Page 81 - SST Class 07

communities like Bohras, Mappilas, Khojas, Marwaris (Hindus), Khojas, Bohras and Memons
Memons of Gujarat and Labbais of the of Gujarat played a crucial role in the politics of
Coromandel Coast owe their rise to trade. the courts.
Similarly, Gujarati Hindu and Muslim communi- Many of the trade practices in use today also
ties specialised in trade with countries of south developed during the Muslim rule. For example,
east Asia and Arabia. They are today among the the traders had to be paid advance for procure-
richest communities of India. Muslim trading ment of textiles. The advance was paid according
groups such as Bohras of Bengal, Mappilas of to a certain kind of system known as dadni
Coromandel coast and Memons of Gujarat prevailing then. The intermediaries gave a part of
specialised in export trade. this money received as advance to weavers on a

Another important development was the growth kind of document called hundi or paikar. There
of the intermediaries in trade and commerce was also an agent between the trade and the
irrespective of their religion. They were instru- intermediaries called dalal. They were a kind of
mental in promoting trading relations. The brokers who broke the deal. The commission
Islamic rulers knew this very well. The intermedi- paid to them was called brokerage. During this
aries were indispensable to them as the courts of period many Europeans came to India as traders.
Sultans were dependant on their support and of They employed salaried brokers. Some of these
the mercantile classes for revenue and other practices continue even today. The mercantile
purposes including intelligence. They witnessed communities have made a striking contribution
their growth during the Islamic rule, whether to India’s foreign trade in the 21st century.
Sultanate or Mughals. Besides the royal courts, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
they also received patronage of many foreigners BENEFITS OF TRADE
who came to India during the medieval period in In the fifteenth century Ottoman Turks had
search of markets. This led to growth of a variety established control over traditional sea routes
of urban centres as the settlements grew large. and trade had passed into the hands of Arabs.
Several local communities of Hindus, Jains and This had led Europeans to discover new sea
Muslims had their own intermediary classes.
routes to south east Asia and India. A number of
They acted as intermediaries between the money
European cities directly depended on trade with
lenders, zamindars, manufacturers, artisans and
these countries. This was how the European
even individuals. These intermediary classes like
nations like England, Dutch and the Portuguese
had ventured into the sea. The Sultanate rulers
and later the Mughals were also inclined towards
traders. The Bhamani states of Ahmednagar,
Berar, Bijapur, Golconda and Bidar were all
dependent on trade in the sixteenth century. The
Mughals in the sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
ries also gave great encouragement to trade.
Akbar was determined to conquer Gujarat and
led a formidable campaign both on Bahamani
kingdom and Gujarat to capture these territories.
A Painting Showing a Trading Scene Trade had following social-economic and reli-
of the Chola Empire gious impact during this period.
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