From Akbar to Aurangzeb – A Study in Indian Economic History
Author: W H Moreland
Publisher: Low Price Publications, Delhi
Pages: 341
Publisher: Low Price Publications, Delhi
Pages: 341
After the sea route to India through the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Vasco Da Gama in 1498, the trade to India and the Spice Islands (Indonesia) was monopolized by the Portuguese for a little more than a century. The English and Dutch East India companies were formed in the beginning of 16th century and their naval powers gradually drove the Portuguese out of Indian seas. The Dutch assumed power over the Spice Islands from the Portuguese. The new companies found it hard to maintain a balance of trade with India, as the imports from Europe were not saleable here, as the purchasing power of the people was very low. Only a few curiosities and luxurious articles were purchased by the Moghul nobles and other rich merchants. Consequently, the Europeans had to pay for the material they exported to Europe in gold or silver, which again, was controlled back home. Pepper, cotton, calico, indigo and salt petre were the main articles of trade from India as no other spice was grown in India. To find the money (gold and silver) to trade, the new companies participated in the Asiatic carrying trade in which cotton was transported from India to Spice Islands where they can be converted to spices like clove, nutmeg etc. Also, raw silk was carried from India to China or Japan where there was a gold surplus. The British company was in worse financial position than the Dutch but since they had no base outside India unlike the Batavian occupations of the Dutch, the British started a factory in Surat. The term ‘factory’ is not used in the modern sense, but rather as a warehouse. This was necessary because collection of material was not feasible while the ship was anchored at port because the traders increased the prices when they know that the demand was urgent. Hence, the British found it advantageous to build a factory, collect materials there and export it when ships arrive. This was the modus operandi of the companies.
There are some interesting points in the book, particularly a reference to Kunjali Marakkar, the naval chief of the Zamorins towards the end of the fifteenth century. He says that, “The only great challenge to the Portuguese was that of “Cunnale”, the pirate-king of Malabar. The story of his rise to power is curious rather than important. Enjoying the secret protection of Calicut, he gradually became a serious danger to Portuguese shipping, and towards the close of the 16th century he assumed the title of “Lord of the Indian Seas”, and granted licenses for shipping on the lines adopted by his enemies. A Portuguese expedition sent against him was defeated, and he then styled himself “Defender of Islam, and Expeller of the Portuguese”; but his enjoyment of these titles was short, for a second expedition was completely successful, and it is said that the “Lord of the Indian Seas” was eventually executed at Goa.”
The spice trade lost its importance in the 18th century because, “The insistent demand for pepper and cinnamon, cloves, mace and nutmegs arose partly from their use in preserving meat for winter consumption, and partly from the taste of the time; while its gradual reduction was due on the one hand to changes in Western agriculture, which ensured supplies of fresh meat throughout the winter, on the other hand to changes in the art of cooking, and in particular o the substitution of sweet for spiced dishes.”
Slave trade was rampant in India at that time, as the author says, “At the outset, Batavia was a capital without a population. The Dutch themselves were few in numbers, and the hostility of their neighbours was sufficient to prevent any large influx of settlers from the vicinity; a letter written from Batavia in the year 1626 says that the natives had abandoned all parts previously inhabited, and that from paradise the country had become a wilderness. A supply of inhabitants had to be organised, and, as might be expected from the conditions prevailing at that time, the skilled craftsmen, shopkeepers, market-gardeners, and the like were obtained from China, while the East coast of India furnished general labourers and domestic servants. The Chinese came of their own accord, and lived in Batavia as free men under a ‘captain’ of their own nation; the Indians, on the other hand, were purchased on the coast from dealers of their own nation, and were imported as commodities in Dutch vessels. From about 1620, therefore, the Dutch requirements from India were, first, a large initial supply of slaves, and then a steady stream of reinforcements to make good the wastage, which may fairly be assumed to have been heavy. Owing to the change of climate, imported slaves, “Bengalders, Arakanders, Malabars etc’, were greatly affected by sickness on their arrival in the islands. The supply was obtained by ordinary commercial methods: there is nothing to suggest that the Dutch merchants practiced either force or fraud, and we find them regularly buying from Indian dealers after obtaining the permission of the authorities.”
Francisco Pelsart, the chief of the Dutch factory at Agra, describes the life of the people as, “the manner of life of the rich in their great superfluity and absolute power, of the common people in their utter subjection and poverty – poverty so extreme and so miserable that the life of the people cannot be adequately depicted or described, for here is the home of stark want, and the dwelling-place of bitter woe. Yet the people endure patiently, seeing that there is no prospect of anything better, and scarcely anyone will make an effort, for a ladder by which to climb higher is hard to find; a workman’s children can follow no occupation other than their father’s, nor can they marry into any other caste. There are three classes of people who are indeed nominally free, but whose status differs very little from voluntary slavery, - workmen, peons or servants and shop keepers. For the work men, there are two scourges, low wages and oppression. Workmen in all crafts, which are very numerous (for a job which one man would do in Holland here passes through four men’s hands before it is finished), can earn by working from morning till night only 5 or 6 tackas, that is, 4 or 5 stivers. The second scourge is the oppression of Governor, nobles, Diwan, Kotwal, Bakhshi, and other Imperial officers. If one of these wants a workman, the man is not asked if he is willing to come, but is seized in his house or in the street, well beaten if he should dare to raise any objection, and in the evening, paid half his wages, or perhaps nothing at all. From these facts, their diet can be readily inferred. They know little of the taste of meat. For their monotonous daily food, they have nothing but a little khichri, made of moth mixed with rice, cooked with a water over a little fire until the moisture had evaporated, and eaten hot, with a little butter, in the evening; in the day time they much a little parched pulse, or other grain, which they say satisfies their lean stomachs. Their houses are built of mud, with thatched roofs. Furniture, there is little or none – some earthenware pots to hold water and for cooking, and two beds, for here man and wife do not sleep together. Their bed clothes are scanty, merely a sheet, or perhaps two, serving both as under – and over – sheet; this suffices in the hot weather, but the bitter cold nights are miserable indeed, and they try to keep warm over a little cow dung fire, which is lit outside the door, because the houses have no fire-places or chimneys; the smoke from these fires all over the city is so great that the eyes run and the throat seems to be choked.
In this country, peons or servants are exceedingly numerous. For their slack and lazy service, the wages are paid by the Moguls only after large deductions. Most of the great lords reckon 40 days to the month, and pay from 3 to 4 rupees for that period; but wages are often left several months in arrears, and then paid in worn-out clothes or other things. Very few serve their masters honestly; they steal whatever they can; and if they buy only a pice-worth of food, they will take their share, or dasturi (commission)…..Otherwise, it would be impossible to feed themselves and their families on such low wages; and accordingly their position and manner of life differ very little from that of the workman in the wealth of their poverty.
Whatever he may deal in – spices, drugs, fruit, cloth, or anything else – the shopkeeper is distinctly better off than the workman, and some of them are even well-to-do; but they must not let the fact be seen, or they will be victims of a trumped-up charge, and their property will be legally confiscated, for informers swarm like flies around the officials, and make no difference between friends and enemies, perjuring themselves when necessary in order to remain in favour. Further, they are so oppressed that if the Emperor’s nobles or governors should require any of their goods, they must sell them for very little – less than half price….”
Corruption was rampant among the officials, as “Apart from taxes, local authorities could hope to realise a large income from presents, fines and bribes. The first of these heads does not call for detailed description; the practice of giving presents was universal and binding. Writing primarily of Agra, Pelsart recorded that criminals were rarely executed unless they were poor, but their property was confiscated for the benefit of the Governor and the Kotwal. He added an expression of pity for those who came before these godless and unrighteous officers; their eyes bleared with greed, their mouths gape like wolves for their prey, their bellies hunger for the bread of the poor; every one stands with hands open to receive, for no mercy or compassion can be had except on payment”
Overall rating: 4 Star
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