Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c11.214

c11.214

That the Mauryan empire had a substantial number of slaves can be inferred from several circumstances. The continuous expansion of Magadha from Bimbisāra to Aśoka, for a period of about three centuries, must have brought in a large number of slaves from the tribal areas to work in the middle Gaṅgā basin. Aśoka captured 150,000 people in the Kaliṅga war,³ but Candragupta, who had overrun the whole country with 600 000 men, may have acquired many more captives. *Dhvajāhṛt* or war captives being an important category of slaves in Kauṭilya⁴ and other sources, it is fair to assume that every war meant acquisition of a large number of slaves. This is understandable because the existence of thick forests prevented any fruitful exploitation of the middle Gaṅgā alluvium before the NBP/iron phase; on the other hand at the initial stage of this phase the non-alluvial peripheral, hilly areas seem to have been more inhabited and hence better suited for the supply of agricultural labour. In the case of Magadha’s conquest of Kosala and Vaiśālī fewer people, though materially advanced, may have been made slaves, but more slaves, mostly tribal and non-brāhmaṇised combatants, may have been obtained from the defeat of Aṅga, Kaliṅga, Aṭavi and Avanti. War was therefore possibly the single greatest factor that contributed to the growth of slavery. Secondly, in the Mauryan period because of standardisation the punch-marked coins seem to have become imperial and their issue seems to have reached its peak, leading to more and more money transactions. This factor may have added to the number of slaves through debt and sale.