12 - Merchant communities in precolonial India

Summary

If it were possible to have statistics of the volume of internal and external commerce around the year 1600 for different regions of the globe, it is fairly certain that India, with an estimated population of from 125 to 150 million, would at least have claimed a share proportionate to its population. The land-tax accounted for the larger portion of the surplus in India, and in most areas taxes were collected in money. This alone generated extensive trade in agricultural produce. The ruling classes were largely town-based, and an urban economy flourished, with craft production for both local and distant markets. India was undoubtedly the greatest cotton-textile producer of the world, and the finer qualities of cotton cloth sustained brisk long-distance commerce. The country exported calicoes, indigo, pepper, silk, and numerous other commodities over sea and over land, in return for which it absorbed large quantities of silver. The coinage of the Mughal Empire, issued from numerous mints all over India, was of wonderful fineness and uniformity.

These facts should be sufficient to persuade us of the importance of studying how commerce in India was conducted just at the time that the merchant empires of western Europe had begun their progress toward a worldwide hegemony. The present effort focuses on the merchants and selects two major mercantile communities, the Banjāras (long-distance transporters) and Banyas (village and town merchants), for description. The sketches of the two communities are followed by a discussion of the forms of mercantile organization and commercial and financial techniques of the Banyas.