The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c12.s9.3

c12.s9.3

'As usual, it is not possible to place many of these works in the proper chronological perspective. Perhaps most of them will have to be placed somewhere between 1300 and 1700. But in Indian literary history every document has its "unwritten" or rather unsystematized and uncompiled or unedited beginnings. The economic (*Vārttā*) treatises of the Hindus also, whether described as *vidyā* (science) or *kalā* (practical art) may perhaps be traced back to the age of Harṣavardhana (606-647). Varāhamihira's (c 506-585) *Brihat Samhitā* leaves no doubt about the existence of *Varttā* materials in the age of the Guptas. It has, besides, to be observed that many of the economic topics dealt with in the treatises of *Vārttāśāstra* are to be found in the *Mahābhārata* and the *Purāṇas* as well as in the *Dharma*-and especially in the '*Artha*-and *Nīti śāstras* whether in connection with the discussions on public finance, functions of the state, demographic structure, social classes, or professional groups.²⁰