[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v2.c19.165 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.165 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.165 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c19.165.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.165.1) That the professional castes were wealthy and well organized follows from the dharmaśāstra works and epigraphic records. In this connection the words śreṇi, pūga, gaṇa, vrāta and saṅgha deserve to be carefully studied. All these were called \*samūha\* (group) or \*varga\* according to Kātyāyana.¹⁶⁰ These words occur in the Vedic literature, but the sense is generally 'a group' and there is no special meaning attached. 'Śreṇi' occurs in the Ṛg. I. 163. 10¹⁶¹ (like flamingoes the horses press forward in rows or groups); both \*vrāta\* and \*gaṇa\* occur in Ṛg. III. 26. 6, V. 53. 11 and in numerous other places. The Kauṣītaki Br. 16. 7¹⁶² speaks of Rudra as pūga (as he is the head of the band of Maruts). Āp. Dh. S. I. 1. 3. 26¹⁶³ quotes a Brāhmaṇa passage about a group (saṅgha) of brahmacārins going about for alms. Pāṇini teaches¹⁶⁴ the formation of derivatives from pūga, gaṇa, saṅgha (V. 2. 52), from vrāta (V. 2. 21). In his time it appears the words had acquired specific meanings. The Mahābhāṣya explains (on Pāṇini V. 2. 21) that vrātas are groups formed by men of various castes with no fixed means of livelihood but subsisting by the might (or strength) of their bodies (by bodily labour of various kinds). The Kāśikā¹⁶⁵ explains pūgas as associations of men of different castes with no fixed professions, who are solely bent on making money or seeking pleasure. ### [v2.c19.165.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.165.2) Kauṭilya in one place distinguishes between soldiers and śreṇis (guilds) and in another place says that the guilds of kṣatriyas in Kāmbhoja and Surāṣṭra subsist by the profession of arms and vārtā (agriculture).¹⁶⁶ Vas. Dh. S. XVI. 15 says that boundary disputes are to be settled by the evidence of the old men in the village or town or of guilds (śreṇi) when there is conflict of documentary evidence. Viṣṇu Dh. S. V. 167 prescribes banishment for him who embezzles the wealth of associations (gaṇa) and who transgresses the conventions made by them. Manu (VIII. 219) has a similar rule about village and local associations (saṅgha). The above words are variously explained by the several commentators (vide my notes to the translation of Kātyāyana verses¹⁶⁷ 678-682 of that reconstructed smṛti). Kātyāyana says '\*Naigama\* is an association of citizens of the same city, vrāta is a company of soldiers carrying various arms, pūga is an association of traders and the like, gaṇa is a group of brāhmaṇas, sangha is a body of Bauddhas or Jainas; and bands of cāṇḍālas and śvapacas are called gulma.' Yāj. (I. 361) directs the king to punish kulas, castes, śreṇis, gaṇas, if they transgress their rules (of conduct or business) and the Mit. explains śreṇi as a guild of sellers of betel leaves and the like and gaṇa as of 'helābukas' (horse-dealers); while Yāj. II. ### [v2.c19.165.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.165.3) 192 and Nārada¹⁶⁸ (samayasyānapākarma 2) require the king to prevent the breach of the conventions of śreṇi, naigama, pūga, vrāta, gaṇa and to confirm them in their traditional occupations. Yāj. II. 30 says that pūgas and śreṇis had authority to investigate disputes and that the pūga was a higher tribunal than the śreṇi. The Mit. on this explains that pūga is an association of people of different castes and different occupations that stay in one locality, while a śreṇi is a group of people of different castes, that subsist by the occupation of one caste and gives 'heḍābukas' 'tāmbūlikas' (betel sellers), 'kuvindas' (weavers) and 'carmakāras' (shoe-makers) as examples of śreṇis. In the Harṣa stone of Chāhamāna Vigraharāja (E. I. vol. II. p. 124) there is a reference to one \*dramma\* for each horse given to 'heḍāvīkas.' In the Nasik Inscription No. 15 (E. I. vol. VIII p. 88) we are told that in the reign of the Ābhīra king Īśvarasena 1000 kārṣāpaṇas were deposited with an association of potters as a permanent donation yielding interest, 500 with a guild of oilmen and 2000 with a guild of watermen (\*udaka-yantra-śreṇi\*) for medicines to be given to sick bhikṣus. No. 9 and No. 12 of the inscriptions at Nasik also contain reference to deposits of money with the guild of weavers. The Mathurā Brāhmī inscription of Huviṣka's reign mentions a guild of flour-makers (samitakara, vide E. I. vol. 21 p. 55 at p. 61). The Junnar Buddhist cave Inscription (A. S. W. I. vol. IV p. ### [v2.c19.165.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.165.4) 97) refers to an investment of monies with the guild (śreṇi) of bamboo-workers and of braziers (kāsakāra). The Indore copperplate of Skandagupta (of the Gupta saṁvat 146) speaks of the deposit with the guilds of the oilmen of Indrapura for permanently securing a supply of two \*palas\* of oil (C. I. I. vol. III p. 70). Similarly it is said that a guild of silk weavers from Lāṭa (southern Gujerat) came to Daśapura (Dasor in Malwa) and built a temple of the sun in the Mālava year 494 i. e. 437-38 A. D. (C. I. I. vol. III p. 81 = I. A. vol. 15 p. 194). These examples show that about the first centuries of the Christian era such castes as woodworkers, oilmen, betel sellers and weavers that are at present very low in the hierarchy of castes had very efficient caste guilds, so famous for their organization, integrity and stability that people deposited with them thousands for permanent services to objects of charity.¹⁶⁹ --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.165](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.165) · Pramāṇa