The meaning of the Sanskrit root verb krii is “exchange”. An exchange may be undertaken through either money or commodities. Suppose I give someone a kilogram of rice and I get two kilograms of vegetables in exchange. This is called a “purchase”. Again, suppose I give someone some cash and in exchange I get a certain amount of vegetables, say spinach. Both these transactions come within the scope of “purchases”.

In ancient Bengal, the exchange of commodities through barter was more popular than exchange through money. In a village market near Bolpur in Birbhum district, I once noticed a carpenter who came to sell yokes and ploughs. He returned home with a brass container in exchange for a yoke. In reply to my question, “How much did it cost you?” he said, “I got the container in exchange for my yoke.”

The practice of the mutual exchange of commodities in foreign trade is called “barter trade”. In foreign trade those countries which have a large volume of very few commodities to sell but many commodities to buy will find barter trade profitable. Otherwise their reserves of gold bullion may get exhausted very quickly. Barter trade is advantageous for countries like Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kampuchea (Kamboja in Sanskrit) and Tibet.

Ancient Bengal had a large number of commodities to sell but very few to buy, yet the Bengali merchants were fond of barter. (In ancient Bengal much barter was conducted by the Gandhabańic and Suvarńabańic communities, but other merchants also took part.) The reason for this preference for barter was that Bengal had a highly developed ship industry. The Bengali carpenters and fishermen were very proficient in marine industries. The merchants used to take their commodities overseas in order to sell them. Had they carried on their business with money, they would have had to sail their large ships back empty. But as they were engaged in barter, they also returned with commodities. This was one of the main reasons for the popularity of barter in Bengal in those days. Regarding the flourishing barter trade of Bengal, it has been said,

Kurauṋga badale lavauṋga nibo kumkum badale chuyá
Gáchphal badale jáyphal pábo baheŕár badale guvá.

[We shall accept cloves in exhange for stag. We will accept paste for pollen. We will accept hot spices in exchange for fruit. We shall accept medicinal fruits in exchange for nuts.]

The poet Mukunda Rám Cakravartii was a man of Ráŕh in Bengal. In those days, the people of Ráŕh used to send only the surplus commodities overseas for sale, and import only those commodities which were necessary for the people of Ráŕh, such as cloves, medicinal fruit and betel. Bengalees exported very fine rice (badsha bhog – rice fit for the consumption of monarchs used for preparing special rice dishes) from Birbhum, Samantabhum, Senbhum, Mallabhum, Manbhum, etc., in western Ráŕh; and muslin from Visnupur. Large quantities of black woollen blankets, fine sal furniture, Bengal gram, cotton cloth, sugar, raw sugar, copper, copper goods, mustard oil and chillies were exported from different parts of Bengal to Southeast Asia, Egypt and Europe. In exchange for these commodities, which required a large space in their ships, Bengali merchants used to bring back merchandise from overseas countries. In exchange for exports which required very little space, Bengali merchants used to bring back gold coins.

In Bengal the Sinhalpatan, Tamralipta and Chattagram or Chatigram ports were very famous for trading in imports and exports. Dhumghat, Berachampa, Mahisadal, Jiivankhali (Genyokhali-Miirjapur), Nalchiti and Jhalkathi were medium-sized ports which were also used for imports and exports. This shows that ancient Bengal conducted extensive trade and barter trade.