History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c39.s3.21

v1.c39.s3.21

Sifting through the epigraphic records of this period (200 B.C. - 100 A.D.) obtained from western Deccan, Buddhist sites of Bharhut, Sanci and Mathura, Chakravarti came across and compiled (Chakravarti, 1991, pp.305-350) the following list of professionals: carpenter, bamboo-worker, reed-maker, brazier, potter, weaver, cloth-maker, dyer, oilman (extractor of oil from vegetable seeds), garland-maker, perfumer, jeweller, ivory-worker, sculptor, goldsmith, blacksmith etc.; most of the professionals had guilds or banking systems in urban areas. Evidently, caste injunctions could not stifle Indian technology although it imposed barrier to the necessary diffusion of knowledge.