Although the courtly culture of the Mughal rulers of
the Indian subcontinent is the most well known, a cosmopolitan
outlook was not new to India; several sources point
to a thriving system of international trade that linked
the ports of Southern India with those of Ancient Rome.
The chronicles of the Greek Periplus reveal that Indian
exports included a variety of spices, aromatics, quality
textiles (muslins and cottons), ivory, high quality
iron and gems. Considered items of luxury in those days,
these were in high demand. While a good portion of Indo-Roman
trade was reciprocal, (Rome supplying exotic items such
as cut-gems, coral, wine, perfumes, papyrus, copper,
tin and lead ingots), the trade balance was considerably
weighted in India's favor. The balance of payments had
to be met in precious metals, either gold or silver
coinage, or other valuables like red coral (i.e. the
hard currency of the ancient world). India was particularly
renowned for its ivory work and its fine muslins (known
in Roman literature as 'woven air'). However, these
items must have been quite expensive since the Roman
writer Pliny (AD 23-79) complained of the cost of these
and other luxury commodities that were imported from
India. "Not a year passed in which India did not
take fifty million sesterces away from Rome", wrote
Pliny. This trade surplus gave rise to prosperous urban
centres that were linked to an extensive network of
internal trade. Literary records from that period paint
a picture of abundance and splendour . The Silappathikaarum
(The Ankle Bracelet), a Tamil romance (roughly dated
to the late second century AD), provides a glimpse of
the maritime wealth of the cosmopolitan cities of South
India. Set in the prosperous port city of Puhar (Kaveripattanam),
the story refers to ship owners described as having
riches 'the envy of foreign kings'. Puhar is portrayed
as a city populated by enterpreneurial merchants and
traders, where trade was well regulated: "The city
of Puhar possessed a spacious forum for storing bales
of merchandise, with markings showing the quantity,
weight, and name of the owner." The Silappathikaarum
suggests that the markets offered a great variety of
precious commodities prized in the ancient world. Special
streets were earmarked for merchants that traded in
items such as coral, sandalwood, jewellery, faultless
pearls, pure gold, and precious gems. Skilled craftspeople
brought their finished goods such as fine silks, woven
fabrics, and luxurious ivory carvings. Archealogical
finds of spectacular burial jewellery in southern India
appear to corroborate such accounts. Northern India
also had its flourishing urban centres. This can be
inferred from descriptions of an archealogical site
in ancient Taxila. Vladimir Zwalf (in Jewelry, 7000
years - Hugh Tait, Editor) notes: "The site has
yielded magnificent and well-preserved gold jewellery,
notably necklaces, ear-pendants and finger-rings, characterised
by a mastery of granulation and inlay." While most
ornaments from that period have not survived, sculpture
from several sites shows heavy adornment. Patliputra
(now Patna) during the Mauryan period was described
by travellers as one of the grandest cities of that
period.
TEXTILES
The antiquity of Indian textile exports can be established
from the records of the Greek geographer Strabo (63
BC - AD 20) and from the first century Greek source
Periplus, which mentions the Gujarati port of Barygaza,
(Broach) as exporting a variety of textiles. Archaeological
evidence from Mohenjo-Daro, establishes that the complex
technology of mordant dyeing had been known in the
subcontinent from at least the second millennium B
C. The use of printing blocks in India may go as far
back as 3000 B.C, and some historians are of the view
that India may have been the original home of textile
printing. "The export of printed fabrics to China
can be dated to the fourth century B C, where they
were much used and and admired, and later, imitated."
- ( Stuart Robinson: 'A History of Printed Textiles').
The thirteenth-century Chinese traveller Chau Ju-kua
refers to Gujarat as a source of cotton fabrics of
every color and mentions that every year these were
shipped to the Arab countries for sale. " The
discovery at Broach of a hoard of gold and silver
coins, mostly fourteenth-century and belonging to
the Mamluk kingdom of Egypt and Syria, suggests the
maintenance of the advantageous trading system recorded
since Roman times whereby Indian textiles and other
renewable resources were traded for precious metals".
- (John Guy, 'Arts of India, 1550 - 1900') Also in
the thirteenth century, Marco Polo recorded the exports
of Indian textiles to China and South East Asia from
the Masulipattinam (Andhra) and Coromandel (Tamil)
coasts in the "largest ships" then known.
It is conjectured that the initial development of
this trade accompanied the spread of Indian cultural
influence in South-East Asia. John Guy in the "Arts
of India, 1550 - 1900", points out that "textile
patterns on sculptures of Indian deities in central
Java and elsewhere in the region very probably reflect
the prestige cloths in circulation in the late first
millennium". Chou Ta-kuan, the Chinese observer
of life at the Khmer capital of Angkor at the end
of the thirteenth century, wrote that "preference
was given to the Indian weaving for its skill and
delicacy." Robyn Maxwell (in Textiles of Southeast
Asia) observes that elaborately decorated Indian textiles
were the most highly valued and notes: " Many
spectacular Indian trade cloths, most now two or three
centuries old, have been treasured as heirlooms throughout
Southest Asia into the twentieth century, making only
rare appearances at important ceremonies or at times
of crisis". Prestige trade textiles such as Patola
(double ikat silk in natural dyes) from Patan and
Ahmedabad, and decorative cottons in brilliant color-fast
dyes from Gujarat and the Coromandel coast were sought
after by the Malaysian royalty and wealthy traders
of the Phillipines. The port city of Surat (in Gujarat)
emerged as the major distribution point for patola
destined for South-East Asia, and was frequented by
the ships of the Dutch East India Company. "The
right to wear patola was widely claimed as a prerogative
of the Indonesian nobility , a practice encouraged
by the Dutch East India Company who distributed patola
to local rulers as part of the incentives offered
to win local trading concessions and co-operation."
(- John Guy, 'Arts of India') Textiles also comprised
a significant portion of the Portuguese trade with
India. These included embroidered bedspreads and wall
hangings possibly produced at Satgaon, the old mercantile
capital of Bengal, (near modern Calcutta). Quilts
of embroidered wild silk (tassar, munga or eri) on
a cotton or jute ground, combining European and Indian
motifs were comissioned by the Portuguese who had
been attracted to Bengal, (as traders had been since
the early centuries AD), by the quality of the region's
textiles. J.H. van Linschoten, who was based in Goa
as secretary to the archbishop in the 1580s, observed
that Cambay also produced silk embroidered quilts.
Textiles from Golconda and further south also found
favor in Europe and South East Asia. In the early
1600s, Dutch and English trading settlements were
established in Golconda territory. Produced in the
Golconda hinterland, kalamkaris - i.e. finely painted
cotton fabrics were bought or commissioned from the
port city of Masulipattinam. Buying at source enabled
the Dutch and English merchants to procure these textiles
at rates thirty per cent lower. 'Palampores' - painted
fabrics based on the "tree of life" motif
that had become popular in the Mughal and Deccan courts
were also highly regarded. The attractiveness of fast
dyed, multi-colored Indian prints on cotton (i.e.
chintz) in Europe led to the formation of the London
East India Company in 1600, followed by Dutch and
French counterparts. By the late 1600s, there was
such overwhelming demand for Indian chintz (whether
from Chittagong in Bengal, or Patna or Surat, that
ultimately French and English wool and silk merchants
prevailed on their governments to ban the importation
of these imported cottons from India. The French ban
came in 1686, while the English followed in 1701.
(Not all textile producing centres were associated
with ports. Several textile producing centres that
catered to the internal market, and to the overland
international trade were located in Northern and Central
India, in the kingdoms of the Rajputs and the Mughals,
each with their own unique specialization. While Kashmir
was well known for its woollen weaves and embroidery,
cities like Benaras, Ujjain, Indore and Paithan (near
Aurangabad) were known for their fine silks and brocades.
Rajasthan specialized in all manner of patterned prints
and dyed cloths. Fine collections of Indian Textiles
can be seen in the Calico Museum in Ahmedabad and
in the Crafts Museum in Delhi)
CARPETS
According to texts dating from the Buddhist era,
woolen carpets were known in India as early as 500
B.C. References to woven mats and floor coverings
are not infrequent in ancient and medieval Indian
literature. By the 16th century, carpet-weaving centres
were established in all the major courts of the sub-continent.
However, it is the output of the Mughal period that
is now attracting international attention. Dismissed
by earlier scholars as mechanical derivatives of Persian
carpets, Indian carpets of the Mughal period are slowly
gaining recognition as the most technically accomplished
classical carpets of all times.
Daniel Walker, curator at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art (New York) has described pile-woven carpets
of the Mughal era as "among the most beautiful
works of art ever created". He suggests that
the large-scale production from the imperial workshops
of Akbar "set the tone for subsequent carpet
weaving in India and resulted in carpets whose jewel-like
beauty is still breathtaking". (Ref. Flowers
Underfoot, Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era)
DECORATIVE CRAFTS
Under the patronage of the various royal clans that
ruled India, particularly the Mughals, the Rajputs
and the Deccani nawabs, the decorative arts and crafts
reached unprecedented heights. (These traditions were
continued, and even augmented by later regional nawabs
in Bengal, Mysore, Central India, Punjab, Awadh and
Kashmir). European traders did not fail to notice
the relatively high quality of Indian craftsmanship
and proceeded to set up their own "karkhanas"
i.e factories, that rivalled the Mughal and Deccani
establishments. Hardwood furniture was a major product
of Portuguese patronage, usually richly decorated
with inlaid woods and ivory. Catering to the European
markets, the items preserved the general forms of
European furniture, but were embellished with expensive
inlays and carvings that took their inspiration from
Indian styles, particularly the Mughal. Several production
centres, principally in Sind, Gujarat and the Deccan
serviced this trade based in Goa. Mother-of-pearl
was one of the materials often used in the decoration
of such items, particularly small storage chests.
These were produced principally in Ahmedabad and Cambay,
and later in Surat. Gujarati furniture with mother-of-pearl
inlay is recorded in the Baburnama (early 16th century).
The technique of setting mother-of-pearl in a black
lac ground, had been employed on wooden tomb-covers
of the early seventeenth century in Ahmedabad and
Cambay, where a good proportion of such work catered
to the Turkish market, as evinced by examples preserved
in the Topkapi Saraye Museum of Istanbul. The craft
of papier mache, extensively promoted by the Mughals
and later the Rajputs, also found favor with 17th
century European traders who commissioned Kashmiri
artists to produce for the European market.
JEWELRY
Since the Indian sub-continent invariably carried
a trade surplus, precious and semi-precious stones,
or gold and silver from the international trade complemented
internally mined supplies, leading several visitors
to India to note the enormous wealth of some of India's
most well known kingdoms. They would describe overflowing
treasuries, replete with a variety of precious metals
and gems. Bazaars exclusively devoted to trade in
precious metals and stones were not uncommon. As already
mentioned, Tamil texts dating to the 2nd Century AD
refer to them, as do the chronicles of the 14th century
traveller Ibn Batuta of Tunisia, and Europeans who
visited the Vijaynagar, or Golconda kingdoms. Vladimir
Zwalf (in Jewelry, 7000 years - Hugh Tait, Editor)
observes: "The ostentatious display of jewels
at the Mughal court mentioned by all visitors to it
is borne out by contemporary miniature paintings and
a large quantity of extant pieces. Jewellery was worn
by both men and women, and was also used in the ornamentation
of arms and armour, furniture and vessels. Gems dominate
Mughal jewellery. India was a major source and trading
centre for precious stones." Shah Jahan was particularly
knowledgeable about gems, and personally supervised
some of the works executed in the "karkhanas".
Several fine examples of jewelry from the courts of
the Mughals and Rajputs, and other regional nawabs
can be seen in the collection in the National Museum,
including selections from Benaras, Bengal and Southern
India.
METALLURGY
Two quotes well summarize the development of metallurgical
skills prior to modern industrialization. Sir Thomas
Holland, (chairman of the Indian Industrial Commission
of 1916-18) reported in 1908: "The high quality
of the native made iron, the early anticipation of
the process now employed in Europe for the manufacture
of high-class steels, and the artistic products in
copper and bronze gave India a prominent position
in the metallurgical world." D.H. Buchanan wrote
in 'Development of Capitalist Enterprise in India,
1934': "In India, steel was used for weapons,
for decorative purposes and for tools, and remarkably
high grade articles were produced. The old weapons
are second to none, and it is said that the famous
damascus blades were forged from steel imported from
Hyderabad in India. The iron column, called the Kutub
pillar at Delhi, weighs over six tons and carries
an epitaph composed about 415 A.D. No one yet understands
how so large a forging could have been produced at
that time." The craft of Bidri-ware which originated
in the Deccan, in Bidar and spread northwards to centres
like Lucknow, required not insignificant metallurgical
skills. The delicate inlay work required discipline
and expertise, and additionally, required the knowledge
of extraction of zinc (a primary constituent of the
Bidri alloy). Unlike copper or iron, zinc was not
easily extractable from its ore. Consequently, in
Europe, the metal could not be used on an industrial
scale until an Englishman patented his zinc distillation
process in 1738. However, in India, zinc was first
produced in the 1st C BC (The Rasvatnakar mentions
the distillation of Zinc in Zawar, Rajasthan, and
excavations by the M.S. University verify the existence
of kilns used in the distillation of the metal). In
Rajasthan, it may have subsequently been used in the
production of brass. In any case, by the seventeeth
century, zinc was being absorbed in considerable quantity
for the production of Bidri-ware which had acquired
widespread patronage.
Jaigarh (near Jaipur) was home to one of Asia's largest
canon factories. Cannons produced in the Rajput fort
of Jaigarh (now on display at the Jaigarh Fort) played
a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation
of Mughal rule in India.
THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS
While much is known of the Moghuls, less is known
of the regional kingdoms who were equally cultured,
and also made their mark in manufactures and trade.
Susan Stronge - (The Sultanates of the Deccan, Arts
of India, 1550 - 1900) writes: " With the exception
of architecture, little of the artistic production
of the sultanates has survived, and that which has
is usually uninscribed and undocumented. Nevertheless,
the superb quality of some of the surviving artefacts
provides a tantalising glimpse of a world of courtly
splendour and cultural refinement, others indicating
traditions which, though less elevated, are lively
and appealing." Like their Mughal counterparts,
the Deccani Nawabs were great patrons of the arts
and music, and in portraitures are often depicted
with fine jewellery and fine silks. What is of particular
interest today is the secular administration of these
sultanates. In their patronage of Ragamala paintings,
the Deccani nawabs shared the tastes of the Rajputs,
and later rulers of the Punjab hills and Punjab plains.
Based on the romantic folk-lore of popular traditions,
the ragamala painting became a highly sophisticated
art form - its lyrical and expressive style appealing
to Hindhu, Muslim and Sikh patrons alike. Asad Beg,
who chronicled the court of Bijapur's Ibrahim Adil
Shah II (1586-1627), mentions that Adil Shah spoke
Marathi and his Kitab-i-Nauras, a collection of songs
in Deccani Urdu were set to different ragas, some
paying homage to Muslim saints, others recalling the
Hindhu deities Saraswati and Ganesha. According to
Asad Beg, under Ibrahim Shah, Hindhus had access to
positions of political importance and economic power.
Like Akbar, one of his most trusted officials was
Antu Pandit. Another Hindhu, Ramji, was head of the
Bijapuri guild ofjewellers and court adviser on matters
of jewellery purchase and selection. And like in the
'karkhanas' of Akbar, skilled Hindhu craftsmen, were
just as likely to find employment as skilled Muslims.
Both courts strived towards perfection in their manufactures,
and could not afford religious discrimination.
SHIPPING AND NAVY
Although several nations that traded in the Indian
Ocean had merchant ships, India seems to have been
the first country of the Indian Ocean to possess real
battle-fleets. Reports Auguste Toussaint in 'History
of the Indian Ocean', "The Mauryan emperor Chandragupta,
who ruled from 321 to 297 B.C had even at that time,
an actual Board of Admiralty, with a Superintendent
of Ships at its head." References to it can be
found in Kautilya's Arthasastra. From their voyages
of conquest and trade, we can infer that although
much later, the Pallavas, Pandyas and Cholas of South
India must also have had an efficient naval organization.
Prior to colonial rule, the most significant Navy
in the Indian Ocean, was that of the Mughals. At its
peak, during the reign of Akbar, it had over 3000
vessels, and was concentrated in the Bay of Bengal,
although a good proportion of the fleet was also based
in Gujarat. Described in the Ayeen-i-Akbari (Chronicle
of the Reign of Akbar), the Navy controlled shipbuilding,
conducted naval surveys, collected customs duties
and ensured adequate crew recruitments. During Aurangzeb's
reign, the Mughal fleet functioned only in the Bay
of Bengal, and was heavily used against European traders
(particularly the Portuguese) who challenged the Mughal
authority and tried to avoid customs payments. In
the Bay of Bengal, the kingdom of Assam had its own
fleets, while the Marathas had theirs on the West
coast. In this period, the trade within Asia was still
largely conducted by Asians. The merchants of Surat,
who relied upon ships built by the Wadias of Bombay
(who had not taken long to copy prevailing European
designs) were particularly rich - one of them Virji
Vora (who died in the beginning of the 18th century)
left a fortune of 22 million gold francs. "According
to certain travellers, Surat was then the most beautiful
city of India. One small detail will give an idea
of the unparalleled luxury that prevailed there: certain
streets were paved with porcelain. Francois Martin
in his Memoires calls it 'a real Babylon'.'' - (Auguste
Toussaint in 'History of the Indian Ocean'.)
THE DECLINE IN TRADE REVENUES
However, such prosperity was not to last long. In
that same period, as the revenues to the Mughals from
the overland trade dwindled due to heightened competition
from the East India Company (which undercut prices
for Indian exports offered by the Ottomans of Turkey),
the Mughal state after Aurangzeb crumbled, and the
strength of the Indian Navy diminished as a consequence.
(Although the sea route around the African Cape was
much longer than the overland route, the indirect
profits from the African slave trade that accrued
to the East India Company allowed it to out-compete
the Ottomans and thus draw away badly needed revenues
from the Mughal treasury). Although the kingdoms of
Oudh and Bengal thrived for a while, by 1721 the East
India Company had been prohibited from importing Indian
textiles into Europe. This was a major economic blow
for the entire sub-continent; in particular, the Bengal
Nawabs, who were unable to invest sufficiently in
maintaining an adequate Navy. At the same time, the
East India Company had turned its attention to the
contraband Opium Trade with China, which required
military cover, for which contingents of the British
Royal Navy were sent to the Indian Ocean and the South
China Sea, enhancing British military power in the
Bay of Bengal. The rapid depletion of the Mughal treasuries,
thus started a chain reaction. Unable to supervise
the vast regions under its authority, the Mughal state
disintegrated. Craftspeople employed in the Mughal
'karkhanas' sought patronage from the regional courts
of Awadh and Bengal, or Rajputana and Punjab, or the
Marathas of Central India, all of whom experienced
a short-lived, but often brilliant cultural renaissance.
Mughal and Hindhu (or Sikh) styles were fused in the
regions, producing several unique and syncretic traditions.
However, after the textile bans and inability to enforce
customs collections, the smaller Indian states simply
lacked the economic and military means to resist the
onslaught of the now richer and more poweful East
India Company. The defeat at Plassey in 1757 was thus
a monumental turning point in history. A nation that
had long enjoyed a trade surplus from its manufactures
was soon to be reduced to penury. R. Mukerji describes
this process in 'The Rise and Fall of the East India
Company', noting that the defeat of the Moghuls and
the political ascendance of the East India Company
was accompanied by a decline of the Indian mercantile
bourgeoisie. The great merchants of India, who had
earlier derived protection from the Mughals, and had
benefited from the naval patrols of Akbar and Aurangzeb,
were by the end of the eighteenth century, practically
extinguished in Bengal and elsewhere. Although it
took another century for the conquest of India to
be consolidated, and although a third of India escaped
direct colonial rule, a long era had come to a close.
The crafts of that era were either to be obliterated,
or survive precariously. Remunerated at a much lower
rate, they were unlikely to gain the prestige and
respect they once enjoyed. It is important to note
this difference between the British colonizers and
earlier conquerers who made India their home. Whereas
earlier conquerers had taken full advantage of India's
manufacturing skills and either steered them in different
directions, or attempted to augment and refine them,
for the British, India's manufacturing strengths were
unnecessary competition, and were best snuffed out,
or left to languish . Those who attempt to treat the
British as no different from India's previous Islamic
rulers do great injustice to this ineffaceable reality.
Several of India's previous rulers came as foriegners
- as invaders and conquerers - but they lived and
died in India. Consequently, the monuments they built,
the artefacts they commissioned, the culture that
they sponsored - all of it, is now the legacy of the
people of the sub-continent. The riches that they
acquired were recycled in the same land, but what
the British took away may never be returned. Even
in its faded glory, India's Islamic legacy has more
authenticity than colonial rule. As Indians look to
the future, they may gain from this history a justifiable
pride in the dedicated pursuit of excellence that
was practised by India's craftspeople. They can take
note of the technological discoveries and adaptations
that took place in an older era, and become inspired
to contribute - even in some small way, towards the
betterment of a land that is waiting to find its due
place in the world once more.
European Domination of the Indian Ocean Trade
Prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in the in the
Indian Ocean in 1498, no single power had attempted
to monopolize the sea lanes that connected the ports
of the Indian sub-continent with the Middle East and
East Africa on the West, and the ports of South East
Asia and China to the East. Unlike in the Mediterranean
where during Roman (and earlier) times, rival powers
attempted to control the oceanic trade through military
means, peaceful trade had remained the norm in the
Indian Ocean. Although there were periods when coastal
rulers of the Malabar coast and Southern India were
powerful enough to demand toll taxes from passing
ships, (and Arab rulers had attempted to control the
shipping lanes through the Red Sea) there had not
been any systematic attempt by any single political
power to eliminate all others from the oceanic trade
that touched the Indian subcontinent.
Indian ports that demanded high taxes from docking
ships invariably lost out to "free ports"
- i.e. ports that demanded very low tariffs from docking
ships. In fact, several of the Indian ocean ports
were politically neutral entities - giving free and
equitable access to shippers of varied nationalities
and religious affiliations.
Whereas pre-15th century Arab and Chinese geographical
texts spoke of various natural hazards involved in
long-distance shipping, they did not cite any significant
political or military impediments to undertaking long-distance
voyages other than the risk from pirates. Thus, evidence
left behind by chroniclers such as Marco Polo, Ibn
Batuta, Persian ambassador Abdur Razzaq, the Venetian
Nicolo Conti, and Genoan Santo Stefano - all indicate
that the Indian Ocean was the scene of thriving trade
in the 14th and 15th centuries.
But once the Portuguese had discovered their new
route to India, they displayed considerable zeal in
seizing the most profitable ports of East Africa,
the Persian Gulf, and the Saurashtran, Konkan and
Malabar regions in India. A chain of fortified coastal
settlements backed by regular naval patrols allowed
the Portuguese to gradually eliminate many rivals,
and enforce a semi-monopoly in the spice trade by
the middle of the 16th C. Local traders were coerced
into buying safe passes and paying customs duties
to the Portuguese. However, this attempt at a monopoly
was challenged by the maritime powers of North Sumatra
based in Aceh, as well as by the Omanis, and by Gujarati
traders. And as the Portuguese expanded with settlements
in South East Asia, China and Japan - the Western
monopoly became harder to maintain.
Initial success came to the Portuguese because they
had been shrewd enough to develop a strategy of divide
and conquer - first concentrating on isolating Muslim
traders from the Hindu monarch of Calicut and demonstrating
their fire power by launching a two-day bombardment
of the vital port city (which was then the largest
spice market of the Indian Ocean). These intimidating
tactics worked in the favor of the Portuguese who
repeated this strategy at other key trading destinations.
In 1510, Bijapur's Adil Shahi ruler ceded the control
of Goa to the Portuguese. Having realized that the
bulk of trade moving out of India landed at one of
three ports in the Indian Ocean - i.e. Hormuz in the
Persian Gulf, Aden on the Red Sea, and Malacca in
the Malay Peninsula - Goa's Indian Governor, Alfonso
Albuquerque then shifted his attention to capturing
each of these crucial ports. Malacca fell in 1511
and Hormuz in 1515. Only Aden proved elusive.
In 1505, the spice trade from Asia to Europe was
declared a 'royal monopoly' by the Portuguese, who
saw in this the possibility of extorting tribute through
military means. Once Hormuz and Malacca came under
the military and political control of the Portuguese,
the Portuguese then attempted to expand their monopoly
to the inter-Asian trade. For this they needed to
seal off independent access to the Gujarati traders
who although cut off from Malacca could continue to
trade through the Red Sea. For twenty years, the Portuguese
kept attacking the ports of Gujarat, even gaining
a military victory in 1509 (after an earlier defeat
against the combined defences of Diu and an Egyptian
naval fleet that had been sent to aid the defences
of Diu's Amir Hussain). But nevertheless, Diu did
not fall; and attempts to defeat Malik Ayaz, (the
next governor of Diu) also failed in 1520-1. In 1530,
the Portuguese colonists looted and burned the ports
of Cambay, Surat and Rander, but it was only in 1534,
when in a moment of weakness, Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat
relinquished control of the small port of Bassein.
Diu - which had held out for two decades, suddenly
became vulnerable when Mughal emperor Humayun cut
a deal with the Portuguese to defeat Sultan Bahadur.
The Portuguese were given permission to build a fort
on the island, which allowed the Portuguese to garner
complete political control over the territory by 1555.
Portuguese naval control over the Gulf of Cambay became
complete when they also captured the port of Daman
in 1559. Thus the merchants of Gujarat were brought
under control by the Portuguese, and Gujarat - (which
on account of its thriving industry and trade may
have been one of the richest of India's provinces)
saw its fortunes steadily decline.
Following their conquests in Gujarat, the Portuguese
then proceeded to augment their control in Sri Lanka
by taking over Colombo, and founding a settlement
in Meliapur (Sao Tome) on the Coromandel coast. Realizing
that the trade from Goa to Bengal was even more lucrative
than the Coromandel trade, they then turned their
aggressive energies on Bengal. After initial resistance,
they were allowed to settle in Chittagaon and Satgaon
(near Kolkata), and later moved up-river to Hooghly.
This enabled them to establish a virtual monopoly
on the trade out of West Bengal by the end of the
16th C, until they were expelled by the Mughal armies
in 1632. The Livra das cidades, e fortalezas documented
in detail Portuguese control over numerous Indian
ocean ports (in addition to those previously mentioned),
such as Sofala in Mozambique - a major supplier of
African gold, Mangalore, Cannanore, Cranganore, Cochin
and Quilon - all important sources for spices and
other tropical produce.
This success had come about mainly because unlike
the trading ships of their Asian predecessors, the
Portuguese ships were extremely well-armed for their
times. Moreover, they were fortunate to arrive in
the Indian sub-continent at a time when many of the
ports were outside the political control of any powerful
local ruler who could mount any effective resistance
against their superior fire-power and their willingness
to use it without hesitation. This was also due to
the fact that the great Asian economies of the time
were essentially land-based self-reliant economies.
External trade did not comprise a significant portion
of the economy, and the rulers had little stake in
defending the interests of the sea-faring merchant
classes. Where the merchant class was of some local
significance - such as in Gujarat, the Portuguese
did meet with considerable resistance (as also in
Sumatra). But when squeezed between two enemies (the
Mughals to the North and the Portuguese to the South),
Gujarat had little choice but to give in.
Smaller and less-established traders from the Southern
and Eastern Indian coast were completely eliminated
from the inter-Asian trade, and were never able to
recover. Others survived by accepting Portuguese conditions
and demands of tribute for safe passage. However,
some Gujarati and other Indian traders (along with
their counterparts from East Africa, the Middle East
and Indonesia) tried hard to bypass the Portuguese
monopoly by using smaller ports that were relatively
free from Portuguese domination. In addition, Gujarati
traders began to emulate the Portuguese practice of
arming their fleets, so as to resist the attacks from
their Portuguese rivals.
However, the bulk of the profits went to the Portuguese
who shipped highly-prized Indian textiles to Indonesia
- picking up valuable spices in return for shipment
to Europe. But the very profitability of this trade
brought competitors. First the Dutch, and soon after
the English and the French. In 1656, Colombo fell
to the Dutch, and in 1663, the Portuguese lost Cochin
to the Dutch. Competition with the British East India
Company had led to the loss of Hormuz earlier.
Very quickly, the Dutch and then the English attempted
to replace the monopoly of the Portuguese with a monopoly
of their own. This led each of them to form their
own fortified settlements along the chief trading
routes as alternatives to the former Portuguese trading
bastions. At first, the Dutch appeared to be more
successful than their British and French rivals, and
succeeded in establishing their pre-eminence in Indonesia,
and once they had outmaneuvered the Portuguese, also
came to dominated the shipping out of Gujarat and
Sind. It was now the Dutch that imposed their will
on most Indian shippers, exacting the taxes that were
earlier levied by the Portuguese. At the same time,
each of Portugal's European rivals began setting up
local factories and trade outlets that matched or
exceeded Goa.
Surat (1612), Madras (1639), Bombay (1668), Pondicherry
(1674) and Calcutta (1698) thus gradually overshadowed
Goa, and took over as the main centers of Indo-European
trade. Nevertheless, the Indian (and other Asian)
ship-building industry continued to thrive, as ships
built in the ports of the Indian Ocean often matched
(or even exceeded) the European-built ships in finish
and craftsmanship.
Impressed by the range of Indian manufactures (especially
textiles), and to supplement their trade, Dutch and
British merchants established factories not only in
their new port settlements, but also inland. Factories
in the centers of textile weaving - such as Bahruch
and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and further inland in Burhanpur,
Agra and Lahore were set up. Masulipatam, Pipli, Balasore
and Dhaka also drew their attention as did Patna later.
In this way, the Dutch and British merchants could
keep a much more significant share of the profits
that would have otherwise gone to local Indian middlemen.
Manufacturing and trading emporiums were also set
up in Indonesia by the Dutch.
But even as European-initiated manufacturing grew
quite dramatically in the period leading up to direct
colonial rule, a successively smaller proportion of
the revenues that were generated in Europe reached
the highly skilled and industrious Indian or Indonesian
workers.
However, with only limited political control in India,
British and Dutch traders could not entirely control
the price of skilled labor, and had to deal somewhat
respectfully with local factory owners, traders and
tax officials. India continued to maintain a positive
trade balance with respect to its European trade,
and European traders were compelled to cover this
trade deficit with a steady supply of precious metals.
And as long as the European traders furnished the
Indian subcontinent with gold and silver, Indian monarchs
had some incentive to tolerate the European traders
even as they continued to expand their presence, and
artfully resisted political control over their Indian
activities.
For a while, an equilibrium was maintained; but the
European trading companies were always trying to increase
their bargaining power by exhibitions of their steadily
improving military might. They were constantly testing
their powers - probing any weakness on the part of
the Indian rulers. In 1691, the East India Company
even attempted to challenge Mughal authority, but
lost to Aurangzeb's armies, who was determined not
to allow the European traders any more concessions
than what they had already won.
But once the Mughal empire began to disintegrate,
it was only a matter of time before one or the other
of the European powers that dominated the Indian Ocean
trade would find a way to extend its domination on
the Indian heartland as well. In the end, it was the
British who won the battle to rule over India, edging
out their European rivals who found other territories
to colonize in Asia and Africa.
The colonization of India was followed up by the
colonization of Burma, Indo-China, the Middle East
and virtually all of Africa. China's coastal areas
also come under European domination. By the dawn of
the 20th century, the US had also emerged as a colonial
power, as it took over Spanish colonies in the Caribbean
and in the Philippines.
Thus what began as a war against the unarmed free-trading
merchants of the high seas, ultimately led to the
almost complete subjugation of much of the planet
by the Western European (and American) powers, and
an enormous and unprecedented flow of wealth from
the colonies to Europe and North America. For a century,
the Portuguese managed to exact tribute from most
of the regional traders who were active in the Indian
Ocean. This was followed by a period of Dutch domination,
although there were also pockets (and periods) of
competitive trade as other European rivals attempted
to outflank the Portuguese (and later the Dutch).
But in the end, it was the British who won the largest
prize - direct colonial rule over two-thirds of mainland
India (and indirect rule of the rest) - allowing for
the extraction of tributes far greater in magnitude
than what had accrued to the Portuguese and the Dutch
before them.
But even as much of Asia and Africa were forced into
a state of unprecedented poverty and misery, Europe
and North America witnessed astonishing developments
in science, technology and culture. What was for the
West, a triumph of awesome proportions, became an
unmitigated tragedy for those that had to suffer the
tortuous ordeal of colonization. It is important not
to ignore this tragic dialectic of history - that
the wealth (that in large part) funded the foundation
and sustenance of "Western Civilization"
came from the South and the East.
Western champions of "free trade" might
also note that it was the armed and willing European
monopoly traders who destroyed the free trade of the
Indian Ocean. Not the other way around. Protected
trade, at the barrel of the gun, not "free"
or "fair" trade was at the very heart of
the West's early contacts with the South and the East,
and to this date, it is the West that appears most
unwilling to bring down its own trade barriers even
as it attempts to preach "free trade" to
the rest of the world.
[Timeline]
1939-1946: Britain restricts its colony's
trade with other nations by controlling the "sterling
balances" from India's trade surplus. U.S. imports,
however, increase, financed by lend-lease agreements.
By the end of World War II, trade between the United
States and India is twice its prewar level. India
remains dependent on imported machinery, chemicals,
and other basic inputs to production.
1947-1951:
India is a founding member of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), yet implements protectionist
measures to reduce foreign competition. India accounts
for 2.5 percent of world exports, primarily jute,
tea, and cotton textiles. Engineering goods represent
1 percent of India's exports.
1952-1960:
The government emphasizes self-sufficiency over foreign
trade. India's import controls and tariff policy stimulate
the production of import-substitution goods by local
manufacturers. The government also imposes strict
controls on exports.
1961-1969:
India's share of world trade shrinks drastically as
the country becomes isolated from the international
market. Although exports cover the costs of residual
import requirements, they are limited. Government-owned
industries face little competition or pressure to
maintain efficiency. As a result, Indian exports compete
on the basis of price rather than quality.
1970-1979:
Rising oil prices and subsequent balance-of-payment
difficulties encourage India to promote exports. Yet
the export sector suffers from India's policy of reserving
the manufacture of most labor-intensive, low-tech
products for the "small-scale sector" to
promote employment. These small producers are unable
to compete for contracts with large, international
buyers.
1980-1984:
India's share of world trade falls to 0.4 percent.
Exports finance 60 percent of imports. By 1984, Rajiv
Gandhi implements changes to stimulate India's nascent
high-tech industry. The government removes import
duties on select electronic goods and reduces duties
on several critical electronic parts. Indian companies
are allowed to partner with foreign companies.
1985-1989:
The beginnings of trade liberalization are visible.
The government reduces import duties and widens investment
opportunities for the private sector. The reduction
in tax rates and import deficits is financed through
commercial borrowing. Liberalization of imports extends
to capital and intermediate goods.
1990-1994:
The 1991 economic reform package further liberalizes
trade. The government reduces tariffs and trade barriers,
eliminates licenses for most industries, and slashes
subsidies for domestic products and exports. Many
powerful vested interests oppose liberalization, however,
and trade remains somewhat regulated. The government
bans, for example, the import of many consumer goods.
1995-2001:
To meet WTO commitments, India agrees to eliminate
quantitative restrictions on many consumer and agricultural
product imports, while retaining export subsidies
and incentives. Growth of Bangalore's high-tech industry
leads to the export of software and supercomputers.
2002-2003:
The United States is India's largest trading partner,
followed by Japan, the European Union, and OPEC states.
India courts Southeast Asia with its "Look East"
policy; it holds preliminary trade talks with the
regional organization ASEAN, and free trade deals
are in the works with Thailand and Singapore.
