1 - Economic Conditions before 1200

Summary

Materials for the reconstruction of medieval Indian economic history before the Ghorian conquests of the late twelfth century, though copious, are exceedingly fragmentary and difficult to interpret. Historians are dependent on thousands of commemorative or laudatory inscriptions, whose value in the reconstruction of the dynastic history of the sub-continent is greater than the evidence which they afford of economic conditions; upon references in Sanskrit literary works, often of stylized genres, difficult to date within a range of centuries or borrowing their matter from earlier literary models; upon accounts of Buddhist pilgrims with little concern for worldly matters; and upon reports of Arab sailors who had touched on the coast of India or information gathered by distant Arab geographers.

To these sources may be added art-historical, archaeological, and numismatic evidence. From art-historical evidence it is notoriously difficult to draw conclusions regarding economic conditions. Archaeological excavation in the sub-continent has largely concentrated on ancient Indian sites, and very little has yet emerged that throws light on the medieval period either before or after the Muslim expansion. Numismatic evidence is of value, but must of course be interpreted with caution.

Since R. S. Sharma wrote his pioneering study, Indian Feudalism, it has been widely held that the early Middle Ages was a period of general economic decline in the north of the Indian sub-continent. There are striking parallels in the changes which took place in India in this period to the phenomena of social reorganization in the face of dwindling resources and decaying communications in western Europe in the same centuries.