State and Government in Ancient India c19.s1.11

c19.s1.11

When the effort at family arbitration failed, the matter was taken to the Śreṇi court. The term Śreṇī was used to denote the courts of guilds, which became a prominent feature of the commercial life in ancient India from *c.* 500 B. .C. They are frequently mentioned in the Buddhist literature and the *Mahābhārata* gives a glorious description of the guild chiefs assembled at the coronation of king Dharma. Śreṇis had their own executive committees of four of five members and it is likely that they might have functioned as the Śreṇī courts also for settling the disputes among their members. Though mentioned for the first time by Yājñavalkya, the Śreṇī court might well be placed a few centuries earlier. There is definite evidence to show that guild courts continued to function down the 18th century in Mahārāshṭra; probably the same was the case in the rest of the country.