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The Vakataka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c17: Chapter XVIII. Social and Economic Conditions

The Vākāṭaka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c17

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Contents

Chapter XVIII. Social and Economic Conditions

I. Social Condition

1. Caste System—Inter-Marriages

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The caste system in one form or another has characterised Hindu society in most of the epochs of its history; it, therefore, naturally existed in the society of our age as well. It had not yet assumed, however, that rigidity, which we associate with it at present, in respect either of inter-marriage, or of inter-dining or of the professions. Marriages were usually endogamous but inter-caste marriages of bridegrooms of higher caste with brides of lower ones, which were technically known as *Anuloma* marriages, often took place. The Smṛitis of our age, while recognising the validity of such marriages, were not prepared to recommend them. But a record of our age, which refers to the marriage of a Brāhmaṇa bridegroom with a Kshatriya bride, describes it as perfectly in consonance with the rules of Śrutis and Smṛitis.¹ We need not then wonder how the Vākāṭaka king Rudra-sena, a scion of an orthodox Brāhmaṇa family, should have married Prabhāvatī-guptā who belonged to the Vaiśya Gupta family. It is interesting to note that contemporary Smṛitis permit the wife of a lower caste to participate in religious rituals, if the husband had no wife of his own caste.²

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¹ सोमस्ततः सोम इवापरोऽभूत्स ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियवंशजासु । श्रुतिस्मृतिभ्यां विहितार्थकारी द्वयीसुभायांसु मनो दधार ॥ *ASWI.* IV, 139.

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² *Yāj.* I, 88.

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Pratiloma marriages of brides of higher class with bridegrooms of lower ones have been recognised as legal by Yājñavalkya,³ and they often took place in society. Thus Kadamba rulers, who were Brāhmaṇas, had married their daughters in the family of the Guptas, who were Vaiśyas.

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³ *Ibid.* I, 93.

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Inter-racial marriages were also taking place. The Ikshvāku kings, who were orthodox Brāhmaṇas, had no objection to accepting a bride from the Śaka royal family of Ujjayinī. The Sātavāhanas had done the same in an earlier period. Inter-marriage seems to have been one of the ways by which foreign tribes were absorbed in Hindu society.

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The marriage with a Śūdra girl has been vehemently condemned by the Smṛiti writers of our period. They, however, did take place in our society, for the same Smṛiti writers, who taboo this union, provide for a share for the sons of such wedlock. Yājñavalkya permits the son of a Śūdra woman to inherit the property of Brāhmaṇa father (II. 134) though Bṛihaspati, who wrote at the end of our period, refuses to recognise this right (Putravibhāga section, 44).

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As our period advanced, inter-caste marriages began to become more and more unpopular. But they continued in society for a few centuries more.

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When inter-marriages were allowed, inter-dining could naturally excite no opposition. Smṛitis of our period have an objection only to the practice of taking a meal with the Śūdras, but even among the latter an exception is made in favour of one's farmer, barber, milkman and family friend (Yāj. I. 166).

2. Caste System—Professions

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Professions also were not very rigidly determined by caste during our period. Contemporary Smṛitis afford ample evidence to show how some Brāhmaṇas were following non-Brahmanical professions, and their evidence is confirmed by the data of inscriptions, showing how some Brāhmaṇas were traders, others architects,¹ and still others government servants. Many like Vindhyaśakti and Mayūra-śarman, the founders of the Vākāṭaka and Kadamba dynasties respectively, used to exchange the sacrificial ladle for the sword. The case of Māṭṛi-viṣṇu, who was a Gupta feudatory in Central India, shows how ambitious Brāhmaṇa families gradually made their way to the throne. Indra-viṣṇu and Varuṇa-viṣṇu, the great-grandfather and grandfather respectively of the donor, are described as pious Brāhmaṇas, who spent their time in religious sacrifices. The father of the donor is, however, described as the cause of the greatness of the family; obviously it was he who gave up the priestly life and entered the army, where he eventually made a mark, that enabled him to found a principality. The grantor is described as one, who had humbled his enemies on the battlefields and thereby spread his fame to the four corners of the earth.¹ Had our records stated the castes of the military officers mentioned in them, it would probably have been found that some of the Vaiśya and Śūdras also, who had the necessary martial fervour and ambition, used to take to a military career. The Gupta emperors were Vaiśyas, and it is very likely that a large percentage of the infantry was recruited from the Śūdra caste.

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¹ CII. III, 119.

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¹ Ibid. p. 89.

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The Kshatriyas in their turn are often seen following commercial and industrial pursuits. The chief officers of the guild of oilmen at Indore in U. P. are expressly described as Kshatriyas in a fifth century record.² Very probably this was not an exceptional case of Kshatriyas preferring the cosy commercial career to the risky military one.

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² Ibid. p. 70.

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The Vaiśyas were never a homogeneous group even in earlier ages, and the same was the case in our period. The agriculturists, the merchants, the cattle-rearers, the smiths, the carpenters, the oil-mongers, the weavers, the garland-makers, etc., had developed into full fledged caste-groups. They were more conscious of their own sub-groups than of their being members of the theoretical Vaiśya caste. Inter-marriages between members of these sub-castes probably took place occasionally, though we have no definite evidence on the point.

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A number of mixed (saṅkara) castes, like Mūrdhāvasikta, Ambaṣṭha, Pāraśava, Ugra, Karaṇa, are mentioned in contemporary Smṛitis.¹ It is interesting to note that only Karaṇa among them is mentioned in the records of our period, and it is quite possible that the expression is used there to denote an office rather than a caste. It is clear that the Smṛiti view that the inter-caste marriages give rise to mixed castes of low status had not yet become popular in society. And no wonder, for inter-caste marriages were often taking place even in respectable Brāhmaṇa families, as shown above. A Vākāṭaka record shows that the sons of a Brāhmaṇa father and a Kshatriya mother were not known as Mūrdhāvasiktas, but as Kshatriyas,² as suggested at one place in the *Manu-smṛiti*.³ The Smṛiti nomenclature of the mixed castes was gradually becoming popular only towards the end of our period, when inter-caste marriages tended to become less and less popular.

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¹ Yāj. I, 91 ff.

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² ASWI. IV, 140.

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³ X, 5.

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Kāyasthas frequently figure in contemporary epigraphical records, usually as professional writers. It is however doubtful whether they had developed into a caste during our period. This may account for the non-reference to them as a caste in the contemporary Smṛitis.

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The pre-historic view that the Śūdras should be content merely to become the servants of the twice-born was not accepted in theory or followed in practice. Smṛitis of our period like that of Yājñavalkya permit them to become traders, artisans and agriculturists, and there is no doubt that they availed themselves of this concession. Many of them also enlisted in the army and rose to the position of captains and generals.

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Contemporary Smṛitis and the account of Fa-hien show that untouchability existed in society more or less in its present form. The untouchables lived outside the main settlements and used to strike a piece of wood as they entered them, so that men might note their arrival and avoid their contact. They used to follow hunting, fishery, scavenging and similar despised professions.

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Among the castes referred to above, Brāhmaṇas and Kshatriyas enjoyed the highest status. Though some Brāhmaṇas used to follow secular and un-Brahmanical professions, the number of those who followed religious and literary pursuits was fairly large. The class as a whole, therefore, continued to inspire respect as in earlier days. The Kshatriyas also were held in high esteem on account of the prestige and power they enjoyed. The relations between these two castes were usually cordial; we find several Kshatriya kings of our period describing themselves as devout worshippers of Brāhmaṇas.¹ Occasionally however pelf and power produced their natural consequence and kings or their officers were sometimes disrespectful to the needy Brāhmaṇa. It was the affront which he had received from the insolent Kshatriya officers of the Pallava government that induced the Brāhamaṇa Mayūra-śarman to exchange his sacrificial ladle for the steel sword.²

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¹ IA. V, 155; *EI.* VIII, 161; *CII*, III, 96.

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² EC. VII, 200 ff.

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Brāhmaṇas were divided into different *śākhās* (classes) based upon the Vedas which they studied, and our epigraphs enable us to get a fairly accurate idea of their distribution. There is sufficient evidence to show that Orissa, Telingana,³ Kośala⁴ and Central Province⁵ were the stronghold of Yajurvedin Brāhmaṇas and the same was probably the case with U. P., though the evidence is rather inadequate. The donees of most of the numerous grants given to the Brāhmaṇas of the above provinces are usually described as the followers of one of the *śākhās* of the *Yajurveda*. Kathiawar seems to have been a stronghold of the *Sāmaveda*, for the donees of several Valabhi plates of our period are described as Sāmavedins.⁶ The followers of this Veda are to be occasionally but rarely seen among the donees residing in Indore (in U. P.), Belure (in Karṇāṭaka)

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³ IA. V, 155; *EI.* XII, 135.

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⁴ Ibid. VIII, 287; IX, 173-5.

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⁵ CII. III, 96, 103, 193.

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⁶ EI. XI, 108; XVII, 107, 110, 348; XV, 257.

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and Mangdur (in Telingana).¹ The Atharvavedins figure rather rarely in our period and their number, we may presume, was not large. We come across one follower of this Veda in Mysore, another in the Belgaum district, a third one at Valabhī and a fourth one in the Kangra valley.² Brāhmaṇas of all the four Vedas living together in one place figure rather rarely. This was a natural consequence of the discontinuance of the Vedic sacrifices, which usually required the co-operation of the Brāhmaṇas of all the Vedas.

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¹ CII. III, 70; EC. V, Belur 245; IA. V, 155.

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² EC. IV, Hs. No. 18; EI. X, 74; XIV, 165.

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It is interesting to note that the Rigvedins figure very rarely in our records. Why this should be so cannot be explained satisfactorily at present.

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The Kshatriyas continued to enjoy the status of *Dvijas* (twice-born) and had the privilege of *Upanayana* and Vedic studies. The same also was probably the case with the majority of the Vaiśyas. All of them had not yet been reduced to the status of the Śūdras. It is interesting to note that at least in some cases they knew their *Gotras* and *Pravaras*.³ As in almost all periods of Indian history, the great Vaiśya community was famous for its charitable disposition. The hospitals in Pāṭaliputra and Magadha, where free relief was given to the needy and the sick, were financed by the charity of this community. The same was the case with many temples, monasteries and free feeding houses. The Vaiśyas were organised into guilds, which were dominating the trade and industry of the country. They also occupied positions of honour and responsibility on the town councils.⁴

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³ Ibid. VI, 18.

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⁴ Ibid. XV, 129 ff. See *ante*, pp. 262-63.

3. Slavery

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Slavery is not referred to by contemporary foreign writers, but it is described in minute details by Nārada, who belongs to our period.

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Prisoners of war often reduced to slavery; debtors unable to pay their debts of gamblers unable to pay off their stakes had to become the slaves of their creditors. Sometimes, when there was acute famine, people would voluntarily sell themselves to rich persons, who would undertake to feed them. Slavery in India, however, was not lifelong. Ganglers, debtors and famine-slaves could regain their liberty, if their dues were paid either by themselves or by their relations or friends. Prisoners of war could do the same by finding a substitute. If a slave saved his master's life, he could not only become free but also get a son's share. If a female slave bore a child to her master, she became free. It was thus relatively very easy for slaves to regain their freedom; they also received much better treatment in India than they did in the West. These circumstances would explain how foreigners like the Greek writers and Chinese pilgrims failed to detect the existence of slavery in India.

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The emancipation procedure of slaves¹ was interesting. The master was to take away a jar from his slave's shoulder and to smash it. Then he was to sprinkle his head with water containing gram and flowers, and to declare him a free man three times.

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¹ Nārada, Chap. V, 25-43.

4. The Family

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Let us now turn to the family life.

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As in earlier centuries the joint family continued to be the characteristic feature of Hindu society. Smritis of our period disapprove of partition of the family in the lifetime of the father, and epigraphs also often disclose patriarchs living together with their eight grown-up sons and numerous grandsons and brothers often continuing to live jointly even after the death of their father.² In one record we find the donor making a grant for the spiritual welfare of himself, his mother, wife, one son, one daughter, his brother, two nephews and two nieces.³ It will thus appear that even after the death of the father, brothers and their sons and daughters often continued to live together. Cases of seprate shares being allotted to the father and sons in land-grants are rather rare.

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² EI. I, 6; XII, 2; XIX, 120.

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³ IA. XI, 258.

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The ownership of the family property was vested in the father, but the rights of the different sons and brothers to their separate shares were recognised; they are separately mentioned in the land-grants in a few cases. What later on came to be known as the *Mitāksharā* system of inheritance was prevailing; the Smṛitis exclude from *Śrāddha* Brāhmaṇa who had enforced partition on his father against his will. This presupposes son's right by birth in the ancestral property and is not possible under the *Dāyabhāga* scheme of inheritance.

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Most of the twelve subsidiary sons mentioned in the early Dharmaśāstra works were getting more and more unpopular. Of the 12 subsidiary sons, the *putrikāputra* or the daughter's son, was the most popular.¹ It is interesting to note that one who offered himself in adoption was treated with contempt in our age. 'One who leaves his family and goes to another is undoubtedly guilty of sin', says Bṛihaspati.² The son by levirate (*niyoga*) was still regarded as superior to him. Opinion, however, was divided upon this point. Yājñavalkya and Nārada had no objection to *niyoga*, but Bṛihaspati was opposed to the practice. He represented the reform school.

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¹ *Yāj.* II, v. 128.

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² *Dāyabhāga*, v. 75.

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By birth right, sons had shares in the family property, which were usually equal. On rare occasions we see eldest sons receiving larger shares,³ as recommended by some earlier Smṛitis. These cases are, however, exceptional. Opinion in our period was divided as to whether the widow should have the right to inherit the share of her husband. If he was a member of the joint family at the time of his death, the widow got only a maintenance, but if he had separated, Yājñavalkya and Bṛihaspati argued that she should be given her husband's share as a life estate. This view of the reform school had not yet become popular, and other jurists of our age, like Nārada, were opposed to it. That reformers had not yet made much headway in society would appear clear from the sixth Act of the Śakuntalā, where we find the property of a widow, having no son, was liable to escheat to the crown. Daughters, having brothers, had no share in father's property. The latter was expected to spend liberally, usually to the extent of one-fourth of the son's share, at the time of their marriages.

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³ श्रीवापिका ज्येष्ठ इति कृत्वा नागवत्सस्वामिने ग्रामार्द्धस्याधिका दत्ता । (CII. III, 199).

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Pre-puberty marriages became the order of the day in our period. Writers of the earlier period, like Manu, permitted a father to keep his daughter unmarried up to any age, if a suitable bride-groom was not available; Smṛitis of our period like Yājñavalkya and Nārada condemn a guardian to hell, if he does not marry his daughter before the time of puberty. When girls were married at the early age of 12 or 13, naturally they had hardly any voice in the settlement of their marriage.¹ Their Upanayana ceremony also became impossible owing to early marriages. Yājñavalkya explicitly declares that women were ineligible for the privilege of the Upanayana and the Vedic studies. Vedic mantras also were not to be recited at the time of the rituals exclusively intended for them. Our age, therefore, denied the Vedic education to women. In well-to-do families, however, literary and cultural education was imparted to them, and several women figure as authoresses and poetesses in our age.² Nārada and Parāśara permit remarriage of widows and Chandragupta II had probably married his widowed sister-in-law in c. 375. But the puritanical section of society was frowning upon widow marriage and it was becoming more and more unpopular among the higher classes as our period advanced.

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¹ When Kālidāsa or the writers of some inscriptions refer to Svayaṃvara, they clearly have the old tradition and not the contemporary practice before their mind.

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² Altekar, Position of Women, pp. 19-20.

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Widows, who did not marry, led a simple and ascetic life. They wore no ornaments and used no ointments. They did not decorate their hair, but it was not shaved either. The custom of the *Sati* was, no doubt, known to our age and is occasionally referred to by Bhāsa, Kālidāsa and Śūdraka in their works. We have, however, only one historical case of a *Sati*, which took place when king Goparāja died on the battlefield in 510 A.D. and his wife immolated herself on his funeral pyre.¹ It, therefore, appears that it was only on rare occasions that widows became *Satis* during our period. Among the Smṛiti writers of our age, only Bṛihaspati refers to the possibility of a widow following her husband on the funeral pyre; others lay down detailed rules about the ascetic life which the widow was expected to lead and are altogether silent about the possibility of her becoming a *Sati*. The custom, therefore, had neither become popular nor acquired a religious sanction.

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¹ *CII.* III, 92; see *ante*, p. 175.

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Sculptures and paintings of our period show that women could move freely in society and were not immured in *harems*. Ladies of aristocratic families, however, used to put on a veil over their face when they were out on a journey.²

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² *Śakuntalā*, Act V.

5. Food and Drink

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Hindu society was partly vegetarian and partly non-vegetarian in our period. When Fa-hien refers to the absence of meat shops in the Madhyadeśa in *c.* 400 A.D., he is obviously referring to the Buddhist sections of the population. The Smṛitis of our period, like *Bṛihaspati*, lay down that only those women, whose husbands are away, should refrain from meat, and wine. They expressly permit meat-eating in the case of sick persons and enjoin it at the time of *Śrāddha*. In south India, meat dishes were popular in royal courts and fashionable society. As a result of the Bhakti and Mahāyāna movements, which were against meat-eating, the Buddhists and Brāhmaṇas of our age had gradually begun to eschew meat except at the time of *Śrāddha* and sacrifices.

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The evidence of the *Śakuntalā* shows that non-Brāhmaṇas had no compunction against drinking wine.¹ In south Indian courts rich liquors, imported from the west, were served at the royal table and country wine was drunk by the poor.² Brāhmaṇas, however, eschewed wine; Hiuen Tsang's statement that Brāhmaṇas drank syrup while the Kshatriyas took wine³ was probably true of our period as well.

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¹ Act VI.

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² Porunar, 11. 84-93, 102-121.

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³ Watters, I, p. 178.

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The use of betel leaves after dinner was quite common.

6. Dress and Ornaments

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The old Indian dress consisting of an upper garment and a lower *dhoti*, neither of which required any stitching, continued to be the costume of the vast majority of the male population. The Scythians had, however, introduced coats, overcoats and trousers, and they were often worn by Indian kings also, as can be inferred from the effigies of the Gupta emperors on some of their coins. The official courts dress of the kings, however, was the old national one and we find Gupta emperors hunting the lions and tigers with *dhotis* and sashes. Head-dress was worn on auspicious occasions. Shoes were not very common; most people went without them.

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The dress of women was more or less the same as it is today. In some part of the country they wore a petticoat below and the *sāri* over it; in other parts a long *sāri* served both the purposes. A bodice was used above the *sāri* to cover the bust; its two ends were usually tied together between the breasts. Jackets, blouses and frocks were used by Scythian women. They did not become popular in Hindu society except among the dancing girls. Cotton garments were used for daily purposes, but silken ones were worn by rich and fashionable persons on festive occasions.

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Contemporary sculptures and paintings give us a graphic idea of the variety and gracefulness of women's different ornaments.⁴ A large number of them was used over the forehead.

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⁴ Altekar, *Position of Women*, pp. 358 ff.

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The designs of the ear-rings were graceful. The variety in the necklaces of gold and pearls was striking. More than half a dozen types of zones (mekhalās) were in vogue. A gauzy pearl ornament was used over the breasts as well as the thighs. The arms were adorned with keyūras of which there were several varieties. A large number of bangles, often set with pearls or jewels, figured on the forearms. Rings were quite common but the nose-ring was still unknown. The number of bangles used on the feet was not small. Men were not much behind women in their fondness for ornaments.

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The fashions of dressing the hair were as numerous as graceful.¹ An examination of the paintings at Ajanta will be an eye opener even to the most fashionable ladies of the present generation. False hair was often used to increase the volume of the braid in order to give it different artistic shapes. The use of paints, pastes and lipsticks was not unknown.

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¹ Ibid. Pl. VIII.

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Water clocks (nāḍikās) were used in government offices, temples, monasteries and cultured families to ascertain the time of the day. The clock consisted of a small pot, kept floating in a larger vessel filled with water. The pot could be filled in twenty-four minutes (ghaṭikā) by water slowly coming into it through a hole made at the bottom. An attendant was necessary to empty it out and float it again the moment it was filled.

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Dice and chess were the favourite indoor pastime and hunting, ramfights and cockfights were the principal outdoor amusements. Ball game (kandukakrīḍā) was popular with children and women; the latter used to gather together on festive occasions and have a variety of physical games. Fairs, shows and dramas also provided a variety of entertainment.

II. Economic Condition

1. Guild

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Let us now survey the economic conditions of our times. The organisation of trade and industry in guilds was a feature of ancient Indian economic life since very early times, and it continued to be the same in our period as well. Contemporary inscriptions and seals refer to the guilds not only of merchants and bankers, but also of the manual workers like weavers, oilmen and stone-cutters.¹ It is thus clear that trades and industries, both high and low, were organised in guilds. In order to secure capital they were also doing banking business and receiving permanent deposits guaranteeing regular payment of interest to be utilised for the specific charitable objects which the donors had in view. Even if the members of the guild migrated in a body to another place offering better trade prospects, the public had full confidence that they would honour their obligations.² The affairs of the guild were managed by a president and a small executive committee of four or five members.

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¹ ASI. 1903-4, pp. 101 ff; CII. III, 81 ff.; EI. XXIV, 56.

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² CII. III, 70.

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The peace and prosperity that prevailed in our age gave a great impetus to inter-provincial and inter-state trade, and it had its own repercussions on the development of the guilds. As Basarh, the ancient Vaiśālī, which was a seat of provincial government under the Guptas, 274 sealings were found of a joint guild of bankers, traders and transport merchants, having its membership spread over a large number of towns and cities in northern India.³ These sealings, which belong to the end of the 4th century A.D., had closed the letters that were received by the provincial government of Vaiśālī from the different branches of this great organisation. No clay tablet contains the sealing of the guild alone; it is always accompanied by the sealing of another private individual. As the great guild had its branches in a number of cities, duplicates of its seal must have existed in a number of places; it was, therefore, naturally felt necessary that the common seal should be used along with the seal of the president or the secretary of each local branch to authenticate its letters. It is interesting to note that the seal of Iśānadāsa appears along with the seal of the great guild in 75 cases, that of Mātridāsa in 38 cases, and that of Gomisvāmi in 37 cases. These three merchants must have been the presidents or the secretaries of the guild at some of its important branches like those in Pāṭaliputra, Gayā or Allahabad. Ghosha, Harigupta, Bhavasena, etc., whose sealings figure jointly with that of the great guild only five or six times, were probably managing its branches in less important towns, which had no occasions to communicate frequently with the provincial government of Vaiśālī. In some places the branches of this guild managed the affairs of local temples.¹ The guild had a great reputation and status; for it often entered into transactions jointly with the office of the heir-apparent of the great Gupta empire.² If excavations are carried at other places, it is quite likely that seals may be discovered of other great guilds, operating over wide areas.

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³ ASI. 1903-4, pp. 101 ff.

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¹ In some cases the guild sealing is accompanied with another bearing inscriptions like *Jayatyananto bhagavān, Jitambhagavatā, Namaḥ Paśupataye*. These were obviously sealings of Vaiṣṇava or Śaiva temples, which probably wanted their financial transactions at Vaiśālī to be done through the agency of the great guild.

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² In one case the sealing of the guild is accompanied by the sealing of *Yuvarājapādīyakumārāmātyādhikaraṇam*.

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Guilds were autonomous bodies, having their own rules, regulations and bye-laws, which were usually accepted and respected by the state.³ Disputes among their members were settled by their own executive and not by the state tribunals. They had their own funds and properties. Many of them were rich enough to excavate a cave or build a temple.⁴ Individual members of a guild were both rich and cultured; thus the weavers' guild at Daśapura or Mandasor in Central India had some members well versed in folk lore, some in astrology and some in the military profession. It would appear that in the case of emergency a guild could raise a militia from among its own members and employees to afford protection to the person, property and merchandise of its members.

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³ *Yāj.* II, 191-2.

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⁴ *CII.* III, 81 ff; *ASI.* 1937-8, p. 38.

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Partnership transactions were also widely prevalent in the Gupta period. At Vaiśālī letters bearing the joint sealings of two merchants were very frequently received, clearly attesting to their partnership in different transactions. The Vaiśya community enjoyed great prestige and wealth. Its senior members usuallly figured prominently in the town and district councils.

2. Trade

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Unfortunately we have no detailed evidence about the principal items of trade carried on by our merchants and guilds. Different varieties of cloth, food-grains, spices, salt, bullion and precious stones were most probably the main articles of internal trade. It was carried both by the road and the river. Principal towns and cities like Broach, Ujjayini, Paithan, Vidiśā, Prayāga, Banaras, Gaya, Pāṭaliputra, Vaiśālī, Tāmralipti, Kauśāmbi, Mathura, Ahichchhattrā, Peshawar, etc., were connected by roads, which were fairly well protected during the Gupta rule. Goods were transported in carts and on the backs of animals, including elephants where available. Rich riverine traffic was carried along the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Narmadā, the Godāvarī, the Kṛṣṇā and the Kāverī. River traffic in fact was more convenient and less costly. Good progress had been made in ship-building and Indians could build ships big enough to carry 500 men on high seas.

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Tāmralipti (modern Tamluk), which is now landlocked, was the principal port in Bengal and carried on an extensive trade with China, Ceylon, Java and Sumatra. The Andhra country was studded with a number of ports at the mouths of the Godāvarī and the Kṛṣṇā, of which Kadūra and Ghaṇṭaśāla are mentioned by Ptolemy. Kāveripattanam, modern Puhar at the mouth of the Kāverī, and Tondai were the principal ports of the Chola country, Korkai and Saliyur of the Pāṇḍya country and Kottayam and Muziris (modern Crangnore) of the Malabar coast. They were carrying a progressively increasing traffic with the Eastern Archipelago and China, which helped the spread of Indian culture in eastern Asia.

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Most of these ports had also brisk commercial relations with the West. There is sufficient evidence to show that sometimes Roman and other foreign traders used to settle down in them to facilitate trade transactions. Early Tamil literature has preserved for us some vivid accounts of the port of Puhar,—how Yavana ships used to enter it with swan-shaped lamps at their tops, how they used to unload their precious cargo, how customs officers, ‘as vigilant as the horses of the sun’, used to seal it with the tiger-signet ring of the king, pending the settlement of the customs duties, and how it was subsequently sold off in big shop, which had their own distinctive flags flying over their buildings. Kings tried to facilitate trade by building and maintaining light houses at necessary points and also by keeping the sea routes free and safe. We have got an interesting account of how kings, like the Chera ruler Imaiyavaramban Nedunjeral, used to take effective steps to apprehend and punish Yavana and other pirates.

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Kalyan, Chaul, Broach and Cambay were the principal ports of the Deccan and Gujarat, but we do not get any contemporary account of their activity. An account of the export trade carried by these and other ports has been already given. The land and sea routes to the west have also been described there. The principal items of export were pearls, precious stones, cloths, perfumes, incense, spices, indigo, drugs, cocoanuts, and ivory articles, and the main items of imports were gold—bullion and coins—, silver, copper, tin, lead, silk, camphor, corals, dates and horses.

3. Wealth of the Country

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We get very little information from contemporary sources about the natural wealth and products of the country during our age. We may, however, safely assume that rice, wheat, sugarcane, jute, oilseeds, cotton, jwar, bajra, spieces, betelnuts, betel-leaves, medicinal drugs, incense and indigo were the main agricultural products. Forests also contributed considerably to the national wealth, and supplied teak, sandal and ebony wood. It does not seem that the mines of the country produced much gold or silver; these two metals were mostly imported into the country and represented the excess of our exports over imports. Mines of precious stones were most probably worked in the Deccan, Central India and Chotanagpur.

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Cloth manufacture was the principal industry of the country and offered employment to millions of people, both male and female. Cloth was manufactured all over the country, but its famous centres were located in the different towns and cities of Gujarat, Bengal, Deccan and Tamil country. Sculpture, inlaying, ivory work, painting, smithy, and ship-building were other crafts and industries that offered employment to thousands.

4. Cost of the Living

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Rates of interest varied between 12 and 24 per cent according to the solvency of the debtor. If we assume the former rate on permanent endowments, it will follow that one *dīnāra* (¼th of a *tolā* of gold) was sufficient for the feeding of one monk throughout the year.¹ The monthly cost of feeding one individual sumptuously was thus about Rs. 2/-. Living, therefore, was very cheap in the Gupta period and we can well understand how *cowries* could serve the purpose of daily transactions. Barter also was extensively resorted to, especially in rural areas. Some of the governments of our age, like those of the Ikshvākus, the Vākāṭakas and the Pallavas, did not care to issue any currency probably because it was not required for daily transactions.

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¹ *CII.* III, 261.

5. Agrarian Problems

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Let us now consider the agrarian problems. It does not seem that anything like the modern *zamindari* system of Bengal or the Uttara Pradesh existed in the country. It is referred to neither in the inscriptions nor in the Smritis. Occasionally, Brāhmaṇas, temples and monasteries were assigned entire villages, but the donees acquired only the right to receive the royal revenues and could not dispossess any tenants. The donees were often required to stay in the villages alienated to them, which discouraged absentee landlordism.

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Landlords, not tilling their own lands, used to lease them to tenants; the latter used to receive as the return for their labours a share which varied from 33 to 50 per cent of the gross produce.¹

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¹ Yāj. I, 166; Br. Sm. XVI, 13; EI. IX, 59.

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Bhūmi, Pāṭaka, Paṭṭikā, Droṇavāpa, Kulyavāpa, Khaṇḍukāvāpa, Nivartana and Veli are the different land measures referred to in our period, but the precise dimensions of most of them are not known. It seems that a Kulyavāpa was slightly larger than an acre and a Nivartana was equal to about 2½ acres. A Veli, which produced about a thousand Kalams of paddy, was most probably equal to six acres.

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The price of land varied according to its nature. In Bengal fallow land was sold at the rate of two to three dīnāras (Rs. 50 to 75) per kulyavāpa;² land under cultivation was about 35 per cent dearer.³

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² EI. XV, 129 ff.

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³ IA. XXXIX, 200.

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Land was regarded as a very valuable piece of property and its transfer could be effected only through the consent of the fellow villagers or the permission of the village or town council.⁴ The actual transfer of ownership was effected in the presence of the village elders, who formally demarcated the piece.

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⁴ Ibid.

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Let us now very briefly consider the question of the ownership of land. The fallow and waste lands belonged to the state, but their actual disposal was made with the assent and through the agency of the local village Pañchāyat or town council.

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In several villages, the State owned small fields of cultivable land, which are expressly described as rājavastu⁵ i. e., Crownlands or the property of the state, in some of our records.

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⁵ EI. VIII, 235.

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These fields used to come under the state ownership usually on account of want of heirs or failure to pay the land-tax. Kings are often seen granting them in charity.¹ Donees in such cases acquired full ownership of the land, and not a right to its land-tax, in fact they were often not exempted from it. When however entire villages were given away in charity, what was donated was the right to receive the royal dues. The inhabitants of these villages were never exhorted to quit their private lands in favour of the donee, but to pay him the different taxes and to show him proper courtesy; future kings were besought to desist not from evicting private owners but from collecting the royal dues.² Cases are also on record where an entire village was granted to a donee along with specific fields or plots in it.³ It is clear that in such cases the state was the owner of only some small plots of land in the villages concerned, which it could easily transfer to the donee. As far as the rest of the cultivable land was concerned, it was owned by private individuals; the state could not dispossess them, but could only direct them to pay the usual taxes to the donee. The available evidence thus makes it clear that the ownership of the cultivable land vested in private individuals or families, and not in the state.

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¹ IA. IX, 103; VII, 36.

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² CII. III, 118; EI. II, 364.

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³ EC. VII, Sb. 33; Ibid. VI, Kadur, 162

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CHAPTER XIX

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RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

1. General Background

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The Vākāṭaka-Gupta period is an important and interesting age in the history of Indian religion and philosophy. The protestant movements, Jainism and Buddhism, which got a great impetus in the Mauryan age, rise to gave a counter-reformation among the Hindus, who began to remedy the situation in right earnest without losing much time. By c. 100 B.C. the Bhārata had been expanded into the Mahābhārata and Hindu society was presented with an encyclopaedia of religion, philosophy and ethics, in which the main principles of the neo-Hinduism were presented in a popular and attractive form. A little later the philosophical side of Hinduism was strengthened by the systematic exposition of the teachings of its various schools that was attempted in the Mīmāṃsā-, Brahma-, Yoga- and Nyāya-sūtras.

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As against agnostic and atheistic Buddhism, which maintained that salvation was possible only through self-exertion, Hinduism offered a religion where God was presented to the masses in the theistic form of Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, or Mahādeva, always ready and anxious to save genuine devotees, who threw themselves upon his mercy. This led to the rise of a new school in Buddhism in the form of the Mahāyāna movement at about the beginning of the Christian era. This school also began to aver that Gautama Buddha was only one incarnation of the Dharma-kāya and that the latter will reincarnate Himself as often as may be necessary. Nay, it was maintained that the Bodhisattvas are always present and ready to help the weaker brethren and that they would voluntarily transfer their own puṇya (merit) to them in order to effect their release.

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Considerable thought ferment was created in the domain of religion and philosophy during the period 200 B. C. to 200 A.D. by the reformation movements referred to above; and it continued unabated during our period (200 A.D. to 550 A.D.). Nay, it is during this period that for the first time we find the controversies between the rival movements reflected in the religious and philosophical literature. The Hinayāna canon does not attempt any systematic refutation of the Hindu position, nor does the *Mahābhārata* deliver any frontal attacks on Buddhism. The new sections that were added to the *Brahma-sūtras*, the *Yoga-sūtras* and the *Nyāya-sūtras* during our period are however keen in refuting the philosophical views of the different schools of Buddhism and Jainism. Vātsyāyana in his *Nyāyabhāshya* attempts to combet the views of Nāgārjuna and is criticised in his turn by Dignāga, who seeks to defend the Buddhist view-point. Vātsyāyana, however, soon found a defender in Udyotakara, who tried to refute the position of Dignāga. We would have got more instances of this conflict of mind with mind and ideas with ideas, had the whole of the extensive Buddhist literature, produced in our period, been preserved in its original language.

2. The Spirit of Tolerance and Harmony

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Hinduism and Buddhism were more or less evenly balanced during our period and so philosophical conflicts (*Śāstrārthas*) were very frequently taking place between the followers of the two systems. They are often referred to in our epigraphs; thus Mahānāman's inscription at Bodhagaya describes how the heretical philosophers, who opposed the views of the Buddha, were completely overthrown.¹ An epigraph at Ajanta exulting observes that Kṛṣṇa, Śaṅkara and other gods have beat a precipitate retreat before the advance of the doctrine of the Buddha.² There is no doubt that considerable heat was generated during the philosophical tournaments between the followers of the different religions, but there is no evidence to show that it appreciably disturbed the even tenor of life of their ordinary followers. During the succeeding age (550 to 900 A.D.) the Buddhists, the Jainas, the Śaivas and the Vaiṣṇavas suffered to some extent from mutual persecution in south India, but during our period the relations of the followers of these sects were fairly cordial throughout the length and breadth of the whole country.

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¹ *CII.* III, 276.

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² Burgess and Indraji, *Inscriptions from the Cave Temples of Western India* p. 77.

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In spite of the controversies that were frequently taking place between the ambitious philosophers of the different schools,¹ society as a whole had come to take the commonsense view that there was a substantial uniformity underlying their fundamental principles; an individual may make such a synthesis of their principles as appealed to his temperament and extend his patronage to all without any distinction. Thus king Dāmodaravarman of the Ānanda dynasty (c. 375 A.D.) was a Buddhist and yet he believed in the efficay of the Hiraṇyagarbha ceremony recommended by the neo-Hinduism of the Purāṇas, for ensuring a celestial body after one's death.² Brāhmaṇa Nāthaśarman and his wife Rāmī of Puṇḍravardhana (in Bengal) were pious Hindus, but they felt that they could promote their spiritual welfare by giving a land-grant in order to make a permanent arrangement for the proper worship of Jain Arhats.³ Emperor Samudra-gupta was no doubt a staunch Hindu, who took peculiar pride in resuscitating the Aśvamedha sacrifice, but the entrusted the education of his son to Vasubandhu who was a famous and erudite Buddhist scholar. King Śāntamūla of the Ikṣvāku family was an enthusiastic follower of the Vedic religion, but his sister, daughters and daughters-in-law were all Buddhists. Some of them, however, had given donations to Brāhmaṇas as well.⁴ In the Kadamba family, kings Kṛṣṇa-varman and Mṛgeśa-varman performed Aśvamedha sacrifice out of their respect for the Vedic religion, and made grants to a Jain establishment out of their reverence for Mahāvīra.¹ There are many records in our period which show that the Jains used to respect the Hindus and their teachers.² The Guptas were orthodox Hindus, but the best tribute to their administration has been paid by some contemporary Jain records.³ It is well known how the Buddhist University at Nālandā owed most of its prosperity to the patronage it received from the Hindu Gupta emperors. Among the latter's officers also there were some who were Buddhist, and one of them is seen making a donation to the Buddhist establishment at Sanchi for the spiritual benefit of his Vaishṇava sovereign Chandra-gupta II.⁴ Vainya-gupta, one of the later Gupta kings, was a Śaiva and yet he gave a donation to a Mahāyāna Buddhist establishment known as Vaivartika Saṅgha.⁵ It is quite possible that this Mahāyāna Saṅgha bore this interesting appellation because it preached the Vaivarta or the Māyā doctrine. If such was the case, this donation of a Hindu king to the followers of the Buddhist Vaivartika philosophy may have helped its popularisation in Bengal. We should not forget in this connection that Gauḍapāda, one of the earliest exponents of the Māyāvāda among the Hindu philosophers, most probably belonged to Bengal.

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¹ It was customary in some places in South India to hoist permanent flags, announcing a standing challenge for debate on behalf of celebrated scholars. Perumbān. I. 142.

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² EI. XVII, 328 ff.

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³ Ibid. XX, 62.

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⁴ Ibid. p. 16.

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¹ IA. VI, 24.

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² CII. III, 47.

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³ श्रीसंयुतानां गुणतोयधीनां गुप्तान्वयानां नृपसत्तमानाम् । *Ibid.* p. 258. गुप्तानां वंशजस्य प्रविसृतयशसस्तस्य सर्वोत्तमर्थः राज्ये शक्रोपनस्य क्षितिपशतपतेः स्कन्दगुप्तस्य शान्ते । *Ibid.* p. 67.

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⁴ *Ibid.* p. 31.

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⁵ IHQ. VI, 53 ff. Dr. Dutt's view that the name of the Saṅgha is *Avai-vartika*, and that the expression has the same sense as that in the phrases *avai-vartika samādhi* and *avaivartika bodhisatva* (*Ibid.* p. 572) is untenable. An individual Bodhisatva or his *samādhi* may be believed to be *avaivartika* or infallible; a whole *Saṅgha* of monks at different stages of spiritual progress cannot claim this proud title.

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When there was so much of harmony even between the followers of the orthodox and heterodox schools, there is no wonder that the different sects of Hinduism should have lived in perfect accord. During its earlier career, the Bhāgavata religion used to excite a certain amount of opposition in orthodox circles owing to its veiled opposition to the Vedic sacrifices. In our period, however, we find a staunch Bhāgavata like Kumāra-gupta I performing the Vedic Aśvamedha-sacrifice. In the 3rd century A.D. there was another ruler, named Rājamitra, who performed a number of Vedic sacrifices and marked their conclusion by a donation for a Śaiva temple.¹ These instances show how a complete harmony had been established among the followers of the Vedic, Bhāgavata and Śaiva sects by the 4th century A.D. This became possible because of mutual adjustment and accommodation. A staunch follower of the Bhāgavata religion of the earlier period would never have, like Kumāra-gupta I, performed an Aśvamedha sacrifice involving the slaughter of a horse. Nor would an out-and-out Vaidika like Kāśakṛtsna have given at the end of a sacrificial session a donation to a shrine of Mahādeva, who had destroyed the Vedic sacrifice of Daksha. Hinduism of our age however felt that even a *paramabhāgavata* may occasionally perfom a Vedic sacrifice, and a staunch Vaidika may signalise the termination of his sacrificial session by a donation even to a Śiva temple.

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¹ EI. XXIV, 245.

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Among the followers of the Puranic deities also, there was complete harmony. Families changed their principal deity of devotion according to individual inclinations. First three Valabhī rulers were Māheśvaras. The fourth was a Bhāgavata and the fifth was an Ādityabhakta (worshipper of the Sun). The Naḷa ruler Bhavatta-varman was a Śaiva, but his son Skanda-varman, who constructed a Viṣṇu temple, was a Bhāgavata.² In the Parivrājaka dynasty, Hastin was a Śaiva but his son Saṅkṣobha was a Vaiṣṇava.³ How people regarded Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva as the different aspects of one and the same God would become clear from the opening verse of a 5th century inscription from Mysore.⁴

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² Ibid. XIX, 102; XXI, 155.

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³ CII. III, 106, 114.

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⁴ हरनारायणब्रह्मत्रितयाय नमः सदा । EC. VI, Kadir, 162.

3. Vedic Religion

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In *c.* 200 B. C. the *Mahābhārata* and the *Manusmṛiti* made a determined effort to defend the Vedic sacrifice. The *Mīmāṃsā-sūtras* of Jaimini were also composed at about the same time to expound and defend the same cause. This advocacy was not without an effect during our period. Even in Dravidian south the sacrificial post (*Veḷvittuṇa*) of the Vedic ritual figures as a thing of common knowledge in popular Tamil literature. Down to *c.* 400 A. D. the Vedic religion was fairly popular in society. A number of Vedic sacrifices were performed by the rulers of our period, the Aśvamedha among them being very popular. It was celebrated not only by big emperors like Pravara-sena I, (*c.* 275 A. D.), Samudra-gupta (*c.* 375 A. D.) and Kumāra-gupta I (*c.* 430 A. D.) but also by small kings like Śāntamūla of the Ikshvāku dynasty (*c.* 250 A. D.), Vijayadeva-varman of the Śālaṅkāyana family (*c.* 320 A. D.) and Dahrasena of the Traikūṭaka house (*c.* 460 A. D.). Even the Kadamba ruler, Kṛiṣhṇa-varman, who was a mere feudatory, is known to have performed it. Their is no wonder that the Bhāraśivas and the Pallavas, who claimed to be powerful rulers, should have performed it several times. The available data show that the Vedic sacrifices were never more popular since the revival of Hinduism than during the 3rd and the 4th centuries. The great Vākāṭaka emperor Pravara-sena I not only celebrated four Horse-sacrifices, but also performed *Agnishṭoma*, *Āptoryāma*, *Ukthya*, *Shoḍashin*, *Brihaspatisava* and *Vājapeya*. The last mentioned one was celebrated to proclaim the formal assumption of the imperial title of *Samrāṭ* by the Vākāṭaka emperor. The early Pallavas performed so many sacrifices that they claim to have become *Śatakratukalpā*, ‘almost similar to Indra’ in their greatness.¹ According to the popular belief Indra owes his position to the successful performance of a hundred sacrifices, and the implication of the above expression is that the Pallavas had almost reached that limit. Agniṣṭoma, Vājapeya and Aśvamedha figure prominently among the sacrifices performed by them as well as by the Ikṣvākus.¹ The Maukharis of Gaya were a petty ruling family, but they had performed a large number of Vedic sacrifices in the 4th century. Indra had to come down to earth so frequently to accept their oblations, that his poor consort became lean and thin owing to her enforced and prolonged separation from her husband.² The Maukharis of Badva in Kotah state were by no means less enthusiastic in the cause of the Vedic religion. Sacrificial pillars have been recently discovered commemorating the Trirātra sacrifices performed by four of them.³ Two other chiefs in Jaipur State performed the same sacrifice towards the end of the 3rd century A. D.⁴ The Mālava chief who regained independence for his country in 226 A. D. signalised the event by the celebration of the Ekashaṣṭi-rātra-sattra, which was quite an appropriate one for the occasion.⁵ The Puṇḍarika sacrifice was performed by another local ruler in Bharatpur State in 372 A. D.⁶

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¹ *IA.* V, 155.

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¹ *EI.* XX, 16; XV, 251.

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² यस्वाहूतसहस्रनेत्रविरहक्षामा सदवाध्वरे पौलोमी चिरमश्रुपातविरह घतेकपोलश्रियम् ॥ *CII.* III, 224.

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³ *EI.* XXII, 52.

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⁴ *Ibid.* XXVI, 118.

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⁵ When the gods first offered this sacrifice, everything around them had become sapless; trees had lost their freshness and kine their strength; as a result of the sacrifice nature regained its original vigour and brilliance and there ensued a period of all-round prosperity like the one which must have begun in Mālava when it got its freedom from the foreign rule.

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Cites (163)