Ulhas, thanks for the book review. In the case of colonial India, the use of historical accounts with an agenda by the West in place of histories is widespread and commonplace, however, with precolonial India it is, pure and simple, an untold story in the West.
India has a very long and rich history in specialization and trade. More than 2000 years ago, large towns and ports existed with obvious international trade connections to places like Rome and the East. But this is just another untold story for us.
Just a quick glimpse at the Medieval period in both Europe and India reveals market centers within urbanized areas, specialization, sophisticated connections between resources, production and trade, overland, coastal and overseas trade, merchants organized into guilds, and brokers -- all in India. How about the Europeans during this period? Oh, as the threat of the Magyars and Vikings finally vanished, just beginning to think about leaving the feudal manors for something resembling towns! So when the Europeans finally arrived in India, well-developed specialization and trade mechanisms were already in place -- the only matter left was how, shall we say, to become a part of it all.
Please see my forthcoming review of a wonderful book below.
Diane
The Trading World of the Tamil Merchant: Evolution of Merchant Capitalism in the Coromandel. Kanakalatha Mukund Sangam Books Limited, 1999. ISBN 0-86311-823-2
Was it the impact of innovations in advanced shipping, the establishment of port enclaves, navigation, and commercial credit that led to the European domination of Indian Ocean trade after 1750? Kanakalatha Mukund's important new monograph suggests that this is only partially true by revealing that the evolution of trade and mercantilist activities in the Coromandel region of Southern India went through the same process of institutional and structural change as those in Europe except that the Coromandel went through this process two and a half centuries before Europe! Thus, when the Europeans arrived, many necessary mercantilist structures were already in place.
Mukund, undertaking much of the Tamil Nadu State Archive document translation herself, presents a convincing case using classical Tamil literature, temple inscriptions, travel accounts, and records of European companies as the primary sources in the study. The development of trade and its institutions during the Sangam (50-400 AD), Medieval (900-1300AD), and Vijayanagar (1400-1600 AD) periods are thoroughly and vibrantly delineated in the book up until the first signs of decay that appeared with emerging European control.
We learn that, the Coromandel has had a remarkable history in specialization and trade commencing more than 2000 years ago. Large towns and ports existed with obvious trade connections to places like Rome and the East. Unfortunately, evidence of trade ties with the East has been neglected in the literature.
Mukund vividly reconstructs the well-developed pattern of overland, coastal, and overseas trade. It is evident that many varieties of grains, black pepper, white sugar, and basic manufactures were traded. Gold and horses were imported from the West, while wine, dye pigments, and coral were imported from the East. During the Sangam period, Mukund discovers that both the itinerant and the town merchants traded in only one specific good, and were segregated into certain sections of the city. Brokers brought buyers and sellers together but there is no evidence of gold or money being used to facilitate trade transactions, so presumably trades were conducted through barter.
The Medieval period brought a mushrooming construction of Hindu temples which became a great source of social control and economic power. These temples became centers for linking inputs and the production process as well as trade opportunities. The depositing of gold and money in the temples and the organization of merchants into guilds also began. These trade associations typically received support from the king and local ruling class, recounts the author. Eventually, the entire southern portion of India became consolidated under the Vijayanagar Empire. And despite a gradual move toward feudalism and control over the surplus agriculture, trade was promoted. The nayaka rulers actually lowered taxes and gave tax concessions on goods sold in markets. Entire towns were often declared sanctuaries where merchants would be completely free of tax obligations, penalties, and other trade restrictions.
Europeans became increasingly attracted to the area beginning in the 1600s because of its central presence in Southeast Asian trade. New linkages and expanded markets with the West were offered to these merchants in return. The Europeans, however, gradually involved themselves in activities that would lead to tighter trade control. Attempts were also made to prevent the establishment of connections with peripheral European countries in India.
I expect that this enlightening monograph will have an immense impact for years to come because it is successful in synthesizing merchant capitalist theory, empirical records, classical literature, and magnificent period imagery. The period descriptions are wonderful on their own, but they have an added value of being supported by an important theme with a solid theoretical foundation.
Kanakalatha Mukund's work presents a significant challenge to those who believe in the uniqueness of European mercantilist innovations as the basis for European international trade domination in the eighteenth century. A serious scholar of contemporary or historical trade theories will be well advised to keep this valuable volume close at hand.