CLASS – VII HISTORY CHAPTER – 6 TOWNS , TRADERS
AND CRAFTPERSONS
A traveler visiting a medieval town (8-18 century) expect to
find?
Depending upon type of town- visiting
TOWNS
TEMPLE TOWN ADMINISTRATIVE TOWN
COMMERCIAL TOWN PORT TOWN
ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRES
LETS TRAVEL TO THANJAVUR CAPITAL OF CHOLA DYNASTY
Kaveri river is flowing near it.
Rajarajeshwar temple is there built by rajarajachola
Besides temple – three palaces are there with huge
mandaps.
Markets selling – grain , spices, cloth and jewellery
Saliya weavers
At swamimalai – sthapatis or sculptors are working.
MANDAPAS – kings hold courts in these mandapas , issuing
orders to their subordinates.
They are also barracks for the army.
SALIYA WEAVERS – they produce cloth for flags to be used
in the temple festival
Fine cloth for kings
Coarse cotton for the masses.
Sthapathis or sculptors – make exquisite bronze idols and
tall ornamental bell metal lamps.
TEMPLE TOWNS OR PILGRIMAGE CENTRES
Thanjavur is also an example of temple town
Bhillasvamin(bhilsa or vidisha in Madhya
Pradesh,somnath in Gujarat, kanchipuram and Madurai
in tamilnadu, tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
Importance of temple towns
Represent urbanization – process by which cities
develop
Rulers demonstrate their devotion to various
deities.
Endowed temples with grants of land and money to
carry rituals, feed pilgrims and priests and celebrate
festivals
Pilgrims visiting temples also made donations.
Temple wealth used for trade and banking
Priests, workers, artisans, traders- settled near
temples to cater to their needs and of pilgrims
Pilgrimage centres developed into townships
Vrindavan (uttar Pradesh), tiruvannamalai (tamilnadu),
Example of religious co existence – ajmer (rajasthan) –
capital of chauhans in 12 century and suba under
mughals.
Khwajamuinuddinchishti – settled and attracted
devotees of all religions
A NETWORK OF SMALL TOWNS
8 century- small towns emerged from villages.
Had a mandapika or mandi – villagers sold their
produce
Had market streets – hattaothaat - lined with shops
Streets for different kinds of artisans – potters, oil
pressers, sugar makers, smiths, stonemason etc.
Samantas later zamindars build forts near or in the
towns
Levied taxes on traders, artisans and articles of trade.
Sometimes donated right to collect taxes to local
temples built by themselves or merchants.
Rights recorded in inscriptions.
TRADERS
Many kinds – banjaras, horse traders ( formed
associations with headmen who negotiated on their
behalf with warriors who bought horses)
Traders travelled from place to place – travelled in
caravans and formed guilds.
Many guilds (people engaged in same activity) in south
india – manigramam and nanadesi – traded within india
and with southeast asia and china.
West coast – trading done by arabs, Persians, Chinese,
jewish, Syrians
European traders attracted to india –
Indian spices( pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger)
and cloth sold in red sea port
Kabbul and Qandahar were linked to the famous silk
route – famous for trade in horses.
CRAFTS IN TOWNS
Craftpersons of bidar(Karnataka) – famous for inlay
work in copper and silver – called bidri work.
Panchalas or vishwakarma community – consists of
goldsmiths, bromzesmiths, blacksmiths, masons and
carpenters – essential for building temples, palaces, big
buildings, tanks and reservoirs
THREE TOWNS – DETAIL STUDY
HAMPI
LOCATION
Krishna-tungabhadra basin – nucleus of vijyanagar
empire founded in 1336
ARCHITECTURE
Well fortified city.
No mortar or cement used in construction of walls –
technique followed – wedge them together by
interlocking.
Buildings had splendid arches, domes. Pillared halls
with niches for holding scultures.
Well planned orchards
Pleasure gardens
Markets – muslim, European,portugese traders –
bustled with commercial and cultural activities.
Temples – hub of cultural activities – devdasis or temple
dancers performed before deity, royalty and masses
Mahanavmi or navratri – most celebrated festival in
hampi
Ruin – defeat of vijyanagar in 1565 by deccan sultans
(rulers of Golconda,bijapur (Karnataka),
ahmadnagar(Gujarat), bidar)
SURAT
Surst in Gujarat – emporium of western trade during
mughal period.
Gateway of trade with west asia – via – gulf of ormuz.
Gate to mecca – many pilgrim ships set sail from here.
Cosmopolitan city –people of all castes and creeds
lived there.
17th century – dutch ,portugese and English – factories
at surat.
Surat textiles famous for zari work (gold lace borders)
Numerous rest houses – take care of needs of people
coming from different places.
Magnificient buildings and pleasure parks
Kathiawadseths or mahajans (money changers) had
huge banking houses
Surathundis – honoured in far off markets
Decline – loss of markets and productivity due to
decline of mughal empire
Control of sea routesbyportugese
Competition from Bombay where east india
company established its headquarters in 1668.
MASULIPATNAM / MACHLIPATNAM / FISH
PORT TOWN
Location – delta of Krishna river
Dutch and English attempted to control – imp town of
Andhra coast.
Fort built at masulipatnam by dutch
Qutubshahi rulers of Golconda imposed tax on textiles,
spices etc – to prevent trade passing to English
In 1686-87 mughal emperor Aurangzeb annexed
Golconda
Emglish Companies looked for alternatives – moved to
Bombay, Calcutta and madras – masulipatnam declined
NEW TOWNS AND TRADERS
16 & 17 century – European countries – searching
for spices and textiles.
European countries used naval power to gain
control over sea routes and forced Indian traders to
work as their agents.
Ultimately English emerged most successful.
Spurt in demand for goods – textiles, crafts of
spinning, weaving and bleaching expanded.
Indian textiles became refined.
Period saw – decline – craftpersons
Forced to weave cloth for European markets
No liberty – sell their cloth
Weave and reproduce designs supplied by
companies.
