Business practices and Economic activities in ancient India A study through the Lence of Literature

Abstract

‘Entrepreneurship’ as new as the word may seem, is an ancient activity that can be dated back to one of the earliest civilizations. The term entrepreneurship has its origin in French (entreprendre) which means ‘to undertake’. However, modern usage refers to its meaning as ‘undertaking a business’. Many texts have spoken about business activities in Ancient India. Sanskrit texts varying from the oldest known religious texts dating back to millennia like ‘Vedas’ to recently discovered treatises like ‘Arthashastra’ speak about the economic activities of the Indian subcontinent. This includes texts of both kinds- works that have been least discovered and understood and texts on which many kinds of research have been made. This paper attempts to study the research made in this regard to understand the relevance of these texts when put against modern business approaches.