Jataka tales refer to the long voyages undertaken by merchants. Sea-borne trade was carried on with Burma and the Malay Archipelago, and with Sri Lanka. The ships, however, were probably quite small and might have hugged the coastline. We do not have much information about the merchant communities.
In general, long- distance overland trade was undertaken by merchant groups travelling together as a caravan for security, led by a caravan leader known as the maha-sarthavaha . Roads through forests and unfavourable environments like deserts were always dangerous. The Arthasastra , however, stresses the importance of trade and Sanchi Stupa A whole range of luxury goods was produced, including gold and silver articles, jewellery, perfumes and carved ivory. There is evidence that many other products like drugs and medicines, pottery, dyes and gums were produced in the Mauryan Empire.
The economy had thus developed far beyond subsistence production to a very sophisticated level of commercial craft production. Crafts were predominantly urban-based hereditary occupations and sons usually followed their fathers in the practice of various crafts. Craftsmen worked primarily as individuals, though royal workshops for producing cloth and other products also existed. Each craft had a head called pamukha ( pramukha or leader) and a jettha ( jyeshtha or elder) and was organised in a seni ( sreni or a guild), so that the institutional identity superseded the individual in craft production.
Disputes between srenis were resolved by a mahasetthi, and this ensured the smooth functioning of craft production in the cities. Trade Trade or exchange becomes a natural concomitant of economic diversification XI History - Lesson - - Emergence of State and Empire ensuring its smooth functioning. Trade has to be facilitated through the construction of roads and maintaining them in good condition. Since tolls and octroi were collected on goods when they were transported, toll booths must have been set up and manned on all the trade routes.
Urban markets and craftsmen were generally closely monitored and controlled to prevent fraud. The Arthasastra has a long list of the goods – agricultural and manufactured – which were