In the pre-Mauryan period, the early pastoral economy of the Ganges valley had changed to a village economy based on agriculture. This brought with it an element of permanency in the village settlements as against the nomadism of the pastoralists. Agrarian village communities became the general pattern. This was a natural step after the forests spread from the Ganges valley [...]
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. The State had a large part of the agriculture of the country directly in its own hands in its [...]
In this article we will discuss about the trade practices adopted by Maurya empire. 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 [...]