Economic and Social History of Ancient India

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The economy is inextricably linked with our daily lives. In Ancient India also there was no exception. This economic trend has changed at different times Like the reshuffle of power, the change in the course of economy was also noticeable The wheel of the economy was sometimes upward and sometimes downward Sometimes the wheel of the economy was the cause of power shifting. Because the economically powerful rulers wanted to seize power by invading his neighboring states That's why the rulers wanted to run the economy of his state smoothly. One of the policy makers of the Ancient India like Maurya, Gupta, or whatever the period was depended on how active the economy of that period was. This book has been written on the basis of reviewing some related literature, articles written on the basis of Ancient India Although there are many primary sources written on Ancient India, but those sources do not deciphered, so for this research I have to rely more on the secondary sources. Data has been collected from all these sources and after verified those I used them in my present research. Due to the scarcity of information on Ancient India, some limitations had to be met in completing the research. Secondary sources of data have been used in this research which collected from various types of articles, books, thesis paper and so on. All kind of secondary sources have been considered as data collection tools based on economic system of Ancient India Special attention should be given for making this research more effective, successful and target oriented First of all collected data has been processed, analyzed and interpreted for research findings.

Amitava Khare is a historian along with guest lecturer for various universities across India. He holds a PhD in Ancient History from the Shivaji University. His research interests include economic history, social history, and caste studies. Khare's research has been published in leading academic journals, such as Economic and Political Weekly, The Indian Economic and Social History Review, and The Journal of Asian Studies. He is a frequent contributor to policy journals and op-ed platforms. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Indian Economic and Social History Review. Additionally, he has been invited to present his work at prestigious seminars and conferences, where he has engaged in insightful discussions and fostered collaborations with experts in the field.

The economy is inextricably linked with our daily lives. In Ancient India also there was no exception. This economic trend has changed at different times. Like the reshuffle of power, the change in the course of economy was also noticeable. The wheel of the economy was sometimes upward and sometimes downward. Sometimes the wheel of the economy was the cause of power shifting. Because the economically powerful rulers wanted to seize power by invading his neighboring states. That's why the rulers wanted to run the economy of his state smoothly. One of the policy makers of the Ancient India like Maurya, Gupta, or whatever the period was depended on how active the economy of that period was. The issue of competence or incompetence of the rulers was also involved with that. Also the role of the common people of Ancient India was very important to keep the economy active. Since the economy of the Ancient India was mainly dependent on agriculture, the common people were more involved in it. Besides that, the foreign affairs of Ancient India were also involved with economics. The present research will be conducted to highlight those economic aspects of the Ancient India. Through which we hope to find out a clear direction of the economic situation of that time. So, how the rulers, the common people, the power and the economy have influenced each other and how important their influence is today that topic is the main thing of this book.

People lived in tens of thousands of villages and hundreds of towns and cities, scattered across the sub-continental geography. Division of work in a rural economy created as many occupational groups in the society. The village economy was organically integrated. Population had intense faith in its rivers, mountains, Gods and Goddesses. A tank and temple was the economic and social fulcrum of the Hindu society. The arrival of Buddha and Mahavira introduced new religions. Broadly speaking, there was harmony and co-existence, in the beginning. Starting from 6 th century CE or so, the two faiths came into conflict. Status of women was quite high in the family as well as society. But from 6th century onwards, it went down precipitously. Sati came to be practiced from 6 th century onwards. Temple architecture bloomed across India. Thanjavur, Madurai, Kailashnath at Ajanta and Ellora, Dilwara and Vimlavashi in Rajasthan, Nalanda, Vikramshila, Khajuraho and Konark are living examples of the glory of those days. Medicine, surgery, astronomy and mathematics was well developed. Aryabhatta, Varahimihira and Shushruta are well known names. The concepts of zero, decimal numerals, square root, cube root and quadratic equations were known. From social system to almost everything of a state depends on the economic conditions of that state. The subject is no exception in Ancient time, as it applies today. Even in the present time economic crisis and economic recession are often observed. Also in Ancient times the economy was severely affected by this incompetence of the rulers, epidemics, natural disasters etc. Again the issue of economic prosperity was also observed. According to the division of eras, there is a scarcity of sources of knowledge about Ancient India between Ancient, Medieval and Modern Bengal. Again some sources of Ancient India have been found which have not been deciphered till now. That is why it is very difficult to search for information about Ancient India. Keeping in mind all kinds of limitations attempts are made to know about Ancient India. I have had to take help from several books and articles to work on the current book. After reading books and articles I have to collect information from there very carefully. After excluding and including all data from these I use those information in my research. Apart from this, information about the economic condition of that time has also been collected from various coins, land deeds, copper plates etc.

This book has been written on the basis of reviewing some related literature, articles written on the basis of Ancient India. Although there are many primary sources written on Ancient India, but those sources do not deciphered, so for this research I have to rely more on the secondary sources. Data has been collected from all these sources and after verified those I used them in my present research. Due to the scarcity of information on Ancient India, some limitations had to be met in completing the research. Secondary sources of data have been used in this research which collected from various types of articles, books, thesis paper and so on. All kind of secondary sources have been considered as data collection tools based on economic system of Ancient India. Special attention should be given for making this research more effective, successful and target oriented. First of all collected data has been processed, analyzed and interpreted for research findings.

**Contents and Sample Pages**