A brief history of economic scenario in early India

Abstract

Our knowledge of the economic condition of pre-historic India is still very incomplete. The implements and weapons found at different pre-historic regions and sites in Kashmir, Soan Valley, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat indicate that their makers were food collectors and belonged to the early and late Stone Ages. They used bones and wood along with stones and had no knowledge of metals or of the potter's art. We are on surer ground when we come to the Indus Civilization which, as recent excavations conclusively prove, was not confined to the Punjab and Sind only, but spread much further in the north-east (Shimla hills), east (Alamgirpur, in Uttar Pradesh) and south and south-west (Tapti-Narmada valley). Until the Indus script is deciphered, our knowledge of the Indus Civilization will remain incomplete, and our conclusions based on archaeological data would at best be surmises. The civilization is known to us only in its mature form, since the remains found in all the strata at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are of a uniform character.