Chapter 6 - Towns, Traders and Craftspersons

• One of the most fascinating parts of the medieval period in the seventeenth century was the development of urbanization.
• The Arabs, Turkish and Afghans settled in many parts of the nation prompting the advancement of towns and urban areas.

SOURCES OF KNOWING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THIS PERIOD:

1. The sources of history are explorers' records.
2. Monserrate, Flitch, Thomas Roe, Domingo Paes, Nicolo Conti and Abdul Razzaq Samarqandi composed about the life of this period.

COURT TOWNS:

1. Some of the important court towns were Lahore, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi.
2. Fatehpur Sikri was the new capital established by Akbar.
3. Delhi was known as Shahjahanabad and was built by Shah Jahan in 1639.

PORT AND TRADING TOWNS:

1. Some towns were created as ports because of their proximity to the ocean shore.
2. Some significant ports were Cambay, Surat, Broach, Masulipatanam, Nagapattinam, and so on.

MANAGERIAL TOWNS:

1. Some towns were capital cities. They were focuses of organization.
2. Thanjavur and Udaipur were critical focuses.

SANCTUARY TOWNS AND PILGRIMAGE CENTERS:

1. Temples towns were critical focuses of urbanization and prompted improvement of urban communities, economy and society.
2. Pilgrims gave tremendous donations to sanctuaries. These riches was utilized by sanctuary experts to back their exchange and saving money.
3. Some such imperative towns were Somnath, Madurai, Trupati, Vrindavan, Ajmer, and so forth.

HOW IMPERATIVE WAS BRONZE:

1. Bronze is a composite compound of copper and tin.
2. Chola rulers utilized this metal to make statues through the “lost wax” procedure.

DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL TOWNS:

1. From the eighth century onwards, residential communities rose in India. They rose up out of extensive towns. They had a “mandapika” where villagers sold their deliver.
2. Likewise, there were street markets, called “hatta”, brimming with shops.
3. Many villagers came to purchase neighborhood articles and offer items like stallions, camphor, saffron betel nut, flavors, salt, and so forth.
4. Normally a Samanta was named who invigorated the castles and gave the privilege to gather charges from dealers, craftsman, and so on.

NAME OF TRADERS:

1. Many sorts of dealers existed.
2. Trader went in troops by shaping societies.
3. Trade was done all the time inside the landmass and with South-east Asia and China.
4. Some other essential merchants were the Chettiars, Marwari, Banjaras, Baniyas, Muslim Bohras, and so on.

SPECIALTIES IN TOWNS:

1. Craft work was celebrated by the name of Bidri in the area.
2. The goldsmith, bronzesmith, smithy, bricklayers and woodworkers were as one called as the “Panchalas” or “Vishwakarma”.
3. Some different specialties were cotton cleaning, turning and coloring.