ABSTRACT
Mandapikas are mentioned in the context of imposition of cesses on various types of commodities in favour of religious institutions. Important information, though hardly adequate, can be gleaned from these records on various aspects of commerce. The other source, the Lekhapaddhati, belonging to the thirteenth/fourteenth centuries, contains recommendation relating to the imposition of commercial cesses on Mandapikas and also to the attitude of administrators to merchants coming to Mandapikas. Early medieval trade, according to R. S. Sharma, languished because of, among other things, donation/transfer of commercial cesses, the like of which we have encountered so frequently in our study of Mandapikas. The early medieval period, particularly from AD 600 to 1000 is suggested to have experienced a sharp economic decline in commercial and urban economy. There was a definite and unmistakable spurt in the growth of urban centres and markets in the post-AD 1000 north India.
