Merchants and state society: Some case studies from early historic period and the ‘threshold times’ (c. 600 bc to ad 700)

Abstract

The history of the evolution of state in India, or any country, cannot be studied in isolation from the evolution of other institutions of society. We are thus entitled to trace the evolution of the ‘state society’ meaning a society that had the state as its major institution; and this further obliges us to trace, among other factors behind the evolution of state, the factor of trade, its organisation and requirements, security being a major factor behind its own growth—one that could only be provided, in its turn, by the state. The present article draws on the varied evidence available to us from the so-called ‘threshold times’, ending c. 1300, on the evolving relationship between the mercantile world and the state. Both literary texts and inscriptions are put to use in our enquiry. It brings into question the widespread assumption that there was a decline of trading activities in the late centuries of the period the article deals with.