Indian Merchants and the Trade in the Indian Oceanc. 1500–1750

Abstract

At the turn of the fifteenth century, India's mercantile marine, largely in the hands of Gujarati Muslim merchants, appears to have been deployed principally in the middle Indian Ocean, dominating the sea-lanes between Cambay and Malacca. European trade in the Indian Ocean remained part of the traditional structure, which was enriched and strengthened through European skill and enterprise. On the eastern side, Pulicat and Negapatam were the principal ports of southern Coromandel. Of India's exports to the markets of the Indian Ocean three points are worth noting. First, as to India's major export, which was textiles throughout our period, the mass of it was of the coarser kind. Secondly, India exported common foods like rice and pulses, wheat and oil, for which there was considerable demand. Thirdly, the pattern of Indian exports like most other things, appears to have remained stable throughout the period. The vitality of Indian shipping notwithstanding, investment in shipping was not popular among Indian merchants.