Most Ancient Aryan Society

Author(s): Ram Chandra Jain
Publisher: Institute of Bharatalogical Research Sriganganagar Rajasthan

Page 101

10. THE RESUME
The foregoing discussion brings out the basic characteristics of the pre-Aryan Śramanic Society quite clearly. We may now resume the fundamental conclusions thus arrived at.
The economic condition of the region was thriving and prosperous. An individual was the economic unit. He was free and independent. He worked for the happiness of his family and the community. The individual enterprise in agriculture and industry gave rise to private property. Mutual destructive competition was not allowed hence there was no accumulation of private wealth. The surplus agricultural and industrial produce belonged to the community. The international trade was the business of the community and not of the private enterpreneur. The economy was a happy blend of the individual and communal enterprises.
Family was the social unit. Men and women enjoyed equal social status and prestige. The succession to the private property of the family went to the family members. The descent was largely matri-lineal as a rule. Patri-lineal descent was also in vogue in certain parts. Marital relations were monogamic. Polygamy was socially prohibited. Women freely took part in economic and social activities. They enjoyed free life in sports and recreations. They were equal partners of men, with respect and prestige, in the social progress of the realm.
The political institutions were developed on the republican pattern. The region had numerous self-organised and self-sufficient local republics without any central force to keep their homogeneity and unity in tact. All the adult members formed the Assembly who chose their leader. The