Nigama
Topic: Economy of Early India: Agriculture, Trade, Guilds, Coinage · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
In early Indian texts, nigama means a market town, larger than a village but smaller than a city. In inscriptions and on coins it often means a body of merchants who ran the trade and business of a town, rather like a town merchants' council. Some nigamas were strong enough to issue their own coins. This shows that money was not issued only by kings. Merchants and townspeople could issue some coins too.
Example
Copper coins found at Taxila in the north-west, of c. 3rd–2nd century BCE, carry the word negama. This shows they were issued by the town's merchant body and not by a king.
Don't confuse with
- Shreni: a guild of people in one trade or craft, such as weavers or ivory workers. A nigama was a town market or a general body of a town's merchants.