Ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...

, a shreni ( sa, श्रेणि, śreṇi or , Prakrit: ) was an association of traders, merchants, and artisans. Generally, a separate shreni existed for a particular group of persons engaged in the same vocation or activity. Shrenis have sometimes been compared with the guilds. However, persons engaged in hunting and fishing did not form any shreni. Well-documented references to the existing of shreni have been found from 5th century BC, and texts mention the existence of shrenis and conversion of entire members of some shrenis to

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

or Jainism. Over a period of time, some shrenis became very wealthy with surplus resources, and acted as custodians and

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

s of religious and other

endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance * Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to ...

s. One of the widely referred shreni was of ivory carvers of

Vidisha Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar in ancient times) is a city in central Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located 62.5 km northeast of the state capital, Bhopal. The name "Vidisha" is derived from th ...

(in the modern Indian state of Madhya Pradesh). This shreni is accredited with sponsoring and financially supporting the construction of the southern gateway of the stupa at

Sanchi Sanchi is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometres from Raisen town, district headquarter and north-east of Bho ...

, which is currently a World Heritage Site. Some scholars have opined that as each economic activity and craft was having its specific traditions and trade secrets, shrenis were formed to protect the same, and fathers used to pass on the same to their sons, and so it continued from one generation to the next generation. Daughters were excluded from becoming the members of the shreni, as once married they went to their husbands’ homes, and were prone to divulge the trade secrets to the families of their husbands.

Shreni-dharma

Members were bound by guild-specific dharma. The

Manusmriti The ''Manusmṛiti'' ( sa, मनुस्मृति), also known as the ''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra'' or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many ' of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote the ...

stated "A king must inquire into the law of castes (''

jāti ''Jāti'' is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub-clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or t ...

''), of districts (''ganapada''), of guilds (shreni), and of families (''kula'')."

References

*'' Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' () by Anna Dhallapiccola

External links

* Agarwal, Ankit. (2012
"Development of Economic Organizations and their Role in Human Empowerment during the Gupta Period". History Today 13, New Delhi
{{ISSN, 2249-748X.

Ancient India Crafts Labor history Economic history of India