Article

1. Introduction

Right from the ancient times till the establishment of British Empire, different communities had ruled the country. Apart from the cultural and religious requirements that became the basis of growth of towns in the phase of early urbanization, economic factors are basic to urban growth in the pre-colonial and the colonial era. In the pre-colonial era, functions of cities were well-defined. Clear definition of urban towns, in fact, came to India during the colonial rule. Objectives of such demarcation were totally based on the maximum use of rich natural resources of India for purposes of trade [Champakalakshmi, 1996]. And that was also the basis of developing transport network of railways and national highways in addition to water and sewerage networks. Townships and nodal cities grew around this network. The major concern of this paper is, therefore, to discuss the impact of trade and also to assess the nature of urban development and transformation of society through such impact.

India’s history of urbanization can broadly be divided into three eras: a) Ancient and medieval eras lasting up to twelfth century A.D. (b) Pre-colonial era lasting up to mid- eighteenth century A.D. (c) Colonial era starting from  mid - eighteenth century A.D. and ending with the Indian Independence in 1947. It will be discussed in three separate sections. The pre-colonial era can be further divided into two sub eras as Sultanate era and Mughal era. Thus, accordingly, periods of urbanization can be classified into four phases as follows: (1) Early historical urbanization comprising of Indus Valley Urbanization (also called proto-historic urbanization) and Ganges Valley Urbanization (also described as the second urbanization) (2) Medieval urbanization comprising that of Pallava-Pandya and Chola periods (3) Pre-Colonial urbanization comprising that of Sultanate Period, Mughal Era and  also that of Peninsular India (4) Urbanization of the Colonial Period comprising mainly British Colonial Urbanization and other major European Colonizations in different parts of India.

2. Material and Methodology

The relevant data sources are mainly compiled from the secondary sources such as various census reports of different years published by the Government of India, and also from various historical sources. Regarding methodology, this paper uses some of the statistical tools such as graphical representations of charts and diagrams to show the relevant growth trends in trade and urbanization.  In some cases, it also uses the historical maps to show the territorial limits as well.

3. Ancient and Medieval Era

3.1 Early Historical Urbanizations

Indus Valley Urbanization was the first known permanent and predominant urban settlement of proto – historic period (2800 BC – 1800 BC). It is, in fact, an example of primary urbanization, wherein, the rise of cities is solely the result of the internal developments, although not in complete isolation, for external influence could induce such development in varying degrees [Champakalakshmi, [1996]. Evidence of valley’s major cities such as Harappa, Mahenjodaro and Rakhigari reveals similar urban character in a hierarchy of settlement sites, in well planned cities with huge buildings of burnt bricks in urban infrastructure. At Mahenjodaro, apart from other archeological evidences, monumental architecture - their design and orientation with wide roads, elaborate drainage and water supply system together with an enormous public water tank thus provided the then city dwellers with the maximum benefits and basic civic amenities as offered by a modern city. Thus, Indus valley civilization boasted of an advanced and thriving economic system with their involvement in agriculture and allied activities,   ranging from cultivation of food crops (rice, barley and wheat) and other technical cash crops (cotton) to domestication of animals, making up of sharp tools and weapons from metals like copper, bronze, tin. They had also trade links with other cities. Crafts specialization were at rudimentary level with the gradual growth of work force and the specialization of labor, leading to the growth of different types of hand-based industries like textiles, food processing etc. This was gradually followed by the emergence of different classes in the society such as smiths, carpenters, jewellers, goldsmiths, weavers, metal workers etc. on the basis of above specialization of work force. Local exchange network and hence the local trade among them led to the growth of trade and commerce as an essential feature of this urban civilization with consequent growth of strong and prosperous Indus merchant community, both in whole-sale and retail business, and even in external trade. This is evident from close trade links between Indus Valley and Mesopotamia with the discovery of different Harappan articles in cities of Mesopotamia and also that of the Mesopotamian seals in the cities of Indus Valley. It is also known from Acadian sources that Harappans had a trade and cultural links with a number of foreign countries like Dilmun, Magan and Meluha. Of these places, Meluha had been identified with Mahenjodaro. Of not less than so far discovered two hundred and fifty archeological sites, only six sites had been identified as urban centres. Some of them can be mentioned as Harappa (Punjab) and Mahenjodaro (Larkana district of Sind) (the two largest urban centres), Lothal (Gujrat) and Kalibangan (Rajasthan) etc.

The second and early historic phase i.e. Ganges valley urbanization represents a long period of urban growth stretching from sixth century B.C. to third century A.D. With its epicentre in Ganges valley in sixth century BC, expansion of trade in ripples assumed significant proportions by third century BC. Then, it spread over the whole of northern India by third century BC, over Central India, Deccan, Andhra, and through arterial links over Central Asia and West Asia between second century BC and third century AD. The spread of this network into Deccan and Andhra was, undoubtedly, brought about by over-land trade links from third century BC. In fact, this Ganges valley urbanization is an example of secondary urbanization which is the direct outgrowth of expansion of empire, wherein, forts and regional administrative centres were established for political or economic control Champakalakshmi, 1996]. These could act as urban centres of diffusion of the then metropolitan culture. In this way, in India, similar expansion of the Mauryan state induced secondary urbanism in regions like Deccan and Andhra due to the spread of trade and commercial activities from the Ganges Valley. While in post-Mauryan period, Mauryan influence both, in administrative structures and trading networks, would seem to have been predominant. In Peninsular India, with major resource potential, specially, mineral, the impact of “maritime trade’’ was more significant from about second century BC to third century AD. However, in post-Mauryan period, foreign invasions by Persians, Indo-Greeks, Sakas, Parthians and Kushanas brought India’s contact with the foreign countries, establishing,  for the first time, all the commercial and trade links with West Asia and Central Asia. This was beneficial for opening traditional trade routes so that Indian Merchants could derive economic advantage by participating in Chinese silk trade which was carried out between China and Roman Empire [Davies, [959]. It was through Central Asia that India established relationship with Roman Empire, China and other Asian and European countries. Indian exports to the Roman Empire included diamond, spices, cotton goods etc. as against gold and silver imported into India from the Roman Empire. Of the above invasions, Greek invasion was significant in the sense that Alexander’s Indian campaign opened four routes by land and sea between India and Europe for the purpose of trade [Figure 1(a)] [Davies, 1959]. In fact, this early urbanism was not only the result of forces of an inner growth but was of secondary generation induced by inter-regional trade. Such trade links were mainly coastal between Ganges plains, Andhra and Tamil regions and over-land between Tamil regions. More significantly, it was further induced by maritime commerce between South India and Mediterranean West such as Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene (Africa), Greece, and subsequently with South East Asia such as Campuchia (Cambodia), Vietnam etc. in which Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was the major entry-pot. It would seem that urban revolution in this period was almost “mystically sudden impulse’’ to change due to external stimuli i.e. “Maritime trade’’. However, the degree of urbanization and the nature of urban forms varied considerably in Deccan, Andhra and Tamilakam (Tamil Nadu) where the impact of Indo-Roman trade was greater and the influence of Mauryan Polity was minimal.

3.2 Medieval Urbanization

Medieval Urbanization may be located within a broad time span of six centuries which characterizes that of Pallava-Pandya rule and continued well into Cola period (i.e. ninth to eleventh century AD). During this period, two levels of exchange were mostly prevalent-(1) Regular local (informal) subsistence level exchange which was intra-regional in nature. This type of exchange was based on barter system, both in day to day transactions and inter-Tinai (zone) exchange and was mostly prevalent in urban forms which emerged in certain enclaves restricted to two eco-zones - (i) Marutam (plains) and (ii) Neital (coastal). Since the Kurinci-Tinai (hilly areas) was particularly rich in resources such as aromatic wood, honey, bamboo and rice, people of Marutam and Neital acquired these resources of hill tracts in exchange for Marutam paddy or Mullai dairy products and salt of Neital respectively. (2) Large scale exchange of goods for goods, and goods for coins at big emporia of trade at Puhar (Kaveripattinam), Madurai, and Vinci was mostly inter-regional in nature. Here, paddy, salt, raw materials, goods like textiles, gems and jewels were the few manufactured products meant for larger exchange network, while paper, spices, pearls, precious stones (Beryl Gems etc.), aromatic woods and cotton textiles had been produced for overseas exchange markets. In the process of establishing inter-Tinai exchange, several few and sparser urban settlements emerged as foci of inter Tinai commercial contacts which formed the criteria of modern urban centres in the interior and also in Marutam and Neital tracts i.e. inland capital and coastal towns respectively. These towns, in effect, represent development of dual centres of powers, each marked by political and commercial importance [Champakalakshmi, 1996].

So, it is possible that the impact of trade, particularly, maritime trade led to the intensification of inter-Tinai exchange which in turn could have provided an incentive for extracting the “surplus’’ of agricultural tracts and channelizing it towards trade. The centres, at which they were exchanged, could well have become the nodal points on trade routes in the process of expansion of trading network. The inland towns could at best be described as consumption points. The luxury goods that entered in the interiors were circulated through networks of kinship patronage, urban clientele (rulers and the elite class) etc. They, being the major consumers of these exotic goods, conspicuously encouraged external trade relations by developing ports of trade. Another important factor was that, as the maritime trade brought the much-needed luxury items as resources for socio–political dominance and patronage, it became important for the rulers to gain monopoly control over the coastal region, adjacent to their mainland through which they could regulate their trade with distant lands. Equally important was their attempt to control areas with rich trade and resource potential belonging to others. Thus, for example, the pearl-rich Pandya coast and the pepper-rich Cera coast would have been the major targets of Cola plunder raids. Hence, the ultimate manifestation of the impact of maritime trade on urbanization of this period had been restricted mainly in certain eco-zones of Marutam and Neital and also in more commercially active market centres and organized towns that emerged and was defined as trade enclaves, particularly, the Pattinams, characterized by greater diversity of occupation and the more complex society. These market centres of exchange, being the foci of long distant trade, were trading stations or the ports on the coast. For example, Uraiyar and Kaveripattinam (Puhar) of Colas, Madurai and Korkai of Pandyas and Vanci (Karuvur) and Muciri of Ceras.

Pallava-Pandya period would represent a stage of incipient urbanism, when the royal centres of ruling families show a similar growth around temples i.e. Kanchipuram and Madurai. As these royal centres were also the markets and commercial centres i.e. Nagarams, they were inevitably a part of expansion of trade network in the subsequent centuries. This led to the growth of organized commerce around these two cities and few other Nagarams, known from Pallava-Pandya records located in only certain key areas linking the capitals with rich Kaveri basin and with coast. Nodal points of such commercial links were at the confluence of the rivers and in delta areas. The ports of Mamallapuram (managaram) and Korkai served as the Pallava-Pandya hinterland (Table 1) [Champakalakshmi, 1996].

The pattern clearly shows that the exchange nexus which was more oriented towards the commercial needs of the market centres, henceforth, brought Southern India into a larger network of inter-regional and overseas trade, and, above all, led to the evolution of full time trading community participation both in local exchange nexus as well as in wider commerce. The emergence of market centres for agrarian regions and a commercial network, linking four major Mandalams or sub-regions, simultaneously coincided with the rise of Colas and the proliferation of the nagarams (market centres) also kept pace with the expansion of Cola power. The distribution pattern of nagarams in early, middle and late Cola phases showed a remarkable increase in the middle phase, not only within the Tamil country, but also beyond its cultural frontiers i.e. Southern Karnataka and Andhra regions. For example, Kongu and Gangabadi showed a conspicuous increase in nagaram centres [Champakalakshmi, 1996]. In consolidating their conquest, the Colas not only renamed their conquered areas – such as Gangabadi into Mudikonda–Kolamandalam, but also founded new nagaram centres like Mudikonda-Colapuram (Kongu regions in Coimbatore district), Rajendra-Colapuram (founded by Raja Rajendra I in Tirunelvelli district) and Nigarili-Colapuram (Malur-patna in Mysore). Other Major Royal centres (or managarams) of Cola regions and significant Cola ports are shown in Table 2 [Champakalakshmi, 1996] and Figure 1b [Davies, 1959] respectively.

The second important development in Cola period took place within nagaram organizations in the form of a further diversification in trading activities due to specialization in marketing and trade. The diversification of this commerce was also reflected in the nature of specialist traders in the markets of Puhar (major emporium on east coast) and Madurai. Some of whom dealt in high value commodities, apart from daily consumption goods. They even bore the names of major commercial centres to which they belonged and also the nature of their trade. Classification of all such specialists is mentioned in the Table 3 (a) and (b) [Champakalakshmi, 1996].

Hence, to conclude, it appears that the impetus to organized commerce came mainly from the revival of peninsular trade. But the expansion of South Asian trade, involving South Asia and South East Asian Kingdoms including China, also played an important role in enhancing the process more from tenth century AD. Together with this, Nagaram network, emergence of the merchant organization to look after the long distance trade, proved to be the major factor of urbanization between the eleventh to thirteenth centuries.

The pattern of external trade and growth of urban centres in Ancient and Medieval era are shown in the Table 4(a), (b) and (c) [Champakalakshmi, 1996], as no differences can be perceived in the basic nature of the urbanization during these eras from overall perspective.   

4. Pre-Colonial Era: (Pre-Colonial Urbanization)

 Muslim conquest in Indian subcontinent mainly took place from eleventh to seventeenth centuries with the Arab attack on the nest of pirates near Modern Bombay to safeguard their trade in Arabian Sea and also their consequent settlements at Indian ports. From that time, with the beginning of the Sultanate era, Muslim rule saw greater urbanization with the rise of many cities and urban cultures in India. The biggest impact was upon trade, resulting from a common commercial and legal system, extending from Morocco in the west to Mongolia in the north-east, and Indonesia on the south east. Islam’s impact was most notable in the expansion of trade. Impact of Islam on Indian culture also had been inestimable as it permanently influenced the development of all areas of human endeavors – language, dress, cuisine, all arts and architectural forms and urban design etc [Choudhury, 1985]. While Southern India was already in trade with Arabs in Medieval times, Northern India found new opportunities in setting up of important centres of trade and industries such as Delhi, Lahore, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Sonargaon, Jaunpur etc. During two hundred years of Mughal rule, the urbanization of India, received a further impetus, as the world had expanded to maximum extent possibly in the pre-Colonial era and India was then the second largest economy in the world. Sher Shah Suri took initiative in improvement of trade by abolishing all taxes thereby encouraging progress of “free trade’’. He built large network of roads and constructed G.T. (Grand Trunk) Road, connecting the major busiest trade route at that time from Calcutta to Kabul.

Both internal and external trade made progress under the Mughal era. Indian goods were in high demand in foreign countries with their permanent markets in Persia, Poland, and Russia and in other European countries like China and West Asia. Apart from Surat (largest port), a large number of cargo ships reached Calicut, Hooghly, Masulipatnam, Balasore and other ports for Indian goods which were to be shipped to East Africa, Malaya, Iraq, Bukhara, Quette through Red Sea and Mediterranean ports and also through overland routes via Khyber Pass [Mukherjee, 1957]. Major imports of horses, bronze, iron, wax were brought in through Goa, Cochin, Quilon (Kollam), Malabar and other port cities of Khambat, Bangalore and Palampores. In Khambat, the volume of trade being such that about three thousand Chinese ships visited this port annually, thus giving an idea of India’s foreign trade during this era. However, Vijayanagar, being the richest and most extensive state in fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, enjoyed both voluminous maritime trade with diverse countries such as Persia, Arabia, Malayan Archipelago, Burma, China, Portugal and numerous islands in Indian Ocean (Figure 2a and 2b) [Davies, 1959].

Thus, India had enjoyed favorable balance in her trade relations with other countries with her earnings from various exports of textiles, spices, indigo, gold, silver, diamonds etc. alone amounting up to crores of rupees. The prime urban centres during this era were Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Thatta and Srinagar in the north, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bombay, Khambat, Ujjain and Patan (Gujrat) in the west, Bengal, Dacca (Dhaka), Hooghly, Patna, Chitgaon and Murshidabad in the east (Table 5) [Mukherjee, 1957]. The growth of indigenous cotton textiles, weaving, sugar, iron and ship building industries etc together with the consequent increased employment of millions in those industries led to the gradual growth of the above flourishing cities as booming industrial trade centres which boasted of sizeable population. The industrial population of these centres was divided into two classes, namely, village artisans (handicraftsman) and urban craftsman. The former satisfied the needs of village population while the latter satisfied that of the aristocrats and elite classes respectively living in commercial towns.

During the pre – colonial period, both the growth and the pattern of trade had undergone a major change with further focus on both the inter- regional and the intra – regional trade within the country. In 1720, major trade routes had converged on the imperial capitals of Delhi and Agra. The major striking trade route later in 1780 was that they also survived in spite of substantial rerouting and local decline. Another feature of the situation in 1780 was the importance of the cross country trade routes between the natural surplus areas and stronger polities which criss crossed the older, arterial routes of the Mughal periods. The rise of Awadh, Marathas and Rohillas had enhanced their importance in the general scheme of medium and the long distance trade. It is even possible to make out at least five flourishing cross country trade routes which intersected the Ganges, Jamuna and the GT Road as they moved from north to south. The rise of these cross country trade routes was closely connected with continued economic growth in the more stable agricultural areas and the state building in the central India. Of them the best route is that from Bengal via Benaras and Mirzapur to Jabbalpur and the Deccan. According to K.P. Mishra, it was the most valuable of Benaras transit trade. By 1780, Benaras region had become the financial and commercial cross roads for the whole subcontinent, together with Mirzapur and Ghazipur, thus controlling the south west and the north east routes which had converged on Delhi and Agra in the earlier years. Benaras was one of the fastest growing cities during the years 1750-90. It became the subcontinent’s inland commercial capital after the decline of Murshidabad in Bengal in 1757. It received immigrant merchant capital from the whole of the northern India and stood astride the growing trade route from Bengal to the Maratha territories. This was because the evidence for commercialization in this relatively prosperous and stable hinterland of Benares on the eve of British rule implies an integrated existing produce market which included bulky commodities such as timber, stone, wood, and basic food grains as well as high value commodities. Local specialization was also evident as production of cotton, vegetables, opium, and indigo was also specialized, intensive and profitable. As a result, Benaras cotton imported from south so that its small crop of higher value cotton would be used for quality handicrafts. River trade was well developed and land transport between intermediate markets and ganjs seem to have been surprisingly rapid. Regarding the commodity composition of trade, the salt and grain trades were the two great voluminous trades of the pre-colonial period. It was pre-eminently a ‘treaty trade’ subject to close state control in production, distribution and marketing (Bayly, [1983]). The viability of the salt trade, as a bulk trade, was important as it played an important part in the survival of Agra, Farukkabad and Allahabad as major centres of transit trade during this period. Not only that salt trade also worked to tie the traders of major towns to the dealers of smaller centres thus linking the cities to the peasant haths in a classic urban hierarchy. But inspite of the existence of supportive and flourishing grain markets, foodgrains trade did not appear to have promoted large urban concentrations to the extent which it did in case of salt and spice, or middle range cloth trades. The reason for this was the limited extent of interregional specialization in basic foodgrains which had made the regional trade more spasmodic. So the absence of a strong, interregional specialization and trade in foodgrains imposed definite limits on the level of urbanization in India.

The pre-colonial period traces, in general terms, the relationship between rulers, commerce and the markets which centred parts of the countryside as it developed later between 1770 and 1870. In much of the Northern India, decentralization of political power during the eighteenth century encouraged the further growth of a rooted service gentry and a homogeneous merchant class operating around small town centres. This north Indian merchant family, corporate trading institutions of merchant class and gentry were modified, but they remained the basis of the commerce and political life of the later colonial period, particularly after 1857, with the galvanization of the society by canals, railways and new export trades. The history of these urban, mercantile and service people was broadly moulded by the following influences. First, commercialization, associated with the significant expansion in the east of the Ganges valley together with no greater fall off in the agricultural activity in the northern India during the century, had increased rapidly the opportunities for export outside India. Secondly, external trade to Bengal, Europe and China further speeded up the growth of commercial production in the countryside, being converged with the stimulus to cash crop production and market foundation, which was provided by the pre- colonial states, thus, pushing the towns through boom and slump. But it is important not to lose sight of the regional variations in the culture and organizations of the eighteenth century ruling classes. These differences created patterns in commerce, in the incidence of towns and markets or in the organization of the agrarian production which persisted in the colonial period. The greater density of the market towns in the west of the regions was one pre- condition for the more dynamic agricultural and artisan production which existed there well before the coming of the British canals and railways in the mid-nineteenth century [Bayly, 1983].

Sketchy evidence available regarding the quantitative changes in the agricultural economy of the Ganges valley suggests that there was no massive decline in overall production even though there was considerable physical movement of resources. Moreover, there is a strong evidence for economic growth and social change in the most stable core areas, particularly, the principalities of the west such as Awadh and Benaras which had probably sustained commercialization, local agricultural and artisan specialization and a growth of urban population since the late seventeenth century. This early urbanization was consolidated by the settlement in the region after 1720. In this connection reference may be made of the establishment of forty two such ganjs or fixed bazaars, indicating a higher level of economic activity than the biweekly peasant markets or 'haats' in the trans- Ganges. The foundation of ganjs was however an acknowledgement of the existence of trade in sufficient bulk, comprising of some wholesale traders, a number of commission agents, permanent moneylenders. In the settled areas, new ganjs centralized trade, but also stimulated it by encouraging the economies of scale among traders and providing more ready access to credit for peasant farmers. Ganjs founded in the marginal areas, had a significant effect, thus, playing a key role in extending the money economy into the fringes of the Himalayan foothills. For instance, in Awadh and Benaras, ganj foundation went ahead in both the jungle fringes and around the towns. As new aristocracies established themselves, the growth of the so called luxury trade helped settled and revitalized the unstable tracts through which it flowed to the new centres of growth.

During this pre- colonial era, the textile industry was the major component of the artisan production and probably accounted for between tawenty and thirty percent of the total artisan population of the towns and villages. Perhaps, 60,000 specialist weavers and dependents lived in the Beneras region. 250,000 in Awadh, 200,000 in Rohilkhand and 30,000 in lower Doab. There were three levels of economic activity. Highest quality production, designed for royal and aristocratic consumption and for export by East India Company, centred on a few illustrious centres- Bengal, Dacca, Murshidabad, Lakhipur. In eastern India, this sector seems to have been resilient between 1750 and 1810. Its stability helped maintain overall urban population. Then, medium level of production was meant for military gentry and royal courts with the presence of less specialist weavers in the region’s large towns. This level of demand was most likely to be fluid and unstable during the eighteenth century. Finally, the village weavers, nearly almost during 1835, implies ninety percent of the India’s raw cotton production for local consumption. Among the towns’ occupational structure, merchants, traders, and brokers account for about 30 percent of the registered population which bears out the importance of transit trade for them. Another twenty percent accounted for by artisans with weavers as the largest single group. A further twenty percent can be attributed to the services of all sorts including personal servants which existed in towns and people involved in transport. In 1770, there were 60 such larger centres serving many different functions. Cities acted as retail centres, bulking points for their immediate hinterlands.  Large towns were generally transit points for the longer- distance high value trades which is why so many brokers and merchants congregated there. Generally they supported their own artisan communities which produced this level of trade. The stability of large towns depended well on the combination of these roles of the artisans, traders, etc. but loss of one did not necessarily mean collapse of others, thus maintaining the urban stability [Bayly, 1983].

However the interruption of river traffic above Allahabad and the collapse of the Mughal control on GT Road in mid-eighteenth century led to the loss or the decline of the ganjs or qasbahs in the areas of decline in the west with the decline of the specialist artisans. This was at least balanced by the foundation of many small centres in the east. The cities of Ganges valley are unique for their variety and antiquity. In the rice growing lands of the east, cities were deeply embedded in the slower moving rythms of the neo traditional Hindu kingdoms but an advancing European presence was beginning to swell and transform their trade. So it could well be that percentage of population inhabiting places with distinct urban characteristics was larger at the end of the century than at the beginning, though there had been displacement of population from the largest into medium sized  and smallest places.

 Under the disturbed surface of politics of the last decade of the century, agricultural production, trade and revenue provided the framework on which new empires could be reared, thus, forming a new pattern of stability. The British were lucky enough to inherit this opportunity later in the colonial period [Bayly, 1983]. Conditions for marketing of middle ranged goods in Rohilkhand decreased considerably after 1774. But weaving population remained as high as 200,000 in 1800 and the weaver’s impoverishment and idleness caused the incoming British some well grounded apprehensions about the consequences for public order. The most specialized high quality weaving communities remained in a strong position throughout the century. Certainly they were affected by the decline of the old consuming aristocracies. Nevertheless the decline of the old capitals did not signify the complete collapse of the demand. Strong was the demand from western merchants and indeed the East India Company found it necessary to use its political power to secure monopolization on the production of Awadh and the weavers there. So persistence of this demand and maintenance of high quality trade was maintained by notions of aristocracies and kingships Bayly, 1983].

The situation, however, changed completely with the gradual intrusion, monopolization and, finally, colonization of foreign traders, particularly, European traders in the Indian foreign trade.  In fact, European traders started penetrating into the Indian economy in the pre- colonial period, particularly, with the establishment of Portuguese supremacy in the coastal regions of India in the mid – seventeenth century (Figure 3a) [Davies, 1959]. But, the greed for monopolization of Indian trade had caused war between the European companies such as Dutch, Portuguese and the British.  Of them the latter power became successful to transform the country into a colonial economy.  It, therefore, became increasingly difficult for Indian traders later to continue their sea-borne trade [Dasgupta et.al, [1987].

5. Colonial Era (Colonial Urbanization)

The situation took a different turn from the second half of the eighteenth century when East India Company emerged as political power in India (Figure 3b) [Davies, 959]. Europeans had been domesticated into the Indian scene since the early seventeenth century. A critical condition for British success was the naval dominance in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. This study concerns the period when British were establishing their administrative and commercial system between Calcutta and Delhi, the way in which conditions in Indian society determined the emergence and form of British India. Bengal which had probably been the wealthiest province of Mughal India, proved an extraordinary prize for the British so as to deal with other states and economies in the subcontinent. The Company started dominating trade and industry of eastern region with the gradual emergence of British entrepreneurship in industries of indigo,  salt, tea, coal, jute, cotton, iron and steel, textiles, sugar, cement, paper, matches etc. British entrepreneurship further created a favorable atmosphere of trade and industry in the western region providing adequate .infrastructure in transport such as roads and railways, ports, telegraphs, electricity, insurance, banking, etc. There they induced Indian industrial entrepreneurship which essentially came from Parsees, Gujratis, Marwaris, and Bengalis who largely concentrated on consumer goods industries.  

This was also possible because of the Industrial Revolution in England during the period from eighteenth century to nineteenth century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the socio economic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in the United Kingdom, and then, subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the eighteenth century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the nineteenth century, with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation. Steel was often cited as the first of several new areas for industrial mass-production, which were said to characterize a "Second Industrial Revolution", beginning around 1850, until the 1860s, for mass manufacture of steel. This second Industrial Revolution gradually grew to include the chemical industries, petroleum refining and distribution, electrical industries, and, in the twentieth century, the automotive industries, and was marked by a transition of technological leadership from Britain to the United States and Germany. The main features involved in the Industrial Revolution were technological, socioeconomic, and cultural. The technological changes included the following: (1) the use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel,  new energy sources, including both fuels and motive power, such as coal, the steam engine, electricity, petroleum, and the internal-combustion engine, (2) the invention of new machines, such as the spinning jenny and the power loom that permitted increased production (3) a new organization of work known as the factory system, which entailed increased division of labor and specialization of function, (5) important developments in transportation and communication, including the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio, and (6) the increasing application of science to industry. These technological changes made possible a tremendously increased use of natural resources and hence the mass production of manufactured goods. There were also many new developments in nonindustrial spheres, including the following: (1) agricultural improvements that made possible the provision of food for a larger non agricultural population, (2) economic changes that resulted in a wider distribution of wealth, the decline of land as a source of wealth in the face of rising industrial production, and increased international trade, (3) sweeping social changes, including the growth of cities, the development of working-class movements.

It, thus, also had laid its impact on the economy of India, being a British colony. Advances in agricultural techniques and practices resulting in an increased supply of food and raw materials, changes in industrial organization and new technology resulting in increased production, efficiency and profits, and the increase in commerce, (both foreign and domestic), were all conditions which promoted the advent of the Industrial Revolution in India. Many of these conditions were so closely interrelated that increased activity in one spurred an increase in activity in another. There were also fundamental changes in the commodity composition of trade after Industrial Revolution in Europe which had a noted impact on the pattern of trade and the consequent urbanization in India. As a consequence, India, which initially supplied manufactured goods in the pre- industrial period, began to export raw materials and primary commodities, importing, in turn, finished consumer goods and certain industrial goods [Mukherjee, 1968].

Hence, the establishment of the British rule brought fundamental economic transition in India, transforming agriculture from subsistence to commercial with the introduction of cultivation of variety of new crops such as tobacco, groundnuts, indigo, jute, tea, coffee etc. and gradual industrialization of the economy. The development of transport and foreign trade was the ultimate result of such economic transition [Kaushal, 1979]. In this connection, mention may be made of the river Ganga and the valley which had played an important role in Britain’s oriental trade, its hinterland and colonial power in India. This was because the valley of the river Ganges was the main axis of Britain’s Asian empire. Along its length ran Kim’s G T Road which linked the British Bengal with the capital cities of Mughal India. By 1880, a railway ran along the river bank, speeding the transportation of the huge quantities of cotton, opium, and indigo bound for China, and Europe, together with that of the Lancarshire goods to their mass markets in the interior, down the river in course of the nineteenth century, to balance the book of Britain’s whole oriental trade. Together with this, the trade in raw cotton from the interior to Bengal also illustrates the dependence of the emerging colonial trade on Indian commercial institutions. Here, again growing internal demand in India and the emergence of new trade routes and merchant communities provided favourable conditions for a trade which helped Great Britain balance its payments with the whole of South and East Asia. The great mart for cotton was the town Mirzapur as it secured protection from the Benaras dynasty. In this way, the British rule and British commerce had slowly crept up the great valley from maritime Bengal between 1757 and 1856, with the further development of cities and towns along this axis which were not only linked by the river but also interlinked subsequently by the G T Road and the Railway along the same axis. [Bayly, 1983]. Most striking feature of India’s foreign trade during the period 1857-1914 was the steady growth, both in the volume and the value of trade – value being increased over six times (69.6 crores in 1859-60 to 440.3 crores in 1913-14) in a span of less than 60 years [Kaushal, 1979]. (Figure 4 a) [Kaushal, 1979]. The balance of foreign trade showed greater disproportion between imports and exports with expansion of trade not being uniform all over the periods as obtained from the data. However, the increase in exports was more marked than that in imports and with expansion of trade, this gap kept on widening (Table 6a and 6b) [Kaushal, 1979].

Regarding the pattern of growth of urbanization, it has been found that India in 1700 had a population of some 180 million people, a figure which represented about 20 percent of the population of the entire world [Bayly, 1983]. But, three great cities of Delhi, Agra, Lahore, lost their primacy in late eighteenth century, which they jointly held in the west of the Gangetic plains with population at least 400,000 in 1700. These imperial cities had later stabilized with a population around 100,000 mark. However, urbanization during the colonial period was, in fact, the result of industrialization, with the change in technique and mode of production from hand to power driven machine, growth of specialization, and also a measure of extent of industrialization of the country. It was, too, the outcome of the demographic impact of the above mentioned Industrial Revolution on the economy of the nations. It had changed mainly a rural society into an urban one, with the capitalist countries being characterized by the presence of large urban centers at the beginning of the nineteenth century, together with an urbanization degree of more than 30 per cent, which were then defined as one of the most urbanized in the world during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.  As an indication of the economic growth inspired by new technologies, factory owners and others who controlled the means of production rapidly became very rich with their purchasing power being doubled and the total national income increased by a factor of ten in the years between 1800 and 1900 in Great Britain. In India too, nineteenth century industrialization, especially, huge industrial development based on coal-mining and iron-making, raised the proportion of city-dwellers with the rapid urbanization, thus, leading not only to the growth of modern and large urban centres, but  also to a conurbation of industrial villages and towns developed around a coal-mine or a factory. It also led to higher standards of living, as inexpensive manufactured goods came on the market through the increased trade between nations.

Regarding the growth of urban population in the late eighteenth century, it has been found that by 1800, two places such as Benaras and Lucknow had achieved a comparable degree of dominance in their own areas, with the population of about 200,000. The number of cities within the range of population 10,000 to 100,000 does not appear to have changed very much between 1730 and 1800 with a good deal of movement between them. The consolidation of the commercial economy in the east brought into being a number of towns in this class. Cities were then mostly with population of above 10,000. Up to first census in 1872, the only cities to gain population were ports of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras with a few places in the interior like Kanpur etc thus, reflecting growth in new industries, foreign trade and linking up of hinterlands by railways. The growth of population in the nineteenth century in the decade 1872-1891 showed an increasing trend from 7 percent to 9.4 percent. The rate of growth of urbanization in early twentieth century can be divided into two distinct periods with the pace being slow up to 1921 and the rate quickened after 1921 as is evident from the data. Between 1901 and 1931, the town population increased by 34 percent as compared with 19 percent increase in village population, showing a larger percentage growth of town population during this period. The pace of urbanization grew from 1921 onwards with proportion of urban population increased from 11.1 percent in 1921 to 13.8 percent in 1941(Figure 4(b)) [Kaushal, 1979]. The extent of industrialization, diversification in livelihood with comparatively larger share in construction and transport services led to the rapid progress in the growth of towns and cities together with steady growth in urban population over these decades. There were also marked variation in the states, the most urbanized state being Maharashtra (28 percent urban population). Other states with high degree of urbanization were Tamil Nadu (26%), West Bengal and Gujarat (each with 24%), Mysore (22%) and Punjab (20%). Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Orissa were states with lowest urbanization, the ratio of urban to total population being thirteen percent, eight percent, eight percent and six percent respectively. Besides, the above  inter- state variations  in the pattern of the urbanization,  there also had been a rapid urban growth  in all over India  with a sharp rise in the  total number of  all classes  ( Class – I to Class - VI) of  cities and towns together with the  relatively sharp  growth in their absolute urban population during 1901 – 1941 as shown in  (Figure 5a) (Census of  India, 1971). Not only had that, the total number of urban agglomerations, including all six classes, also increased from 1815 to 2226 during the said period (Census of India, 1971). Impact of urbanization in the field of urban employment as occupational distribution of population is an excellent index of the stage of the economic development of the country. A study of the occupational distribution of population in India reveals that total number of workers (in millions)  more or less increased at every census starting from 1901 to 1931 with the proportion of work force among various categories of employment rose by 69.5 percent during 1901 to 1951 (Figure 5b) [Kaushal, 1979].

6. Conclusion

The history of pattern of urbanization in India was greatly influenced by trade and to some extent by religion. Religions, specially, Hinduism laid an influential role in shaping economic activities with the growth of emergence of Vaishya class (merchant group) since ancient times. Religious functions, festivals and practice of taking a pilgrimage resulted in the flourishing growth of many pilgrimage cities and towns like Allahabad, Benaras, Nasik, Gaya, Puri etc. in northern India which mostly centred around rivers. They had a special privileged status as tirthas or holy places while being developed into centres of trade and commerce. Major factors of urbanization in southern India of eleventh to thirteenth century, often described as ‘temple urbanization’ were provided by organized commerce through the Nagarams, merchant bodies and craft organizations. The context, in which these features of urbanization were highly visible, was provided by either single or multiple large temple centres, royal centres, some of which are also pilgrimage centres such as Madurai and Thanjavur [Champakalakshmi, 1996]. The economic role of temples in South India has long been recognized, but the importance of pattern of pilgrimage and religious practices in tying the Indian economy together at a wider level has not been appreciated. This was especially significant during a period when political decentralization had tended to disturb the existing interregional patterns of trade, that is, in the pre-colonial period [Bayly, 1983].

The spread of Buddhism and Jainism coincided with the increase in trade and commerce and introduced an element of heterogeneity in urban centres. Buddhism registered significant presence in coastal towns while Jainism was confined to only inland centres. Both these coastal and inland towns were political and commercial centres on trade routes. Both these religions, in addition to the Brahmanic religions, had a significant presence in the larger urban centres like Kancipuram, Madurai, Uraiyur and Vanci. During the eighteenth century, religious corporations came to play an important role both within the states and in directing the diplomatic, commercial and military relations between them, virtually acting as rulers in their own right such as Gosains and Bairagis etc.   Hence, the presence of religious institutions was a necessary concomitant of urban process in Medieval and pre-colonial periods.

However, pre-independence was related to the migration of British and development of trade which have played the major factor in urbanization of that period. India evolved through the colonial era where planning revolved around transport for trade and movement and where planning was based on social and cultural needs of the community.  The importance of the arterial routes of the Mughal Empire declined, but cross country trade routes between the islands of agricultural stability and courtly consumption became more important. These helped to preserve some cities from serious decline, and also put bodies of local merchants with strong links in the hinterland into a more powerful position in their economies. These developments are important for understanding the context within which European trade in Northern India expanded in the pre-colonial period. Probably, the big centralized trades of Mughal days had given way to a system which was much more decentralized [Bayly, 1983].

Finally, what was the situation on the ancient downriver trade route from the Mughal heartland to Bengal. The evidence suggests that there was a considerable drop in the old river trade partly because security collapsed on the river west of Allahabad; partly because of the silting up of the Agra reach of the Jamuna; and partly as a consequence of the decline of Mughal consumption and the disruption of tributary relations between Bengal and the centre. After 1700, too, the Company’s Bengal monopoly appears to have bitten into the trade from east to west in cloth and the trade from west to east in opium and silk. Despite the rapid growth of a very substantial export trade in agricultural raw materials from Northern India in the years (1790-1825), there was no transformation of the agrarian or commercial economy. The new trades simply swelled out the arteries of the old petty commodity production. The dominant feature of production and trade remained courtly consumption in the Indian economy. This shows how the organizations of the northern India regimes of the late eighteenth century and the patterns of consumption of their warrior aristocracies moulded significant areas of their agrarian economy, with the growth of cities and towns. The emergence of regional court centres and the growth of the practice of the revenue farming provided opportunities for the merchant communities as a whole to adjust to the decline of Mughal hegemony and the trade routes which it supported, but there was a good deal of dislocation as old trading groups disappeared and the new ones emerged. These distinctive group of merchants were usually called by broad caste names or by their region of origin such as Gujrati banias, Punjabi Khattris, Multanis from Multan of Punjab or Rajasthani merchants from Bikaner. Of them, Gujratis had long been prominent on the sea routes in the Indian Ocean and Far Eastern trade appear to have established themselves in all the Gangetic cities, dominating the great cross country trade routes between Surat on the west and Murshidabad in Bengal, during the days of Mughals and their immediate predecessors and also before the time of Portuguese invasion of the eastern seas.  The main feature of the eighteenth century was the decline of them, thus losing their grip on both the local as well as on the long distance trades, particularly from the mid eighteenth century, because of the decline of the western coastal ports of India accompanied by a shift in the trade to the east, where a new British-dominated merchant marine grew in Hugli and Calcutta with its sights firmly fixed on the China trade. All these developments suggest again a pattern of commercial development which arose within the agricultural society and then linked up with the growing urban demand produced by the emergence of the new kingdoms.

The influence of trading corporations over the landholding aristocracies was undoubtedly enhanced by the growing European presence in India as merchants were adaptable to the style and requirements of British and gained from burgeoning of export trades to China and Europe after 1770. The buoyancy of courtly and elite consumption is important as the production of fine quality goods for them helped maintain employment in the towns in the first half of nineteenth century. It has been argued that the revival of population in the Gangetic cities after 1800 was a consequence of the new opportunity for export to China and Europe of primary agricultural products such as indigo and opium, as it has enhanced employment among merchants and artisans whose future had become uncertain with the decline of Mughal elite. Packing, baling and transportation of them such as cotton or indigo created employment. The motors of economic expansion in the early years of British rule were powered by indigenous pattern of consumption among the elites. According to Weber, occupational specialization based on caste, fragmented Indian artisan, merchant and service population, so inhibiting the development of mercantile trust, let alone political action [Bayly, 1983].

Regarding the pattern of urbanization, it was in the large towns that the impact of the colonial rule was most evident, but much of the North Indian population had little experience of them. This was not so much of the smaller towns of the countryside. They were deeply embedded in the fabric of the rural society and were the bases of the landlords and moneylenders who moulded the form of the peasant household. The fate of these small towns in the early nineteenth century reflected the history of the wider economy. More substantial qasbahs went through bewildering varieties of cycles of growth and decline in tune with the fate of the elites and the trade routes on which they depended. Old gentry towns were swollen with large despatches of cotton and sugar, only to decline when the trade moved elsewhere. The new commercial security of British rule enriched the small town bania to the detriment of artisan and gentry. Only one new country town emerged before the 1880s was the railway mart. The construction of East Indian Railways to Allahabad, and later of its Awadh extension, contributed to the decline of many of the old trading towns of the Ganges, Jamuna river banks. But it also gave rise to a number of places conveniently situated for railway borne trades which provided a new political context for commerce. In the first two decades of the nineteenth century, considerable progress was made in the resettlement of the unstable agricultural areas which had suffered from the local decline of the trade routes and qasbah centres and also in the revival of urban centres, with the increase in both medium – distance rising export trade and local trade, by reopening both Agra river trade and the G.T. Road. However, in view of the structure of the economy we would not expect any major change between the mid - eighteenth and the mid nineteenth century; what was more important was the change in the geographical distribution of urban and mercantile occupations, and relative changes in the incomes of different groups.

Since the work of Holden Furber, it has been recognized that the Company servants and European private traders spun their webs of ‘country trade’ along the existing lines of the commercial activity, and above all, from Calcutta northward into the ancient trade of the Ganges valley. However these trading patterns, with the mercantile towns, markets and corporate bodies to which they gave rise, were not static system simply acted upon by the dynamic pole of Calcutta. Like the regional states, they were also in the process of change and reorganization. This moulded and limited the inland thrust of the European seaboard commerce. By 1770, shifts in trading patterns had occurred which strengthened the links between Bengal and inland India. These new trading facilities predated any substantial European interest but provided a context of mercantile knowledge, credit and protection which aided the classic colonial trade in raw materials as it emerged in the early nineteenth century. For the Company and the European  private traders, the most important development  in North India’s pre colonial commercial geography were the consolidation of Benaras  as the main money market for Eastern India  and the growth of  Mirzapur, also  then known as Manchester of India, as the key commodity mart between Bengal, Hindustan and Central India. The fortunes of Benaras have already been traced in some details. Its position athwart the trade routes, its status as a centre of pilgrimage and its relatively stable hinterland laid the foundations for a growing importance.  The Europeans made heavy use of Benaras commercial facilities with their relations together with the great trading corporations of Benaras being consolidated in the late 1770s. In several ways, the East India Company was the direct beneficiary of the fiscal relations, created between Indian principalities and the capital owning corporations. So what is certain however that is the size and the sophistication of the Benaras capital market gave an enormous impetus to the British commercial penetration of Gangetic India [Bayly, 1983].

Besides these, Indian towns also flourished or abolished by the signature of monsoon and natural resources in the area. The era of the Industrial Revolution, with its huge impact in transformation of the Indian economy, was a period in which fundamental changes occurred in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. The changes that occurred during this period (1760-1850), too, occurred gradually in the British colonies, as that, in India. The Industrial Revolution brought about dramatic changes in nearly every aspect of British society, including demography, politics, social structures and institutions, and the economy. The growth of modern industry from the late eighteenth century onward, with the growth of factories, led to massive urbanization and the rise of new great cities, first in Europe and then in other regions, as new opportunities brought huge numbers of migrants from rural communities into urban areas. Similarly in India, industrialization led to the creation and the rise of the factory system, largely responsible for the rise of the modern city, where textile mill workers, ordinary working people found increased opportunities for employment in those new mills and factories, as large number of workers migrated into the cities in search of employment there.

The history of pre-colonial contacts what emerged of ocean making contacts in colonial age helped, further, the extension of British trade enterprises from east and south Indian coasts to the mainland and maritime south east Asian countries. The Indian Ocean was converted into a European lake with the discovery of all trade sea routes to the east which was subsumed by dominant European trading interest [Panikkar, 1951].Portuguese was first to intrude with the schemes of venture in era of Western expansion in the East, discovering new sea routes to India. They enforced a semi monopoly in the spice trade by the middle of sixteenth century expanding their settlements in South East Asia, China and Japan in the process of seizing the most profitable ports of East Africa, Persian Gulf and Goa of India with the development of several ports and port towns of Saurashtrans, Konkan and Malabar regions in India. However, the east of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal was believed to be intrinsically rich in hydrocarbons and other energy resources. Regarding Indian Ocean, British, had a clear cut policy to evolve energy trade, thereby linking India and South East Asia. Hence, as the British, French and Dutch carved out their empires between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, they followed different strategies of trade on their colonial intervention, which depended to a great extent on the routes connecting them to the Bay system. The routes were the ancient land routes from Bengal to China through the North East, Myanmar and Yunnan and the sea lanes from Bengal and the Coromandel Coast to Pegu. As the French favored the land routes for its penetration into China through Assam during 1730’s to 1950, the English decided to favor the sea route instead from 1785.

Hence, it can be concluded that the English East Indian Company was the ultimate great beneficiary of the late Mughal age of war, flux and opportunity. The reasons for the British conquest of India between 1757 and 1818 were particularly from the vantage point of the indigenous conditions which made it possible. In the past, Indian politics and trade were seen as irremediably disorganized and self – destructive. Trade, politics and revenue were so closely intertwined that any successful entrepreneurs had to work in all these fields. The British were sucked into internal trade and politics of the Indian economy by the dynamics of its political economy and also precisely because of their own relentless drive for profit. Moreover it was the particular form of commercialization in late Mughal Bengal which stood out as their greatest advantage for securing monopoly control on trade, thus, leading to the growth of the emerging trading and industrial classes within the economy, which, therefore, constituted the basic components of the urbanization of colonial era and particularly that of the pre – independent India.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author gratefully acknowledges the valuable suggestions and advices given by the Late Professor, Dr. Pabitra Kumar Giri of University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.

REFERENCES

Bayly, C.A. 1983. ‘Rulers’ Townsmen and Bazaars, North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion (1770-1870).’Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Census of India. 1961. Paper No. 1 of 1962. Government of India. p. 396-97.

Census of India. 1971. Part 2A (i). ‘General Population Tables.’ Series 1.India.

Champakalakshmi, R.1996. ‘Trade, Ideology and Urbanization - South India 300 BC to AD 1300.’ New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Choudhuri, K.N.1985.‘Trade and Civilizations in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise to Islam to 1750.’ Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dasgupta, A., Pearson, M. N. (ed.).1987.‘India and the Indian Ocean 1500 – 1800.’Kolkata: Oxford University Press.

Davies, C. Collin.1959. ‘An Historical Atlas of the Indian Peninsula.’ New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Kaushal, G.1979. ‘Economic History of India 1757 to 1966.’ New Delhi: Kalyani Publishers.

Macpherson, K.1998.‘The Indian Ocean: A History of the People and the Sea.’ New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Mukherjee, N.1968. ‘Port of Calcutta - A Short history’, The Commissioners  for   Port of Calcutta, Calcutta.

Mukherjee, R. K.1957. ‘Indian Shipping: A History of the Seaborne Trade and the    Maritime Activity of the Indians from the Earliest Times.’ Kolkata.

Panikkar, K. M.1951.‘India and the Indian Ocean: An Essay on the Influence of Sea Power on Indian History.’ London.

Prakash, O.1998.‘European Commercial Enterprises in Pre-colonial India.’ Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ray, H., Alpers, E. A. (ed.).2007. ‘The History of the Indian Ocean World.’ New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Roy, Tirthankar. 2006. ‘The Economic History of India 1857-1947.’ Second edition. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Wink, M.P.M. 2007.‘Indian Ocean Studies and the New ‘Thalasology,’’ Global History 2(1).

Table 1: Name of few Nagarams in Pallava and Pandya Period [4].
PALLAVA REGIONS	PANDYA REGIONS
Virincipuram (Seruvalaimangalam) Tirukkoyilur (Kovalur) Tiruvadigai (Adirajamangalyapuram) Tirukalukkumram Karavandapuram Manavirapattinam Kumaramartandyapuram Cirrambar

 

Table 2: Major Royal Centres or Managarams of Cola Period [4].
Four Sub regions or Mandalams.	Malainadu  or Malaimandalam Gangapadi Nulambapadi Ilam (SriLanka) or Mummundicolamandalam.
Royal Centres	Tanjavur Pudukottai Ramanathapuram Kanchipuram Kodumvalur Tavalam Valarpuram  Kudamukka-Palaiyarai (major urban complex)
Significant Cola Ports	Nagapattinam Vishakapattinam Kaveripumpattinam Tondi Talakkadu  Polonnaruva  Mayilappur

 

Table 3 (b): Names of the Nagaram organisations (according to names of Major Commercial Centres) under Cola Period [4].
SPECIALIST TRADERS (According to names of Major Commercial Centres)	Nagaram Organisations
1. Cloth Merchant of Madurai	Madurai, Aruvai, Vanikan
2. Grain Merchant of Madurai	Madurai, Kula, Vanikan
3. Jewellery Merchant of Madurai	Madurai, Olaikkadaiyattar
4. Gold Merchant of Uraiyur	Uraiyur, Ilampon, Vanikanar
5. Gold Merchant of Kaverippumpattinam	Kaverippumpattinam, Pon Vanikanar

 

Table 4 (a): Pattern of external trade and growth of urban centres related to trade in India in Ancient and Medieval era -----EXPORT [4].
From Ganges region, Tamil region To Rome, other regions of West, China, South East Asia, Sri Lanka.	Textiles: Silk, Argeritic Muslins Spikenard Silk, Cotton Fabrics (Tuhil, Kalagam, Kalingan) 32 varieties of Cotton Fabrics.
From Kerela, Travancore, Malabar Highlands, Bordering Districts of Madurai, Tirunelveli districts To Rome and other countries of West.	Spices: Pepper, Cardamom, Common Black Pepper, Cinnamon
From Tamil parts, Andhra regions, Karnataka, Gujrat To South East Asia, China, Rome, Sri Lanka.	Jewellery: Gold, Gems i.e. Pearls, Beryl Prisms (Baidurya) Carmelious, Chalcedony, Diamonds, Sapphires, Rubies and other Semi-precious stones.
From Hilly regions of South India, To Rome, South East Asia.	Forest Products: Fragrant Wood, Ornamental Wood, Sandalwood, Teak, Ebony, Eagle Wood, Nard (lemon grass) used to extract cosmetic oil.

 

Table 4 (b): Pattern of external trade and growth of urban centres related to trade in India in Ancient and Medieval era ------IMPORT [4].
1. From Greece and Rome To South India.	Horse, Milk, White Seeds.
2. From Arab Countries To South India.	Roman Coins, Topaz, Coral Lenin, Antimony, Copper, Tin, Lead, Roman Wine, Amphora, Yavana, Lamps in Exchange for Pepper, Beryl, Cotton Fabrics.

 

 

Table 4 (c): Growth of urban centres related to trade in India in Ancient and Medieval era [4].
1. Cera Centres: Vanci, Muciri, Kottayam.	Pepper, Cardamom.
2. Pandya Centres: Madurai, Korkai.	Pearl, Cotton Fabrics.
3. Colas Centres: Kacci (Kanchipuram)Vasava, Samudram, Kodumanal, Salem, Coimbatore region.	Cotton Fabrics, Tortoise shells, Beads, Gems, Major Textile Cotton Centre.
4. Other Centres: Uraiyur, KaveriPumppattinam (Puhar), Mamallapuram, Arikamedu (Pondicherry), Tadimandallam, Tanjavur,	Major Indo-Roman Trading Stations.
5. Other Ports: Nagapattinam, Vishakhapattinam, Tondi, Polonnaruva, Mayilappur,	Major Mercantile Towns.

 

Table 5 : Growth of urban trade centres (T.C) in Sultanate and Mughal era [11].
1. Gujrat, Malabar in Kerela, Golconda, Shaliat, Calicut, Masulipatnam (Port City), Vijayanagar, Rome, other regions of West, China, SouthEast Asia, Sri Lanka.	Articles of Trade Textile (Mainly Textile) Gems and Precious Stones.
2. Eastern Bengal -Dacca, Kasim Bazar	Muslin, Silk and Brocade, Jute, Gold Embroided cloth, Tussar.
3. Bengal, Cambay.	Jewellery : Gold, Embroided cloth caps, Designed Clay pots, Pans, Guns, Knives, Scissors, Sugar, Indigo, Oils, Ivory Sandalwood, Spices, Diamonds, Precious stones, Coconut.
4.Sindh, Gujrat, Deccan, South India,	Hard Wood Furniture, Carpets, Stones, Ivory, Pearls, Tortoise Shells, Diamonds.
5. Benaras, Lucknow, Bidar.	Jewellery, Textiles.
6. Khurja, Siwan.	Pottery.
7. Moradabad	Brassware.
8.Mirzapur	Carpets.
9. Firozabad	Glassware
10. Farrukhabad	Printing

 

Table 6 (a): India’s Foreign Trade in Merchandise [8].
Year	Imports	Exports	Balance of Trade
	(Recorded Value at 1913-1914 prices) (in crores of Rupees)		(Recorded Value in crores)
1913-14	191.31	249.01	57.7
1914-15	144.93	182.17	37.24
1915-16	138.17	199.48	61.31
1916-17	160.25	247.36	87.11
1917-18	164.35	244.9	80.55
1918-19	170.26	256.57	86.31

 

Table 6 (b): Value of India’s Imports and Exports (Quinquennial Average) [8].
Year	Imports	Exports	Balance of Trade
	(Recorded Value in crores)		(Amount of Surplus in Rupees of crores)
1913-14 to 1918-19	159.25	217.89	58.64
1920-21 to 1924-25	261.78	300.81	39.03
1925-26 to 1929-30	240.29	327.27	88.98
1930-31 to 1934-35	134.28	161.33	27.05
1935-36 to 1939-40	150.21	180.86	30.65

 

FIGURES

 

Figure 1 (a) Alexander’s Campaigns in Northern India showing the probable route of Greeks and (b) the Chola Empire in c.1100 [7].

Figure 2 (a) The Sultanates of the Deccan and the Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar showing their respective boundaries in the Sixteenth Century and (b) the Mughal Empire at the end of the Seventeenth Century showing the approximate boundaries with the European settlements elsewhere [7].

Figure 3 (a) The Portuguese Possessions in the East and the route to India and (b) India at the close of Dalhousie’s administration showing the approximate boundaries and the areas under the British Territory [7].

Figure 4 (a) Value of trade during (1813 -14) to (1913-14) and (b) Percentage growth of the urban population in the nineteenth and twentieth century [8].

Figure 5 (a) Growth of the total number of towns and that of the absolute urban population during (1901-1941) and (b) Total number of workers in millions during (1901-1951) [2,8].