Indian Mercantile Classes
Indian Mercantile Classes
Section titled “Indian Mercantile Classes”2020-04-27 12:35:40
Categorized into three distinct groups, viz.,
- the big merchants and ship owners (mahajans and sahs),
- the smaller and medium commodity merchants or traders (baniyas) who frequented the local markets
- the petty shopkeepers and hawkers.
- largely dominated by the Hindu and Jain merchants collectively known as the Baniyas. Their importance can be seen in Kabir’s poetry who compare them to God. Tavernier also talks about Baniyas and Shroffs calling them the 3rd caste.
- They also pursued the business of money lending and banking.
- Abul Fazl mentions forty-eight sub-castes of the baniyas