Gupta guild officials
Also called: Nagarashreshthi, Prathamakulika · Topic: Gupta Empire and the Classical Age · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
In Gupta times, leaders of the town's business groups sat on the district office along with the king's officer. These business groups are called guilds: associations of traders or craftsmen. Copper plates from Bengal give their titles. The nagarashreshthi was the chief banker or head merchant of the town. The sarthavaha was the chief caravan trader. The prathamakulika was the chief artisan. The prathamakayastha was the chief of the kayasthas, the record-keepers who handled land and revenue matters. They show that trade and craft groups had a real voice in local government.
Example
The Damodarpur copper plates in Bengal, some from Kumaragupta I's reign, show these four people working with the head district officer. As a board of five, they approved land sales.
Don't confuse with
- Shreni: the guild itself, such as the silk weavers' guild named in the Mandsaur inscription (473 CE). These titles are for the guild leaders who sat in the district office.