14 Political, Corporate, and Ritual Economic Processes of Early Historic South Asia

Abstract

This chapter explains the economic profile of early South Asia by framing production, consumption, and distribution within their sociopolitical contexts. Here, I emphasize the importance of the plurality of social-political and religious agencies, discuss the interaction between various actors, and explore various strategies of interaction as the stimulants of both economic changes and the development of networks. Interaction through the coordination and counterbalancing of the economic impacts of various actors led to economic change and development in the period between 300  and 300 . Broadly, economic development is visible in the processes of production and connectivity. An increase in production (and possibly productivity) is indicated by reliance on specialized methods of irrigation that increased production, especially of commercial agricultural goods; the presence of a greater variety of specialized crafting associations; the volume of ceramics found in excavation; and intensive monetization of various regions. Indices for increased connectivity of early historic South Asia are the increased number and greater size of urban settlements; development of ports alongside their regional hinterland and satellite settlements; and more intense use of particular corridors and highways due to the intensive commercial and social travel by both inland and sea routes. Owing to regional diversity in terms of physical geography, the nature of polities, and social norms, the changes just outlined were neither uniform nor occurred at the same pace throughout the subcontinent. Similarly, the indices of economic changes differ in intensity as well as extent. For example, the history and development of cities and their satellite settlements in the northern alluvial plain differed from that in parts of the Deccan plateau and the Western Ghats. Similarly, the monetary practices of the northern and western regions were different from those in the economies of the south in terms of the intensity of circulation of locally produced coins. While great regional difference was undeniable, we must also be mindful of the diversity of source material available to us. At times, the sources allow deep insights into specific economic processes and developments, while they remain silent on many issues. It is, therefore, impossible to work out a general narrative of the economy of early historic India as a whole. This is not a problem of the quantity of source material, which is rich and abundant. We have both indigenous and for-