Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c5.t1.7

c5.t1.7

We do not know how far the health and strength of the people went to secure productive efficiency. The majority of the people were dependent upon agriculture, as seen above, and the artisans and craftsmen do not seem to have had any effective demand either, as their products were used only by the royalty and the high class people. The large mass of the people, therefore, had very little of a nourishing dietary. They generally lived upon rice (*yāgu*), cakes (*pūva*) and some kind of curry, buttermilk and perhaps fish, while dainty rice-porridge (*pāyāsa*) and meat and other nutritious condiments were the privilege of the rich few.³ Apart from this, however, the open-air work of the peasants and other labourers did maintain their general health and strength.