Reasons for the growth of trade in medieval India
1.Stimulation of economic activities after the establishment of Delhi Sultanate, establishment of economic institutions, increase in business activities
2. Increasment in non-agricultural population
3. Agricultural surplus
4. Cash Tax
5. Law of Esh cheat
6. Presence of wretched class and dependent groups
7. Contact with the west
Internal Trade in Medieval India
Trade route
Trade by road was done through convoys of bullock carts, camels and mules. Trade by river was cheaper. In the coastal areas, trade was done through ports. Delhi, Agra, Lahore and Multan were on the road route. There were way indicating lamp post in the routes. Sher Shah Suri got four major roads repaired. It also had a fifteen hundred miles long road from Senargaun in Bengal to Sindh, which was called Sadak-i-Azam. Inns were built every four miles along the roads. About 700 inns are mentioned at this time. For whose care there was a shikdar. K. R. Kanungo has called them the arteries of the body in the form of empire. Krishnadeva Raya's book Amuktamalayad emphasizes a trade policy for the rulers.
Commodity trading
Bengal to Coromandel, Gujarat - Rice, Sugar, Wheat
Bengal, Patna to Agra - raw silk, sugar
From Agra to different regions of the country - indigo, wheat
From Lahore to different regions of the country - Dari
Gujarat to Agra - cloth, indigo, saltpeter
Black pepper from Kerala to across the country
Malwa, Ajmer to Gujarat - Wheat
Pulicat to Gujarat, Malabar - Printed Fabric
Bidar to Nationwide - Textiles
From Sindh across the country - wheat, barley, cotton cloth
Kashmir to Agra and other places - shawl, wool, saltpeter
From Malabar to Vijayanagara and other parts of the country – coconut, cardamom, wax, iron, dates, sugar, precious stones, pepper
Foreign Trade in Medieval India
Medieval India had the status of a manufacturing workshop for the world. This status was due to productive agriculture, irrigation and agricultural reforms, skilled craftsmen, a strong tradition of production, and a specialized class of merchants and bankers. Asia experienced a commercial revolution due to contact with the West.
Land trade
Land trade used to take place towards the north-west. Multan, Quetta, Khyber Pass were the main routes. Through these routes trade was done with Afghanistan, Persia and Central Asia. Fruits, nuts are among the items imported from here. Textiles, blankets, sugar, indigo, medicines and herbs were the main items of export. This trade was interrupted due to the Mongol invasion.
MARITIME TRADE
Western coast
The major ports of Gujarat on the west coast were Broach, Cambay and Khambhat. In the west it was connected to Basra and Hormuz on the Persian Gulf and Aden on the Red Sea. In the east it was associated with Bethem and Achin in Malacca, Indonesia. European traveler Tom Pius said that Khambhat spreads both his hands, he reaches Aden with his right hand and reaches Malacca with his left hand. Other ports on the west coast were Calicut, Goa, Honavar, Lahari Bunder and Surat.
East coast
The major ports of the east coast were Chittagong, Satgaon, Sonargaon, Dhaka, Masulipatnam etc. From these ports, trade was done with Damascus, Alexandria, Africa and Europe via Aden in the west and China, Indonesia and Malaya in the east.
Export
Grain and cotton cloth were the main export items during the Sultanate period. In fact some areas of the Persian Gulf for their food needs were completely dependent on India. The description of Manuchi and Barthema tells that Indian textiles were in demand all over the world and Indians were profited by its export. The export of Indian textiles increased after contact with the West. While the East India Company exported 750,000 piece goods of cloth in 1664, it exported 1,500,000 piece goods of cloth in 1664. Apart from this, slaves, indigo, tobacco, oilseeds, sugar, rice, cloves, coconuts, saltpetre, black pepper, ivory, paper, jewellery, betel leaves, betel nut were the major items of export.
Import
The list of imports of the Sultanate period is also long. Horses, weapons, slaves, certain types of clothes, nuts and fruits were brought to India from abroad. Copper, silver, gold, camel, dates, glass etc. were also imported. The luxury items of the elite class like silk, velvet, embroidered curtains were included in the import. K.M. Ashraf has written that 'Jari and silk items were partly imported from Alexandria, Iraq and China during the time of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq. Horses were imported in large numbers. Horses of good breed were brought from Dhofar, Hormuz, Aden and Persia. Mules were also brought. There was a good market for foreign horses in Delhi. The people of Ajak used to bring a herd of six thousand horses at a time. From the seventeenth century, the number of European traders started increasing in India. The import of luxuries of elite class from abroad started increasing. Musk and yak hair came from Bhutan.
Business class
Many business classes had a role in India's foreign trade. The Moor merchants of Arabia were the dominant class among the foreign class. Among the indigenous class, Multanis, Gujaratis, Banjaras or caravan traders of Rajputana and Shettis of South India were the main classes. Some of them were very rich. Nicoli Conti (1419–1444) mentions a merchant who had forty ships. Veerji Vohra was a wealthy merchant of Surat in the seventeenth century. Similarly, Shanti Das Jawahari of Ahmedabad, Haji Sayyid Beg, Manohar Das and Malay Shetty of Malabar were wealthy merchants. In the region of Gujarat and Malabar, trade work was mainly in the hands of Malabari merchants.
European intervention
Due to naval weakness, the rulers did nothing for the protection of foreign trade. The arrival of the Portuguese disrupted the Indian free trade through the Armada-Cartage system. The number of piracy increased. For example, in 1695 the merchant ship Fateh Muhammadi of Surat merchant Abdul Ghafoor was looted, not only that, but Aurangzeb's ship Ganj-i-Sarvar was also looted. Sir Joshua Child, an English officer, wrote in 1680 that "without revenue we shall always be merchants and may be driven out at any time". George Oxedon later wrote, "Now is the need of the time to manage business with sword in hand". In fact, after 1740, the British had started using unfair means against the Indian traders and forced the weavers to sell their goods cheaply. In this way the European trading companies became the means of conquering the country.
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