Local Government in Ancient India c9.s2.13

c9.s2.13

We may also note in this connexion the *variety* of guilds shown, especially in the northern evidence. We have references in the inscriptions to guilds of (1) weavers, (2) silk-cloth weavers, (3) oilmen, (4) oil-millers (*tilapiṣaka*), (5) potters, (6) braziers, (7) bamboo-workers, (8) ivory-workers, (9) shepherds (in the southern evidence), and (10) mechanicians [fabricating hydraulic engines, *odayantrikas* (connected with *udaya-yantra*)]. We may recall the Smṛti passage (*Gautama*, XI. 21) in which the different classes of guilds are broadly distinguished as those of (1) cultivators, (2) herdsmen, (3) traders, (4) money-lenders, and (5) artisans, each class having liberty to lay down its own laws to be respected by the king. Bṛhaspati (I. 26) adds to this list artists [e. g. painters (*citrakāra*) according to the commentator], dancers, religious orders (like the *Pāśupatas*), and even robbers who must adjust their disputes according to their own particular laws. Vyāsa adds the dyers (*raṅgopajīvins*).