The secular grants were made to secular parties and are evident from a grant made by the Uccakalpa dynasty. The Devagrahara grants were made to secular parties such as writers and merchants, for repair and worship of temples. Religious grants were of two types: Agrahara grants were meant for the Brahmanas which meant to be perpetual, hereditary, and tax-free, accompanied with the assignment of all land revenue. Religious functionaries were granted land, free of tax, forever, and they were authorized to collect from the peasants all the taxes which could have otherwise gone to the emperor. Started in the Deccan by the Satavahanas, the practice became a regular affair in Gupta times. Feudal development surfaced under the Guptas with the grant of fiscal and administrative concessions to priests and administrators. The sources of the Gupta period suggest that certain important changes were taking place in the agrarian society. Another irrigation method was the use of ghati-yantra or araghatta. The importance of irrigation to help agriculture was recognized in India from the earliest times. Various types of land are mentioned in the inscriptions land under cultivation was usually called Kshetra, Khila was the uncultivable land, Aprahata was the jungle or forest land, Gopata Sarah was the pasture land and Vasti was the habitable land.ĭifferent land measures were known in different regions such as Nivartana, Kulyavapa, and Dronavapa. It appears that though the land was to all intents and purposes that of the peasants, the king claimed its theoretical ownership. The most decisive argument in favor of the exclusive state ownership of land is in the Paharpur copper plate inscription of Buddhagupta. It is argued by many scholars that the state was the exclusive owner of the land. Agriculture: Key Constituents of Gupta’s EconomyĪgriculture constituted the main resources of Gupta’s economy and the major part of the revenue of the state came from agriculture. In this section, we will learn about a few aspects of Gupta’s economy. Gupta’s ruling is used to term as the Golden Era of Indian history. The key feature of any empire or territorial ruling is their military expedition, political and administration mechanism, and economy of reign.

Gupta empire labor system