Indian Merchants Research Articles

Influence of Indian Chettiyar community heritage on Chettie house architecture of Malaysia

The Indian Chettinadu cultural legacy was introduced to Malaysia by Indian merchants who made their home there. The aim of this research is to examine the impact of Indian Chettinadu culture on the architecture of Chetti Melaka houses in Malaysia, as well as its continued significance in the modern era. A qualitative approach is used. There was observation, documentation, and open-ended interviewing. There is documentation about the Chetti's residence at Gajah Berang, Melaka, Malaysia, and the Chettiyar residence in Pallathur, Karaikudi, India. To comprehend how users, Chettiyar culture, and architecture relate to one another, the data triangulation method is used. The findings demonstrate how Indian Cettinadu culture has influenced Malaysian home design. But there is an enormous concession made about the size of the house and intricate decorations. In both situations, the local climate and user requirements have an impact on the house's design. The study's findings are used to propose house design guidelines that might be used in a modern setting.

«Из-Ындеи в Астрахань, в Казань, на Москву»: из истории культурных, торговых и дипломатических связей России и Индии в XVII в.

The “turn to the East” in politics and science formed in recent years attention to the study of the exclusively Chi-nese model of civilizational development. At the same time, research on India, whose human and cultural po-tential is comparable to China's, were forced out to the periphery. Nowadays, India is increasingly mentioned as Russia's leading strategic partner. The historical context of relations between the two countries is becoming the basis on which the current configuration of ties is built. The notion of the origins of these relations, their quality, and stylistics makes research on this topic relevant. The article touches upon the issue of Russian-Indian trade, cultural and diplomatic ties during the XVII century. During this period, a colony of Indian merchants on the territory of Astrakhan was established, and four embassies to India were organized. This period was of great importance in the formation and development of ties between the two states, laid the foundations of friendly perception of the peoples by each other. The au-thors have attracted and quoted documents (orders of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, reports of ambassadors, doc-uments reflecting the life of the merchant colony in Astrakhan), as their style reflects the quality of the emerging relations between Russia and India.

Indian merchants abroad: Integrating the Indian ocean world during the early first millennium CE

AbstractWith the rise of post-colonialism during the latter part of the twentieth century, more focus has been given to non-western perspectives (the so-called nativist turn). In the case of Indian Ocean trade during the early first millennium CE, the view that ‘Roman’ merchants and sailors were the near-exclusive movers of goods, who were also (indirectly) responsible for commercial developments within South Asia, has largely fallen into abeyance. Rightly, the agency of those in South Asia has been acknowledged. The present article goes beyond this basic premise and considers how we can assess evidence demonstrating the role played by sailors and merchants from South Asia. In particular, it is suggested these merchants and sailors played an important role in connecting the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal regions.

The Indian Community in Zanzibar 1804-1856: A Historical Study

This study sheds light on the Indian community that settled on the island of Zanzibar when it was part of the Sultanate of Oman, specifically between 1804 and 1856 under Sayyid Sa‘id bin Sultan al-Busa‘idi. Sayyid Sa‘id did his best to improve conditions for Indians in the sultanate, exempting them from all types of taxes and giving complete freedom to non-Muslim Indians to practice their religions. He some Indians to work for him personally, and they became his most trusted associates. He recruited them to finance-related positions, particularly as Arabs had not exhibited sufficient skill in this field. In the areas he held in East Africa, Busa‘idi entrusted customs administration to Hindus. Indian merchants acted as an intermediary in coastal trade between European and local merchants in Zanzibar, and they participated in the slave trade. They put their capital to work in various commercial enterprises, especially mortgages for Arab-owned properties. These Arabs did not have sufficient capital to fund their commercial activities, so they mortgaged many of their properties for loans from the capitalist Indian moneylenders. Because the Indians charged high interest rates for these mortgages, the Arabs became buried in debt. Much of their property was gradually transferred to the Indian merchants, who succeeded over time in gaining control of most commercial projects on the coast, surpassing their Arab counterparts. Many of them became extremely wealthy thanks to their outstanding ability to accumulate wealth and their skills in finance and accounting. The customs fees and their good command of Arabic and Swahili also helped.

Nusantara Zaman Nabi Muhammad SAW

Prophet Muhammad SAW is a great figure who initiated Islamic civilization in the world. His role as a religious and state leader has drawn admiration from various circles, including non-Muslims. Historical records prove his expertise in building civilization in Mecca, Medina and the surrounding areas to become civilized areas around the VI and VII centuries AD. In this case, much has been discussed about the civilization of the Arabian Peninsula during the time of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. However, related to the condition of Indonesia at that time there was still not much to discuss about it. This paper will specifically discuss the conditions of pre-Islamic Indonesia and the entry of Islam in Indonesia. Through qualitative methods with a historical approach it was found that the Islamic understanding of the archipelago had been formed through the traditions and beliefs of the Javanese people long before Islam came to the archipelago. In addition, the emergence of Nusantara civilization cannot be separated from the influence of Indian culture. The arrival of these Indian merchants brought changes to the belief system, introduced scripts and spearheaded the growth of Hindu-Buddhist-style royal institutions in the archipelago.

Spheres of Life and Scales of Action among Gujarati and Omani Merchants in the African Great Lakes Region, 1920s–1930s

AbstractBased on bankruptcy and inheritance files and on population and business registers from Ruanda-Urundi, this paper reconstructs the local and long-distance professional and affective relations of Indian and Arab merchants operating in and around Bujumbura in the two decades before and after the Great Depression (1920s–1930s). The story complements the historiography on Asian diasporas in East Africa by going beyond the Indian Ocean coast, beyond the precolonial period, and beyond British-governed territories. Looking at different spheres of life and scales of action and assessing both commercial success and failure, this article makes a case for the importance of local dynamics and the relevance of cross-community relations within the relatively small foreign trade sector in the region. The reliance on “home” and kin remained important as mutual insurance at times of arrival and misfortune: firmly established first-comers assisted their relatives upon arrival, while at times of bankruptcy, death, or old age, long-distance family ties proved vital as well. However, facing discriminatory colonial measures, the Arab and Indian merchants were gradually relegated to the role of intermediaries in long-distance trade. Consequently, day-to-day business relations were increasingly a local, cross-community, and above all, precarious affair.

INDIAN DIASPORA IN OMAN

The continued strength of India-Oman cultural and trade interaction marks India’s enduring maritime relationship with West Asia and beyond. The antiquity of this relationship suggests the depth of interaction. With Portuguese dominance over the Arabian Sea trade in the aftermath of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India in 1498 and subsequently the French and the British, the Indian merchants suddenly acquired greater importance and received special prominence in the maritime trade calculus of the colonizers for their exceptional deft in conducting trade in the region. As a result, the Indian trade footprint and diasporic density in West Asia, primarily from Kutch, Sindh, Gujarat etc., began to gain larger visibility. Indian traders in Oman could not only demonstrate their remarkable convincing capacity in doing trade overseas but also established their cultural centres. The remains of the Hindu temple found at Kalhat, a 15th century Omani port, indicate the depth of Indian trade penetration in Oman. The culturally-rooted Indian merchant community could never forgo the Indianness overseas. The oil boom in 1973 intensified migration from India and significantly increased the Indian presence in Oman. This has led to the inflow of remittances to India which contributes to the well-being of the Indian economy. To add to this, the Indian diaspora in Oman and West Asia has significantly raised India’s soft power potential in the region which helps India to conduct successful bilateral and multilateral trade and diplomacy. Therefore, this paper discusses the Indian diaspora in Oman and their story of success and their contribution to India, the homeland, in empowering its soft power competence and diplomatic finesse in the geopolitically and geo-strategically vital region.

Early Settlements of the Europeans and Establishment of English Domination in Madras Presidency

The fall of the Vijayanagar kingdom was reverberated the whole of South India in a state of political chaos and consequent economic distress. From 1757 the British had used their control over South India to promote their own interests. But it would be wrong to think that the basic character of their rule remained the same throughout. It passed through several stages in its long history of nearly 200 years. The nature of British rule and imperialism, as also it policies and impact, changed with changing pattern of Britain’s own social, economic and political development. To begin with ever before 1757, the English East India Company was interested only in making money. It wanted a monopoly of the trade with India and the East,so that there would be no other English or European merchants or trading companies to compete with it. The Company also did not want the Indian merchants to compete with it for the purchase in India or sale abroad of Indian products.

Moderating and mediating effect of perceived experience on merchant's behavioral intention to use mobile payments services

The current study aims to determine the factors influencing the behavioral intention of merchants to use mobile payment services (MPS). The study surveys 215 Indian merchants from a personally administered online survey process. The study includes six factors, namely: perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived experience, perceived cost, perceived trust, and word of mouth learning to measure the merchant’s intention with mobile payment service. The study also tested the mediating and moderating effect of perceived experience in the relation between word-of-mouth learning and the merchant’s intention. Perceived usefulness of MPS influences perceived experience, followed by perceived ease of use. The result concludes that the perceived experience is the most influencing variable, followed by word-of-mouth learning to influence merchant’s intentions to use MPS both directly and indirectly (significant mediating and moderating effect). The study offers few implications to banks, finance companies, payment companies to understand factors driving merchants’ intention to use MPS.

The Historical Marginalisation of Small-holder Cotton Farmers in the Cotton Value Chain in Western Cotton Growing Area, Tanzania, c. 1920 to 1960

This article provides an historical account of small-holders’ cotton growing and marketing in an area of colonial Tanzania known as the Western Cotton Growing Area. Covering the period from 1920-1960, the article focuses on the colonial government’s efforts to promote cotton growing and marketing, which included establishment of relevant legislation and enforcement of such laws and related regulations. The article reveals that the colonial policies and legislation on cotton production and marketing favoured Indian merchants and facilitated exploitation of African producers. As a result, during the 1940s and 1950s the African producers formed associations that brought them together in the effort to pressurise the colonial administration to allow formation of Africans’ cotton marketing societies. This effort was supported by local chiefs, and in due course it resulted in remarkable achievements; such that by 1954 the societies were handling one-third of the total crop successfully. By 1960 they had established monopoly in the marketing of cotton in the entire area.

Small-scale Growers’ Struggle against Marginalization in the Cotton Value Chain

This article analyses the marginalization of the native small-scale cotton growers during British colonial rule in the Western Cotton Growing Area (WCGA), Tanzania, and their struggle against it. Marginalization was practiced mainly by Indian cotton traders for three decades to maximize profit at the expense of natives who farmed the crop. The Indian traders who were licensed by the colonial authority to buy and export marginalized the growers through underpaying and cheating on them. From the 1930s local chiefs and their subjects (growers) began to protest against this situation, but were ignored by the colonial authority. At the end of the 1940s, growers formed groups which took initiatives that led to minimized marginalization with limited support from some colonial officials. Minimized marginalization did not imply control of the cotton value chain. With the support of native traders, local growers fought on until co-operatives were formed, which allowed them to gain the upper hand over the Indian merchants in the cotton value chain.

The Expansion of Penang under the East India Company

This study highlights that the British had long experiences in the Malay Peninsula before Francis Light’s acquisition and development of Penang, due to the central role of Malayan ports such as Kedah, Takuapa, Langkasuka, Terengganu, Palembang, Siak, and Malacca in global trade between China and India. Under the influence of Islam, Malacca (and, to a lesser extent, Kedah) became a Muslim Sultanate and reached its peak in this trading network, which attracted European traders (and subsequent colonialism), initially from Portugal and Spain, and later France, the Netherlands, and Britain. After the East India Company attained hegemony in India, it was strongly placed to extend its power from its presidencies in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. The EIC’s main focus was Bengal, where the Company founded the Fort William College as its headquarters in Calcutta. As trade with China became more important, the Malay Peninsula commensurately became a more attractive destination for investment due to its closer proximity to the Chinese sea lanes, and closer access to the Indo-Malay hinterlands and their products. In 1784, the EIC sent Kinloch to Aceh but he was unsuccessful in negotiating to establish a factory there. Nevertheless, they succeeded in establishing a foothold in Malaya with Francis Light’s embassy to Riau, Kedah, and Penang. Kedah also became prosperous under the Muslim Sultanates. Many Chinese and Indian merchants were settled there, benefitting from the trade in jungle products like camphor, betelnut, bird nests, situated near the Kedah River, was identified as a strategic location. Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Abidin Muazzam Shah II of Kedah (r. 1710-1778) at that time was facing many internal as well as external conflicts. His son Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah (r. 1778-1797) also suffered the same fate. As a result of internal crisis and dynastic intrigues, he agreed to lease Penang to the EIC in exchange for military assistance in 1785. In July 1786, Francis Light sailed from Calcutta and reached Penang in August, and thus Penang became an EIC stronghold.

Chinese and Indian Merchants in Modern Asia: Networking Businesses and the Formation of a Regional Economy, edited by Chi-cheung Choi, Tomoko Shiroyama, and Takashi Oishi

Chinese and Indian Merchants in Modern Asia: Networking Businesses and the Formation of a Regional Economy, edited by Chi-cheung Choi, Tomoko Shiroyama, and Takashi Oishi

THE INDIAN COMMUNITY AND ITS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN ZANZIBAR DURING THE 19th CENTURY

The Indians were considered the main category working in trade in Zanzibar during the reign of Sultan Saeed Bin Sultan, the founder of the modern state of Zanzibar (1806-1856). The Indian traders got the appreciation and respect of Saeed Bin Sultan and they were allowed to work in trade in the region and he treated them as local traders in order to establish a commercial empire. Hence most of the Indian traders came during his rule, and in 1835, as the case with others, they came with the seasonal wind. The Indian traders were Muslims and Hindu, but they didn’t consider Zanzibar as their homeland, they used to travel to India and come back. Among them, the Moslem Bahara became prominent, most of them were rich traders, who lived in Zanzibar and took it as their homeland. The Indian traders succeeded in supporting the economics of Zanzibar and financing the Arab commercial projects and developing the internal trade. Some of them succeeded in possessing large farms of cloves. And because of their commercial activity and their economic status they succeeded in establishing an excellent social position and they taught their children reading and writing. On the other side Britain encouraged the Indians to migrate to Eastern Africa because of its need for the technical Indian working class and handcraft to make use of their experience. Hence the important role of the Indian merchants in the trade of Eastern Africa came.

How perceived trust mediates merchant's intention to use a mobile wallet technology

As mobile wallets are in constant demand and growing over the past few years, there is a need to identify views of different stakeholders involved in the process. Several studies have been done to investigate consumers' perspective intensively. On the other hand, review of perception and adoption of wallet services by other participants, in particular merchants, is often neglected. The present study aims to fill this gap. This study used an empirical model to measure merchant's intention to use a mobile wallet technology. The study includes the variables, perceived compatibility, perceived usefulness, awareness, perceived cost, perceived customer value addition and perceived trust, and aims to determine their influence on intention to use. Our study also tested the mediating effect of perceived trust on the influence of perceived usefulness to predict merchant's intention. The study includes results of the survey of 315 Indian merchants by an online survey method. We find the highest effect of perceived customer value addition on merchant's intention, followed by perceived usefulness of technology. The proposed mediation effect of perceived trust was small but significant on perceived usefulness. The results of the study can help mobile payment companies to understand factors that are relevant to increase adoption of technology in the context of merchants.

India and Mozambique: Evolving Relations

India and Mozambique both have a long history of friendly relations that have been built upon traditional linkages dating back to the pre-colonial period. There has been the exchange of Indian merchants and businessmen to Mozambique even before Vasco da Gama set sail for Africa and India. Due to the migration based on trading, the Indians have settled in Mozambique as traders. These ancient people-to-people contacts have been further built upon in modern times, to forge a strong bilateral relationship based on regular political contacts, ever-deepening economic engagement and well-integrated Indian community in Mozambique. India has a history of supporting African nations in their freedom struggle and it did support Mozambique too. In fact, India was amongst the first countries to open its embassy in Mozambique immediately after its independence. The Indian Ambassador was among those who witnessed the historic moment of the Portuguese flag coming down and new Mozambican flag going up in 1975. This article would try to trace the relationship between India and Mozambique in the past and will bring out the important areas for further co-operation between the two nations.

ARK CEREMONY IN PARIAMAN: FROM RELIGIOUS RITUALS TO ENTERTAINMENT CULTURE

Islam that came to the archipelago - especially to the Minangkabau - besides being brought by direct scholars from Arabia, was also brought and developed by Persian and Indian merchants. Indian soldiers from the Sipahi area were brought by the British to settle in Bengkulu, then some fled to Pariaman. These were the ones who taught the local people about Persian culture which included the Ark ceremony.The Ark ceremony is held annually on 1-10 Muharram (Hijri month, month in Islamic and Arab calendars) to commemorate the death of Husayn ibn Ali. Ark is a tomb made from wood, bamboo, rattan, cloth, and colorful paper as a representation of the coffin of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad SAW who died in the battle in Karbala (Iraq) in 680/61 Hijri. The Ark Procession in Pariaman was first held in 1831. The Ark was prepared for ten days, and at the peak of the Ark event was paraded around Kota Pariaman while the bearers and spectators chanted "Hoyak Husen" (Live Husayn!) And at the peak of the event on the 10th of Muharram the evening before the Maghrib Tabut was marched to the sea of Gandoriah beach. At first, the Ark ceremony was very loaded with religious values. But now, the religious values have already faded, what stands out is the culture of entertainment. The transformation of the Ark ceremony as a religious ritual activity that was once full of religious values, became an entertainment culture caused by two factors. The first is the internal factor, namely the desire of the supporters of the Ark to make changes in the Ark procession, the second is internal factors originating from outside the supporters of the Ark in this case religious groups and also including the local government itself.

Evolving trade undercurrents at the regional level: tides of India’s preferential trading in the Indian Ocean and beyond

The Indian Ocean region has seen an exchange of goods and commodities since antiquity. Long before the emergence of modern nation states and the Westphalian concept of sovereignty, Indian territory saw a regular arrival of foreign merchants and commodities. At the same time, there is a long history of Indian merchants and commodities exploring the expanses of Southeast Asia, West Asia, Southeast Africa and beyond. The Indian Ocean region comprises a number of emerging and developing economies and is considered a dynamic region in terms of trade prospects. A number of preferential trade agreements are doing the round in this region which not only present a prospect to revive the age-old trade linkages within the Indian Ocean region but also foster a promising model of South-South cooperation. Being a large economy, India has an important role to play within the region. Not only that, platforms such as RCEP present India an opportunity to participate in rule-making in the realms of international economic law. Such engagements become even more significant when rule-making at the global trade institution WTO is experiencing a phase of stagnation and while the world is witnessing a wave of protectionism, isolationism, and very recently, a trade war between two giant economies.

Indo-Iranian trade and Indian merchants in Iran in the seventeenth century

Commercial relations between India and Iran have existed since antiquity, but they particularly flourished from the latter part of the sixteenth century to the earlier part of the eighteenth century. Partly, this could be due to greater degree of security on the land routes established under the two contiguous empires, the Mughal and the Safavid. Partly also, it owed much to the changing pattern of Eurasian commerce: Iran obtained increasing amount of silver from Europe in return for its silk, and with this augmented supply of silver, Iran could buy more Indian goods, especially textiles. Much too was owed to the enterprise of merchants, the Armenians of New Julfa and the large members of Indian merchants (Multanis and Gujaratis) who, practically settled in Iran, engaged in both commerce and usury.1

Mapping the spread of the English language in India

Abstract This article aims to offer, within an intra- and interdisciplinary approach, a further analysis of the formal and informal contexts in which the English language was used in India during the British colonisation, highlighting the favourable conditions these contexts created for the formation of pidginised varieties of English, such as Butler Pidgin English or Boxwāllā(h) Pidgin English (Kachru 1994). Substantial elements of a wider picture of social, cultural, political and commercial contact have been taken into account along with the analysis of old written sources. Indeed, both official records of the East Indian Company (e.g. dispatches about political strategies and language policy) and merchants’ correspondence have been studied in order to understand how we can say something about oral communication through written sources (Rambø 2013).