The Rashtrakutas and their Times c22.3

c22.3

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.