Select Profiles of Indian Businessmen: A Sprinkling From The Past
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26703/JCT.v17i1-9Keywords:
Ancient Economic History, Indian businessmen, Indian merchants, Dhana, International trade, SaddalputraAbstract
India has a long history of business and international trade that spans 4000 years, however, profiles of ancient businessmen are rarely available to students to help them visualize a person and environment of an earlier era. This article has short profiles of businessmen across many centuries based on ancient texts, recent findings of ancient inscriptions and other recorded history. The case stories will hopefully provide human faces to help understand business history and the unique business practices in India. The practice of 'Dana' and the hindu suggestion to businessmen to return some of the profits for the welfare of society can be seen from most profiles. The article is barely representative with numerous recent findings of inscriptions across India, Indonesia, South East Asia that refer to Indian Businessmen, however an attempt was made to capture profiles from across the timeline. The article has short introductions to Saddalputra, Ananthapindaka, Dhannavriddhi, Nagarshrestin Ribhupala, Jagat Sheth, Chatti Setti, Dhananjaya, Kaundinya, Jagdu Shah and Elelasingan.
Classification-JEL: G10
Downloads
Metrics
References
Ali, D. (2009). Between Market and Court: The Careers of Two Courtier-Merchants in the Twelfth-Century Deccan. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 52, 795-821.
Bhansali, K. (n.d.). History Of DanVeer Jagdusha. History Of DanVeer Jagdusha In English | Jain Stuti Stavan | Jainism History. Retrieved August 24, 2022, from https://www.jainstutistavan.com/p/history-of-danveer-jagdusha-in-english.html
Chaudhury, S. (2015). The banking and mercantile house of Jagat Seths of Bengal. Studies in People's History, Sage, 2(1), 85-95. 10.1177/2348448915574381
Furui, R. (2013). Merchant groups in early medieval Bengal: with special reference to the Rajbhita stone inscription of the time of Mahīpāla I, Year 33. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 76(3), 391-412.
GOPALAN, D. P. (1995). LORD SIVA'S MIRACLES (Madurai Thiruvilaiyadal) (1st ed.). Lakshmi Pathippagam.
Hindu of Universe, Karachi & khemani, A. (n.d.). HinduOfUniverse. HinduOfUniverse. Retrieved August 24, 2022, from https://www.hinduofuniverse.com/hou/hindutemplates.html
JAIN, D. D. C. (1980). ECONOMIC LIFE IN ANCIENT INDIA AS DEPICTED IN JAIN CANONICAL LITERATURE (1st ed., Vol. 18). Research Institute of Prakrit, Jainology & Ahimsa, Vaishali (Bihar).
Jain, V. K. (1990). Trade and Traders in Western India, A.D. 1000-1300. Munshiram Manoharlal.
Kalidasa. (1912). Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works (A. W. Ryder, Trans.). J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd.
LITTLE, J. H. (1960). HOUSE OF JAGATSETH (1st ed.). CALCUTTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Mehta, M. (2001, May 19-25). Gujarati Business Communities in East African Diaspora: Major Historical Trends. Economic and Political Weekly, 36(20), 1738 - 1747.
Moodali, T. (2015). Timeline of Tamil History. T. Moodali.
Moosvi, S. (2009, January). India's sea trade with Iran in medieval times. In Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 70, 240-250.
Muzumdar, R. C. (1922). Corporate life in ancient India (1st ed., Vol. 1). Oriental Book Agency.
Patra, D. B. (2011, November). Kalinga and Funan: A Study in Ancient Relations. Orissa Review, 33-39.
POPLEY, H. A. (1931). THE SACRED KURAL or The Tamil Veda of Tiruvalluvar. ASSOCIATION PRESS, Calcutta.
Raymond, C. (2005). Regional Geographic Influence on Two Khmer Polities. Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. XXII.(1), 135-150.
Tan, P. (2008). Anātha,piṇḍika Sutta 1 The First Discourse to Anātha,piṇḍika. In Samyutta Nikāya (Vol. 5). The Minding Centre.
Thaper, R. (1966). Kunwar Mohammad Ashraf - An Indian Scholar and revolutionary (H. Kruger, Ed.; 1st ed., Vol. 1). Akademie Verlag.
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of Commerce and Trade
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.