An economic form based on the production relations of slavery in ancient Indian society. Ancient India entered a class society as early as the Indus Valley Civilization era (about 2300 BC to 1750 BC), and a state emerged. However, there is still no trace of the specific conditions of the slave economy during this period. When the Indo-Aryans entered the South Asian subcontinent in the 14th century BC, due to the continuous wars between them and the indigenous people and later among their tribes, captive slaves called "Dasa" were produced. In the Period of the Nations (6th to 4th century BC), small countries were established and the number of slaves increased. At this time, slavery began to develop as a production relationship. India under the rule of the Mauryan Empire (approximately 4th to 2nd centuries BC) was the prosperous stage of the ancient Indian slave economy.
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The economic development of slavery in various regions of ancient India was extremely uneven. The two-river (Indus-Ganges) plain in northern India developed rapidly, especially the Mauryan Empire. In the central Magadha region, the slave economy has reached a very high level. In other areas, especially the surrounding areas, they are relatively backward, and some tribes are still in the state of primitive society.
India is one of the earliest countries to use iron tools. Iron tools were used for production around 1000 BC. The use of iron tools promoted the development of agriculture, handicrafts and commerce. Agriculture gradually replaced animal husbandry as the main production sector, and large-scale land reclamation and water conservancy construction were carried out. The division of labor in the handicraft industry gradually became smaller, with carpenters, blacksmiths, weavers, potters, etc. becoming important handicraft industries. Especially the textile industry, during the imperial era, could not only produce fine cotton fabrics, but also high-grade silk fabrics. From the 6th century BC, many large cities appeared and commerce was very active. The most common trade goods are valuable textiles, gems and spices. Mineral products and necessities such as salt and wine were patented by the king. The development of social production and the activity of commodity currency economy created conditions for the development of slavery. At that time, there were many sources of slaves. In addition to prisoners of war, there were also debt slaves, sin slaves, family-born, inherited, gifted, purchased, and those who served for food due to famine, etc. The number of slaves recorded in ancient Indian literature is very large.