Gupta Economy: Agriculture, Trade and Monetary Policy

The Gupta Empire had a strong economy with good farming, busy trade, and progress in mining. Giving land to some people helped farming but made society uneven. Making gold coins showed how rich and cultured the empire was. Even with problems like taxes and unfair loans, the Gupta Empire stayed strong, leaving behind a legacy of wealth and culture.

Economic Dynamics of the Gupta Empire

• Nitisara: Nitisara, written by Kamandaka, is a text like  Arthasastra which emphasises the importance of the royal treasury and mentions various sources of revenue.

Agriculture

• • Flourishing Agriculture: Agriculture flourished because of the expansion of irrigation.
    • Crops and fields were fenced, and those who indulged in damaging the crops were punished.
  • Crops Cultivated: The crops cultivated during the Gupta period were rice, wheat, barley, peas, lentils, pulses, sugarcane and oil seeds.
    • According to Kalidasa, southern India was famous for Pepper and Cardamom.
    • Varahamihira gave elaborate instructions on the plantation of fruit trees.

• Land Classification During The Gupta Period

• • Kshetra: Cultivable land
  • Khila: Waste land
  • Aprahata: Jungle or Wasteland
  • Vasti: Habitable land
  • Gapata Saraha: Pastoral land

• Irrigation

• • • Dykes: In Narada Smriti, two kinds of dykes were mentioned:
      • Bardhya: which protected the field from floods.
      • Khara: which served the purpose of irrigation.
    • Jalanirgamah: drains constructed to prevent inundation of fields
    • Canal Sources: Canals were constructed not only from rivers but also from tanks and lakes.
    • The most famous lake was Sudarsana Lake at the foot of Girnar Hills in Gujarat.

• Land Grant System

• • • Evolution of Fiscal and Administrative Concessions: The practice of granting fiscal and administrative concessions to priests and administrators was started by Satavahanas, and it became a regular affair in Gupta times.
    • Emergence of Priestly Landlords: The striking development of the Gupta period was the emergence of priestly landlords at the cost of local peasants.
    • Land Grants to Religious Functionaries: Religious functionaries were granted land free of tax forever, but they could collect all the taxes from the peasants. 
    • This brought many new areas under cultivation.
    • Forced Labour: The local peasants and tribals were subjected to forced labour and reduced to serfs because of caste classification.
    • Judicial Authority of Priests: The priests can even punish the criminals in the lands granted to them. 

DIFFERENT TYPES OF LAND GRANTS

DIFFERENT LAND TENURE

Taxation

• Land Taxes: varied from 1/4th to 1/6th of the produce.
• Taxation Reforms: The land taxes, generally called Baga or Bhoga, increased, and those on trade and commerce decreased.
• Vishti: In central and western India, villagers were also subjected to forced labour called ‘Vishti’, which was considered a sort of tax paid by the people. [UPSC 2019].
• Iranyavesti: Gupta inscriptions mention the term Iranyavesti for forced labour.
• The inscriptions related to Vishti were found mostly in the Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar regions. 

Different Kinds of Taxes

Trade

• • Trade Expansion: Both internal and external trade flourished during the Gupta period. The internal trade was carried on by road and through rivers. 
    • Roads were kept safe for travellers, and there was no fear of thieves.
  • Guilds: The Narada and Brihaspati Smritis describe the organisation and activities of guilds, which played an important role economically as well as politically.
  • Two distinctive types of traders called Sresti and Sarthavaha existed.
    • Sresti – settled at a particular place.
    • Sarthavaha – caravan trader who carried his goods to different places.
  • Usury: Lending of money at an exorbitant rate of interest was in practise during the Gupta period
  • Maritime Trade Routes and Ports: As per Fa Hien, Tamralipti was an important port in Bengal that carried on trade with China, Srilanka, Java and Sumatra. 
    • He describes the perils of the sea route between India and China.
  • Other important ports in the Gupta empire were [UPSC 2020]

• Calliena (Kalyan) and Chaul (Maharashtra).

• • Broach and Cambay (Gujarat).
  • Kadura and Ghantasala in the Andhra region.
• Key Markets on the Malabar Coast: The markets of Male (Malabar), Mangarouth (Mangalore), Salopatana, Nalopatana and Pandopatana on the Malabar coast. 

• Decline of Silk Trade: The trade of silk with the Eastern Roman Empire declined around 550 AD as the Roman Empire learnt from the Chinese the art of growing silk.

Mining and Metallurgy

• Mining Activities: The rich deposits of iron ore from Bihar and copper from Rajasthan were mined extensively during this period.
  • Amarasimha, Varahamihira and Kalidasa made frequent mention of the existence of mines.
• Metals Utilized: The list of metals used apart from iron were gold, copper, tin, lead, brass, bronze, bell-metal, mica, manganese, antimony, red chalk (Sanssilajata) and red arsenic.
• Mehrauli Iron Pillar: of King Chandra (identified with Chandragupta II) in the Qutb Minar complex in Delhi manufactured in the 4th century AD have not gathered any rust to date that showcases the craftsmanship of the Gupta era.

Coinage

• • Gold Coinage Under the Guptas: The Guptas issued a large number of Gold coins.
  • Other Coins: Guptas issued comparatively fewer silver and copper coins.

• Post-Gupta period saw a decline in the circulation of gold coins.
• Symbolism and Artistry: Majority of the Gupta coins contain legends and symbols.
  • These coins provide interesting details about the titles and sacrifices performed by the Gupta monarchs. 
  • Goddess Lakshmi is represented as the wife of God Vishnu on the other side of the coins.
  • In design, execution and artistic composition, they closely resemble the Greek and Kushan coins.
  • The coins with the images of Kumaradevi and Chandragupta I were the earliest coins of the Guptas.
• Samudragupta: issued 8 types of gold coins and is represented on his coins playing Lute (veena).
• Chandragupta II and his Successors: issued gold, silver and copper coins.  
• Decline of Gupta Gold Currency: After the middle of the fifth century, the Gupta king made desperate attempts to maintain their gold currency by reducing the content of pure gold in it, but this proved of no avail.

Conclusion

The Gupta Empire had a thriving economy with farming, trade, and mining. While giving land helped farming, it also made some people richer than others. The gold coins they made showed how rich and cultured they were. Despite problems like taxes and bad loans, the Gupta Empire stayed powerful, leaving a rich legacy of wealth and culture.

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