Explore the trade and commerce organization in medieval India, including trading classes, inter-regional trade, the financial system, influential merchant communities, Mughal trade policies, and urbanization’s impact on the economy.
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Organization of Trade and Commerce
Trading Classes
The Indian trading classes were large, well-organized, and highly professional.
Long-distance traders were called seth, bohra, or modi, while local traders were called beoparis or banias.
Banjaras specialized in carrying bulk goods over long distances using oxen, camels, and boats.
Boat traffic and coastal trade were highly developed, making it cheaper to move bulk goods by rivers.
Inter-Regional Trade
India’s inter-regional trade included both luxury and essential goods.
Bengal exported sugar, rice, muslin, and silk, while the Coromandel coast was a center for textile production.
Gujarat was the entry point for foreign goods and exported textiles and silk to North India.
North India imported luxury items and exported indigo and foodgrains.
Lahore and Punjab were centers of handicraft production and trade with Kabul, Qandhar, Delhi, and Agra.
Financial System
The growth of a financial system facilitated the easy transmission of money through the use of hundis.
Hundis often included insurance and were dealt with by sarrafs (shroffs) who also acted as private banks.
Rich traders set up agency houses in different parts of India and abroad, reducing the need for risky physical movement of money.
Trading Community
The trading community in India was diverse, including Hindus, Jains, Muslims (Bohras), Oswals, Maheshwaris, Agarwals, Multanis, Afghans, Khatris, Chettis, and Muslim merchants of Malabar.
Some of the richest merchants included Virji Vohra, Abdul Ghafur Bohra, Malay Chetti, Kashi Viranna, and Sunca Rama Chetti.
Wealthy merchants in port towns lived in commodious houses, while ordinary merchants lived above their shops.
Merchants and Political Influence
Merchants in India had a low social status but were not without influence in political quarters.
Each community of merchants had a leader or nagarseth who could intercede with local officials on their behalf.
Strikes (hartal) by merchants in Ahmedabad and elsewhere were used to stress their points of view.
Members of the Mughal royal family and prominent nobles were involved in trade.
Mughal Policies and Trade Expansion
Political integration under Mughal rule and establishment of law and order helped expand trade and commerce.
Mughal policies such as minting high-purity silver rupees, paying salaries in cash, and the zabti system (cash payment of land revenue) commercialized the economy.
The demand for luxury goods by nobles led to the expansion of handicraft production and the growth of towns.
Urbanization
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many major towns developed, including Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Lahore, Delhi, Ahmadnagar, Burhanpur, Multan, Patna, Rajmahal, and Dacca.
These towns were administrative centers and developed as centers of trade and manufacture.
The Mughal ability to collect a high share of rural produce, commuted into money, stimulated the demand for luxury goods, leading to the growth of arms manufacturing and shipbuilding.
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