In the 6th century BCE the cultivable land was divided between the people. The beneficiaries were granted only the revenue of these lands and no administrative authority. There was emergence of the notion of private property, as there are references to the gift and sale of land.
The rows of hearths were discovered at Atranjikhera and at Ahichchhtra both of which are in western Uttar Pradesh. The excavations show that these hearths were meant for communal feeding or for cooking the food of large families.
In the post-Mauryan period, the techniques of cloth-making, silk- weaving, and the manufacture of luxury articles developed. Mathura was a great center for the manufacture of a special type of cloth which was called shataka.