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notjustinfo.com |
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Knowledge centre for MBA students. |
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Early Indian Economy Senthuran Indian economy in the early period was a
self-sufficient economy comprising of several villages. Indian villages
produced and met their requirement according to division of labour and their economic
activity was restricted to village economy. Barter system prevailed as an
exchange mechanism. Basically, the primary activity was agriculture. Other
services like carpentry, weaving, hair dressing, etc. were offered by
labourers who extended their services based on hereditary. They received
their wages as food products. In short, Indian villages functioned as an
independent republics and the only interference was from the King for whom
they paid taxes in kind. Thus, India had happy villages. Prior to the British rule, religion, system of
the society and kings law influenced the economy to a great extent. There
prevailed caste system which decided the division of labour for the benefit
of the society’s economy. Further, the prevalence of joint-family system
helped them to pool their resources for their individual family benefit and
also for the benefit of the society. Another advantage of the joint-family
system was that the cultivable lands were not fragmented, yielding to better
economic gains. Another influencer of early Indian economy was
the Hindu religion. The religious centres also functioned as Indian trade
centres. For example, major pilgrimage spots like Nasik, Allahabad, Varanasi,
etc. also functioned as centres of commerce and trade. Many trade and
commerce activities were linked to the religious festivals and functions. In
short, the Hindu religion acted as an indirect catalyst for the Indian
economy. One of the major industries in early |
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