South Asian merchant diaspora

THE GLOBAL WORLD OF INDIAN MERCHANTS (1750- 1947): Claude Markovits; Cambridge University Press, London. Received from Oxford University Press, ``Oxford House'', 219, Anna Salai, Chennai-600006. Price not stated.

THIS STUDY on the traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama is the sixth in the series, Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, the other five being, Empire and Information, The Princes of India in the Endgame of Empire, Women and Labour in Late Colonial India, Environment and Ethnicity in India from the Thirteenth to the Twentieth Century and Traditional Industry in the Economy of Colonial India. This series, scholarly and interdisciplinary in nature, publishes monographs on the history and anthropology of modern India.

Sindhis have now proved to be the most pervasive and omnipresent among the South Asian merchants who have spread along the length and breadth of the world. One main reason is that they are renowned for their business insight and sagacity.

The bulk of the South Asian diaspora is mostly represented by the Gujaratis who have developed sturdy business empires in most places of the world. The Sindhis, in the past, generally kept a low profile and seemed to be content with maintaining modest business. They are Hindus and have descended from two villages, Sukkur and Shikarpur, in Sind, which is now part of Pakistan. The general feeling is that the Partition forced the Hindu Sindhis to flee their homeland.

In the field of South Asian studies, not much attention has so far been paid to the history of merchant networks. In the existing studies, the assumption is the existence of one diaspora - with an emphasis on permanent migration - ignoring the presence of sub-national identities and the circulation between the native land and other countries.

The book under review aims to deconstruct this unitary notion of South Asian diaspora for the following three reasons which are made clear in the introduction itself - the majority of South Asians in the so-called diaspora were temporary migrants who left India for a limited period of time with the intention of returning home and this phenomenon - usually lost sight of - belongs to the sphere of ``circulation'' and not migration; instead of privileging the point of ``arrival'' of the tradesmen, the book concerns itself with the departures to the places left behind. Most of them were interested in improving their families in India and not seek a big fortune outside it; greater emphasis is paid to the occupation, community and gender of the migrants.

And the work explores, in eight chapters besides an epilogue, ``the ways in which two groups of Asian migrants (Shikarpuri and Hyderabadi) managed to carve for themselves a niche in a European-dominated world economy.''

If one were to go back to the origins of South Asian merchant networks, one would find that for many centuries colonies of these networks were present in many parts of the Indian Ocean. These merchants always retained their links with their homeland. The coastal areas of Gujarat were the main location from where these merchants launched to the outside world.

From the 15th century onwards, Sind too became a launching pad. During the Moghul rule, some traders took the inland route. By the mid-18th century the tiny town of Shikarpur in Sind and some hundred years later, the city of Hyderabad in Sind developed into centres of origin of these networks. The conclusion drawn in this study is that in these two merchant networks, the circulation was organised and structured, almost according to a strict plan.

The Shikarpuris and the Sindhi workers left their native places with a partnership agreement as ``gumasthas''. And, again, ethnicity was not a determining factor in the case of these ``banias''.

The Shikarpuris were mostly the followers of indigenous banking system dealing in hundis, whereas the Hyderabadi workers could establish themselves in the sphere of world trade readily adapting themselves and adopting European techniques. Hyderabad could even be put on the map as a world city (such as New York, or Tokyo) since merchant firms from this town had successful operations in the far-flung parts of the world. In a smaller measure, Shikarpur too occupied the position of a financial metropolis in Central Asia. Thus the relationship between the ``local'' and the ``global'' much antedates the rise of the global capitalist economy. When one plans to write the history of these two merchant networks, one must realise that there are several factors which govern this history. It gets connected with what happened in faraway countries with which trade was conducted.

Not merely the Partition of 1947 but even the Russian revolution of 1917 and the Sinkiang rising of 1933 have to be taken into account. ``Writing the history of international merchant networks can only be an exercise in connecting local histories with world history, bypassing the level of national history.''

Marshall McLuhan's Gutenberg Galaxy speaks of a global village. With the progress of science and the impact of its application on the day-to-day lives, this large world of ours, nay, this solar system, would shrink into a diminutive village. In recent times, what with globalisation of trade and commerce, MacLuhan's prophecy has proved true to a large extent.

Coca-cola and Pizza Huts are ubiquitous (if not conspicuous). And with the imperial powers expanding their empires, one entertains grave doubts whether the smaller and developing nations might lose their identities altogether and become insolvent. Swadeshi movements in India have been expressing their fears of bigger powers destroying up-and-coming nations. How far are these fears true, it is up to economists and futurologists to examine.

Markovits tells us a different story, a story that should give us a good deal of encouragement and strength. India struggles to step up the export market, which alone can augment its meagre resources and improve its economy. But Indian merchants from two village towns have got into world trade. There is an expanding network of commercial firms with branches in various parts of the world. Many have been able to relocate themselves. The Shikarpuri banias used the ``Multani'' banking firms to get work. An international bourgeoisie has grown now.

The Hinduja family, the richest of all South Asian families in the world, is a Shikarpuri family and it has emerged on the global scene. The Sindhis have come to play an increasingly important role in the globalised world of today. In fact we cannot even talk of a Sindhi diaspora strictly speaking. Many of the present day Sindhis were born outside India. They have settled in other countries, taking the nationality of the host countries, marrying local women and even adopting their religion.

They may even lose their linguistic and religious identity in India. The book has three maps, 13 tables, a glossary and four appendices containing employment contracts and partnership deeds between merchants. This highly sophisticated research work is the result of meticulous and assiduous scrutiny in the oriental archival collections of the British Library, London.

Markovits, a most distinguished economic historian, has delved deep into previously neglected sources for writing this book. Students of South Asian studies and colonial historians will find this first-rate study in sociological exploration most highly rewarding. What is more, the methodology employed here has substantially rich and fruitful ideas to offer to a prospective researcher in area studies.

M. S. NAGARAJAN

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