Hindu Administrative Institutions c12.s3.31

c12.s3.31

That the *śreṇis* were organizations for purposes of trade and commerce is evident from Buddhist literature. Dr. R. Fick who has made a special study of the *Jātakas* observes in his *Sociale Gliederung im Nordöstlichen Indien zu Buddha's Zeit*¹ three facts, namely, the institution of Jeṭṭhaka (alderman), a common leader honoured at the royal court, localization of industries and hereditary occupations, and concludes rightly that such institutions presuppose some sort of organization and the inference is clear that such organizations must have existed in pre-Buddhistic days also.²