Seybold Report ISSN: 1533-9211
Dr. Kakoli Gogoi, Ms. Jiru Gogoi
Vol 18, No 8 ( 2023 ) | Licensing: CC 4.0 | Pg no: 169-175 | Published on: 23-08-2023
Abstract
The development of Pre-colonial Assam's economy as a whole has been impeded by a number of problems, including geographical disadvantage, political obstruction, and socio-cultural reluctance towards embracing new production, trade, and other commercial activity. Assam's pre-colonial economy was built on a peasant community that was subsistence-oriented. The family largely shared production and consumption. Craft production and manufacturing were mostly family-based activities with a loose caste and occupation-based division of labour. Apart from other agricultural and forest-based products, silk, especially the Muga silk formed an important article of exchange. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the trade in pre-colonial Assam with a special focus on the trade in indigenous varieties of silk.
Keywords:
Silk, Assam, Trade, Muga, Silk route, Ahom