TRACING THE ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN ANCIENT MANIPUR: RE-EXAMINING THE PAST

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Abstract

The economic history of ancient Manipur reveals a gradual transformation from subsistence-oriented activities to a more differentiated agrarian, craft-based and commercial economy. The period between the 6th and 8th centuries AD was particularly significant in this process, as wet-rice cultivation expanded in the valley, shifting cultivation continued in the hills, agricultural surplus increased, and systems of irrigation, drainage, taxation and labour organisation developed alongside the growing political authority of the state. At the same time, advances in pottery, metallurgy and other craft technologies contributed to occupational specialisation, while internal and external trade connected Manipur with neighbouring regions of India and Southeast Asia. This article re-examines these developments by bringing agriculture, technology, trade, markets, taxation and labour into a connected historical framework. It argues that economic transformation in ancient Manipur was not a linear transition from a primitive to an advanced economy. Rather, it was a process of adaptation in which different ecological zones, technologies, systems of exchange and forms of labour coexisted. The emergence of an agrarian surplus provided an important material foundation for the expansion of political authority, while commercial interaction facilitated the movement of commodities, technologies and ideas across regional frontiers.

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