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Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c15: Chapter XII: Economic Conditions

Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c15

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Chapter XII: Economic Conditions

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**Economic Life: State Control.** A good deal of the economic life of the country, as has been already apparent, was controlled by the State. The State was the largest employer of labour. It controlled and organised the agriculture, industry and the trade of the country.

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**Agriculture.** As we have already seen, the State had a large part of the agriculture of the country directly in its own hands in its vast Crown estates. No doubt, it did not interfere in the actual work of cultivation, provided its established share of the produce was paid in as the land revenue demand, but it was specially the State's business to organise and extend the agricultural productivity of the country by schemes of colonisation, encouraging the surplus population to settle new or abandoned tracts, and also by assisting the emigration of foreigners to settle in the country (*bhūtapūrvaṁ abhūtapūrvaṁ vā janapadaṁ paradeśāpavāhanena svadeśābhishyandavamanena vā niveśayet*).

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**The village.** Each village, besides its area under houses (*vāstu*), had its full apparatus of agricultural life in its (1) *Kedāra* or fields sown with crops, (2) *Pushpa-Vāṭa*, horticultural gardens (3) *Phala-vāṭa*, orchards (4) *Shaṇḍa*, plantations of bananas, sugar-cane and the like; and (5) *Mula-vāpa*, fields for growing roots like ginger, turmeric and the like (*ārdrakaharidrādi*). Thus grains, flowers, fruits, vegetables, spices, sugar-cane and bananas were all grown in the village. [II. 6].

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The recorded and registered (*nibandha*) area of the village, after deducting from it the area covered by boundaries (*sīmāvarodhena*), was made up of the following parts: (1) cultivated (*krishṭa*) area (2) uncultivated (*akrishṭa*) wastes, (3) high and dry ground (*Sthala*), (4) *Kedāra*, (5) *Ārāma* (grove, *upavana*), (6) *Shaṇḍa* (*kadalyādi kshetram*, plantations of fruits like plantains), (7) *Vāṭa* (*ikshvādibhūmiḥ*, sugarcane plantations), (8) *Vana* (as source of firewood for the village and other requisites), (9) *Vāstu* (area under houses), (10) *Chaitya* (sacred trees), (11) *Devagṛiha* (temples) (12) *Setubandha* (embankments), (13) *Śmaśāna* (cremation grounds), (14) *Sattra* (almshouse), (15) *Prapā* (store-house of drinking water), (16) *Puṇyasthāna* (holy places), (17) *Vivīta* (grazing ground for village cattle), and (18) *Pathi* (area covered by roads) [II. 35].

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The Pāli texts of the times also throw light on village planning on similar lines. First was the arable land of the village, beyond which lay its common grazing grounds or pastures [*Jātaka*, I. 388] for its herds of cattle [III. 149; IV. 326] or goats [III. 401], whether belonging to the king [I. 240] or the commoner [I. 194, 388]. The villages employed a common neat-herd whose duty was to pen the flocks at night or to return them to their owners by counting heads [I. 388; III. 149]. He was called *Gopālaka*, the protector of the flocks [V. 350]. The pasturage was changed from day to day [*Aṅguttara Nikāya*, I. 20].

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Beyond the pastures lay the groves at the outskirts, like the Veḷuvana at Rājagṛiha, the Añjanavana at Sāketa, or the Jetavana at Śrāvastī.

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Lastly came the uncleared jungles upon which the village could draw for its supply of fire-wood and litter [*Jātaka* I. 317; V. 10]. Examples of such forests were the Andhavana of Kośala, Sītāvana of Magadha, or the Prāchīna Vaṁsadāya of Śākya country, which are described as the haunts of wild beasts and brigands preying on caravan traffic passing through them [I. 99] [my *Hindu Civilization*, pp. 297-298].

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Villages are also described from the fiscal point of view as (1) *Parihāraka*, rendered revenue-free by royal favour as a gift, (2) *Āyudhīya*, paying revenue in the form of military service, (3) *Dhānya-pratikara*, paying land revenue in the form of grain, (4) *Paśupratikara*, (5) *Hiraṇyapratikara*, (6) *Kupyapratikara* and (7) *Vis̲h̲ṭi-pratikara*, paying revenue in cattle (e.g., cows for milk, bullocks for carrying load, sheep and goats for their wool); in gold, silver or copper; in forest produce and in labour, respectively [II. 35]

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Among the crops grown in the villages are mentioned rice of different varieties; coarse grain (*kodrava*), sesamum (*tila*), pepper and saffron (*priyaṅgu*); pulses like *mudga*, *māsha*, *masura*, *kulutha*, *yava*, *godhūma* (wheat), *kalāya*, *atasī* (linseed), *sarshapa* (mustard); vegetables called *Śāka*, *Mūla*; fruits like plantains, pumpkins, gourds, grapes (*mṛidvīkā*); sugar-cane [II. 24].

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Government Agricultural Farms. These model farms were of great use for the improvement of agriculture in the country. Seeds of various crops to be grown were collected here. Government had its own flower-, fruit-, and vegetable-gardens and undertook cultivation of commercial crops like cotton (*kārpāsa*) and jute (*kshauma*) [*Ib.*].

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**Agricultural Labour.** There were landless agricutural labourers (*vishṭi*) who worked as domestic servants on the basis of free food and a little of wages in cash. There were also ordinary labourers (*Karmakara*) who worked for wages, and those who sold themselves into slavery (*Dāsas*). There were, lastly, agriculturists proper, or peasant proprietors, who worked on the basis of sharing of produce with the State, the State charging a sixth of the produce as its share or land-revenue demand.

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It may be noted that the Buddhist literature of the times holds up the ideal of the landlord cultivating his own land from which he should not divorce himself. It attaches a social stigma to the agricultural labourer or hireling who is ranked below the slave [*Dīgha Nikāya*, I, 51; *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, I, 145, 206; *Milinda Pañha*, 147, 331]. The *Jātakas* [e.g., I, 339] deplore as a sign of social decadence the distressing sight of sturdy peasants leaving at home their own empty barns, and swelling the ranks of landless agricultural labourers to toil as hirelings on the estates of royal capitalists.

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**Cattle.** The village cattle comprised cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, asses, camels, pigs, and dogs (*Śunakāḥ* in XIV. 3) [V. 2].

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The State maintained cattle-farms, stud-farms, and dairy farms, and employed the necessary staff comprising the *Gopālaka* (cowherd), *Piṇḍāraka* (for buffaloes), *Dohaka* (milker), *Manthaka* (churner), together with the hunters (*Lubdhakas*) and keepers of hunting hounds [*Śvagaṇinaḥ* (II. 29, II. 34)] to keep the pasture grounds clear of wild animals.

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The cattle-farms reared calves, steers, draught oxen, stud-bulls, and buffaloes. It also undertook the taming of wild cattle.

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There was also poultry-farming [V. 2].

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**Irrigation.** Irrigation was the concern of the State as an important source of revenue derived from the water-rates levied in accordance with the means of irrigation employed. It controlled the distribution of water by sluice-gates. It was also responsible for constructing new sources of water supply by excavating tanks and canals.

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The Pali texts of the times (specially the *Jātakas*) refer to the arable land of the village divided into individual holdings which are separated from one another by channels dug for co-operative irrigation [I, 336, IV. 167; V. 412 (Fausboll ed.)]. The cultivated fields of Magadha, which were thus divided by ditches, rectangular and curvilinear, are described by the Buddha as resembling his monks' uniform, a patch-work of torn pieces of cast-off clothing [*Vinaya Texts*, II, 207-9].

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**Village Public Works.** A village had its full complement of public works of utility and social institutions. It had its *ārāmas* (rest-houses), *prapā*, (tanks), *sattras* (alms-houses), *puṇyasthānas* (holy spots), *chaityas* (trees for worship), *deva-grihas* (temples), and its halls of public amusements such as music, dancing, theatrical performances (*prekshā*) and also for public dinners [*pravahaṇa*, III. 10].

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There were also some structures for decoration of the village (*grāmaśobhāḥ*). These public works, as we have seen, were carried out by the joint enterprise and collective agreement (*samaya*) of co-operation among the villagers (*sambhūya*) [II. 1; III. 10]. Any one not making his contribution to such agreed communal undertakings would be fined [*Ib.*].

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Village Service. There were paid workmen in the service of the village. These were called *Grāmabhṛitakas* and included workers like the carpenter (*Kuṭṭaka*), the blacksmith (*Karmāra*, *Ayaskāra*), the potter, the inevitable barber (*Nāpita*) [II. 1; V. 2], and the washerman [V. 3]. A village had also its diggers (*Medaka*) and ropemakers (*Rajjuvartaka*). Grants of land without right of alienation were made to the following rural officers: (1) *Adhyaksha* (such as *Suvarṇādhyaksha*) (2) *Saṁkhyāyaka* (the village accountant), (3) *Gopa*, (4) *Sthānika*, (5) *Anīkastha* (trainer of elephants), (6) *Chikitsaka* (physician proper), (7) *Aśvadamaka* (trainer of horses), (8) *Jaṁghākarika* (courier) [II. 1].

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Village Amusements. There were other workers to minister to the public amusements of the day, both in towns and villages. These were artists of various classes enumerated as follows: (1) *Naṭa* (actor), (2) *Nartaka* (dancer), (3) *Gāyaka* (musician), (4) *Vādaka* (instrumentalist), playing on instruments like *vīṇā*, *veṇu*, and *mṛidaṅga*, (5) *Vāgjīvana* (rhapsodist), (6) *Kuśīlava* (dancing expert), (7) *Plavaka* (gymnast), (8) *Saubhika* (magician), (9) *Chāraṇa* (bard), (10) *Pāṭhaka* (reciter), (11) *Gandha-saṁyūhaka* (perfumer), (12) *Mālya-saṁpā-* *daka* (garland-maker), (13) *Saṁvāhaka* (shampooer), (14) *Chitra-kāra* (painter), (15) *Vaiśika* (teacher of erotic) and (16) *Parachitta-jñānavid* (thought-reader) [II. 27]. All these were in the pay of the Government.

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**Rural Well-being.** The duties of the State towards the village and its welfare are summed up to include (1) demarcation of properties (*Setu*), (2) opening up of inaccessible tracts of roads (*pathi-saṁkramāt*), (3) works of rural development (*grāma-śobhāḥ*) and protection (*rakshā*) [III. 10]. The protection of the village was in the hands of the rural police recruited from the classes called (1) *Vāgurikas* (trappers), (2) *Śabaras* (Bhils), (3) *Pulindas* (*Kirāta*), (4) *Chaṇḍālas* and (5) *Araṇya-charas* (foresters) [II. 1]. There was also a provision for the protection of a village by constructing a palisade (*upasālam*) of pillars built of stone or wood round it [III. 10].

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The Jātakas also tell of the village being enclosed by a wall or stockade with gates (*grāmadvāra*) [I. 239; II. 76, 135; III. 9].

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The arable land of the village (*grāmakshetra*) was protected from pests, beasts and birds by fences [I. 215], snares [I. 143, 154], and field-watchmen [II, 110; IV. 277] about whom Kauṭilya gives full details.

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Thus village life was built up on the basis of private property, security of life and property, communications, and public works.

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**Uncultivated Wastes: Forestry.** While cultivated lands were thus disposed of, the vast stretches of waste lands lying beyond the village (*akṛishyā bhūmiḥ*) were utilised fully by the plantation of pastures (*vivīta*) for the grazing of the village cattle and of forests of different kinds. First came these grazing grounds, and then the woodland retreats for Brāhmaṇas for their study of the Veda and performance of Soma sacrifices (*Brahma-Somāraṇya*) and for hermits for doing penance in their *tapovana*.

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Beyond these lay the belt of forests. The first was the forest reserved for the king's hunt (*vihāra*) followed by the ordinary forests.

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These were of various kinds and were distinguished by their products such as *Dāru* (timber), *Veṇu* (bamboo), *Vallī* (cane), *Valka* (bark), *Rajju* (fibres for rope-works); *Patra* (material for writing such as palm—leaves or bark of birch, *tāla-bhūrjapatra*); *Pushpa* (flowers for dyeing like *Kiṁśuka*, *Kusumbha* or *Kuṅkuma*); *Aushadha* (medicinal herbs), *Visha* (poisons) ]II. 17[, firewood, and fodder (*Kāshṭha-yavasa*). Specially favoured were the forests of elephants so necessary for war and of timber as building materials for towns and fortifications. Elephant forests were in the keeping of the Conservator called *Nāgavanādhyaksha* [II. 2].

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The forests also yielded various animal products of economic value such as hides, skins, sinews, bones, teeth, horns, hoofs, and tails of creatures like leopard, tiger, lion, elephant, buffalo, yak, crocodile, tortoise, snake, and birds.

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**Forest Staff.** The forests were under the Conservator called *Vanapāla*. There were also in the forest service persons known for their special knowledge of the properties of trees and the economic value of each of their parts (*vṛksha-marmajña*) [II. 17].

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Then there were also the artisans who would work up the various forest products into their finished forms in the village factories (*dravyavana-karmāntāḥ*). They manufactured such necessary articles as plough, pestle, mortar, implements, weapons, and carts.

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**Industry: State Control.** The State had a monopoly in many industries which depended on pioneering and costly enterprise.

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Mining industry was nationalised for its supreme importance to the State as primary source of its wealth (*ākara-prabhavaḥ kośaḥ*).

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The mines worked by government are mentioned as those of gold, silver, diamond, gems, precious stones and of other inferior metals like copper, lead (*sīsa*), tin (*trapu*), iron (*tīkshṇa* or *ayas*) and bitumen (*śilājatu*).

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The State also explored the ocean mines in search of *muktā* (pearls), *śukti* (mother of pearl), *śaṅkha* (conch-shell) and *pravāla* (coral).

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The State also worked the oilfields (yielding *rasa* like mercury).

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Minerals were also extracted from the earth.

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The manufacture of salt was also a government monopoly worked under a system of licences granted to private lessees of salt-fields.

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There was a special officer called *Khanyādhyaksha* to look after the government business in pearls, conch-shells, corals, diamonds and precious stones.

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There was another special officer called *Sauvarṇika* in charge of gold and silver turned out in the State workshop called *Akshaśālā* [II. 13].

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The State also had its cotton, oil, sugar, and dairy industries [II. 6].

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The State reserved to itself the manufacture of wines and liquors and their sale.

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It also had a monopoly in armament industry and the building of boats and ships.

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The right of coining belonged to the State whose officers received from the public bullion to be shaped into coins on the basis of seignorage charges. The Mint Master was called *Lakshaṇādhyaksha*.

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The prisons had factories which employed penal labour. The State Spinning House was both a Spinning and Weaving Mill which manufactured yarns of cotton, silk, and jute; clothing; mail armour (*varma*); ropes; blankets (*āstaraṇa*); and curtains (*prāvaraṇa*). It employed the labour of women who were helpless and even supplied purdah women with orders for spinning yarn through its women-employees.

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Otherwise labour was employed on contract at the State factories. It was penal to hold back wages.

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Thus the State had to run its own factories and workshops for the utilization of the products of its own agricultural lands, forests, and mines, which were received and accumulated in the State ware-houses (*Koshṭhāgāra*). These accumulations were due to the system by which the dues of the State, its revenue demands, were paid not in cash (*hiraṇya*) but in kind, and called for a network of warehouses distributed throughout the country to receive these goods. Thus the Factory came in the wake of the Warehouse.

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**Private Industrial Enterprise.** The entire Industry of the country was, however, not in the hands of the State. A large field was occupied by individual private industry.

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While Kauṭilya naturally pays more attention to the former, other texts throw light on the part played by private enterprise in industry. The most important of these texts are the *Jātakas* on which craftsmen drew so largely for their themes treated in the early sculptures of Bharhut or Sanchi in the third and second century B.C. The *Jātakas* are documents of older history, as pointed out by Rhys Davids. They speak of eighteen chief handicrafts of the times, such as those of wood-workers, smiths, leather-dressers, painters, workers in stone, ivory-workers, weavers, confectioners, jewellers, workers in precious metals, potters, makers of bow and arrow. These handicrafts were also organised in guilds or craft-guilds called *Śreṇīs*, each under its President or Foreman called *Pamukha*, and the Alderman called *Jeṭṭhaka*. We are also told of federations of guilds under a common Head called *Bhāṇḍāgārika*. Like Industry, Trade also was organised in Merchant-Guilds whose chief was called *Seṭṭhi*. Anāthapiṇḍika of Sāvatthī was a *Mahāseṭṭhi*, chief of a commercial federation controlling 500 *Seṭṭhis*, the heads of its constituent guilds. Caravan-traffic for its risks was carried on as a co-operative enterprise in which different traders with their carts, goods, and men formed themselves into a Company under a captain called *Sātthavāha* to give directions as to halts, watering, routes, fords, and danger-spots, and also other common officers or land-pilots called *Thalaniyyāmaka* who acted as guides and escorts against the dangers to travel from "drought, famine, wild beasts, robbers and demons." We are similarly told of sea-going merchants chartering a common vessel, or concerted action in freights between dealers, and of partnership concerns in business such as export of birds to Babylon, or of import of horses from the 'north' to Benares. There was also localisation in Industry. We read of villages of potters, of wood-wrights, iron-smiths, or even trappers; while within the town were ivory-workers' street (*vīthī*), dyers' street, Vessas' streets or the weavers' quarter (*ṭhāna*). There were also the *hīnā-sippas* or despised callings which were segregated: those of hunters and trappers, fishermen, butchers, tanners; or snake-charmers, actors, dancers, musicians, rush-weavers, and chariot-makers who were mostly the aboriginal folks [*Hindu Civilisation*, pp. 301, 307, 308].

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Trade. The State had a special responsibility in the matter of Trade. Its revenue depended upon a profitable disposal of the vast quantities of various goods which were constantly accumulating in its hands in its factories and workshops under circumstances described. The State thus became the biggest trader in the country, and had to control its entire trade to safe-guard its own interests.

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The control of trade was based on the State control of Prices. The system of control was based on certain inevitable provisions.

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Goods could not be sold at the place of their origin, field, or factory. They were to be carried to the appointed markets (*paṇya-śālā*) where the dealer had to declare particulars as to the quantity, quality and the prices of his goods, which were examined and registered in the books.

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Every trader had to get a licence for sale. A trader from outside had to obtain a passport in addition.

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The Superintendent of Commerce (*Paṇyādhyaksha*) fixed the whole-sale prices of goods as they were entered in the Customs House. He allowed a margin of profit to fix the retail prices.

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Smuggling and adulteration of goods were severely punished.

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Speculation and cornering to influence prices were not allowed.

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Strikes of workmen to raise wages were declared illegal.

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The State had to undertake a heavy and irksome responsibility in protecting the public, customers and consumers, against unauthorised prices and fraudulent transactions. It had to post an army of spies or market inspectors on the trade-routes to detect false declarations as to goods and apprize merchants of same [II. 21].

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Apart from the State control of prices was the State control of weights and Measures. The official standard was made a little lower than the public so as to provide a convenient source of revenue in the difference which amounted to a *vyāji* of 5 per cent. It was like the seignorage charge on the minting of coins.

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Trade was taxed all along its way by export and import duties, octroi and excise. Its progress through the country was punctuated by halts enforced for payment of taxes at different stages. The foreign merchants were mulcted of their profits on the frontiers, by road taxes (*vartanī*) and tolls, and by octroi at the gates of cities, which were carefully guarded by officers in charge of the Customs Houses provided even with a *dounane* and a place for detention for merchants evading the law.

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But if Trade was thus taxed, it received compensation in the protection assured to it in those olden days when life and property were not secure everywhere. The transit of goods was guarded all along its way. Any loss suffered in transit was to be made good by the Government officer in charge of the locality through which they passed. In the village, the responsibility was that of its head-man (*Grāma-Svāmī* or *Grāma-mukhya*); beyond the village, the *Vivītādhyaksha*; beyond his jurisdiction the responsibility was that of the government Police, the *Chora-rajjuka*; and beyond him was *Sīmā-Svāmī*, the chief of the frontier.

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Trade had to be protected in those days against the gangs of dacoits who were abroad (*chora-gaṇas*), the turbulent Mlechchha tribes (like the *Kirātas*) and the wild people of the forests (*Āṭavikas*) who were all out for plunder [VII. 10].

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We have already referred to the rural police. But every village was directly guarded against thieves (*taskara*) by the hunters and keepers of dogs (*lubdhaka-śvagaṇinaḥ*) already mentioned, whose method of dealing with them was to collect people by sounding alarm by conch shell or drum from a height, hill, or tree, unperceived, or by running fast to give information to the village [II. 34].

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**Trade-routes.** Trade depended upon its routes, which presented a problem for a continent like India.

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**Grand Trunk Road.** The Greeks tell of the Royal Road leading from the North West Frontier to Pāṭaliputra, the Grand Trunk Road of those days, with a length of 10,000 stadia=about 13,000 miles. [Strabo XV. 1, 11]. We have also seen how Megasthenes refers to Government officers in charge of roads and how signboards were set up at intervals to indicate turnings and distances.

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It may be noted that Megasthenes refers to the Royal Road from the North West to Pāṭaliputra as the road existing in earlier times.

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As he entered India, Megasthenes was struck by this Royal Road leading from the Frontier to Pāṭaliputra down which he must himself have travelled in prosecution of his mission. It is stated to have been constructed in eight stages, the distances between which were measured up to the Hyphasis (Beas) by Alexander's survey officers named Baeto and Diognetus, while the distances from the Hyphasis to the Ganges are supposed to have been measured for Seleukos Nikator by Megasthenes and other Greek visitors. These stages are thus described: 1 From Peukelaotis (Sans. Pushkalāvatī, the capital of Gandhāra, modern Charsadda) to Taxila. 2. From Taxila across the Indus to the Hydaspes (Jhelum) 3. Thence to the Hyphasis (Beas) near the spot where Alexander erected his altars. 4. From the Beas to the Hesidrus (Satlej). 5. From the Satlej to the Iomanes (Jumna). 6. From the Jumna via Hastināpura to the Ganges. 7. From the Ganges up to a town called Rhodopha (said to be Dabhai near Anupshahar). 8. From Rhodopha to Kalinapaxa (probably Kanyākubja or Kanauj). 9. From Kanauj to Prayāga at the junction of the Ganges and the Jumna. 10.

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From Prayāga to Pāṭaliputra. 11. From Pāṭaliputra to the mouth of the Ganges probably at Tāmralipti. Every mile of the road was marked by a stone indicating the by-roads and the distances. The road was in charge of the officers of the P.W.D. who were responsible for its up-keep, repairs, and for erection of mile-stones and sign-posts at every ten stadia (Pliny, *Natural History*, VI, 21).

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**Buddhist Texts on Roads.** The Buddhist literature of earlier times throws much light on the roads of traffic.

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**Inland Roads.** The inland trade was carried on by carts and caravans. We read of Anāthapiṇḍika’s caravans travelling south-east from Sāvatthī to Rājagaha and back (about 300 miles) [*Jāt.*, i. 92. 348], and also to the "borders", probably towards Gandhāra [*Ib.*, i. 377 f]. To ensure easy fording of rivers, this route must have passed along the foot of the mountains up to Kusinārā between which, and Rājagaha, lay halts at twelve intermediate stations (*gāmas* or *nagaras*) including Vesāli, with a single crossing of Ganges at Patna according to the recorded itinerary of the Buddha’s last ministering journey [*Dīgha*, II, *Suttanta*, XXI. 81. ff.].

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Another important route led south-west from Sāvatthī to Patiṭṭhāna (Paithan) with six intermediate halts [*Sutta-Nipāta*, 1011-13] and frequent crossing of rivers. We read of boats going up the Ganges to Sahajāti [*Vinaya Texts*, iii, 401] and up the Yamunā to Kosambī [*Ib.* p. 382]. There were no bridges in those days but only fording-places and ferries for crossing rivers [*Jāt.*, iii, 228]. Manu speaks of cart-ferries [viii. 404 f.]. *Setu* was not a bridge but only an embankment.

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A third route led west-wards to Sind, the home of horses and asses [*Jāt.* i, 124, 178, 181,; ii, 31, 287], and to Sovīra [*Vimāna Vatthu* (Comm.), 336] and its ports, with its capital called Roruva [*Jāt.*, iii, 470], or Roruka [*Dīgha*, ii, 235; *Divyāvadāna*, 544]. We read of overland Caravans going "east and west" [*Jāt.* 1, 98, f.], and across deserts requiring days to cross (the deserts of Rājputana), steering in the coolness of nights by the stars, under the land-pilot, *Thalaniyyāmaka* [*Ib.* 1, 107].

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Beyond the western ports, merchants went "out of sight of land" into the ocean and traded with Bāveru (Babylon).

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Lastly, there was the great north-west over-land trade-route linking India with Central and Western Asia by way of Taxila and cities of the Gangetic Valley like Sāketa, Sāvatthī, Benares, or Rājagaha [*Vin. Texts*, ii, 174, ff.; *Mahāvagga*, viii, 1, 6 ff.]. As a very frequented road, it was free from dangers. We read of students travelling in numbers to Takkasilā, unattended and unarmed [*Jāt.* ii, 277], for education.

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**Sea-borne Trade.** There is some evidence as to the sea-borne foreign trade of those days, though it is scanty. We read of Prince Mahājanaka sailing from Champā for Suvaṇṇabhūmi [*Ib.* vi, 34 f.], of Mahinda from Pāṭaliputra to Tāmalitti and thence to Ceylon [*Vin.* iii, 388 (*Samantapāsādika*)]. A whole village of defaulting wood-wrights is described as escaping at night down the Ganges in a "mighty ship" from Benares out to the sea [*Jāt.* IV, 159]. An accomplished helmsman brings safe by ships "passengers for India from off the sea to Benares by river" [*Ib.* ii, 112]. We read of traders coasting round India from Bhārukachchha to Suvaṇṇabhūmi [*Ib.* iii, 188], touching at a port of Ceylon on the way [*Ib.* ii, 127 ff.]. The cargo of a newly-arrived ship attracts a hundred merchants to buy it up [*Ib.*, i, 122]. The ships of the times were large enough to accommodate "hundreds" of passengers. We read of 500 traders on board ill-fated ships [*Ib.* 128; v, 75], and of 700 under the safe pilotage of Suppāraka [*Ib.*, iv, 138, ff] [*Hindu Civilization*, pp. 302-304].

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Sanskrit Texts. The testimony of the Pāli Texts to the existence of an overland trade-route is confirmed by Pāṇini's mention of *Uttarāpatha* [V. 1, 77]. He speaks of travellers going by *Uttarāpatha* (*Uttara-pathena gachchhati*) and of goods gathered by that route (*Uttarapathena āhṛitam*).

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According to Strabo, the river Oxus in the time of Alexander was quite navigable so that goods from India were carried down this river to the Caspian Sea on their way to the west. As Warmington points out [*Commerce between Roman Empire and India*, p. 21], there were three natural approaches to India from the west: (1) where the mountains of Afghanistan become very narrow just north of the head of the Kabul river where only the Hindukush separates the basins of the Oxus, and the Indus; (2) 500 miles to the west and south-west, where the Afghan mountains end and open up an easy way over 400 miles of plateau from Herat to Kandahar and to Kabul, along the Helmund valley, and another way from south-east of Kandahar into the Indus lowlands through the Bolan or the Mūla Pass; (3) by way of the deserts of Makran or along the coast of Baluchistana.

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The *Uttarāpatha* of Pāṇini must have been the first or the second of above routes. It may be noted that Chandragupta Maurya's conquest of these regions by which the boundaries of his empire were practically extended up to Persia must have resulted in an increase of India's trade with the west along these routes. Within India, this overland trade-route (*Uttarāpatha*) must have passed through and linked up her chief cities mentioned by Pāṇini and Patañjali, such as Bālhīka, Kāpaiśī, Pushkalāvatī Maśakāvatī, Takshaśilā, Śākala, Hastināpura, Kośāmbī, Kāśī and Pāṭaliputra.

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Patañjali (commenting on Pāṇini, II. 2, 18 and III. 3, 136) mentions the formations, *Nish-Kauśāmbīḥ* and *Nir-Vārāṇasiḥ* in respect of travellers who have passed beyond Kauśāmbī and Vārāṇasī, thereby indicating the Grand Trunk Road of those days connecting the two cities of Kauśāmbī and Vārāṇasī. In connection with Pāṇini's rule, III. 3, 136, Patañjali instances the cities of Sāketā and Pāṭaliputra as lying on the same road so as to enable us to construct the length of a Grand Trunk Road that connected the two cities of Sāketa and Kauśāmbī, Vārāṇasī and Pāṭaliputrā. Curiously, the *Kāśikā* mentions Kauśāmbī as the starting-point of a journey instead of Sāketa mentioned by Patañjali, though both retain Pāṭaliputra as the other end of the journey. "There may be a personal and psychological reason involved in this difference between the two grammarians. Each was perhaps thinking of his own native city forming the centre of his geographical horizon" [My Note in *Indian Culture*, II, 2].

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The *Arthaśāstra* on Roads. The *Arthaśāstra* follows in the wake of all this earlier evidence.

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According to Kauṭilya [VII. 12], Trade-routes (*Vaṇikpatha*) are to be established as ways of profit.

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Water-ways. One view is that, of trade-routes by land, and by water, the water-route is preferable as yielding more profit on the ground that transport of goods by water costs less money and less labour (*alpavyaya-vyāyāmaḥ prabhūtapanyodayaścha*).

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Kauṭilya does not agree to this view. In his opinion, water-route does not admit of any way to help in danger (*saṁruddhagati vipadi sarvato-niruddhagamanah*). It cannot be used in all weathers (*asarvakālikaḥ*) (‘such as rains’), is more exposed to risks, without remedies against them.

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Kauṭilya classifies waterways into (1) ways along the coast (*Kūla-patha*), (2) ways through mid-ocean (to foreign countries) (*Saṁyāna-patha*). Of these, again, he prefers the former as a source of greater profit for its access to many port-towns (*Panya-paṭṭana-bāhulyāt*).

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The river is a third water-way. This also has some points in its favour. It is without break and not exposed to serious risks.

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Roads of Traffic. As to land-routes, their broad division is into (1) *Haimavata*, or *Uttarāpatha*, the road which leads to the northern snows; (2) *Dakshiṇāpatha*.

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*Uttarāpatha*. One view holds the Haimavata route better, as it gives access to more profitable things (*sāravattarāḥ*), such as elephants, horses, the rare article *kastūrī* or musk (*gandhaḥ kastūrī*), ivory, skins, silver and gold.

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*Dakshiṇāpatha.* But Kauṭilya, though a Northerner, stands up for the South. He says that 'if the southern route does not lead to countries from which come blankets (*kambala*), skins, or animals like horses, it brings in far more valuable products like conch-shells, diamonds, gems, pearls and gold. The southern road, moreover, leads through many mines (*bahu-khaniḥ*) and lands yielding valuable commodities (*sārapaṇyaḥ*), and does not mean risky or difficult travelling' (*prasiddhagatiḥ alpavyāyāmaḥ*).

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On the same ground of profit, Kauṭilya wants the State to provide the country with roads for cart-traffic (*chakra-patha*) by which much merchandise can be always carried (*vipulārambhatvāt*). He also recommends the tracks for beasts of burden like asses and camels [*Ib.*].

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**Different Classes of Roads.** Kauṭilya [II. 4] speaks of various classes of roads in the country such as:

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(1) *Rāja-mārga*, or the king's way, highway;

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(2) the provincial roads leading to different administrative head-quarters such as *Sthānīya-patha*;

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(3) *Droṇamukha-patha*;

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(4) *Rāshṭra-patha*, leading to the rural areas; or

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(5) *Vivīta-patha* leading to the pasture lands on the country side; and other classes of roads called

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(6) *Saṁyānīya-patha* leading to market towns (*Saṁyānīyaṁ kraya-vikraya-vyavahāra-pradhānaṁ paṭṭanam tatpathaḥ*);

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(7) *Vyūhapatha*, the path for the army;

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(8) *Setupatha* leading to irrigated fields;

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(9) *Vanapatha*, the path to the forests;

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(10) *Hastipatha*, the path for elephants;
(11) *Kshetrapatha*, leading to cultivated fields;
(12) *Rathapatha*, the road for chariots;
(13) *Paśupatha*, the track for cattle;
(14) *Kshudrapashupatha*, the track for smaller animals like sheep etc; and lastly;
(15) *Manushyapatha*, the path for men.

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Merchandise. All these various roads brought to markets commodities of different kinds from all parts of the country from which they were derived, from out of the way places like mines and forests.

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Pearls. For instance, pearls of different varieties came from distant places like the Tāmraparṇī river in the Pāṇḍya country, at the place where the river falls into the sea (*Samudrasaṅgamapradeśe samutpannam*); Pāṇḍya-Vāṭaka, the hill known as Malayakoṭi Parvata; the river Pāsīkā near Pāṭaliputra; the river known as Kulā in Ceylon; the river Chūrṇī in the Kerala country; the hill called Mahendra; the river called Kardamā in Persia; the river Srāutasī; the lake (*hrada*) known as Śrīghaṇṭa; and the Himalayas (*Hemavata*).

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Gems. Gems (*Mani*) were gathered in from the mountains known as Koṭi and Mālā and from the hill called Rohaṇa in Ceylon (*Pāra-samudrakaḥ pārasamudraḥ Simhaladvīpastho Rohaṇādriḥ tajjaḥ*).

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Diamonds. Diamonds came from Sabhārāshṭra, the name of the Vidarbha country; Madhyamarāshtṛa which is the Kosala country; Kāstīra-rāshṭra; the hill called Śrīkaṭana; Maṇimantaka, a hill in the Uttarāpatha; and Indravānaka, a hill in the Kaliṅga country.

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Corals. Corals were obtained from the place called Alakanda, a sea-port in the lands of the Barbaras; Vivarṇa, a place on the beach in the island of the Yavanas.

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Fragrant Woods. There was trade in fragrant woods like sandal (*chandana*), aloe (*agaru*) or or *kāleyaka*. Most of these were the products of Kāmarūpa or Assam.

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Skins. There was a large trade in skins of different kinds derived from places like Kāntanāva and Preya which are the regions of the Himalayas (*Uttaraparvata*). Skins of varieties called Bisī and Mahābisī came from twelve noted Himalayan villages inhabited by Mlechchhas (*Dvādaśagrāmīye*). Various kinds of skin came from another Himalayan region known as Āroha.

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Another country on the Himalayas named Bāhlava was the source of other varieties of skins.

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Lastly, there was trade in the skins of aquatic animals.

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Blankets. There was considerable trade in blankets of wool. Nepal is mentioned as a source of good blankets; of rain-proof (*varshāvāraṇam*) blankets made up of eight pieces joined together and of black colour, known as Bhingisī; as well as blankets known as *Apasāraka*.

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Silk. The *dukūla* (white silk garments) came from Vaṅga; Puṇḍra in northern Bengal supplied the stuff called *Paūṇḍraka*, while the place called Suvarṇakuḍḍa in Assam was also known for its silk.

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Linen. *Kshauma* or Linen came from the country called Kāśi, and from Puṇḍra.

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Fibrous garments (*Patrorṇāḥ*) were the products of Magadha, Puṇḍra, and Suvarṇalukuḍḍa.

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Of the same kind are the garments known as *Kauśeya* (produced in the country called *Kośakāra*) and *Chīnapaṭṭa* (*Chīnabhūmijaḥ*). V. R. R. Dikshitar proposes to identify *Chīna* with *Shina*, a Gilgit tribe known for its manufacture of silk [*Mauryan Polity*, p. 7].

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Textiles. Cotton fabrics (*Kārpāsikam*) of the best quality were produced at the following places: Madhurā, the capital of Pāṇḍya country; Aparānta (Koṅkaṇa); Kaliṅga; Kāśī; Vaṅga; Vatsya; Māhishmatī, the capital of Kuntala country.

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Urban Life. Urban life had its own amenities like life in a village. These were offered by a number of institutions of different kinds. Every city had its rest-houses for travellers (*Dharmāvasathas*), its factories where worked its artists (*Śilpī*) and craftsmen, its shops, its vintners (*Śauṇḍikāḥ*), its restaurants offering meals of cooked meat (*pakkvamāṁsa*), rice (*odana*), and cake (*āpūpa*), and its taverns (*pānaśālā*). It had many public amusements like theatrical performances (*prekshā*), music, vocal, and instrumental, exhibition of acting, dancing, jugglery (*chakra-chara*), sorcery (*kuhaka*), storytelling, rhapsody, gymnastics, painting and the like, which were all given by its various classes of artists trained in its Schools of Art maintaned by the State [II. 36; II. 27; IV, 4].

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The city's learning and culture were represented by persons noted for their knowledge, their oratorical gifts, their spirituality, who were all given the highest honours and allowances for their maintenance (*Vidyā-Vākya-Dharma-Śūra* [XIII, 5]. We have already seen how religion and learning were endowed by grants of land made tax-free and in perpetuity (*adaṇḍa-karāṇi abhirūpadāyakāni*) by the State to their votaries named (1) *Ritvik*, (2) *Āchārya*, (3) *Purohita* and (4) *Śrotriya* [II. 1]. The State also bestowed stipends of honour (*pūjā-vetanāni*) upon the teachers of music (*Āchāryāḥ Gandharvāchāryāḥ*) and the men of learning (*vidyāvantah*) in the city whose services were always at the disposal of the public (*sarvopasthāyinaḥ*). The stipends were granted in accordance with merit (*yathārham*) [V. 3].

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Coins. The Maurya empire was based upon a money-economy.

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The literary references to the use of coins are older than their actual finds.

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The Vedic term for a coin is taken to be *Nishka* *Rv.* I, 126, 2].

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The *Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad* speaks of a gift made to Yājñavalkya in the form of five *pādas* of gold with which the horns of 1000 cows were hung, a total gift of 10,000 *pādas*. Weights of gold and probably a gold currency are indicated in such terms as *Ashṭāprud* [*Kāṭhaka Samhitā*, Chapter XI, 1,] or *Śatamāna* defined as "a weight of 100 *kṛishṇalas*" [*Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, V. 5, 5, 16]. The *Śatapatha* [XII. 2, 3. 2] also refers to payment of sacrificial fee in terms of gold (*hiraṇya*). whether *Suvarṇa* or *Śatamāna*.

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We also read of gold (*hiraṇya*) being obtained from the beds of rivers like the Indus [*Rv.* X, 75, 8], or extracted from the earth [*Av.* XII, 1, 6, 26. 44] or from ore by smelting [*Śata Br.* VI, 1, 3, 5] or from washings [*Ib.* II, 1, 1, 5].

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Pāṇini (c. 500 B.C.) in his Grammar testifies to the continued use of some of these Vedic terms for coins. He knows of the gold coins *Nishka*, *Śatamāna* and *Suvarṇa*. Things valued in terms of *Nishka* are called *Naishkika*, *Dvinaishkika*, and so forth [V. 1, 20; 30]. A man of 100 *Nishkas* was called a *Naishka-Śātika*, a man of thousand a *Naishka-Sāhasrika* [V. 2, 119].

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An article bought for 1 *Śatamāna* is called a *Śātamānam* [V. I, 27].

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It is interesting to note that Mr. Durga Prasad of Benares (whose recent death is a great loss to Indian Numismatics), who had specialised in the study of punchmarked silver coins and handled thousands of them so far discovered, ascertained that 39 silver coins which were found in the earliest layers at Taxila weighed 100 *rattis* each=180 grains. These coins cannot be taken to be the double Persian *sigloi* mentioned below, for the Persian *sigloi* weighed not more than 36.45 grains and a double weighed 172.9 grains. They, therefore, are to be taken as indigenous coins called aptly *Satamāna* coins in our texts. It may be further assumed that weights of these coins followed a decimal system. The *Śatamānas* had their *Pādas* which may also be identified with certain broad pieces punched with 4 symbols and weighing 25 *rattis* or 1/4 of *Śatamanas*.

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Pāṇini also refers to objects valued in terms of *Suvarṇa* taken as a coin [IV. 3, 153; VI. 2, 55].

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He also knows of a gold coin *Sāṇa* [V. 1, 35].

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In the *Charaka-Saṁhitā* (Kalpa-Sthāna, XII. 89) 1 *sāṇa*=4 *māshas*.

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Kauṭilya, as we have seen [II. 14], takes 1 *Suvarṇa*=16 *Māshas* and a *pāda* of *Suvarṇa*=4 *māshas*, the equivalent of a *Sāṇa*.

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The *Kārshāpaṇa*, the established coin of ancient India, is fully known to Pāṇini who refers to transactions made in terms of money taken to be the *Kārshāpaṇa* [V. 1, 21; 27; 29; 34].

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He also knows of 1|2 (*ardha*) and 1|4 (*pāda*) as denominations of *Kārshāpaṇa* [V. 1, 48; 34].

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*Kārshāpaṇa*, as the standard coin, was in silver. Kauṭilya uses the form *paṇa*.

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Pāṇini again knows of the small coin called *Māsha* [V. 1, 34]. Kauṭilya takes *Māsha* as 1|16 of *Kārshāpaṇa*, and as a copper coin [II. 19]. It would be too small in size in silver, though even some specimens of the silver *Māsha* have been found at some places like Taxila. Therefore, as a copper coin, it admitted of smaller denominations known as 1|2 *Māshaka*, 1 *Kākaṇi*=1|4 *Māsha* and 1|2 *Kākaṇi*=1|8 *Māsha*. *Kākaṇi* and *Ardhakākaṇi* are known to Kātyāyana [Varttika on V. 1, 33] and also to Patañjali.

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Pāṇini also uses the term *Viṁśatika* in terms of *Kārshāpaṇa* of twenty parts. This coin was in circulation in the country in some parts, along with the *Kārshāpaṇa* of 16 parts, as known to Kauṭilya.

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It appears that Mr. Durga Prasad found coins weighing 40 and 60 *rattis* corresponding to 20 and 30 *Māshas*, 1 *Māsha* being =2 *rattis* of silver. These coins may thus be taken as examples of coins called aptly by Pāṇini *Viṁśatika* and *Triṁśatika* coins as known in his day.

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It may be noted that the *Vinayapiṭaka* [*Aṭṭhakathā* II *Parājika*] furnishes the information that "at that time (of Bimbisāra or Ajātasattu), at Rājagaha, there was in circulation the *Kārshāpaṇa* of twenty *Māshakas* (*Viṁsatimāsako Kahāpaṇo*), whence the *Pāda* was five *Māshakas*. Buddhaghosha in his *Samantapāsādikā* dubs this coin as *Nīlakāhāpaṇa* and further states that the coin in circulation in the capital of the empire became the current coin in all its provinces (*Sabbajanapadeshu*). It is also stated that the coin was fashioned in accordance with the specifications of the old technical numismatic *Śāstra* (*Purāṇa-Śāstra*) [C. D. Chatterji in *Buddhistic Studies*, pp. 384-386].

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Patañjali [on. Pāṇini I. 2. 64] refers to the *Kārshāpaṇa* of 16 *Māshas* as being older (*purākalpa*) than the one of 20 *Māshas* with which he was apparently more familiar, Kautilya knows of this older *Kārshāpaṇa* as the standard of his days but refers to another silver coin called *Dharaṇa* of 20 parts. Both varieties of *Kārshāpaṇa* seem to have been in circulation in different local areas in the country. It may be noted that the Buddhist tradition cited above regards the coin of 20 *Māshas* as being older than that of 16 *Māshas*.

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Thousands of actual examples of the silver *Kārshāpaṇa* have been found in different parts of India and are designated now as punch-marked coins. Their average weight is 32 *Raktikās*=56 grains. This agrees with the standard mentioned by Kauṭilya, Manu [VIII. 136] or Yājñavalkya I. 364] and also in *Sāratthadīpanī* where the weight of a ‘Rudradāmaka’ coin=42 grains is stated to be 3|4 of a *purāṇa* (old) *Kārshāpaṇa* [*Buddhistic Studies, Ib.*].

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Pāṇini uses the term *rūpa* [V. 2, 120] and explains the formation *rūpya* as ‘beautiful’ or ‘stamped’ (*āhata*). The latter sense applies to a coin. The *Arthaśāstra* takes the term *rūpa* in the sense of a coin alone and mentions an officer known as *Rūpadarśaka*, ‘the examiner of coins,’ as we have already seen. It is interesting to note that Patañjali in commenting on *Vārttika* on Pāṇini’s sūtra, I, 4, 52, refers to a *Rūpatarka* ‘who examines (*darśayati*) the *kārshāpaṇas*’. It may be also recalled that Kauṭilya uses the terms *Rūpyarūpa* and *Tāmrarūpa* for silver and copper coins.

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We shall now turn to the actual specimens of ancient Indian coins discovered so far.

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The oldest variety has been found in the parts of India in the northwest which belonged to the Achaemenian Persian empire in the sixth and fifth century B.C. Some of these coins were found in an early layer at Taxila along with a gold coin of Diodotus (250 B.C.), and, in another stratum, with the coins of Alexander the Great, looking “fresh from the mint,” and one Achaemenid *siglos* of the 4th Century B.C. These weigh, as we have seen, 100 *ratis*=180 grains on an average. The *sigloi* weighs 86.45 grains, while the Attic standard=67.5 grains.

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These coins are “thick, slightly bent bars of silver, stamped with wheel or sunlike designs resembling the 6 armed symbol to be seen on the later punch-marked silver coins, while they form only a single type” [Allan, *Catalogue of the Coins of Ancient India*, xv, xvi].

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It was probably these pieces in which Āmbhi, the king of Taxila, had paid to Alexander his present of what the Greek writers describe as “80 talents of coined silver” [Curtius, VIII. 12, 42].

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According to Durga Prasad [*JRASB*, Numismatic Supplement, XLVII, p. 76], these older per-Maurya coins are struck on a standard of 100 *rattis* as against the later Maurya coins of standard 32 *rattis* weight. This confirms the truth of the *Vinayapiṭaka* that the older *Kārshāpaṇa* of 20 *Māshakas* was of lesser weight.

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Next, a hoard of coins was found at a deep stratum in Golakhpur at the site of ancient Pāṭaliputra. These are taken to be the earliest known punch-marked silver coins and to be pre-Maurya, perhaps, Nanda, coins. They bear a pre-Maurya symbol, 'the hare or dog on hill', which may be taken as the Nanda symbol. It may be noticed that many of these were punched by the Mauryas with their own symbol to make them 'legal tender,' or *kośa-praveśya*, as Kauṭilya calls them, as contrasted with the coinage current among the public for purposes of business transactions and aptly called by Kauṭilya *vyavahārikī paṇya-yātrā*, as we have already seen. We may recall that the *Kāśikā* mentions a tradition about Nandas inaugurating a royal measure (*Nandopakramāṇi mānāni*) [II. 4, 21; VI. 2, 14], while their proverbial wealth as mentioned in literature may be due to their new coinage and currency system.

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Following the Golakhpur find in the chronological order is a vast body of silver punch-marked coins found in thousands in different parts of India, from Panjab to Malwa, and from C.P. to the Deccan and up to Madras and Mysore. These may be grouped under six classes in accordance with the variations in their symbols and marks. Yet they are all struck on a common standard, that of 32 *rattis*=56 grains, like the *paṇa* or *dharaṇa*. Another common feature they present is that "they have regularly on one side a group of five punches found in a great variety of combinations, and on the reverse have one or more punches, normally different from those found on the obverse" [*Ib.* xiii].

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The five punches on the obverse show figures of (1) Sun, (2) Circle with 6 arms, 3 arrow-heads, and 3 taurine symbols, (3) Mountain, (4) Peacock, dog (or rabbit), or tree on a hill, (5) Animals, such as elephant, bull, dog seizing a rabbit, rhino, and even fishes and frogs, and, in some cases, sacred tree within a railing (perhaps a mark of Buddhist influence which was so widespread in the time of Asoka Maurya) [*Ib.* XX f.].

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The symbols on the reverse of these coins are only the marks of punching made by authorities and shroffs in checking them. It may be assumed that the larger the number of these punch-marks, the older must be the coins. This may supply a clue to the dating of these coins.

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It may be noted that Kauṭilya's Mint-Master called *Lakshaṇādhyaksha* was in charge of the *Lakshaṇas* to be imprinted on the imperial coins. Coins in circulation had also to be checked from time to time and this was done by the *Rūpadarśaka* who punched his test marks each time on them. This means increase in the number of these test marks on the reverse, of which the maximum has been found to be 14 so far. Coins bearing larger number of marks appear to be older and more worn out.

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It is difficult to comprehend fully the meaning of these symbols and punch-marks. That they have a meaning is indicated by Buddhaghosa who mentions in the *Samantapāsādika* the ancient numismatic treatise known as *Rūpasutta* as stating how a moneyer (*Heraññako*) could spot the village, the *nigama* or the *nagara*, and even the mint where a coin was manufactured, in the light of its marks, and whether it was ‘on a hill or on the bank of a river’ (*nadītīre vā*) [*Buddhistic studies*, p. 432]. These puzzling punch-marks Buddhaghosa describes as *chitta-vichitta*, “of various designs and forms” [*Ib.*]. The mother of the boy Upāli was full of fears that his eyes would be spoilt, if he chose the profession of a shroff [*Mahāvagga*, SBE, xiii. 201, f]. Indeed, all eyes would suffer to this day if applied to find out the meaning of the bewildering punch-marks borne by these ancient Indian coins to which the key is lost in the absence of the old *Rūpasuttas*!

c15.153

Of the six Classes into which these coins are grouped, it is to be noted that Classes 2 and 6 are more closely connected and taken to be Maurya on grounds explained below. Indeed, a careful examination of the various symbols and marks borne by these numerous punch-marked silver coins found in so many parts of India, together with the evidence that they were in circulation in the country in the fourth, third, and second centuries B.C., suggests the conclusion that they were “the coins of the Maurya Empire.” “That these coins were issued by a government authority and not by private individuals, there is not the slightest doubt. Only a central authority could have carried out such an apparently complicated, but no doubt—if we had the clue—simple, system of stamping the coins in regular series.

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