Towns, Traders and Craftsmen

Tanjore - Capital city of the Cholas on the bank of river Kaveri.

Rajarajeshvara temple built by Rajaraja Chola.

The temple has a Shiva linga and many mandapas around it.

The important centres around this bustling city are:Saliya- weaversUraiyur- producing flags & and other fine clothes for kings and nobility.Swamimalai- sculptors

Rajarajeshvara Temple

Pilgrimage centres emerged as Townships

Block Printing around Ajmer

GujaratVrindavan

Traders Guilds of the 8th centurySome Guilds in the 8th Century:Manigramam and Nanadesi

Trading Communities were:ChettiarsMarwarisBaniyas Muslim Bohras

Foreign Traders:ArabJewishChineseSyrians

Main Articles of Trade:Spices, cotton cloth

Architectural Splendour of Hampi, Karnataka•Located in Krishna-

Tungabhadra basin .

•No mortar / cement was used.

•It has arches, domes and pillared halls with niches.

•Orchards and gardens around it.

•Hub of cultural activities. Devadasis performed before the deities.

Surat : A Gateway to the West

•Portuguese, Dutch, English had factories here.•Surat was the emporium of western trade during the Mughal period. •Surat was the gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf of Ormuz.•Surat was called the gateway to Mecca because many pilgrim ships set sail from here.•The city was cosmopolitan. ThePortuguese, Dutch and English had their warehouses here.

Causes for Decline:•Loss of market and productivity by the end 17th century.

•Control of sea routes by the Portuguese.

•Competition from Bombay which became the hub of British trade

•Surat was famous for gold lace borders and had a market in Asia, Africa and Europe.•There were rest houses for fotr the merchants and travellers.•There were many money-lenders and banking houses like the kathiawad seths and mahajans.•Textiles were marketed to Africa, West Asia and Europe•Surat Hundis were recognised in Egypt, Basra, Antwerp.

Masulipatnam

•It lies on the delta of Krishna river.•Dutch and British had control over this. •Fort of Masulipatnam built by the Dutch.•Qutb Shahi dynasty put restrictions on their trade. •Aurangzeb annexed Golconda.•The European Companies started looking elsewhere for trade.•Masulipatnam lost its trade and prosperity.•It was a part of the new policy of the English East India company to connect a port with the political administrative and commercial centres.

New Towns and Traders

•16th and 17th century trade dominated by the Europeans specially by the British because of their naval superiority.•The Indian traders had to work on the basis of the system of advance.•Crafts of spinning, weaving, dyeing were in demand.•Craftsmen lost their independence. They did not have the liberty to sell their own cloth or weaving their own patterns.

•18th century saw the rise of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras as nodal cities. •The Indian workers were moved to “Black Towns”.•The whites resided in Fort St. George (Madras) and St. Fort William (Calcutta) and established flourishing trade in India.

Fort St.William

Fort St.George