Social Studies VSQ (2 Marks)

Ibn Battutah said that the Indian soil is so fertile that it produced rice, sugarcane, sesame and cotton in abundance. They founded the base of various village industries such as oil-processing, making of jaggery, weaving, etc.

Indian spices and cloth sold in the Red Sea ports reached European markets, and became an important part of European lifestyle. This drew European traders to India.

There were taxes in kind on: Besides, there were taxes on traders, on those who sold metal goods, on distillers, on oil, on cattle fodder, and on loads of grain. Some of these taxes were collected in kind, while others were collected in cash.

They usually had a mandapika (or mandi of later times) to which nearby villagers brought their produce to sell. They also had market streets called hatta (haat of later times) lined with shops. Besides, there were streets for different kinds of artisans such as potters, oil pressers, sugar makers, toddy makers, smiths, stonemasons, etc.

Bronze is an alloy of Copper and Tin Bell metal contains lager amount of Tin than Bronze and produces bell like sound.

Murshidabad (West Bengal) on the banks of the Bhagirathi, which rose to prominence as a centre for silks and became the capital of Bengal in 1704, declined in the course of the century as the weavers faced competition from cheap mill-made cloth from England.

People from distant lands visited Surat for trade and banking purposes. The Dutch, Portuguese and the English had their factories and warehouses there.

• The present-day taxes on markets are collected as licence fees of shops.
• It is the duty of MCD to collect these taxes.
• MCD does this work with the help of its various departments.
• The taxes collected by MCD are used in welfare of the public, roads, sewage, electricity, water etc.

The karkhanas in the Mughal period were known as Buyutat also. Together with storing and manufacturing articles for the royal household and nobles' requirements, the mint, public treasury, treasury, department of construction of monuments, repairing, roads and artillery also came under Buyutat.

Crafts persons began to work on a system of advances which meant that they had to weave cloth which was already promised to European agents. Weavers no longer had the liberty of selling their own cloth or weaving their own patterns. They had to reproduce the designs supplied to them by the Company agents.

Bernier said that the merchants tried to look poor because they were scared that they would be used like 'filling sponges' by the ruling class.

'Karkhanas' were factories or organised groups of people manufacturing articles; they were the most important centers of production. These karkhanas supplied material for the royal household.

The city of Masulipatnam was a centre of intense activity during the 17th century. Both the Dutch and English East India Companies attempted to control this city as it became the most important part on the Andhra coast. Qutb Shah rulers of Golconda imposed royal monopolies on the sale of textiles, spices and other items in order to prevent the trade passing completely into the hands of the various East India Companies. This led to a fierce competition among various trading groups such as the Golconda nobles, Persian merchants, Telugu Komati Chettis and European traders. As a result the city became populous and prosperous.

The Silver 'tanka' was introduced by the first legitimate ruler of Delhi Sultanate Illtutmish and bronze coin was introduced by Mohammad bin Tughlaq as token money.

Ralph Fitch came to India in the Mughal period and he said that both Fatehpur Sikri and Agra were larger than London.

The small towns were generally managed by a Samanta or a Zamindar. They built a fortified palace in or near the towns.

• They levied taxes on traders, artisans and sometimes donated the right to collect revenue to the local temples.
• These temples were built by these rich merchants themselves. These 'rights' were recorded in inscriptions.

Various communities were involved with the temples like: Saliya weavers of Thanjavur and Uraiyur for producing cloth for flags. Sthapatis of Svamimalai for bronze idols and metal lamps.

Kashmir's status in crafts was very good as Kashmir became an important centre of making paper and wood binding trades. Various crafts such as stone cutting, stone polishing, bottle making, window cutting and gold beating also developed in Kashmir and other regional art and craft centers.

For English East India Company it wasn't enough to have port connection with the production centre. They wanted to have political, commercial and administrative control over their trading areas.

The best quality indigo was produced in Sarkhej in Gujarat and at Bayana near Agra. Indigo was a major industry.

Murshidabad (West Bengal), on the banks of the Bhagirathi, rose to prominence as a centre for silks and became the capital of Bengal IN 1704 The city declined in the courses of the century as the weaves faced competition from cheap mill – made cloth from England.

The trading communities in India were fairly large in number and incorporated some of the richest merchants in the world. The name of Virji Vorah, who dominated Gujarat trade for several decades had a large fleet of ships, Malaya Chetti on the Coromandal Coast and Abdul Gaffar Vohara were some of the noteworthy big merchants.

Mughals begem to extend their control over Golconda. Their representative Mir Jumla, a merchant began to play off Dutch and the English against each other. In 1686-87 Aurangzeb annexed Golconda. This made European trading companies look for alternatives.

The key centers of cotton manufacturing were- Patna, Cambay and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Burhanpur in Kahandesh, Bengal, Kashmir, Lahore and United Provinces.

The Mughal governor Mir Jumla who was also a merchant, began to play off Dutch and English against each other.

As per English chronicler Ovington there were about hundred ships from different nations anchored at Surat port.

During medieval period India had temple towns, administrative towns, commercial or port towns. Many towns combined multiple functions and were administrative centres or temple towns as well as commercial or craft centres.

Hampi fell into ruin due to the defeat of Vijayanagara by Deccani Sultans- the rulers of Golconda, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Berar and Bidar.

The production of cash crops and growth of grain markets led to the rise of small townships or qasbas. The demand of all types of bourgeoisie led to the expansion of handicrafts and growth of towns. There was peace and security prevailing which boosted the external and internal trade.

A Samanta or a zamindar built a fortified palace in or near these towns. They levied taxes on traders, artisans and articles of trade and sometimes "donated" the "right" to collect these taxes to local temples, which had been built by themselves or by rich merchants.

William Methwold described Masulipatnam as main port of Golconda. He described it as a small but populous, unwalled, ill built town. As per him it was a poor fisher town with brackish springs. A road made it a residence for merchants who came to this coast.

Craftspersons were important for the building and maintenance of temples:

1. The Panchalas or Vishwakarma community, consisting of goldsmiths, bronzesmiths, blacksmiths, masons and carpenters, were essential to the building of temples.
2. Similarly, weavers such as the Saliyar or Kaikkolars emerged as prosperous communities, making donations to temples.

Devdasis were the temple dancers who performed in front of the deity, royalty and masses in the many pillared hall of Virupaksha temple.

Masulipattinam was a known port city and occupied a grand economic status in the time of Golconda Sultanate. It was connected with two trade cycles-those in the Bay of Bengal in the east and in the Arabian Sea in the west and worked as export and import port for vast hinterland. Main items of exports were textiles, iron and steel, indigo, rice, pepper, spices and salt while main items of import were tin, aromatic woods, wines, bullions and elephants.