Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s8: Industry, Trade and Commerce

Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s8

Language: English

Industry, Trade and Commerce

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In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to look back and see how the various strata of society lived in the cities. As seen above, the main section of the population of the cities consisted of Government servants—high officials and nobles, civil service men and soldiers—their families, dependents and servants. Besides them, quite a large section of people were engaged in industries, trade and commerce.

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In this respect the fifteenth century was a period of great activity. Muslim conquerors and rulers possessed two special qualities. They looted recklessly and they spent recklessly.¹²⁷ From the time of Muhammad Ghorī onwards the loot from the temples and treasuries of Hindu kings, in other words the wealth lying frozen for decades and even centuries, was released into the market. We have seen that the kings, nobles, officers, soldiers, etc. lived a life of comfort and luxury. Trade and industry were fostered to satisfy their ever increasing demands, and money began to circulate in the market with ever greater vigour. Manufacturing centres were spread out all over the country and the State gave liberal encouragement to industry.¹²⁸ Although in the fifteenth century we do not hear of the *Kārkhānās* of the days of Fīrōz Tughlaq, yet absence of their mention does not necessarily point to their disappearance. On the other hand, there is evidence to the contrary. Both Wassāf and Marco Polo speak about the good soil and extensive cotton cultivation of Gujarat.¹²⁹ Gujarat produced good quality cloth. Similarly, according to Mahuan, an interpreter attached to the Chinese envoy Chang Ho who visited Bengal in 1406, five or six types of fine cotton fabrics were manufactured in Bengal alone. Besides these, Bengal specialised in manufacturing silk handkerchiefs, caps embroidered with gold, painted wares, basins, cups, guns, knives and scissors.¹³⁰ Varthema (1503-8) informs us that from Bengal and Cambay silk and cotton stuffs were sent out to Persia, Tartary, Syria, Arabia and Africa.¹³¹ According to Barbosa (about 1518) a kind of *shash* named *sirband* and made in Bengal was liked by European ladies for their head-dress and by the Arab and Persian merchants for use as turbans.¹³² These articles had a countrywide market also.

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¹²⁷ T.F.S. (B), 119-20.

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¹²⁸ Alqal., 51. *Masālik*, E and D, III, 578.

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¹²⁹ Yule, *Ser Marco Polo*, II, 328.

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¹³⁰ J.R.A.S., 1895, 531-32.

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¹³¹ *Travels of Varthema*, 212.

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¹³² *The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, II, 145.

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Indian artists and jewellers specialised in making curios and articles which were very highly priced. During the reign of Sikandar Lodī an artist by the name of Miān Tāh was a genius in workmanship. "He had made a single writing tablet and a cap out of ivory. Besides he made an ear-ring in the design of a lotus, inside which was set a fly. When the woman put it in her ear, it seemed a bud so long as the head was kept still. As soon as the head was shaken, the bud opened up into a lotus, the fly flew out and hovered in front of the eye. When she stopped shaking the head, the fly returned to the lotus and became a bud once more. How are such marvels to be described!"¹³³ These artists could create such works of art because their art was handed down from generation to generation. According to Bābur, "another good thing in Hindustan is that it has unnumbered and endless workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste for every sort of work and for everything, which had done that work or that thing from father to son till now".¹³⁴

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¹³³ T.D. as translated in Roy's *History of the Afghans*, 121-22.

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¹³⁴ B.N. (B), II, 520, also 518.

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That is why men of each profession excelled in their craft. Writing about Indian workmen Bābur says: "680 men worked daily on my buildings in Agra..., while 1,491 stone-cutters worked on my buildings in Agra, Sikri, Biana, Dholpur, Gwalior and Koil.¹³⁵ In the same way there are numberless artisans of every sort in Hindustan,"¹³⁶ like brewers, goldsmiths, iron-smiths, tin-workers, carpenters, oilmen, barbers, jugglers, mountebanks, musicians, and still others.¹³⁷

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¹³⁵ As noticed before, Tīmūr had been so much impressed with Indian artists that he had taken a large number of them to his capital Samarqand.

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¹³⁶ B.N. (B), II, 520.

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¹³⁷ Jaisi, *Padmāvat*, 154, 413.

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Growth of industry necessitated facilities for the transport of merchandise from the manufacturing centres to Delhi and other important cities. Although roads and other means of communication were not very satisfactory, yet for the then traffic and volume of trade they served tolerably well. Agricultural products were transported from the fields to the markets in the cities in bullock-carts. Grain was also transported and sold by roving-merchants (*banjārās*) on mules in places which were not easily accessible. Big merchants with their merchandise generally moved only in large convoys.¹³⁸ King's officials with treasures also travelled in convoys and under proper escort.¹³⁹ Transport between cities and within the city was provided by coolies, horses, bullock-carts and *dola* or *doli*. In the days of Fīrōz Tughlaq hire for a bullock-cart was 4 to 6 *jītals* and 12 *jītals* for a horse. A *dola* which was carried by *Kahārs* cost half a *tankā*. In the fifteenth century Ekka and Tonga¹⁴⁰ are also mentioned, but for long journeys the horse was the common conveyance.¹⁴¹ A footman's services could be obtained for five *tankās* a month,¹⁴² and a man could travel from Delhi to Agra for one *bahlolī* which sufficed for him, his horse and his small escort during the journey.¹⁴³ A large number of people were engaged on this work. Their trade was brisk and they lived happily.¹⁴⁴

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¹³⁸ T.F.S. (B), 316.

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¹³⁹ I.B., 151.

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¹⁴⁰ T.S.A., 24 and n., also 33.

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¹⁴¹ T.S.A., 45.

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¹⁴² A Sikandari (silver) *tankā* was equal to 40 (copper) *Bahlolīs*. Thomas, *Chronicles*, 366.

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¹⁴³ T.D., 137-38. The author of the *Zabd-ut-Tawārīkh* supports 'Abdulla regarding the cheapness of prices in Ibrāhīm Lodi's times. Elliot's *Historians*, I, 292.

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¹⁴⁴ T.F.S. (A), 136.

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Inland trade was in a flourishing condition throughout the fifteenth century. A treasure trove discovered in 1908 between Garha and Madan Mahal,¹⁴⁵ and consisting of coins of Muhammedan kings of Delhi, Kashmir, Gujarat, Malwa, the Bahmanī kingdom and Jaunpur, ranging from A. D. 1311 to A. D. 1553 is a good testimony of the constant inland trade and commerce throughout the length and breadth of the country since the treasure trove containing an assortment of coins from almost all important States of India was discovered at a place situated in the heart of the country.

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¹⁴⁵ Dist. Gaz., Jubbulpore, 74.

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Indeed from the time of 'Alāuddīn Khaljī, whether in the capital or in the major and minor cities in northern India, almost the whole of the trade was in the hands of the Hindu merchants.¹⁴⁶ They had grown rich.¹⁴⁷ According to Shams Sirāj 'Afīf such was the prosperity of the people, that a daughter's dowry was no problem to them and they always married their girls at a very young age.¹⁴⁸ Early marriages may have been due to many other reasons also, but the statement of the chronicler is significant. He asserts that there was no family in Delhi which did not possess large quantities of ornaments,¹⁴⁹ and this finds corroboration in the description of the sack of Delhi by Tīmūr's men. It stands to reason that such conditions prevailed down to our period of study and beyond.

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¹⁴⁶ T.F.S. (B), 316-18.

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¹⁴⁷ In fact by the time of Fīrōz Tughlaq there was so much competition within the merchant class for obtaining licences for trade in the cantonment areas that bribery and corruption were commonly resorted to.

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¹⁴⁸ T.F.S. (A), 180, also 295.

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¹⁴⁹ *Ibid.*, 99-100.

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The condition of foreign trade was equally good. It was carried on both by sea and land. Since Gujarat, Bahmanī and Vijāyanagar kingdoms possessed an extensive coast line also, they could have both maritime as well as inland trade. In fact India had traded with foreign countries ever since ancient times. With the progress of Islam west Asian nations like Egypt, Arabia and Iran entered with ever greater zeal into the arena of the then world trade. Indian trade too received an impetus from this activity. Indian ports served as clearing houses for ships sailing from west Asia—Egypt, Iran and other Middle East countries—to the Far East and earned much revenue from the customs. Indian goods used to command a ready market in foreign lands during the period under study.

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Exports from India included pearls, jewels and perfumery, elephants tusks, ebony and *Ūd* (an odoriferous wood), camphor, clove, nutmeg and sandal-wood. Cloth, jute, coconut, cotton, brocade and pepper also had a good market outside.¹⁵⁰ Of the imports only horses are mentioned, as Arabian and Turkistan horses were in great demand here, and Wassāf writes that about 10,000 horses were imported every year.¹⁵¹ Indian rulers gained by maritime trade and so gave it every possible encouragement.¹⁵² Hindus were a sea-faring people. Nicolo Conti and Vasco da Gama write that Indian sailors guided themselves by the help of stars in the north and south and had nautical instruments of their own.¹⁵³ Gujarat kings maintained fleets also and fought naval battles.¹⁵⁴ Muslims used to go to Mecca in boats.¹⁵⁵

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¹⁵⁰ Nikitin, 20; Barbosa, II, 85; Islamic Culture, VII, 1933, 292-93; J.A.S. B., XXI, 261.

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¹⁵¹ Wassāf, text, 529. Also Ibn Battūta, Def. and Sang., II, 371-74.

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¹⁵² Ibn Battūta, Def. and Sang., III, 288. Also K.M. Panikkar, *Malabar and the Portuguese*, 1-25.

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¹⁵³ J.R.A.S., V, 1846, 784; J.A.S.B., XXI, 563. Also Radha Kumud Mukerjee, *A History of Indian Shipping*, 143.

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¹⁵⁴ Mukerjee, 143; J.A.S.B., XXI, 553, 568.

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¹⁵⁵ T.S.A., 26, 55.

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The main Indian sea ports were Deybul in Sindh, Cambay (Khambāyat), Thānā (near Bombay), and Broach in Gujarat; Choul and Dabhol in Bahmanī kingdom, Mangalore in Vijāyanagar kingdom, while Calicut, Quilon, and Cape Comorin were in Malabar.¹⁵⁶ Deybul was "a remarkable centre of trade" of various kinds of goods.¹⁵⁷ Calicut and Quilon had ship building and repairing yards on the west coast.¹⁵⁸ For the east coast there is the testimony of Mahuan who writes: "The rich build ships in which they carry on commerce with foreign nations".¹⁵⁹ Nicolo Conti describes the ships built by Indians and prefers them to ships built in Europe in his times.¹⁶⁰ Similar is the preference of Varthema in the sixteenth century.¹⁶¹

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¹⁵⁶ J.A.S.B., XXI, 1925, 562. Nikitin, 19-20. Also Islamic Culture, VII, 1933, 286.

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¹⁵⁷ Ibn Haukal, 230; Nikitin, 20.

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¹⁵⁸ I.B., 191; Abdur Razzāq, 13-20; Varthema, 152 ff.

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¹⁵⁹ J.R.A.S., 1895, 530-31.

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¹⁶⁰ J.A.S.B., XXI, 563.

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¹⁶¹ Varthema, 152 ff.

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About the close of the fifteenth century, a new race had entered the arena of overseas trade when Vasco da Gama landed on the Malabar coast in A.D. 1498. The Portuguese were quite welcome in India,¹⁶² but when they started to show their hand, Malabar resisted their encroachments. Besides, their commercial and practical activities also broke the monopoly which the Egyptians and Indians had so long enjoyed in the Red Sea.¹⁶³ In 1508 Gujarat and Egypt entered into an alliance and their united fleet attacked the ships of the Portuguese¹⁶⁴ and did them great damage, but their power went on increasing till the Dutch ousted them. The commercial and colonial expansion of the Portuguese on the west coast of India is a very significant event of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, because the Portuguese were the first among the Europeans to come to a land which in course of time they were to influence in so many ways.¹⁶⁵

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¹⁶² *I.A.*, III, 100.

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¹⁶³ K.M. Panikkar, *Malabar and the Portuguese*, 32.

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¹⁶⁴ I.A., III, 100. Also Panikkar, 67, 69, for Zamorin's invocation of the aid of Egypt.

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¹⁶⁵ For the presence of numerous Portuguese words in Indian languages, especially Urdu, see R.B. Saksena, *A History of Urdu Literature*, 5.

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But, as seen above, the balance of trade was throughout in India's favour, and Indian States possessing the sea coast gained immensely. True, as Moreland suggests: "At this time Delhi was cut off from the sea coast for a century and adequate supplies (of precious metals) could be obtained (only) through the sea ports"¹⁶⁶ of Gujarat, Bengal and the south. But there is no evidence of "lawlessness along the roads" to which he points.¹⁶⁷ On the contrary the treasure trove discovered in Madhya Pradesh, referred to above, as well as the testimony of Bābur clearly indicate that India was carrying on trade and commerce with many foreign countries by the land route and her gains were immense. Bābur gives many interesting details about it. "On the road between Hindustan and Khorasān," writes he, "there are two great marts; the one Kabul, the other Kandahar.... This country lies between Hindustan and Khorasān.¹⁶⁸ It is an excellent market for commodities. . . . From Hindustan every year, fifteen or twenty thousand pieces of cloth are brought by caravans.¹⁶⁹ The commodities of Hindustan are slaves, white clothes, sugar-candy, refined and common sugar, drugs and spices. There are many merchants that are not satisfied with getting thirty or forty on ten (i.e. three or four hundred per cent). The productions of Khorasān, Rūm, Irāk and Chīn may all be found in Kabul, which is the very emporium of Hindustan".¹⁷⁰ According to Yahyā Sarhindī also a large number of foreign (Khurasānī) merchants lived in Delhi and some of the best mansions in "that prosperous city" belonged to them.¹⁷¹ Surely Indian goods had a good market abroad and Indian merchants made huge profits. And since coins at this period, especially in foreign trade, "were not regarded as fixed standards of value, but rather as a form of merchandise",¹⁷² the Indian merchants obtained good quantities of gold and silver from foreign trade. In short India was eager to sell every kind of produce for these precious metals,¹⁷³ and Bābur was impressed by the "masses of gold and silver" in this country.

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¹⁶⁶ Moreland, *op. cit.*, 68-69.

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¹⁶⁷ *Ibid.*, 68.

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¹⁶⁸ Route to Kabul was from Lahore, to Kandhār from Multan. Moreland, *India at the Death of Akbar*, 219.

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¹⁶⁹ B.N. (L & E), 137-38. B.N. (B), I, 202, has "caravans of 10, 15 or 20,000 heads of horses".

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¹⁷⁰ B.N. (L & E), 137-38.

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¹⁷¹ T.M.S., 107-8.

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¹⁷² Moreland, *op. cit.*, 59.

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¹⁷³ Moreland, *op. cit.*, 197-98.

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Bābur's assertion that Hindustan abounded in "masses of gold and silver" is very interesting indeed, and calls for an explanation. This conqueror of the sixteenth century might have been impressed by the funds of these precious metals here because his own country lacked them. But the question arises how was it that although so many conquerors from Mahmūd of Ghaznī to Tīmūr had carried away so much wealth out of India and so many rulers used to send out the wealth of the country for distribution among their co-religionists in Muslim countries,¹⁷⁴ the fund of gold and silver was never on the decline even when these metals were not quarried in India in any large quantities.¹⁷⁵ Perhaps a very important reason for this was that much of what the invaders carried away in loot was brought back by Indian traders and merchants through trade from the very countries to which the wealth had been carried away.

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¹⁷⁴ E.g. Bābur himself celebrated his victory at Panipat by distributing wealth with prodigal generosity. Offerings were sent to the holy places of Mecca and Medina, "and every living soul in Kabul received a silver coin". R. Williams, 139 and note; B.N. (B), II, 522-23; T.A., II, 17; Ferishta, I, 206.

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¹⁷⁵ From the information given in the *Āīn-i-Akbarī* "the production of gold (in the country) appears to have been negligible: the silence of the visitors to the south may be taken as conclusive evidence that the Mysore gold fields were not worked at that time, and Abul Fazl tells only of the metal being washed from river-sand in some parts of Northern India....Silver too was obtained only in trifling quantities. Abul Fazl states that a mine existed in the province of Agra, but that it did not pay for working." Moreland, *op. cit.*, 146.

Cites (1)

Padmāvat — Malik Muhammad Jāyasī 1540, Awadhī