NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 6: Towns, Traders and Craftspersons YouTube Lecture Handouts
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NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 6: Towns, Traders and Craftspersons
Major Artisan Towns
Administrative Towns
- Thanjavur β Capital of Cholas, At Kaveri River, Home to Rajarajeshwara temple by King Rajaraja Chola - architect Kunjaramallan Rajaraja Perunthachchan β temple has palaces with mandapas & barracks for army, water comes from wells, Saliyar weavers β cloth for flags in temples
- At Svamimalai: Sthapatis or sculptors make bronze idols & ornamental bell metal lamps
Temple Towns
- Center of economic activity
- Rulers built temples to demonstrate devotion to God
- Endowed with grants of land & money to carry rituals
- People brought in huge donations
- Temples used wealth to finance trade & banking
- For example: Thanjavur; Bhillasvamin (Bhilsa or Vidisha, MP) ; Somnath in Gujarat; Kanchipuram and Madurai in Tamil Nadu; Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh
- Pilgrimage centers developed as tonwships: Varanasi (UP) , Tiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu) , Ajmer (Rajasthan) β Chauhans till 12th Century & then Mughals β Puskhar & Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti Dargah
Bronze
- Copper + Tin
- Tin β« > Copper = Bell Metal β bell like sound
- Lost Wax Technique β Statue made of wax coated with clay, Then heated and wax removed through a hole. Liquid metal filled in through the same hole & clay removed.
Trade & Small Towns
- Trading Commodities: horses, salt, camphor, saffron, betel nut and spices like pepper
- Samanta (Zamindar) β build fortified towns, levied taxes on traders & donated right to collect taxes to temples
- Traders travelled in caravans and formed guilds (Manigramam and Nanadesi) to protect their interests
- Major Traders:
- Chettiars and Marwari Oswal
- Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras
- Indian sold textiles and spices & brought gold and ivory from Africa; spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver from SE Asia and China
- Species became a delicacy in European cooking
- Kabul and Qandahar were linked to Silk Route β trade by Horses
Crafts
- Craftwork from Bidar β Bidri on copper & silver
- Panchal as or Vishwakkarma community, consisting of goldsmiths, bronze smiths, blacksmiths, masons and carpenters, were essential to the building of temples
- Weavers like Saliyar or Kaikkolars emerged as prosperous communities
- Murshidabad (West Bengal) on Bhagirathi River was major centre for silks and capital of Bengal in 1704, declined later by competition from cheap mill-made cloth from England.
Architecture
Hampi
- Lies in Krishna-Tungabhadra basin, as nucleus of Vijayanagara Empire, founded in 1336. Was fortified city with no mortar or cement but only by interlocking?
- Had arches, domes and pillared halls, pleasure gardens β Moors (Muslim Merchants) , Chettis & Portuguese traders were commonly seen
- Temples had cultural activities, devadasis (temple dancers) in Virupaksha (Shiva) temple, Mahanavmi or Navratri is celebrated in south
- Hampi fell into ruin following the defeat of Vijayanagara in 1565 by the Deccani Sultans β the rulers of Golconda, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Berar and Bidar.
Surat
- Emporium of western trade during Mughal period
- Gateway of trade with West Asia via Gulf of Omruz
- Gate to Mecca
- Portuguese, Dutch and English had factories and warehouses
- Textile was known
- Zari work (gold lace) had market in West Asia, Africa and Europe
- Kathiawad seths or mahajans (moneychangers) had huge banking houses
- Surat hundis (note recording a deposit made by a person) were honored far and wide in Cairo - Egypt, Basra β Iraq & Antwerp β Belgium
- Declined in 17th century due to loss of market and productivity due to decline of Mughal empire & East India Company shifted its HQs to Mumbai
Masulipatnam (Machlipatnam)
- Delta of Krishna River on 17th century
- Both Dutch & English East India Company tried to control it
- Major Port of Golconda, Andhra Pradesh
- Fort built by Dutch
- Qutb Shahi rulers of Golconda imposed royal monopolies on the sale of textiles, spices and other items to prevent trade passing completely into East India Companies.
- Competition occurred amongst Golconda nobles, Persian merchants, Telugu Komati Chettis, and European traders
- Later Aurangzeb annexed Golconda & Europeans started to look for alternatives
- It declined in 18th century
New Towns & Traders
- 16 - 17th century β European leaders looking for species & textiles
- East India Company β by English, French & Dutch
- Indian Traders Mulla Abdul Ghafur and Virji Vora with large number of ships competed with European companies
- English emerged as most successful
- Weavers had to reproduce designs supplied by English people
- 18th Century β Bombay, Madras & Calcutta became nodal centers β artisans and merchants were moved to Black Towns established within new cities
- βWhiteβ rulers occupied the superior residencies of Fort St. George in Madras or Fort St. William in Calcutta.
Discoveries
Vasco Da Gama β Portuguese sailor, reached Calicut in 1498 and returned to Lisbon, lost two ships & only 54 of 170 men survived, later English, Dutch & French sailors reached there
- Columbus β considering earth to be round sailed westwards to Atlantic Ocean to find route to India β In 1492 reached West Indies β later Spain & Portugal sailors reached there
β Manishika