State and Government in Ancient India c20.201

c20.201

As in almost all times and climes, the ancient Indian state claimed ownership in mines and their products. When villages were granted, the donees were usually invested with the right to work all the mines that may have been situated within their boundaries. Mines always included salt deposits and sometimes stone quarries as well.¹ They were an important source of income, if they happened to be of precious metals. How they were worked has been already explained in chapter IX, pp. 201-2.