All these five banking houses were involved in financially propping up the Gaikwad regime, never noted for administrative or financial efficiency, until Sayajirao III came to the helm in 1875.Īlthough having enormous financial resources at their command, the merchants kept aloof from industrial initiatives. The Haribhaktis were the most important among them. The records of the English East India Company are replete with how most of the time the English traders depended on him for loans in order to carry on their operations in India.īaroda, too, had at least five business families who ran banking houses that specialised in trade and money lending. A wholesale trader, he dealt in a wide range of commodities including precious metals, quicksilver, coral, spices, ivory, etc. Virji Vora was Shantidas’ contemporary in Surat. It is noteworthy, that Shantidas’ grandson Khushalchand paid off a huge ransom from his personal pocket in 1724 to save the city from the greedy Maratha raiders. And Shantidas and his descendants continued to live up to their expectations. Though the claim can hardly stand historical scrutiny, there is no doubt that the business community of Ahmedabad, in fact the city’s population as a whole, looked upon him as its leader and spokesman, and even the protector of its material interests. It is popularly believed that Shantidas had been conferred the title of Nagarseth by Emperor Jehangir.
#HISTORY OF AHMEDABAD IN GUJARATI SERIES#
A series of farmans or royal edicts issued by these emperors granting several favours are a testimony to the esteem and honour in which he was held in the imperial court. Son of an immigrant of modest means from the Marwar region of Rajasthan, he collected a huge fortune through trade in precious stones and remained in great favour with three successive Mughal emperors - Shah Jahan, Jehangir and Aurangzeb. Shantidas Zaveri, the 17th century ancestor of the present day Lalbhai family, was one of them. Thanks to the accounts of travellers and records of European East India Companies, we have a good idea of the exploits and business methods of some of the big merchants of the region. Perhaps the imperial connection and the Mughal peace on one hand, and the links with Surat had much to do with this development. Its rise as a flourishing commercial centre can be dated after 1572 when Gujarat became a part of the Mughal Empire. Though not a port town, Ahmedabad, too, developed into a prominent centre of business. These port towns emerged as centres of vigorous trade and remained so for a long time. And when Cambay began to decline, owing to a multitude of factors, Surat rose in prominence around the middle of 16th century. Bharuch and Cambay had become the most important ports of Gujarat coast by the 11th century.
With the longest coastline in India, it always was, until the rise of Bombay around the mid-18th century, the home of some of the finest ports in the country.
The existence of trade guilds, known as srenis or mahajans ever since the days of Buddha until the end of 19th century also suggests the place of business in the society.Ī major factor behind Gujarat developing a business culture has been its location. Tanning and leather, textiles, perfumery and sugar were some of the industries for which the region was famous for and to which foreign travellers from Pliny (62-113 AD) to Marco Polo (1254-1324 AD) have made extensive references. The accounts left by the Greek, Roman and Arab visitors suggest that ever since the beginning of its history, Gujarat has been outward looking and quite appreciative of the value of overseas business links. The business history of Gujarat can add to our understanding of the business behaviour of its people. History, though concerned with the past, provides an insight into the present.
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