Local Government in Ancient India c9.97

c9.97

It will appear that the law books mention various forms of co-operative enterprise, based on ‘union of capital as well as efforts’, which seem to partake more of the nature of guilds than the mere partnerships of a limited scope as we know them now, and as explained by most of the translators. The law books mention various types of guilds showing how the principle of co-operation had an extended application in the economic life of Ancient India. We have guilds of (1) traders, (2) agriculturists, and (3) artisans, and even of (4) priests, (5) soldiers, and (6) dancers and musicians. There is thus co-operation in all spheres of life, economic, military, artistic, and religious.