The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c16.20

c16.20

The families in which wholly fixed branches of trade were hereditary formed professional unions. At their head stands a leader (jeṭṭhaka) about whose powers we learn no details, whose existence, however, indicates in itself an organisation of different branches of trade. Thus we read of the leader of the caravan drivers (satthavâjetthaka, II. 295); if we add to this the hereditary character of this profession—which is sufficiently indicated by such expressions as "family of caravan-drivers" (satthavâhakula, I. 98, 107; II. 200) and "son of a caravan-driver" (satthavâhaputta, I. 99, 194; II. 335), who on his own account, again, is a caravan-driver—then we have in my opinion two criteria which point to the existence of a close order of caravan-drivers. From the criterion of hereditariness alone, it seems somewhat bold to infer a compactness and a certain organisation of the branch of trade in question; mention is made of the hereditary character of the profession of a grain merchant (dhañña vânijakula, III. 198); the business of a green-grocer was also hereditary in the family (paṇṇikakula, I. 312).