Urban Crafts and Craftsmen in Medieval India


Book Description

"This book discusses the development of non-agricultural production in pre-colonial Indian cities. The author's purpose is twofold: firstly, to analyze the technological, organizational and social evolution of urban crafts in medieval India along with the economic and socio-political atmosphere in which this sphere of production existed and, secondly, to compare the above-mentioned processes with their counterparts in other medieval societies, especially the better known European ones, and thus ascertain the level that India had achieved in this sphere by the beginning of colonial era. Research material collected from various types of sources allows the author to critically re-asses the established notions of medieval Indian crafts as artistically exquisite but technologically backward and organizationally primitive. Comparative study of ""stagnant"" medieval Indian crafts vis-a-vis ""progressive"" European ones makes it possible to realize that in some industries or technological operations India did really lag behind, on others it was ahead, but all in all the level of technology and organization achieved by urban industries of medieval India was approximately equal to what Europe had during the craft and even early stage of manufactory period. As far as general socio-political conditions are concerned, this juxtaposition, however, is not wholly favorable for India. No study of medieval crafts will be adequate if the researcher concentrates exclusively on technology, forms of organization and economic relations, but forgets the people who were involved in these activities. Bearing this in mind the author undertakes the reconstruction of medieval craftsmen's socio-psychological profile and tries to denote the main features of his world outlook. The book may be of interest to the scholars and students of medieval Indian history, especially its economic, social and cultural aspects, and to all those who, in their thoughts and researches, try to situate medieval India in world history."




Crafts and Craftsmen in Pre-colonial Eastern India


Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive socio-cultural history of crafts and crafts persons in pre-colonial Eastern India. It focuses on the technology of crafts as being integral to the traditional lives of the crafts persons and explores their cultural and social world. It offers an in-depth analysis of the complexities of craft technologies in the three sectors of cotton textile, sericulture and silk textile and mining and metallurgy in the regions of Bihar and Jharkhand in Eastern India in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Apart from technology, the book discusses a range of socio-economic themes including craft production systems; marketing and financing patterns; impact of contact with the world market; craft persons’ identities in terms of caste affiliations and group divisions; negotiations for upward caste mobility; contestations and dissent of lower castes; power and social stratification; functioning of caste panchayats; gender division of craft labour; myths, beliefs and religiosity attributed to craft usages; social and ritual traditions; and contemporary craft traditions. Rich in archival and diverse sources, including oral traditions, paintings, and findings from extensive field visits and interactions with crafts persons, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of crafts, medieval Indian history, social history, sociology and social anthropology, economic history, cultural history, science and technology studies, and South Asian studies. It will also interest government and non-governmental organisations, textile historians, craft and design specialists, contemporary craft industrial sector, and museums.




Urban Wage Earners in Seventeenth Century India


Book Description

This volume takes a pan-Indian view of different professional groups and service providers mainly based in towns. While Persian texts provide limited information on the subject, European sources in the form of travelogues, letters, memoirs and official reports unfold an interesting panorama on the subject. Here focus has been on the seventeenth century, as some prominent European share holders’ Companies established their warehouses-cum-residential complexes in India in this very century. Officials of these Companies sent to India or elsewhere, maintained proper records of their transactions and interaction with the state officials, common people, servants inside the household and outside, and through their reports attracted many European freebooters also to have a firsthand experience of the East. Here from, we get numerous details on the social life, working conditions, wages and other aspects of life of people who earned their livelihood through manual labour, as conditions in India appeared novel to them and they meticulously recorded everything with much interest. Their information is corroborated with the Indian sources. In both types of sources – Persian and European – artisans, labourers and service providers have generally been projected as ‘poor’, ‘miserable’ and ‘wretched’; who faced exploitation at all levels. Still, their contribution to the economy and society was im­perative. Aspects of life of such people deserve a detailed discussion as this volume amply proves. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.




Crossroads and Cultures, Volume I: To 1450


Book Description

Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World’s Peoples incorporates the best current cultural history into a fresh and original narrative that connects global patterns of development with life on the ground. As the title, “Crossroads,” suggests, this new synthesis highlights the places and times where people exchanged goods and commodities, shared innovations and ideas, waged war and spread disease, and in doing so joined their lives to the broad sweep of global history. Students benefit from a strong pedagogical design, abundant maps and images, and special features that heighten the narrative’s attention to the lives and voices of the world’s peoples. Test drive a chapter today. Find out how.




Crossroads and Cultures, Volume A: To 1300


Book Description

Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World’s Peoples incorporates the best current cultural history into a fresh and original narrative that connects global patterns of development with life on the ground. As the title, “Crossroads,” suggests, this new synthesis highlights the places and times where people exchanged goods and commodities, shared innovations and ideas, waged war and spread disease, and in doing so joined their lives to the broad sweep of global history. Students benefit from a strong pedagogical design, abundant maps and images, and special features that heighten the narrative’s attention to the lives and voices of the world’s peoples. Test drive a chapter today. Find out how.




Rethinking a Millennium


Book Description

This book is a collection of essays by eminent historians exploring a millennium of India s history between the eighth and the eighteenth century, conventionally understood as early medieval and medieval India. Though these terms are subjected to critical




Crossroads and Cultures, Volume B: 500-1750


Book Description

Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World’s Peoples incorporates the best current cultural history into a fresh and original narrative that connects global patterns of development with life on the ground. As the title, “Crossroads,” suggests, this new synthesis highlights the places and times where people exchanged goods and commodities, shared innovations and ideas, waged war and spread disease, and in doing so joined their lives to the broad sweep of global history. Students benefit from a strong pedagogical design, abundant maps and images, and special features that heighten the narrative’s attention to the lives and voices of the world’s peoples. Test drive a chapter today. Find out how.




Tale Of Four Indian Cities


Book Description

Tale of Four Indian Cities presents a vivid picture of how the British political regime reorganized the structure of the Indian economy to suit its own objectives. While doing so, the regime also affected the geographical distribution of economic activities. This resulted in the decline of native cities and the increased prosperity of colonial cities. To reveal how British colonial power brought about such changes in the Indian subcontinents, the book narrates the account of two pairs of native and colonial cities – Dacca and Calcutta from the Indian Eastern coast, and Surat and Bombay from the Western coast. These were major centres of manufacturing, shared a common history and experienced the consequences of three different political dispensations – the Mughal Empire, the East India Company and the British Raj. Accessibly written, the volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and researchers of Indian colonial business and economic history. It will also be of interest to the general reader.




Crossroads and Cultures, Volume II: Since 1300


Book Description

Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World’s Peoples incorporates the best current cultural history into a fresh and original narrative that connects global patterns of development with life on the ground. As the title, “Crossroads,” suggests, this new synthesis highlights the places and times where people exchanged goods and commodities, shared innovations and ideas, waged war and spread disease, and in doing so joined their lives to the broad sweep of global history. Students benefit from a strong pedagogical design, abundant maps and images, and special features that heighten the narrative’s attention to the lives and voices of the world’s peoples. Test drive a chapter today. Find out how.




India, Modernity and the Great Divergence


Book Description

India, Modernity and the Great Divergence is an original and pioneering book about India’s transition towards modernity and the rise of the West. The work examines global entanglements alongside the internal dynamics of 17th to 19th century Mysore and Gujarat in comparison to other regions of Afro-Eurasia. It is an interdisciplinary survey that enriches our historical understanding of South Asia, ranging across the fascinating and intertwined worlds of modernizing rulers, wealthy merchants, curious scholars, utopian poets, industrious peasants and skilled artisans. Bringing together socio-economic and political structures, warfare, techno-scientific innovations, knowledge production and transfer of ideas, this book forces us to rethink the reasons behind the emergence of the modern world.