The evolution of Indian business

India has had a long tradition of recorded business—covering the bazaars, foreign trade, transformation of merchants to entrepreneurs, building of a fairly substantial modern industrial sector in the late colonial period, the role of entrepreneurial groups such as the Parsis, Gujaratis, Marwaris, Chettiars and Tamil Brahmins, creation of new business organisations and hierarchies, expansion into new industries after Independence, and mastering the licence-control raj to create major business groups such as Reliance.

- OMKAR GOSWAMI

There have been many separate works that focus on one or more aspects of this rich business history. Unfortunately, there was no individual book that covered the entire span; a book that was historically accurate yet readable that one could refer to someone who wanted an overall view of the subject.

Lakshmi Subramanian has changed that. Through six chapters, Dr Subramanian has created a clear and comprehensive book that I would recommend to anyone who wants a bird's eye view of the subject. So, many kudos for that.

The first substantive chapter covers pre-modern business, especially ocean-bound and internal trade, commerce, and the use of money and hundis (bills of exchange) across this remarkably integrated trading world. Business historians know of the shipping magnate from Surat, Mulla Abdul Ghafur who cornered the trade in spices and textiles and dominated the markets of Mocha, Aden and Basra. But I was pleasantly surprised to read the account of Seth Shantidas Jhaveri (1580-1659) and his successes in minting, in dominating the bullion market, in advancing loans, and in the jewellery business as well as his political clout across Gujarat. As the might of the Mughal empire declined with Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the power of merchants, moneylenders, and indigenous bankers across India grew.

Notable figures included Jagat Seth of Murshidabad, Tarwady Arunji Nathji of Surat, Kashmiri Mal and Bachhraj in Awadh, and Gopaldas Manohardas and his successors in Benaras.