[Thread]
Public Finance In Ancient India.
As I Tweeted Few Days Ago, Nishkas were used as Currency In Rigvedic period.
Further conversions into smaller denominations is Given here:
Secret negotiations were considered Suspicious. The state determined the price of Articles in market and Checked Weights and measures.
Even in times of financial Emergency, King never encroached upon Producer's surplus.
The Process of Lending money and other institutions related to debt were already well established.
Rate of interest for secured loans was 15% per year, while that of unsecured loans varied as per varna of the Candidate
Regarding Unpaid Debt:
>interest could vary between 1-8 times of principal, depending upon texts.
Debt was carried forward Only Up to 3 generations (I.e. up to Grandson) after that it was Written off (most probably)
A good Amount of state's earnings came from trade.
In ancient India, Trade existed between India and Rome.
Pliny the Elder, in 1st century AD wrote that Indians were Taking off 550 millions of sistereces.
Indian cotton and silk were also of high quality
Indian metal work was also considered Unparalleled, and indians were probably the first makers of steel.
To deal with financial crisis, Different authorities Suggested that between 1.5-25% of Total income must saved by state so as to deal with financial emergency.
Sources:
Public finance in Ancient India, K R sarkar
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