Proceedings and papers of National Seminar on Jainology

Author(s): Yugalkishor Mishra
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 58

Trade in the Samarāichchakahā : Text and Context
Dr. Vijay Kumar Thakur*
The study of trade in early medieval complex has two distinct parameters - the empirical scenario and the theoretical underpinnings. The contradictory nature of formulations in recent writings on the theme indicate to some extent the state of art. The theoretical moorings of the debate on the nature of early medieval economic formation in India is deeply entrenched in the semantics of Indian feudalism. This imparts more significance as well as a greater vulnerability to the study of trade complex during the period. Major studies on the theme have assumed dichotomous positions in the process either deliberately or otherwise - some supporting the new social formation by constructing a picture of weak commercial mechanism and others opposing it by positing the currency of a well organised and meaningful economic system. The empirical base of all such analyses needs strenghthening in order to make the formulations more relevant and historically sound. The present paper, by making a detailed analysis of references to trade in the Samaraichchakahā of Haribhadra Sūri, seeks to enhance the data-base of early medieval commercial enquiries in terms of the theoretical framework of the contemporary feudal formation. This text, a Jaina Dharmakathā, expounding religious precepts in the garb of stories generally woven around the life of a merchant, directly touches upon the major aspects of contemporary trade and commerce. It is generally accepted that the text was composed sometime towards the 8th and the beginning of the ninth centuries A. D. This chronological stratum, due to its contemporaniety with the inaugural phase of a new social formation in the history of the region, further enhances the value of this text in the present context.
The text refers to long distance trade in a number of kathās. Traders of one area have been described as visiting another area of the sub-continent. A merchant named Dharana, a resident of the city Mākandi, went to Achalapura, sold his goods by earning a profit, spent some time in making
* Department of History, Patna University, Patna-800 005.