The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c18.138

c18.138

The inscriptions bring out very clearly the activity of guilds or *ad hoc* organisations. An inscription from the temple of Garibnâth at Paheva in the district of Karnâl in the Puñjâb, of the year 882-83 A.D., applies the three grand titles to the King Bhoja and his father and then proceeds to narrate how a number of horse-dealers, thirty-three or thirty-four in number, from eight different villages in different regions, entered into an agreement to impose upon themselves certain tithes for distribution among some temples, sanctuaries and priests, in specified proportions.¹ Numerous other inscriptions refer to guilds. Corroborative evidence comes from literature. Commenting on Manu, VIII, 41, in the tenth century A.D. Medhâtithi explained Śreṇi as guilds of merchants, artisans, bankers or priests and thus testified to their existence.