SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis is a systematic survey of the economic history of Bengal (c.400-1200 A.D.) as far as it can be re-constructed from available sources. In the introduction, we discuss the importance of the study of economic history, especially in relation to ancient Bengal, mention the works written on the subject so far, and evaluate the sources used in our study. The first chapter deals with the geographical background and the close relations between physical factors and the economy of the country. The second chapter is sub-divided into two sections. While the first deals with agriculture, the second gives a short account of the fauna of Bengal. In the third chapter we make a detailed study of the land system. It is sub-divided into nine different sections dealing with the following aspects of the land system; a) land sale, b) land-grants, c) types of land, d) land survey demarcation and boundary disputes, e) land measurement, f) land tenure, g) price of land, h) demand for land, and e) ownership of land. The fourth chapter is devoted to some of the crafts and industries practised in our period. The fifth chapter on trade and commerce contains two sections - a) internal, and b) external trade. Our sixth chapter studies the revenue system and in this connexion we analyse the different revenue terms found in the land grants and try to explain several on which there is difference of opinion among scholars. The seventh and final chapter deals with the coinage system, mainly from the economic point of view.