Trade
and Commerce in Ancient India
In
the earlier days of human activities a man produced what he actually required
for his consumption, but in course of time, he produced more than what he
actually needed. This led to 'exchange' of commodities and services between man
and man. Formerly the exchange was in the form of 'barter'-wherein goods were
exchanged for goods and services.13
Trade,
which was the natural corollary of surplus production by an individual, grew
more and more with large-scale production in fields and factories.14
Classification
Trade
can be broadly classified under the following heads:-
1.
Inland trade
2.
Foreign trade
Inland
Trade
Inland
trade, as its name denotes, is carried on within the geographical limits of a
country. It may be local, in which case, the surplus produce of a village or a
town is sold in the village or town itself. It may be zonal or inter-state when
articles produced in one zone or State are traded with those of other zones or
States.15
Foreign
Trade
When
goods of one country are traded with those of other countries, such trade is
termed foreign trade or external trade. In modern times we find large-scale
foreign trade in almost every country.16
Foreign
trade is 'Export trade, when the surplus goods of a country are sent to other
countries for sale, and 'Import trade', when commodities are purchased and
brought from a foreign market to the home country.17
Trade
in Ancient India
We
find ample evidences of large-scaleboth trade inland and foreign trade in
ancient India as depicted in Jaina canonical literature. The surplus
agricultural, industrial and other products were marketed not only locally and
internally but also in distant foreign lands. Trade centres developed and
merchants as a class grew up.
The
Jaina texts give a vivid account of the trading activities of the merchants of
those times. Local trade was carried on in one regular way. Trade within the
State as well as inter-state trade exist ed. Commodities brought from the
village of the same State were called 'Sadesgāmāhaḍaṁ'
and those brought from the villages of other States were known as 'Paradesagāmāhaḍaṁ'. 18
Trade
in ancient India was mostly carried on by the merchants as sole traders. The
reference, “paṁca vaṇiyāsambhāgasamāittā
vavaharaṁti”,19 tells us about five merchants carrying on trade
by putting an equal share (samabhāga).
This means that partnership as a form of business organisation was known to
people. The traders were generally united under trade guilds known as 'seṇi' (sreṇis) headed by seṭṭhis
(sreṣṭhis). The Jaina canonical
texts refer to guilds of goldsmiths20, painters, etc.
Trade
Commodities
From
the description given in Jaina texts it seems that trading was carried out in
various types of commodities. This has been graphically described in the words,
"Gaṇimaṁjāiphalafofalāi,
dharimaṁ tukuṁkumaguḍāi, mejjaṁ copaḍa loṇāi, rayaṇa-vatthāiṁ
paricchejjaṁ".21Accordingly articles for trade were
divided into the following categories22:-
Gaṇima: The articles which could be counted e.g.
betel nuts (pagaphala), coconut,
scented nut (jaiphala), etc.
Dharima: Those which could be weighed e.g. sugar (sakkara) or gada, pepper (pippali),
saffron (kumkum) etc.
Meya or Mejja: Those which could be measured e.g. rice,
oil, ghee (ghrata), salt (lona), etc.
Pariccheija: Those whose value could be ascertained by
scrutiny e.g. jewels, cloths, etc.
Internal
Trade Routes
The
important cities and towns of ancient India were connected either by land
routes (roads) or by waterways which were used for internal trade.
Land
Routes
Lord
Mahavira and many of his disciples travelled to different cities like Rājagṛha,
Campā, Vaisali, Sravasti, Varanasi, etc. which were connected by land routes
at that time. These towns of Eastern India had trade relations with West India up
to Sind and Kashmir and as such these towns must have been well-connected with
roads. The movement of Lord Mahavira from Rajagṛha and suburb of Nalanda to
different places like Kundagrāma, Alabhiya, Sravasti, Vaisali, Mithila,Campa,
etc.23 shows that some sort of land routes did exist in certain
parts of the country.24
Water
Routes
Besides
land routes, the rivers also provided useful transport facilities for internal
trade. The five important navigable rivers mentioned are the Ganges, Yamuna,
Sarju, Kosika and Mahi.25Other rivers like Sindhu, Iravati, Venna26,
etc. have also been mentioned in the text which served as means of
communication.
Boats
of different sizes and shapes were used in the river transport These were
commonly termed 'nāva' or 'pota'.27 They have also
been mentioned as agatthiya,antarandakagoliya,
koncaviraga28, etc. Boat sailing along the currents of the water
have been described as 'anusrotogamini'
while those sailing against the currents as 'pratilomagāminis'29a
Boats going across the river straight to the other bank were known as ‘Tiriccha’.30
Coastal
Trading
The
canonical texts provide ample references of coastal trading in those days. The UttaradhyayanaSutram mentions about a
merchant named Palita (Paliya) of Campa, also a great scholar of religion and
philosophy carrying on coastal trading by ships.31 He went to the
town of Pihuṇḍa/Pithunda (near Kalingapattam32) for trade and was
married there to a Vaisya girl. 33
This
reference leads us to believe that the traders in ancient India carried on
coastal trade. They went out into the sea with boats and sailing ships laden
with trade cargo and sold them at huge profits. There was a kind of boat
sailing from one shore to another which was called 'tiryak-saṁtariṇi.34
Trade and Commerce in
Kuvalayamalakaha
The
original book 'Kuvalayamalakaha'authored
byUdyotansuri in Prakrit language gives a detailed view of the cultural life of
India of the seventh-eighth century CE. It throws light upon the trade
relations of India with the foreign countries. Traders travelled far and wide traversing
the water and land routes. The text further mentions that the prosperity of the
society was based on the progress of commerce and trade. All kinds of means,
good and bad, were prevalent for earning money. It provided double benefits in cross-country
migration, sea transfer and partner trade. In local trade, market streets and
markets were the main centers of buying and selling. Vijayapuri in the south,
Varanasi in the north and Soparak and Pratisthan in the west were the backbone
of domestic and foreign trade.35
In
ancient India, commerce occupied a prominent place among the means of earning
money. In the society of that time, there was a lot of trade, both local and
foreign. Various and detailed information related to commerce and trade is
available in Kuvalayamalakaha, which
makes the nature of the economic life of that time clear.36
Business
Trip Preparation
In
Kuvalayamalakaha, there is a detailed
description of the visit by Dhandev, the merchant son of Takshashila, to
SoparakMandi in Dakshinapath (Article
128).37Mayaditya and Sthanu had also prepared for PratisthanMandi in Dakshinapath. From these
incidents, the following information is obtained regarding preparation for a
business trip38-
1. To fulfill the
efforts of religion and work, it is necessary for every person to earn money.
2. The happiness of
earning money through one's own muscle power is special, even if there is
immense wealth in the house.
3. It was considered
best to do charity and charitable work with the money earned through one’s own
muscle power.
4. It was necessary to
take father’s permission while earning money.
5. Travelling to
Dakshinapath was difficult. Therefore, the businessman's father protects his
son from possible difficulties. He informed them about efficient ways to avoid
them and gave them permission to travel.
6. Before starting the
journey, the favourite deities were worshipped.
7. Necessary items
were taken along.
8. Advice was taken by
sharing information with other traders.
9. Workers were
collected.
10. The merchant sons
used to reach their destination by crossing many rivers, mountains and
horse-drawn vehicles. The characters of Kuvalayamala,
Mayaditya and Sthanu, pass through there disguised in fear of thieves.39
Tradition
of Welcome Traders to the Markets
From
the description of Kuvalayamalakaha,
it is known that there was a group (category) of local traders of SoparakMandi, in which it was the custom that
any foreign trader or local trader who went to any country for business,
whatever goods he sold or bought there. He should come and narrate in this
group the details of whatever profit and loss he has incurred. If he accepts
the welcome of fragrance, tambol, flowers etc. from the group, then later he
should go back to his country. This custom hascontinued from the time of the
ancestors of the traders till now. 40
Purpose
of the Sea Voyage
Four
incidents of sea voyages are described in Kuvalayamalakaha.
The stories ofSarthvahaputraDhandev,
three lost travelers,Sagardutt and his two merchant sons present special
material on the subject of sea travel. In all these cases the purpose of the
sea voyage is to earn immense wealth. Somdev, after hearing about Soparak
earning immense wealth through Ratnadweep's
visit to the business community, gets ready to travel there himself, so that he
too can earn more money. (Article 130)41 The merchant of
Prataliputra, despite being as rich as Kuber, goes on a journey to Ratnadweep to earn money.42
"Sagardutt considers the business of sea voyage appropriate to earn seven
crore rupees with his own hands.43Two sons of the merchant joined
the seafaring merchants out of greed for wages.
Considering the purpose of earning money in sea voyages, it seems that
Indian traders had become familiar with the splendor of the Arab market in the
seventh-eighth century CE. The competition had thus awakened in their minds the
desire to accumulate wealth and luxuries. Due to this, Indian shipping had
developed significantly.
Different
Flag
There
is a description of an incident in Kuvalayamalakaha
in which three Sarthavaha ships get
wrecked on the same island after wandering separately. While going from Pataliputra
to Ratnadweep, the ship of a merchant
named Dhan breaks down on the way. He somehow manages to reach Kudangdweep with the help of a plank.
This island was full of many predatory animals and the fruits here were bitter
and it was uninhabited by humans. One day while wandering here, Dhandev sees
another man. On enquiry, it came to light that the merchant had come here
because his ship got wrecked while going to Swarnadweep.
Now both of them started wandering here.44
Those
two travellers were searching for a tree whose fruits were sweet, but they were
disappointed. They found Kadambari trees there, which had no fruits. After some
time, those trees started bearing fruits, which he started protecting with
great care.45
Land
Route
Ancient
Indian land routes developed significantly in the eighth century.46The
prosperity of the inland trade shows that various trade centers of the country
were connected to each other through dharma. Uttarapath and Dakshinapath were
the main routes. Roads to other cities also ran through these, which were used
for business and other travel. Keeping in mind the entire story of Kuvalayamalakaha, many major landmarks
are revealed from the sequence of events. Some of them are as follows-47
1. From Ayodhya to
Vijayapuri (Andhra Pradesh) viaKoshambi, Vindhya Atvi, Narmada River, Sahyaparvat
(Kerala), Chinta-Mani Palli (Karnatka) and Kochi (Kerala).
2. From Kanchi
(RagadaSannivesh) Kaushambi (Chandsom's story, Article 88-89).48
3. Narmada River in
the south direction from Vindhyatvi (Article 205, 206).49
4. From Chintamanipati
(Tamil Nadu) to Bharakchha (Gujarat) and from there to Ayodhya (Article 334).50
5. Champa (Chattisgarh)
to Shravasti (Uttar Pradesh) (Article 185).51
7. Saralpur (West
Bengal) to Hastinapur (Article 395-397).52
Waterways
In
the context of description of sea voyage in Kuvalayamalakaha,
information about the following waterways is found-53
1. Route from Sopparak
to China, (Article 130).54
2. The route from
Sopparak to Mahilarajya (Tibet).
3. Ratnadweep/Lankapuri
(Sri Lanka) to Tardweep.
4. Kaushal (Ayodhya)
to Lankapuri (Sri Lanka) (Article 144).55
5. Kudangdweep on the
way from Pataliputra to Ratnadweep (Article 166).56
6. Jayashreenagari to
Yavandweep (Greek) (Article 186).57
7. The route from
Yavandweep to Chandradweep which takes five days and nights (Article 189).58
8. Sopparak to
Babbarkul (Article 128-129).59
9. Sopparak to
Swarnadweep (Sumatra).60
