Decline of Urban Centres

2020-04-27 11:58:33

The imp cities such as Taxila, Kausambi, Pataliputra etc ceased to exist after this period.
Minting and circulation of coins also decreased during this time.
The Landgrants to religious institutions increased during this time.
Along with revenue rights the rights to mines and minerals were also granted to the donees.
These grants were free from the interference of soldiers and royal officials and the owners could also punish people against offences.
Later during the 9th and 10th century these types of grants were being made to the state officials.
The rights of the traders and merchants began to be encroached as the economy became closed.
Owners passed laws that prohibited the movement of tax paying merchants and peasants to tax free villages.
Hieun Tsang, and forged charters attributed to Samudragupta have evidences of this.
Roman trade declined and later completely dissapeared after the breaking of the Roman empire.
The Persians and the Arabs rose as competitors to trade.
Byzantine trade was happening but was not as prominent as the Roman trade. It further declined when they found out the art of manufacturing silk.
The Huna invasion wiped out the Central Asia trade.
Trade of coastal towns were happening with south east asia and China but pottery, coins and other evidences are absent for this.
Long distance trade suffered due to the close economy prevalent during this time. Kathasaritasagar mentions that traders and merchants moved places to avoid paying multiple duties.

Decline of Coinage

The gold coins in circulation during this time declined.
The percentage of gold in the coins issued during this time was only 50% of what it was during the Kushanas or the early Gupta rulers.
The Rashtrakutas and the Palas issued no coins.
Coin moulds and commercial seals have not been found during this time.
However, Punjab, Kashmir and other North Western part has yielded numerous coins.
There are evidences of use of Barter and use of cowries for trade.
Also the emergence of landgrants did away the need for the use of coins for the payment of salaries of officials.