Origin and Development of Guilds in Pre Mauryan and Mauryan Period

The sixth century B.C. is unique in ancient Indian history for emergence of the sixteen mahajanapadas which led to the transformation of loyalty from ‘tribal organization to politico-geographical units’. The use of writing helped in the codification of laws and in accountancy, and the introduction of coin-age, in the collection of taxes, payments of wages and also in the development of trade and commerce. The large scale use of iron tools and implements contributed to a considerable development in agriculture production, and transport. Second urbanization brought about improvements in the socioeconomic conditions of traders and artisans. Gradually, cultivators, herdsmen, moneylenders, traders, and artisans had come to from their own organizations to which the state gave recognition, and their spokes men wielded considerable authority, and were consulted by kings. As a result of close association with the king and organization of crafts into guilds there was greater specialization in different branches of industry, e.g., gold, copper, silver and iron objects, earlier manufactured by the same smith, become specialized fields of different smiths. This led to the development of crafts, trade and commerce. According to Nigrodha jataka , some state control over guilds is known from the appointment of Bhandagarika, with ‘judgeship over all guilds’, and also through sreshthis, some of whom were guild heads and visited the king’s court in official or semi-official capacity.

This period witnessed the establishment of a vast and fairly well-knit empire with quite a uniform and efficient system of administration. The Mauryan state regulated trade and commerce and brought under its monopoly the mineral resources of land and controlled to quite some extant the economic activities of production and distribution.

The ‘Arthasastra’ fixes rates of profits on indigenous and foreign goods, meticulously listed dutiable articles and prescribes punishment for violation of rules including artisans, default in the delivery of goods in time. Government officials were to keep records of trades and crafts and related transactions and conventions of the guilds

Instead of such restrictions, some facilities were granted by the state. The long distance high-ways (mainly from Pataliputra to Pushkalavati, via Taxila) constructed and maintained largely by the state facilitated greater mobility of the people, and easy transportation of goods and surplus production from one region to another. The state provided the guilds with separate areas in the town for running their trades and crafts. The guilds could make deposit with the competent agencies, which they got back in the time of financial distress, and they also advanced loan to merchants, as per evidence of the ‘Arthasastra’ side by side, during this period the state collected revenue in cash or kinds. In addition to taxes in cash, the artisans, many of whom must have been members of the guilds, also paid taxes in the form of labour.