Previous Year Question
Question 58 — UPSC Prelims 2012
With reference to the guilds (Shreni) of ancient India that played a very important role in the country's economy, which of the following statements is/are correct?
Every guild was registered with the central authority of the State and the king was the chief administrative authority on them.
The wages, rules of work, standards and prices were fixed by the guild.
The guild had judicial powers over its own members.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is incorrect. Ancient Indian guilds were not entirely independent of the State, but they enjoyed considerable internal autonomy. The Yajnavalkya Smriti directs the king to maintain guilds, corporations and other communities in accordance with their own established norms. The same text also recognises decisions of guild functionaries when they were made for the welfare of the group. This does not establish the king as the direct chief administrative authority of every guild; therefore, the statement in its broad form is incorrect.
Statement 2 is correct. Guilds were not merely associations of people following the same occupation; they were also self-regulating institutions that laid down internal rules and professional standards for their trades and crafts. Within this framework, matters such as wages, rules of work, standards and prices were regulated at the guild level.
Statement 3 is correct. Guilds possessed judicial or quasi-judicial authority in disputes and matters involving violations of rules by their own members. The Yajnavalkya Smriti recognises the Shreni as a corporate body, while UGC-INFLIBNET's legal-history material explicitly records Shreni and Puga as adjudicatory bodies/courts.