Write a short note on trading communities of India in the medieval times
1) There were many kinds of traders. These included the Banjaras. Several traders especially horse traders, formed associations, with headmen who negotiated on their behalf with warriors who bought horses
2) Since traders had to pass through many kingdoms and forests, they usually travelled in caravans and formed guilds to protect their interests. There were several such guilds in South India from 8th century onwards – the most famous being Manigramam and Nanadesi.
3) These guilds traded extensively both within the peninsula and with South west Asia and China.
4) There were also communities like Chettiars and the Marwari Oswal who went on to become the principal trading groups of the country.
5) Gujarati traders including the communities of Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras traded extensively with the ports of Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, South East Asia and China
6) They sold textiles and spices in these ports and, in exchange brought gold and ivory from Africa, and spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver from South East Asia and China
7) The towns on the west coast were home to Arab, Persian, Chinese, Jewish and Syrian Christian traders. Indian spices and cloth sold in Red Sea ports were purchased by Italian traders and eventually reached European markets, fetching very high profits.