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The Rashtrakutas and their Times c22: Chapter XV. Economic Condition

The Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their Times c22

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Chapter XV. Economic Condition

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An enquiry into the economic conditions of our period is beset with several difficulties. Sources of information, both indigenous and foreign, are scanty and their interpretation is rendered difficult by the uncertainty as to the precise meaning to be attached to the technical terms used therein. It is proposed to utilise in this chapter some of the records hailing from Tamil country. A part of that province was under the Rāshṭrakūṭa occupation for nearly a quarter of a century in the reign of Kṛshṇa III, many of whose records hail from that province, which can be interpreted only with the help afforded by other Chola records. It would be therefore both necessary and useful to supplement our information from other contemporary Chola records.

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Let us first enquire into the wealth of the country. This is primarily derived from its natural products and industries, and secondarily from its commerce and conquests. The natural products of the Deccan under the Rāṣṭrakūṭas could not have been much different from those of the present day as far as the produce of the soil is concerned, since no considerable climatic changes are known to have taken place during the last 1000 years. Cotton was produced in large quantity in southern Gujarat, Khandesh, and Berar; cotton yarn and cloth are mentioned among the articles of export from Bharoch by the Periplus in the 1st century A.D., by (1) Marco Polo in the 13th century (2) and by Tavernier in the 16th century. (3) It is obvious that in our period too the regions referred to must have been producing cotton, as they do even today. Gujarat cotton in Marco Polo's time was a rough variety suitable for stuffing only, the same probably was the case in our period too. Indigo is known to have been extensively exported from Gujarat and Thana in the 17th (4) and 13th (5) centuries A.D. and the crop was probably raised in our period too. Incense and perfumes were exported in large quantity from Saimur and Thana in the 12th and 13th centuries (6) and the same may have been the case in our period too. The chief crops in Maharashtra must have been jawari, bajri and oilseeds and Karnatak must have produced cotton in addition. Konkan was rich in coconuts, betelnuts and rice; the western ghats and parts of Mysore yielded large quantities of sandal, teak, and ebony wood. It may be pointed out that the timber of these trees was exported from western Indian ports since pre-historic times.

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¹ Schoff. periplus, p. 39 2. II, p. 393. 3. p. 52.

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⁴ Moreland, From Akbar to Aurangzeb, p. 160.

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⁵ Marco Polo, II, pp. 393 and 398.

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⁶ Elliot, I, p. 87; Marco Polo, II, p. 393.

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The fertility of the Deccan soil compares unfavourably with that of the alluvial plains of Bengal or the United Provinces, but the comparatively meagre wealth, that was available from this source, was supplemented by the metallurgical products in a much greater degree than is the case at present. Copper is mentioned as an article of export from Bharoch in the Periplus (7) and since northern India depended almost entirely on the produce of the local copper mines down to the beginning of the 17th century A.D., (8) we need not suppose that the copper exports in the first century A.D., were merely of the nature of re-exports. But it was not only in northern India that this metal was worked out; traces of more or less extensive workings of copper mines have been discovered in the districts of Cudappah, Bellary, Chanda, Buldhana, Narsingpur, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Dharwar. (9) Some of these mines are known to have been worked up right up to the time of Hyder Ali. It is, therefore, very likely that the wealth of the Deccan of our period must have been to some extent increased by the yields of these copper mines. We should not forget in this connection that copper was a much costlier metal than it is now. In the 17th century it was five times costlier than now, (10) and at about our period silver was only 3 times dearer than copper and 14 times cheaper than gold. The relative ratio of prices of gold and copper, as given by Brihaspati, is 1 : 48. (11) The present ratio of the prices of these metals is about 1 : 1500.

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Far more valuable than the mines of copper were the mines of precious stones, that were actively worked with great profit during our period. Cudappah, Bellary, Karnul, and the Krishna valley near Golconda, continued to yield rich harvests in diamonds till a much later time, as we know from Marco Polo, (12) Ibn Batuta (13) and Tavernier (14). At the time of Ibn Batuta Deogiri, which was then till quite recently the capital of the Deccan, was a famous centre of the jewelry trade; (15) during our period Malkhed, the Rāṣṭrakūṭa capital, which was much nearer the diamond fields, must similarly have been the main market for the precious stones unearthed in the mines mentioned above. Tavernier, writing in the 17th century, says that the port of Goa had formerly a large export trade in jewelry; but whether this former period mentioned by him can go back to our age is doubtful.

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⁷ Schoff, Periplus, p. 36.

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⁸ Moreland, From Akbar to Aurangzeb, p. 183.

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⁹ Ball, A Manual of the Geology of India, Part III, Chap. V; La Touche, A Bibliography of Indian Geology and Physical Geography, pp. 113-137.

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¹⁰ Moreland, India at the Death of Akbar, p. 147.

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¹¹ Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar Carmichael Lectures, 1921, p. 189.

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Contemporary documents do not give any adequate idea of the industries of the period; but we can get a fair notion from the accounts of foreign merchants of the earlier and later periods. Cloth industry was the principal one. From the Periplus we learn that cloth was largely exported from Bharoch and Damarike i. e. Dravid country. (16) The principal centres in the Deccan were Minnagar, Gujarat, Ujjain, Paithan and Tagara. (17) Most of these continued to be centres of cloth industry down to the 17th century A.D. Marco Polo states that Gujarat, Thana and Warangal used to manufacture and export considerable quantities of cloth in the 13th century, (18) and Tavernier notes that prodigious quantities of clear and white calicos were manufactured in Burhanpur and Berar, and were transported thence to Persia, Turkey, Poland, Arabia and Cairo. (19) It is therefore but fair to conclude that during our period, which is almost midway between these two, the industry may have been equally thriving. Paithan and Warangal were, and still are, particularly famous for their muslins. About the cloth manufacture at these places, Marco Polo says,—‘These are the most delicate buckrams and of the highest price; in sooth they look like the tissue of spider’s web. There can be no king or queen in the world but might be glad to wear them.’(20) Paithani, the name given to the high class silken saries of ladies in the Deccan, is significant in this connection.

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¹² II, p. 360. 13. p. 217. 14. p. 319. 15. p. 227. 16. p. 34.

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¹⁷ Pp. 34, 42, 43.

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¹⁸ II, pp. 393, 395 and 361. 19. p. 40.

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From Marco Polo we learn that southern Gujarat and northern Maharashtra were great centres of tanning industry in the 13th century. Leather was exported in large quantities from Thana;(21) in Gujarat the quantity of hide dressed was so great that several shiploads could be exported to Arabia and the Persian Gulf.(22) This tanning industry of the Deccan and Gujarat is not mentioned in the Periplus, but since it was in full vigour in the 13th century, and had captured a number of foreign markets, it is reasonable to infer that it must have begun its career during our period.

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Ibn Batuta compliments the Marathas of the region round Daulatabad and Nandurbar on their skill in arts; but what particular arts he was referring to is difficult to ascertain, as he does not mention them. Marco Polo refers to the mat industry flourishing in southern Gujarat and northern Maharashtra in the 13th century when beautiful mats in red and blue leather, exquisitely inlaid with figures of birds and beasts and skilfully embroidered with gold and silver, used to be exported in large quantities from these provinces.(23) It is not improbable that this industry too, which was prospering in the 13th century, may go back to our period.

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Mysore was very rich in elephants and we may therefore well presume that it may have been a centre of ivory industry.

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Contemporary records do not give any detailed account of the commerce of the period, but the accounts given by the Periplus, Alberuni, Al Idrisi, Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta can give us some idea in this respect. Bharoch, which was an all-India port since very early times, continued to be so in our period. From Al-Idrisi, who is slightly later than our period, we learn that it was a port for vessels coming from China as well as for those coming from Sindh and the Persian Gulf. (24) Its inhabitants were rich and principally engaged in trade; they used to engage freely upon speculations and distinct expeditions. Merchandise from every country was found there, and was sent on from there to other countries. The Gujarat Rāṣṭrakūṭas must have derived considerable revenues from the import duties at this port. The prosperity of Bharoch may have been, to some extent, affected in our period by the rise of the port of Cambay and its inclusion in the Gurjara Pratihāra empire. This must have diverted to the new port a portion of the northern trade which formerly flowed to Bharoch, as Cambay was nearer to the Gurjara-Pratihāra capital Kanauj.

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²⁰ II, p. 391.

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²¹ II, p. 395.

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²² II, p. 393.

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²³ II, pp. 393-4.

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Kalyan which was a natural port of export for the northern Deccan was the next port of importance. In the 6th century at the time of Cosmos Indicopleustes, it was one of the five important ports trading in cloth, brass, and blackwood logs; the same was very probably the case in our period too. Naosari, Sopara, Thana, Saimur, Dabhol, Jayagad, Devagad and Malvan were other ports of minor importance, engaged chiefly in coastal trade. The revenues from all these ports must have been fairly extensive. From the Kharepatan plates of Anantadeva it wood seem that the import duties on the coastal trade were less than those on the foreign trade. (25)

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The above description of the natural resources and industries of our period can enable us to complete the list of the articles of export. Cotton yarn and cloth, both rough and fine, muslins, hides, mats, indigo, incense, perfumes, betel nuts, coconuts, sandal and teak wood, sesame oil, and ivory must have been the principal articles available for export; most of these have also been actually enumerated among the articles of export by the Periplus, Al Idrisi, Marco Polo, and Ibn Batuta. Bharoch used to export a number of products from northern India as well in the time of the Periplus, and the same probably continued to be the case, at least to some extent, in our period too. Diamonds were available for export, but it is not known whether the Rāṣṭrakūṭas had put any embargo on the trade in that commodity. From some of the later writers like Tavernier, (26) we learn that some of the kings of later days would not permit the export of the bigger diamonds; it is not impossible that the same restriction may have been imposed by the governments of our period.

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²⁴ Elliot, I. p. 87.

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²⁵ E. I., III, p. 286.

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Among the articles of imports at the port of Bharoch, the Periplus mentions inferior pearls from the Persian Gulf, dates, gold, slaves, Italian wine, but in small quantity, copper, tin, lead, topaz, storax, sweet clover, flint glass, antimony, gold and silver coins, and singing boys and girls for kings. (27) With some exceptions these must have continued to be imported even in our period, as they were not procurable in India and were required by her people. From Marco Polo we learn that Thana used to import gold, silver, and copper in the 13th century. (28) Import trade in horses was extensive. Marco Polo says that every vessel visiting the Deccan and Gujarat ports invariably carried horses in addition to other cargo. This trade must have been even brisker in our period; for, the needs of the mounting department of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their feudatories must have been very great.

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The principal means of transport in our period was the bullock cart. Al Idrisi says that there was no other means of travelling in Gujarat, except chariots drawn by oxen under the control of a driver. (29) The same was probably the case in our period. Horses were fairly dear and were therefore not available for transport purposes. The bullock carts were, however, fairly comfortable; Tavernier, writing in the 17th century, says that they were more commodious than anything that has been invented for ease in France and Italy. (30) This compliment is of course paid to the conveyance of the 17th century, but when we remember how conservative the Hindu artisan is, it would appear very probable that the bullock carts of our period too were equally good.

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²⁶ II, chap. 9, 21.

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²⁷ Pp. 40, 42.

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²⁸ II, p. 395.

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We have no contemporary records which throw light upon the condition of the roads. The author of the Periplus complains (31) that goods from Paithan, Tagara and other places in the Deccan had to be brought to Bharoch in waggons through great tracts without roads, and the picture drawn by Tavernier about the state of affairs in the 17th century is no more flattering. (32) About the Deccan he says that wheeled carriages do not travel there, the roads being too much interrupted by high mountains, tanks, and rivers. These reasons assigned by Tavernier would show that the roads were bad mainly in the ghats and hilly areas. The military necessities of the empire must have compelled the Rāṣṭrakūṭas to keep the roads in a fairly good condition. It is not very likely that in our period, even the roads over the ghats and hills were as bad as they were in the times of the Greek and French traveller.

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Besides the bullock cart, the oxen and pack horses of an inferior breed must have been used for transport, especially in the hilly tract, or when it was desired to have a speedy transport. In the Muslim period several subcastes used to follow the caravan's profession, transporting merchandise from one place to another. Individuals used to own as many as 100 bullocks; they used to move along with their wives, children, and priests, and had no houses of their own.³³ A similar mode of transport was probably in vogue in the Deccan of our period where roads were too hilly to admit of cart transport.

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²⁹ Elliot, I. p. 87 30. p. 30.

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³¹ P. 43.

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³² I. Chap. 11.

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³³ I., pp. 31-33

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Problems connected with land revenue and the incidence of taxation have been discussed already in chapter XI; some other agrarian topics will be considered here. The prevailing tenure of the Deccan of our period was Rayatwari, but a zemindar class, the members of which were assigned royal revenues, did exist to a limited extent. The mention of *grāmapati* along with *grāmakūṭa* in some of our records shows that the former was a village holder. Some of the officials were assigned revenues of villages and towns, as shown already, and these probably are referred to as *grāmapatis*. There is no evidence, however, to show that whole districts or Talukas were being assigned to revenue farmers.

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A record belonging to the middle of the 10th century hailing from Tirukkalavur states that the village assembly had taken on trust for cultivation a piece of land, the proceeds of which were to be utilised, apparently, for some charity.³⁵ The members of the assembly had agreed to have the land cultivated (on the terms) *two to one*. The expression in the Italics obviously refers to the lease condition determining the shares of the owner and the tiller, but unfortunately there is nothing in the record to indicate whether it was the owner or the cultivator who was entitled to two shares. Nor do we know whether the produce was to be divided in the gross or after the government dues had been paid. In the Deccan at present sometimes the owner receives three shares and the tiller two, sometimes the owner two and the tiller one and sometimes the division is equal. It is, therefore, difficult to state whether the assembly in the above case received two shares or only one. The former alternative seems probable.

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³⁴ Ante, p. 189.

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³⁵ S. I. I., III, No. 10.

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Let us now consider the question whether the land was freely transferrable or not. There is sufficient evidence to show that the transfer of land was not an affair in which only the seller and the purchaser were concerned. A record from Saundatti, (36) which is unfortunately fragmentary, records a gift of land to a Jain temple, which was made with the consent of fifty agriculturists. It seems very probable that these agriculturists were the Mahajanas of the locality; if so, it is clear that the sales of the land required the consent of the village community. An inscription from Belgaum district records that when the Raṭṭa ruler Kārtavīrya gave 800 kammas of land to a temple at Nesarge, the six headmen of the place received a gift of money 'like that which was customary to give at the time of buying.' (37) It would therefore seem that even when the rulers of the land were alienating landed property, they had to pay a certain duty to the village headman. This customary gift to the village headmen seems to have been due to the necessity of getting the consent of the village community, whose spokesmen they were. This record belongs to the 13th century and since it does not refer to the consent of the Mahajanas for the transaction, like the 10th century record from the same locality referred to above, it would appear that the consent of the village community was gradually becoming a more or less formal affair. Here again we find epigraphical evidence supporting the Smriti literature. In his lengthy introduction to the Dāyabhāga section, Vijñānes'vara quotes an anonymous text, declaring that transfer of land can become effective only with the consent of the village community, castemen, neighbours and kinsmen. He, however, maintains that the consent of the village community was merely intended for the publication of the transaction; it does not mean that the transaction becomes ultra-vires if no such consent was obtained previously. The consent of the neighbours also was merely to avoid any quarrel about the boundaries.(38) It would therefore appear, both from the epigraphical and Smriti evidence, that the consent of the village community was becoming a more or less formal affair at the end of our period.

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³⁶ J. B. B. R. A. S., X., p. 208.

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³⁷ Ibid, p. 257.

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There is evidence to show that if a village or land was owned by several cosharers, no new owner could be introduced except with the consent of the whole body. The Sivapur inscription of Mahās'ivagupta, belonging to c. 800 A.D., assigns ¼ share of 5 villages to 15 Brahmanas. The grant was hereditary, but on the condition that the grantees and their descendants continued to be men of learning and high moral character. The record expressly adds that if a sharer died heirless, or was ignorant, or immoral, his share was to be assigned to some other relative by the remaining coshares, and not by the king.(39)

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The village artisans like the carpenter, the smith, the potter, etc., were maintained by the community by the assignment of a certain grain-share from each farmer, in return for which the artisans were to supply his needs during the year. This system has been very ancient in the Deccan and continues to the present day.(40)

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Let us now proceed to consider the means of exchange. A number of Chola records, to which attention will be drawn later, show that during our period barter was extensively practised in Tamil country. It has been shown in Chapter XI how the Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their feudatories used to receive

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38. यदपि 'स्वग्रामज्ञातिसामन्तदायादानुमतेन च । हिरण्योदकदानेन षड्भिर्गच्छति मेदिनी ॥' इति तत्रापि ग्रामानुमतिः......व्यवहारप्रकाशनार्थमेवापेक्ष्यते न पुनर्मात्र मत्या विना व्यवहारसिद्धिः ॥
39. E. I., XI, p. 192.
40. For a detailed history of this system in the Deccan, see Altekar, A History of the Village Communities in Western India, pp. 92-97.

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their revenues sometimes wholly and sometimes partly in kind. The government transaction under these circumstances must have been at least partly by barter. We shall not therefore be far wrong in assuming that in our province, as in Tamil country, the barter system was fairly in vogue.

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A number of coins of gold and silver are mentioned in our records, but it is strange that so far not a single coin, belonging indisputably to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasty should have been discovered. Silver coins of Kṛṣṇarāja bearing the legend *Paramamahes'vara-mahādityapāda (or mātāpitṛpāda)-nudhyāta-S'rīKṛṣṇarājaḥ*, which have been discovered in large quantities in the district of Nasik and in Marathi C. P. were first attributed with some hesitation to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Kṛṣṇa I, but that view does not seem to be correct. As Rapson has pointed out, these coins imitate too closely the latest Gupta coins of the locality to permit the assumption that they belong to Kṛṣṇa I.⁴¹ They are besides undated; Rāṣṭrakūṭa silver coins bore the dates of issue.⁴² Our notions of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa coinage have therefore to be based, not on first hand evidence but on a number of *a priori* considerations.

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⁴¹ Rapson, *Indian Coins*, p. 27. For further discussion on these coins, see I. A., XIV, p. 68.

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⁴² *Sulaiman Saudagar*, p. 50.

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Dramma, Suvarṇa, Gadyāṇaka, Kaḷanju and Kāsu are the principal coins mentioned in our period. Dramma is the Sanskritised form of the Greek term *drachme*. The silver coins of the Indo-Baktrian kings, weighing about 65 grains, were known by that name and we may presume that the weight of the *drammas* mentioned in our records was more or less the same. One of the Kanheri inscriptions belonging to the time of Amoghavarsha I mentions golden *drammas* and distinguishes them from ordinary *drammas* mentioned a little earlier.⁴³ It would thus appear that the name *dramma* was given to both silver and golden coins in the northern provinces of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa empire. Our four anna silver piece weighs about 48 grains; silver dramma was thus about one-third bigger than this coin.

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⁴³ I. A., XIII, p. 133.

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Cambay plates of Govinda IV mention a gift of 1400⁴⁴ villages yielding an annual revenue of seven lakhs of Suvarṇas. The value and weight of this Suvarṇa coin is difficult to determine. According to several well known authorities like Kauṭalya, Manu, etc., the term Suvarṇa denotes a golden coin weighing 80 raktikās or about 146 grains. Suvarṇa coins of this description of early dates have not been discovered, but it is well-known that the Imperial Guptas tried to restore this national unit towards the middle of the 5th century A.D. The Suvarṇa coins mentioned in the Cambay plates, however, did not very probably weigh so much as 146 grains. Most of the golden coins of southern dynasties of our period vary in weight from 45 to 55 grains; no golden coins weighing about 146 grains have so far been discovered belonging to the Deccan of our period. It is not improbable that the term Suvarṇa has been used in the Cambay plates to denote, not the technical Suvarṇa coin weighing about 146 grains, but the current golden coin weighing like the dramma about 65 grains.

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⁴⁴ E. I., VII, p. 26.

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The epigraphical records from Karnatak and Tamil provinces usually mention Kaḷanju, Gadyāṇaka and Kāsu as the current coins of the land. These were all golden coins. Kaḷanju is really the name of a prickly climbing species of Cœsalpina, the weight of whose seed varies between 45 to 50 grains. The average weight of the early punch-marked golden coins of the south also varies between 45 and 50 grains. The normal weight of a Kaḷanju coin of our period may therefore be presumed to be more or less the same. It was.

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therefore about a quarter of a tola in weight.⁴⁵ It must be, however, remembered that there were some local variations in its weight; thus an inscription⁴⁶ refers to a gift of 25 Kaḷanjus for a perpetual lamp weighed by the balance used in the case of charitable edicts. A record of the time of Parāntaka I mentions Kaḷanjus weighed by a stone called after Vedelvidugu, which was the surname of the Pallava king Tellarareinda Nandipottaraiyar.⁴⁷ Since the actual weight of the Kaḷanju seed varied by a few grains, it would seem that the standard was specifically determined by the state from time to time. The variation could not have been of more than a few grains.

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⁴⁵ Elliot, Coins of Southern India, pp. 46 ff.

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⁴⁶ S. I. I., III, No. 191.

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⁴⁷ S. I. I., III, p. 228.

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The coin Gadyāṇaka was equal to two Kaḷanjus and thus weighed about 90 grains. It was a gold coin equal to the modern eight anna piece. 7 Kaḷanjus were equal to 20 Kāsus; a Kāsu thus weighed about 15 grains of gold.

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Other coins occasionally mentioned are Manjāḍi and Akkam. Manjāḍi was one-twentieth of a Kaḷanju and thus weighed only about 2½ grains. Akkam was one-twelfth of a Kāsu and was thus about half the size of the Manjāḍi.

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The coinage, above referred to, was almost all in gold, dramma being the only exception. Silver coins from the southern India, belonging to the first millennium of the Christian Era, are very rare. We shall therefore experience some difficulty in converting the prices in gold of our age into corresponding prices in rupees of the present day, as we do not know the precise ratio of prices of these two metals during our period. Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar has pointed out⁴⁸ how the Nasik cave inscription No, 12 shows that the ratio between the prices of these two metals was 1 : 14. The record expressly equates 35 Kārshāpaṇas to 1 Suvarṇa, and since the ratio of copper to gold was never so high as 1 : 35, we have to conclude that the Kārshāpaṇas of the record were silver and not copper coins each one weighing 32 ratis, i. e. two-fifths of a golden Suvarṇa: the ratio between the prices of the two metals thus becomes 35 × 32 : 1 × 80 i. e. 14 : 1. S'ukranīti, which was probably composed not much later than our period, gives the ratio as 1 : 16. (49) Tavernier, writing in the middle of the 17th century, says that the golden rupee was equal to 14 silver ones. (50) It would thus seem that the relative prices of these two metals were fairly constant from the 1st to the 17th century, and we may, therefore, presume that in our period they were somewhere in the vicinity of 1 : 15. The ratio before the recent rise in the price of gold was about 1 : 30.

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⁴⁸ Carmichael Lectures, 1921, p. 191.

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The following table of the values of the various coins may be useful to the reader for ready reference.

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| Name. | Metal. | Approximate weight | Approximate present value. |
| (1) Dramma. | silver. | 65 grains or 1/3 tola | about 6 as. |
| (2) Dramma. | gold. | " | about Rs. 7. |
| (3) Kalanju. | " | 48 grains or 1/4 tola. | about Rs. 5. |
| (4) Gadyāṇaka. | " | 96 grains or 1/2 tola. | about Rs. 10. |
| (5) Kāsu. | " | 15 grains. | about Re. 1 10 as. |
| (6) Manjādi. | " | 2 1/2 grains. | about 4 as. |
| (7) Akkam. | " | 1 1/4 grains. | about 2 as. |

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Commerce and industry, that were described a little while ago, presuppose not only currency, but also banking facilities. These latter were provided in our period by guild organisations. These organisations have been, since early times, a conspicuous feature of the Hindu trade and industry. As early as the Andhra period, the whole of the Deccan was spread with a network of guilds, (51) which used to regulate trade and industry, train apprentices, and do the banking business, not only for their members but also for the public.

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⁴⁹ IV, 2, 98.

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⁵⁰ P. 13.

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⁵¹ I. A., 1919 p., 82.

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The guilds continued to flourish in our period too. In c. 775 A.D. there was a guild of weavers at Laxmesvar, the headman of which had agreed to make a certain contribution for a certain religious object.⁵² An inscription from Mulgund, dated c. 880 A.D., records a gift by four heads of a guild belonging to 360 towns.⁵³ The precise import of this description of the guild is not easy to determine, but it looks very probable that the description is intended to indicate that its membership was spread over 360 towns and villages. The record immediately proceeds to record a gift, made by some local Brahmanas, with the consent of 2000 merchants. The context of these two passages in this inscription would suggest that these 2000 merchants were connected with the guild, or were perhaps its members. It is, therefore, not unlikely that the members of the guild were spread over 360 different localities.

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⁵² E. I., VI, p. 166.

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⁵³ J. B. B. R. A. S., X, p. 192.

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The absence of more numerous references to guilds in records, strictly falling within our period, must be regarded as merely accidental, for we get several references to them in the epigraphs of the succeeding centuries. An inscription from Belgamve, dated 1083 A.D.,⁵⁵ refers to a guild which apparently ruled over or had its offices in 18 cities; another from Managoli, dated 1161 A.D.,⁵⁶ refers to several grants made by the guilds of oilmen, weavers, artisans, basket-makers, mat-makers and fruit-sellers. Recently two inscriptions have been published, one from Kolhapur, dated S'aka 1058, and the other from Miraj, dated S'aka 1066 A.D.,⁵⁷ which give interesting information about a guild of the Vira-Balanjus, the membership of which had extended over four districts. A record from Saundatti, dated 1205 A.D.,⁵⁸ refers to an assemblage of all the people of the district, headed by all the guilds of the place. The names of the guilds are not given in this record, but they were in all probability similar to those at Managoli. It is, therefore, quite likely that the guild organisation in our period was not quite so negligible as the references occurring in the inscriptions, strictly belonging to our age, may perhaps lead us to conclude.

c22.80

⁵⁴ Ibid.

c22.81

⁵⁵ I. A., V, p. 344.

c22.82

⁵⁶ E. I., V, p. 22.

c22.83

⁵⁷ E. I., XIX, p. 33.

c22.84

⁵⁸ J. B. B. R. A. S., X, p. 238.

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Some of our records give us a glimpse into the working of these guilds. The weavers' guild at Laxmesvar had only one head, the Mulgund guild, with a probable membership of 2000, had four heads, while the one at Belgamve, which is described as ruling over 18 cities, had an executive of 9. The Vīra Balanju guild mentioned in the Miraj inscription had an executive of 15, belonging to the different localities of the districts, over which its membership had spread. It would thus seem that every guild had an executive, the strength of which varied with its membership and activities. It is interesting to note that these executive committees of the guilds, which we discover in inscriptions, should be also found in literary works like the Yājñavalkyasmṛti, ⁵⁹ and Nitivākyāmṛta. ⁶⁰ Meetings of the general body were convened when general policy had to be discussed or grants from guild properties or requiring recurring contributions from individual members were contemplated. ⁶¹

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⁵⁹ II, p. 189.

c22.87

⁶⁰ XXIX, p. 9.

c22.88

⁶¹ I. A., X, p. 185.

c22.89

A number of records above mentioned, *e. g.* those from Managoli, Miraj, etc., record contributions from members of guilds towards religious objects on a certain scale; it would thus appear that the guild acted as a corporate unit and that the resolutions, probably passed by a majority, were binding on all the members. The guild at Belgamve had its 500 edicts; this fact may show that they could frame bye-laws binding upon its members. Here again we find epigraphy corroborating the Smriti literature, for Manu ⁶² and Yājñavalkya ⁶³ lay down that the rules and regulations of the guilds were to be respected by the king, if they were not against public interest.

c22.90

⁶² VIII, 41.

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⁶³ II, 187-8.

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While describing the guild members who had come to witness the wrestling between Kansa and Kṛṣṇa, *Harivans'a*⁶⁴ refers to their banners bearing upon them the representations of the implements of their different industries. That the association of particular banners with particular devices mentioned in the *Harivans'a* is not fictitious is proved by the Belgamve and Kolhapur inscriptions referred to above, which refer to the banner of the Vīra-Balanjus, and describe it as bearing the device of a hill. These banners were probably carried at the head of the caravans or militias of the guilds, as was later the custom of the European companies in India.⁶⁵

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⁶⁴ Chap. 86, 5.

c22.94

⁶⁵ Tavernier, p. 36.

c22.95

An inscription from Dambal states that a guild of the locality had its own umbrellas and *chauris*.⁶⁶ The umbrellas and *chauris*, which this guild was using in 1095 A.D., were obtained by a royal charter from Jagadekamalla (c. 1018-1040 A.D.) It would thus appear that some of the bigger guilds used to receive royal charters determining their powers and privileges. The above record further describes the Dambal guild as the lord of Aihole, the best of towns. This may perhaps show that some of the big guilds were often entrusted by the state with the government of towns and cities. The reason for such a step may have been the loans advanced to the state by the guild banks; as a security for these loans towns like Aihole may have been handed over to the creditor guild by the debtor state. Maintenance of troops was a natural corollary of the overlordship of towns and cities; members of guilds must have either formed or officered their own militias, otherwise it would be difficult to justify their description in the Dambal and Kolhapur records as 'persons whose breasts were embraced by the goddess of perfect impetuosity and bravery'. It may be pointed out that the Mandsor inscription, belonging to the middle of the 5th century A.D., also describes some of its members as experts in archery, and bold in forcibly uprooting the enemy in battle. (67) Another reason why guilds had to maintain their own militias was to safeguard their goods, while being transported from one place to another. From Tavernier we learn that in the Muslim period each cart in the caravan had to be protected by four soldiers, each of whom had to be paid Rs. 4 a month. (68) Similar precautions may have been necessary in our period as well, and the maintenance of a militia would have reduced the expense of keeping the mercenary force, besides adding to the dignity and prestige of the corporation. In this connection we should not forget that even village communities in our period used to maintain their own militias. (69)

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⁶⁶ I. A., X, p. 188.

c22.97

The guild banks were among the most stable banks of our period, inspiring the highest amount of public confidence. The village communities also had their own banks as shown already, (70) and these must have been equally stable institutions. Private individuals also must be then, as now, carrying on banking business.

c22.98

Let us now proceed to ascertain the rate of interest. There is sufficient epigraphical evidence to help us in this matter. A Kanheri inscription of the time of Amoghavarsha I (71) mentions a certain investment in a local bank, which had agreed to pay an interest in perpetuity upon it. This record states that the rate of interest was to be determined by experts from time to time. This provision was a reasonable one; the guild had to pay the interest in perpetuity, and no definite rate could be guaranteed for all time to come. The rate must vary with the conditions of the money market. It is, however, worth noting that a similar saving clause does not occur in the numerous other inscriptions of our period, which state the agreed rate of interest on deposits given in perpetuity. It is, however, not unlikely that in practice the banks of the guilds and the village communities, which had bound themselves to supply interest at a certain rate, may have been allowed some latitude, if the condition of the money market was severely adverse to them.

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⁶⁷ C. I. I., III, No. 18. 68. p. 334.

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⁶⁹ Ante, pp. 190-91.

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⁷⁰ Ante, pp. 208-9.

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⁷¹ I. A., XIII, p. 133.

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Another Kanheri inscription of the same period ⁷² supplies some data to determine the rate of interest of the locality. We find that the premier of the local S'ilāhāra dynasty had to invest 160 Drammas in order to provide annually 20 Drammas for the Buddha worship, 3 Drammas for the building's repairs, 5 Drammas for the robes of the monks and 1 Dramma for the purchase of the books; 160 Drammas could thus fetch, by way of interest, 29 Drammas annually. The rate of interest, which prevailed at Kanheri towards the end of the 9th century is thus found to be about 17 percent per annum.

c22.104

⁷² Ibid, p. 136.

c22.105

We get copious data to determine the current rate of interest during the latter half of the 10th century A.D. An inscription from Tiruvurrur in Chingleput district, dated in the 22nd year of Kṛṣṇa III, ⁷³ mentions an investment on which the village assembly of Kuattur had agreed to pay in perpetuity an interest of 15%. This rate of interest seems to have been not far removed from the normal rate on perpetual deposits; a number of inscriptions from Tanjore belonging to the first half of the 11th century disclose 12½% as the current rate on such deposits. ⁷⁴ Sometimes the interest on capital in cash i. e., Kaḷanjus, is stated in kind i. e., in Kalams of paddy. But here again, if we convert the Kalams into their cash equivalent, the rate of interest is found to be varying between 10 to 15%. Thus an inscription of the time of Kṛṣṇa III ⁷⁵ records a gift of 20 Kaḷanjus by a queen of Vaidumba Mahārāja, a feudatory of that emperor. The interest on these 20 Kaḷanjus is stated to be 20 Kalams of paddy. Another inscription from south Arcot district, belonging to the reign of the same emperor, shows that the rate of interest in that locality also was 1 Kalam per Kaḷanju. ⁷⁶ This Kalam is, however, by the Perilmai measure which was 25% bigger than the normal Kalam, as will be soon shown. The rate of interest will thus work out to be 1¼ Kalam per Kaḷanju, if we take the Kalam to consist of 12 Marakkals of 8 and not of 10 Nāris. The price of paddy at this period varied between 8 to 12 Kalams per Kaḷanju, as will be soon shown; an interest of 1 Kalam per Kaḷanju would thus be somewhere between 8 to 12½%, and an interest of 1¼ Kalam would be between 10 to 15%.

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⁷³ Inscriptions from Madras Presidency, Chingleput, No. 1048.

c22.107

⁷⁴ S. I. I., II, pp. 95, 97, 98, 99, 101-3.

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⁷⁵ Inscriptions from Madras Presidency, N. Arcott., No. 636.

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⁷⁶ E. I., VII, pp. 188 ff.

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In some localities, however, much higher rates prevailed. A Bāṇa inscription, dated 915 A.D., ⁷⁷ states that the interest on 20 Kaḷanjus was to be 5 Kaḷanjus. The rate of interest in this case is, therefore, 25%. A still higher rate of interest is seen to prevail in a record, ⁷⁸ belonging to the time of Parāntaka I, i. e., the first half of the 10th century. A local temple at Annamalai, which had to pay to the assembly a tax of 18 ilakkāsu on the lands belonging to it, is seen arranging for the annual payment of 6 ilakkāsu by depositing a capital of 15 ilakkāsu with the members of the village assembly. The rate of interest here works out to be as high as 40%. This rate is much above the normal one; it may be due to the village assembly being in urgent need of funds for meeting some pressing need of the hour; it is also possible that the assembly may have decided to show a special favour to the deity of the village by giving an indirect concession in the land tax by allowing an abnormal rate of interest on the capital deposited by the temple authorities for that purpose.

c22.111

⁷⁷ E. I., XI, p. 224.

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⁷⁸ S. I. I., III, p. 241.

c22.113

Interest at high rate like 30 or 40% is only exceptional; in the vast majority of the records of our period, the rate of interest, when the capital was in cash, is found to be varying between 12 to 15%. It is interesting to note that the rate permitted by Manu, (79) Yājñavalkya, (80) and Kauṭalya (81) on the capital in cash is also 15%.

c22.114

If the capital advanced was in kind we find that the rate of interest was much higher. Ukkal inscription No. 5, belonging to the time of Kampanavarman, (82) records an agreement of the villagers to pay an interest of 100 kāḍis on a capital of 400 kāḍis of rice, while another from the same locality mentions an interest of 500 kāḍis on a capital of 1000. The rate of interest in these cases works out to be 25% and 50% respectively. Here again epigraphy is seen confirming the testimony of the Smritis. Kauṭalya (83) permits an interest of 50% in the case of the capital in grain, and Manu, (84) Yājñavalkya, (85) and Vasiṣṭha, (86) who do not permit the capital in cash to be exceeded by the interest, declare that in the case of the capital in corn the interest may amount to two times the capital, showing thereby that the normal rate of interest permitted on the corn was about twice as high as that allowed on the capital in cash.

c22.115

It must be remembered that the normal rate of interest of 12 to 15% on the cash capital was the one which the banks of the guilds and the village communities, whose security was unquestionable, were allowing on permanent deposits which were never to be withdrawn. Ordinary debtors could have obtained loans from these banks obviously at a much.

c22.116

⁷⁹ VIII, 41.

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⁸⁰ II, 37.

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⁸¹ III, 15.

c22.119

⁸² S. I. I., III, p. 13.

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⁸³ III, 11, 84. II, 39.

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⁸⁵ VIII, 151.

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⁸⁶ II, 48.

c22.123

higher rate of interest. It is, therefore, very probable that these banks may have charged an interest of about 20% to the debtors, who could offer good security for the loan, and that private money lenders may have charged about 25%. This inference is supported by the statement of Manu that a person charging interest at 24% is not guilty of sin.⁸⁷ If the security were of doubtful value, the rate of interest must have been still higher, say 30 to 35%. The statements in Manu and Yājñavalkya⁸⁸ that Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras should be charged interest at 24%, 36%, 48%, and 60%, respectively would seem to show that the poorer classes like the tillers of the soil, who could not probably have given quite a good security, were charged interest varying between 30% to 50%. This conclusion is fully supported by the above epigraphical evidence, which shows that the depositers could get from the banks of the best security an interest of about 15%. One can now well understand why the Smritis hold the usurer in low estimation and declare him to be a person unfit for being invited for a Śrāddha. The rates of interest figuring in the examples given in the Līlāvatī by Bhāskarāchārya vary from 36 to 50%.⁸⁹

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⁸⁷ VIII, 141.

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⁸⁸ II, 37.

c22.126

⁸⁹ Vv. 92 and 94.

c22.127

Inscriptions of Kṛṣṇa III and his Chola contemporaries supply interesting data to determine the prices and the standard of living towards the close of the 10th century. The prices given are usually the barter prices in paddy, but they can be converted into their cash equivalents. A knowledge of the various measures mentioned therein is necessary to work out these prices and the following table, the first two columns of which are borrowed from a table prepared by Hultzsch,⁹⁰ will supply the necessary information.

c22.128

⁹⁰ S. I. I., II, p. 48 n. 5 and p. 77 n. 1.

c22.129

| Old names | Old names | Equivalents in lbs. or tolas | Probable equivalents in our time |
| 5 Śevudu | 1 Ārakku | 3¾ tolas | These measures in our time were either of the same capacity or perhaps 16% bigger in each case in the district of Tanjore. |
| 2 Ārakku | 1 Urakku | 7½ tolas | |
| 2 Urakku | 1 Uṛi | 15 tolas | |
| 2 Uṛi | 1 Nāri or Padi | ¾ lb. | |
| 8 Nāri | 1 Kuruṇi or Marakkal | 6 lbs. | |
| 2 Kuruṇi | 1 Padakku | 12 lbs. | |
| 2 Padakku | 1 Tūṇi | 24 lbs. | |
| 3 Tūṇi | 1 Kalam | 72 lbs. | |

c22.130

The above table gives the contents of the Marakkal, as determined by the Āḍavallāṉ or RāJakesari measure, which was current in the district of Tanjore in c. 1000 A.D. The value of a Marakkal differed in the past as it differs now in different districts. In the South Arcot district in the time of Kṛṣṇa III, the Marakkal prevailing was the one determined by the Perilmai measure which was 25% larger than the ordinary Marakkal, since it was equivalent to 10 and not 8 Nāris.(91) It may be pointed out that even today, the Marakkal of the South Arcot district is larger than that of Tanjore, but the excess today is 50% and not 25%. The Mādevi measure of Marakkal, that is mentioned in another record of Kṛṣṇa III(92) hailing from the same district seems to be identical with the Perilmai measure. At Annamalai the Marakkal was determined by the Annamaa measure,(93) at Takkolam it was fixed by the Kavaramoli measure.(94) Since these places are near the district of Arcot, it is permissible to infer that these last two measures like the Perilmai one were larger than the Āḍavallāṉ one. It may be pointed out that even today there is a great diversity of measures prevailing in Tamil country; the Kalam of Trichy, South Arcot, and Tanjore is equal to 48, 36, and 24 Madras measures respectively. While trying to find out the prices, we shall have to take great precautions in determining the precise contents of the Marakkal in use.

c22.131

⁹¹ E. I., VIII, p. 188.

c22.132

⁹² E. I., VII, p. 36.

c22.133

⁹³ S. I. I., III, p. 241.

c22.134

The Kalam that is prevalent today in the district of Tanjore is equal to 24 Madras measures, the contents of each of which when filled with rice are about 3 lbs. in weight. The present day Kalam of Tanjore is thus equal to about 72 lbs.; the results in the column 3 of the above table can be easily deduced from this datum by making the necessary calculations.

c22.135

It is, however, by no means certain that the Kalam by the Āḍavallāṉ measure, which was in use in Tanjore in our period, was exactly equal to the modern Kalam there in vogue. It may have been bigger or smaller or equal. In South Arcot district, we have seen above that the Kalam today is 50% and not 25% bigger than the Tanjore Kalam; so these measures have been by no means unchanged in the last 1000 years. Our records, however, supply us evidence to conclude that the modern Kalam at Tanjore is approximately equal to the one in vogue towards the end of the 10th century. A number of inscriptions state that one uri of ghee was required to burn one lamp, day and night. The uri in the above table is equal to 15 tolas, and it will be found that if a ghee lamp of one flame of moderate dimensions fed by two wicks is kept burning day and night, it will require 15 to 17 tolas of ghee. 15 tolas are just sufficient for the purpose, but it is possible that the endowments may have provided for some margin, or that the wicks may have been bigger than those used now-a-days, requiring a somewhat greater supply of ghee. If we assume that the latter was the case, then the uri referred to in our records would be 17 to 18 tolas, or say 17½ tolas, i. e., ⅙ bigger than the present one. Under that assumption the Kalam would be also about 16% bigger than the present Tanjore Kalam, *i. e.*, about 84 lbs.; otherwise it would be approximately equal to the modern one, *i. e.*, 72 lbs..

c22.136

Having determined the modern equivalents of the various measures that we shall have to deal with while determining the prices, we can now undertake that task with fair confidence. It must be remembered at the outset that even in modern times the prices are not fixed but fluctuate with scarcity, wars, famines and bumper crops. We must be, therefore, prepared to find a certain fluctuation in prices, as they may be disclosed by our inscriptions.

c22.137

Let us first find out the price of paddy which was the staple corn in the south. Two inscriptions⁹⁵ on the central shrine of the Rājarājeśvara temple at Tanjore, one on the southern and the other on the northern wall, enumerate a number of villages, that were assigned by king Rājarāja before the 29th year of his regin, *i. e.*, before 1014 A.D. In the case of each village the precise acreage under cultivation and the land tax due therefrom have been stated with meticulous accuracy. The taxation of about 29 villages is given in paddy and is found to be 100 Kalams of paddy by the Āḍavallāṇ measure per veli. In the case of 5 villages, however, the amount of tax is given in cash, and is seen to be 10 Kaḷanjus per veli. Since the villages belonged to the same division, it is fair to conclude that 10 Kaḷanjus of gold were equal to 100 Kalams of paddy by the Āḍavallāṇ measure. The price of paddy would thus be 10 Kalams per Kaḷanju towards the end of the 10th century A.D.

c22.138

⁹⁵ S. I. I., II, Nos: 4 & 5.

c22.139

Two inscriptions from North Arcot district, belonging to the reign of Kṛṣṇa III,⁹⁶ inform us that the interest on a Kaḷanju of gold was a Kalam of paddy. In this district, the Marakkal was measured by the Madevi's measure, which was 25% bigger than the Āḍavallāṉ measure. The interest of 20 Kalams would thus be equal to 25 Kalams by the Tanjore measure. The rate of interest allowed on permanent deposits by the banks in this part of the country at this time was about 15%.(97) The interest on 20 Kaḷanjus would thus be 3 Kaḷanjus which would be the price of 25 Kalams by the Āḍavallāṉ measure. A Kaḷanju could thus procure 8⅓ Kalams of paddy in c. 960 A.D. in the Tamil districts annexed to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa empire. This price is about 20% dearer than the price prevailing under Rājarāja, which, as we have seen above, was 10 Kalams per Kaḷanju. It is very likely that the prolonged and bloody wars that were waged in this province between the Cholas and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas by this time, may have made articles dearer; we may, therefore, assume that the normal prices towards the middle of the 10th century A.D. in the districts annexed to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa empire were 10 Kalams a Kaḷanju.(98) A gold Kaḷanju was about a quarter of a tola in weight and thus was equal to about Rs. 5 of today. Since the ratio of paddy to rice is 5: 2, 10 Kalams of paddy would be equal to 4 Kalams of rice. Four Kalams by the Āḍavallāṉ measure would be equal to either 144 or 168 seers according to the table given on p. 376. Rs. 5 could thus procure about 150 seers of rice. Rice was thus sold at about 30 seers a rupee. Before the recent fall in prices ordinary rice was sold at about four to five seers a rupee; so the prices have gone up by about 700%.

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