NCERT 7 HISTORY CHAPTER 6

6.TOWNS, TRADERS AND CRAFTSPERSONS

• Types of towns - a temple town, an administrative centre, a commercial town or a port

    ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRES

• Thanjavur (the capital of the Cholas): Kaveri (the perennial river flows), water supply for town (from well and tanks)
• Rajarajeshvara temple (Architect - Kunjaramallan Rajaraja Perunthachchan), palaces with mandapas or pavilions, army barracks are there
• bustling town with markets, the Saliya weavers producing cloth for temple flags, the sthapatis or sculptors are making idols

    TEMPLE TOWNS AND PILGRIMAGE CENTRES

• Thanjavur - also an example of temple town
• Temples - often central to the economy and society, rulers built temples, endowed temples with grant of land and money, pilgrims also made donations
• Temple towns - Bhillasvamin (Bhilsa / Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh), Kanchipuram and Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh
• Pilgrimage centres to townships - Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh), Tiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu)
• Ajmer (Rajasthan) - capital of the Chauhan kings in the 12th century and later became the suba under the Mughals 
• excellent example of religious coexistence
• Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, celebrated Sufi saint settled there
• Pushkar lake, near Ajmer also attracted pilgrims

    A NETWORK OF SMALL TOWNS

• several small towns emerged had a mandapika (or mandi) to sell their produce
• market streets (hatta / haat), streets for different kinds of artisans
• a Samanta or a zamindar of later times, built fortified palace and levied taxes on traders and artisans  

     TRADERS BIG AND SMALL

• many kinds of traders includes the Banjaras and the horse traders formed associations with headmen
• they travelled in caravans and formed guilds (a medieval association of craftsmen / merchants)
• Famous guilds - Manigramam and Nanadesi
• Principal trading communities - the Chettiars and the Marwari Oswal
• Gujarati traders (Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras) - traded along Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, Southeast Asia and China
• they sold textiles and spices in exchange of gold, ivory, spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver 
• West coast towns - were home to Arab, Persian, Chinese, Jewish and Syrian Christian traders
• Indian spices and cotton cloth reached European markets, eventually drew them to India
• Kabul - linked to the Silk route, politically and commercially important from 16th century

    CRAFTS IN TOWNS

• Craftspersons of Bidar - famed for their inlay work in copper and silver (Bidri)
• The Panchalas / Vishwakarma community - consisting of goldsmiths, bronzesmiths, blacksmiths, masons and carpenters
• the Saliyar / kaikkolars - were weavers, emerged as prosperous communities
• Ahmedabad (Gujarat) - become major commercial city but Thanjavur and Murshidabad shrank in size and importance

  A CLOSER LOOK: HAMPI, MASULIPATNAM AND SURAT

   THE ARCHITECTURAL SPLENDOUR OF HAMPI

• Hampi - in the Krishna-Tungabhadra basin, nucleus of Vijayanagara Empire, a well fortified city (no mortar / cement used, arranged in interlocking pattern)
• Distinctive architecture - royal complexes had splendid arches, domes and pillared halls, gardens, Hampi and its temples bustled with commercial and cultural activities
• Devadasis (temple dancers) performed before the deity, the Mahanavami festival (Navaratri in the south) - most important festival
• Hampi fell into ruin following the defeat of Vijayanagara by the Deccani Sultans

    A GATEWAY TO THE WEST: SURAT

• Surat - the emporium of western trade, gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf of Ormuz, also been called as gateway to Mecca
• In 17th century, the Portuguese, Dutch and English had their factories and warehouses at Surat
• Ovington, an English chronicler wrote an account that an average of hundred ships could be found at the port at any time
• Textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders (Zari)
• Surat had retail and wholesale cotton textile shops, magnificient buildings, parks, rest houses
• The Kathiawad seths or mahajans (money changers) had huge banking houses, the Surat hundis (a note recording a deposit made by a person and can be claimed at any other place) were honoured 
• the loss of markets and productivity due to decline of Mughal Empire and competition among European trades led to decline of Surat in the end of 17th century

    FISHING IN TROUBLED WATERS: MASULIPATNAM

• on the delta of the Krishna river
• Both the Dutch and English East India company attempted to control Masulipatnam port
• Fierce competition - the Golconda nobles (the Qutb Shahi rulers), Persian merchants, Telugu Komati Chettis and European traders
• Aurangzeb annexed Golconda and then the East India company made a new policy (ports should not only have connections with production centres but also should combine political, administrative and commercial roles)
• they moved to Bombay, Calcutta and Madras and Masulipatnam lost its prosperity in 18th century

     NEW TOWNS AND TRADERS

• In 16th and 17th centuries, the English, Dutch and French formed the East India Companies in order to expand their commercial activities and gradually made great Indian traders like Mulla Abdul Ghafur and Virji Vora as their agents
• The English emerged as the most successful commercial and political power
• Indian textile designs became increasingly refined, gradually led to the decline of the independence of craftspersons
• 18th century marked the rise of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras
• merchants and artisans moved into "the Black Towns" established by the British (for native traders) while "the White" English rulers occupied the residencies of Fort St. George in Madras or Fort St. William in Calcutta