interfered by state officials. They employed labourers who worked on their lands
as cultivators which increased the area of agricultural lands. It led to the good
agricultural production. This good agricultural production contributed a lot of income
for the state in the form of land revenue. The amount of land revenue was one fourth
and one sixth of the produce. As per some scholars are the opinions that one fourth
was realized from irrigated lands and one sixth from non-irrigated lands. Variations in
the amount of land revenue were due to the regional differences in land revenues or
sometimes the state realized the one figure and sometimes the other figure of the land
revenue. There are other cases when one fourth was realized during normal conditions
in the society and one sixth was realized at the time of natural calamities or other
problems faced by cultivators. There is a lot of debate among the scholars regarding
the ownership of land during the period. Sources informs that state was the owner of
the land even Manu also informs that it was he who first clear the forest was the
owner of land but he might refers to any political authority or king who possessed
tools to clear the forests and make it fit for cultivation. At the end, Agricultural
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economy was the base for other sectors of economy in the form of raw-materials i.e.
for arts and craftsmen as well for industries and when these raw-materials were
converted into finished goods that became the articles of trade and commerce.
Both internal and external trade reached its zenith during the period. Internal
trade was among various regions of the country. There was no doubt that politically
India was divided into many kingdoms, Northern India was stabilized and controlled
by the Kushanas, Deccan was controlled by Satvahanas and western India was usually
controlled by the Sakas but there was continuous wars between Sakas and Satvahanas
to control the western Indian ports because the ports were the chief source of income
for the state in the form of custom duties. The trade articles were exchanged from all
geographical and political regions of India through the land and river routes which
were inter connected and inter linked with each other. Articles such as horses, costus,
cotton and muslins etc. were brought from the northern India; south India supplied
gold, pepper, pearls etc. to the northern and western India. Archaeological evidences
such as pottery, coins etc. suggest internal trade. Satvahanas copper coins have been
identified at Kausambi site in Allahabad which suggests that there was internal trade
between Satvahanas and Kushanas regions as this fact has not emphasized in the
earlier works.

During this period India had trade relations with the Roman world, Egypt,
Arabia, Africa, Yemen, Iran, Ceylon and South-East Asian countries proved by both
literarily evidences and archaeological evidences. This fact can also be confirmed
when Indian pottery, Kushanas coins, semi-precious and precious beads etc. have
been found outside India and many foreign archaeological findings such green tiles of
Persia, foreign coins, Roman pottery, mirrors of copper and bronze, Roman glasses
etc. have been reported from many Indian archaeological sites. This indicates
flourishing India’s trade with the foreign countries. The Indian traders used to reside
in foreign countries such as in Central Asia, Egypt, Ceylon and South East Asian
countries for trade purposes and the foreign traders and merchants who lived in India.

The balance of trade was favorable to India which is proved by both literary
and archaeological evidences because a large number of Roman gold and silver coins
have been discovered in India. This fact is also corroborated by the statement of Pliny

146
 li
us
M
h
also informs that Balance of trade was favorable to India. There were many factors

ar
lig
which were responsible for the development of trade and commerce during this period
which have been analyzed. The first factor was the penetration of large numbers of

,A
invaders and immigrants into the Indian sub-continent. This created a link and

y
ar
network between the people who came outside and the people of India which led to

br
the exchange of goods, services and ideas. The second factor was the role of state

Li
which was the chief factor for the development of economy. The northern India was

d
united by the Kushanas and they controlled mainly the land routes of northern India
ity za
and Silk route because it brought income for the Kushanas in the form of custom
rs A
duties. The Malabar Coast was controlled by the Cheras. Orissa was controlled by
ve na

Kharvelas which had direct link with the South East countries. Pandyas and Cholas
ni la

controlled the Tamil Nadu which was directly linked with the Srilanka and Tamralipti.
U au

The western India was usually controlled by western Kshatrapas and Deccan area was
M

controlled by Satvahanas but there were wars between the Satvahanas and western
Kshatrapas to control the ports of western India in order to control the western trade,
later on the matrimonial alliance was made between Satvahanas and western
Kshatrapas. The rulers of this period paid huge attention towards the development of
ports and trading stations. The trade routes were improved and made safe for the
merchants and traders as they were given protection. The transport system and its
means were improved. They also issued metallic coins in large numbers which
became the medium of exchange and facilitated the trade and commerce. There is no
doubt that state brought political stability provide safety to the merchants or traders
which had great impact on trade but it has been also newly observed that the traders or
merchants themselves took the weapons for defense when they went for overland
trade. The third factor was the discovery of Hippolus which were trade winds that
used to blow from Arabian Sea. It gave easy movements and direction to the ships
which facilitated the trade and commerce. The fourth factor was the high demands of
Indian goods in the world markets because of the utility and uniqueness of their
production. The foreign rulers and elite masses brought goods from their countries
created a sense of elite and taste. The fifth factor was the religious factor. Earlier
works have bothered little attention on this religious aspect which has its role to play
in the development of trade and commerce as the ascetic people were found as the

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chief customers of traders and merchants in particular commodities. The religious
classes got much benefited from the merchants and traders as they used to provide
certain kinds of amenities to the Buddhist monks and other religious people such as
money, clothes, robes, food, medicines etc. in lieu of shelter and spiritual merits. They
invested money to give them these amenities. So the role of religion could not be
ignored. Trade and commerce was the chief source of income for the state at that time
in the form of taxes, tolls and tariffs. It also helped in the growth of ports and trading
centers which became urban centers.

The chief items of export from India to the foreign countries were cotton,
ivory, pepper, pearls, diamonds, cinnamon, muslin, teak wood, ebony, iron and steel,
animals like hunting dogs, Indian cows, Indian women, precious and semi-precious
stones etc. India traders also brought silk from China for gold, silver and precious
stones and exported to the west. Roman glass objects were exported by the South
Indian merchants to China. So, Indian traders acted as middle men between the
eastern and western trade. Horses, precious, semi-precious stones, ivory, pottery were
also exported to the south East Asian countries. There was the importation of silk
from China through Silk route in the North West and Assam Burma China route in the
east. Coral, storax, tortoise shell, wine, crude glasses, singing girls, myrrh, white and
black lead, pottery such as arretine ware and rouletted ware etc. were imported from
the Roman world. India also imported cloves and spices from south East Asian
countries. Pearls, spices, muslins etc. were imported from Ceylon and India exported
Arkimedu carnelian beads, reddish carnelian beads of Gujarat, pottery, glass beads
etc. The trade was done through both sea and land routes. Before the coming of
Roman king Augustus the India foreign trade was usually carried through the Silk
route and Parthians traders were acted as middlemen between eastern and western
trade. But when Augustus came to power in Roman world as he made the made sea
routes safe for traders who traded with the west. This created shift from land trade to
sea routes because the Parthians middlemen always created problems for the foreign
traders as they demanded high custom duties as the foreign traders had to passed in
their territories over great Silk land route. This also led to the involvement of a large
numbers of Indian traders acted as middlemen between the China and Roman world.

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Earlier works mainly focused on the fact that Roman trade was mainly with the south
India but in this period it has also been observed that Roman trade was with the whole
subcontinent because many Roman coins, Roman pottery and Roman copper and
bronze mirrors from Gandhar regions have been reported. Secondly, Kushanas issued
their currency based on the Roman standard because of flourishing Indo Roman trade.
Thirdly, many trade products such as costus and shawls from Jammu and Kashmir,
muslins and betel nut from Bengal, cotton cloth from Kalinga and Vasta, Black wood
from Punjab and silk from China through northern India as all these products were
produced in the Northern and eastern India which had demand in the Roman markets.
On the basis of these evidences Roman trade was carried with whole of India and it
was not mainly confined to southern India. Earlier works focused that Indo Roman
trade ended in the 2nd century AD but it has been observed that it continued even after
3rd century AD. Roman pottery from Arkimedu and Roman coins in India sufficiently
indicated that the trade was continued even after 2nd century AD. Moreover, the
writings of Ptolemy (2nd century AD) mention the flourishing of Indian trading stations
or ports which earlier had flourished due to Indo Roman trade and other foreign trade.
Vienna Muzirus Papyrus dated 2nd and 3rd century AD informs that there was
flourishing Indo Roman trade.

There was flourishing of arts, crafts and industries during the period of study
as confirmed both by literarily and archaeological evidences. These arts, crafts and
industries were the development of textile industry, ceramic industry, metal industry,
wine making, glass industry etc. Glass was brought from the Medeteriian regions to
India as trade article but later on the articles of glass were manufactured in India under
the supervision of Roman experts as Arkimedu site made the impression that there
were the presence of Roman craftsmen because a large quantity of Roman pottery and
other objects were found in this site. There was no doubt that this period witnessed the
development of both indigenous and foreign arts and crafts. Satvahanas were
indigenous ruling dynasty of Deccan and western India but their arts and crafts were
not totally indigenous because there are references that Satvahanas town such as
Dhenukakata were inhabited by foreign arts and craftsmen which obviously had
impact on their arts and crafts. The foreign pottery such as arretine wares and

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rouletted wares were brought to India not only with wine but also with olive oil
though earlier works mention that only wine was brought into these foreign wares.
Along with development of both urban and rural crafts, this period is known for the
diversification of different professions and development of service sector of economy.
The law-givers of this period assigned different crafts and professions to the people on
the basis of their castes as the period is known for the mixed castes emerged due to the
anuloma and pratiloma marriages which were contrary to earlier period. Due to the
penetration of foreigners into the Indian society, a large number of artists and
craftsmen came to India, settled here and practiced their arts and crafts. Though there
are references regarding the presence of foreign craftsmen in India but there are also
references that Indian craftsmen settled and worked in the foreign lands as many
Indian names come from the foreign inscriptions. Further, around 3000 beads of glass,
agate, carnelian and crystal were found at Ban Donta Phet in Thailand which confirms
the presence of Indians in the foreign land.

Many reasons were identified responsible for the development of arts, crafts
and industries. The first was the easily availability of raw-materials in the form of
agricultural produces, minerals and metals which were needed for the development of
arts and crafts as well as for industries. The second reason was the role of state that
was main factor in the development of arts, crafts and industries. They improved
transport system and improved trade routes which helped in the easy movements of
raw-materials to the craftsmen and industries. The state itself was the chief consumer
of their finished goods and their finished goods had high demands in the local and
foreign markets and due to the above, they manufactured more and more finished
goods which led to the development of trade and commerce. The third reason was the
role played by guilds in the developments of arts, crafts and industries. Guild was the
independent corporate body of merchants, traders, craftsmen and industrialists. These
guilds were the specialized in particular kind of manufacturing or production. There
were potter-guilds, weaver-guilds, merchant-guilds and so many other guilds. They
had their own rules and laws. State never interfered in their matters. They had their
own judicial powers as they solved their cases themselves. They also acted as bankers.
The development of arts and crafts led to the growth of urban centers and towns as

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this period was known for the development of huge urban networks which is proved
by both literarily and archaeological sources. But the important towns of this period
such as Govardhana, Dhenukakata and Kanchi have not been given due
attention till date.

The monetary system was found much developed during the period as proved
by the sources. The coins were issued on large scale in different metals such as gold,
copper, silver, potin, lead, bronze and nickel by the rulers of different dynasties, tribal
republics, guilds, towns etc. There were also the importation of Roman gold and silver
coins in India but it does not mean that Indians were totally dependent upon the
foreign gold and silver as there was huge amount of gold and silver. High metallic
currency was used for big transactions and low metallic currency was used for small
transactions. Earlier works have suggested that high metallic money such as gold and
silver were used for international transactions but it has also been observed that low
metals such as lead, potin and copper were used in economy for foreign transaction.
Silver coins of Augustus have been found with the lead and potin coins of Satvahanas
and other was that ten copper coins of Hellenistic traders have been discovered in
Karur and Madurai belonged to first to second century AD. This fact also indicated
that Satvahanas might have exchanged their low metals with the Roman silver coins to
finance the Roman trade and if they did not issue gold coins because they could made
transactions in low metallic money to the Roman traders even Roman traders in turn
made cash payments in the low metallic money of Satvahanas for their trade items.
This indicates that the progress and prevailing of cash economy. Different coins were
issued by different dynasties. Gold coins were issued by Kushanas not by Satvahanas,
Indo Greeks, Sakas, Parthians and others. There could be many reasons why they did
not issue gold coins. The first reason might be that gold was hoarded and stored; the
second is that the areas of gold mines could not come under their control and the third
is that they used foreign gold coins for paying their goods as there is reference
regarding the importation of foreign gold and silver coins. Copper and silver coins
were issued by all dynasties and tribal republics of the period. Kushanas issued coins
in all metals except few silver coins but it does not mean that the Kushanas did not
issue silver coins. Low metals such as lead, potin, bronze and tin coins were issued by

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Satvahanas. Foreign coins have been identified from various sites of India proved by
both literally and archaeological sources which indicate the trade and commerce were
flourishing and Indian goods had high demands in the world markets. This also
indicates that the balance of trade was favorable to India on the basis of the quantity
of these coins in India. It can further be corroborated with the statement of Pliny as he
too informs that balance of trade was favorable to India. It has argued that the flow of
Roman gold and silver coins was reduced and stopped after the 3rd century AD but
many hoards of Roman coins were reported from India and Ceylon after the 3rd
century which indicates the trade was continued rather than declined. These coins
contained different symbols, name of the rulers, scripts and legends which provide
information about the religion, culture, economy, flourishing of metal industry. The
geographical ranges or distributions of the coins indicate the extent of the political
extent of the dynasties or rulers, demands and exchange of the currencies for cash
transactions. The money economy became very common during this period. It was
used for investment, banking, trade and commerce, paying of taxes, tolls, tariffs,
wages and salaries to the employers. Weight of the coins indicates the value of the
coins and availability of metals. Moreover, it also suggests considerable purchasing
capacity. Both the lower and higher denominations of the coins indicate that the
money was used for both the small and big transactions. Along with the monetary
economy, barter system was also prevailed during the period.

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 To sum up, thep riod from 200 BC to 300 AD is proved
for the political
decentralization, religious
e development along with increasing of various religious
sects, cultural plurality, lsocia
mobility and social progress, scientific progress,
development of art and architecture
ec nomic development and
and o prosperity.

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