A Study in the Economic Condition of Ancient India c8.5

c8.5

According to the Buddhist books, Vaiśālī contained 7,707 *rājans* (estate-owners).¹ If we may presume that by Vaiśālī the *janapada* of Vaiśālī is meant, and calculating at the rate of ten *janapadas* to a *deśa* (country), this would mean that there were about 77,070 rājans or sāmantas (estate-owners) in the deśa in which Vaiśālī was included. If that deśa again can be regarded as an average-sized country, this would mean that the whole of ancient India (with its eighty-four deśas) contained about 6,473,880 rājans or sāmantas. Taking from fifteen to twenty persons for each estate, the population of the whole of India would come to between 100 and 130 millions. The total population of Vaiśālī janapada is given in Buddhist books as 168,000.¹ Multiplying this by 840, we get the population of India as 141,120,000, or in round numbers 140 millions. We should note here that the janapada of Vaiśālī, owing to its fertility, was probably more thickly populated than many other janapadas.