Kulyavapa and dronavapa
Topic: Economy of Early India: Agriculture, Trade, Guilds, Coinage · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Kulyavapa and dronavapa were units for measuring land in Gupta-period Bengal. They did not measure length. They measured how much seed was needed to sow a field. Kulya and drona were measures of grain, and vapa means "sowing". So a kulyavapa was the area that could be sown with one kulya of seed. A dronavapa, sown with one drona, was a smaller area. These terms appear in copper-plate records of land sales and land grants. They help historians work out how land was measured, bought and given away in eastern India.
Example
The Damodarpur copper plates from north Bengal belong to the Gupta period (c. 5th century CE). They record land measured in kulyavapas and dronavapas. The land was bought from the local administration for religious gifts.
Don't confuse with
- Nivartana: a land measure used in many other parts of India. It is not one of the seed-based units of the Bengal plates.