The Gangetic plain with its hot climate and plentiful rainfall is a rich
farm area. At first, farmers and a landlord class dominated the area; but with the development of wealthy classes, merchants and craftsmen appeared on the Gangetic plain, and cities developed. The merchants and the craftsmen organized into guilds and trade organizations. Later, a class of very wealthy merchants (sresthin) developed. Thus at the time of the Buddha, major political and economic changes were occurring in central India, and the old system of social classes was disintegrating