جلد
شمارہ
مقالے کی قسم
زبان


تلخیص
Trade and industrial activities have been the mainstay of historical studies across various periods of Indian history. This can be traced from ancient periods to colonial times. As Banaras is one of the veritable cities of Indian culture, its society and development continues to attract a great deal of attention from historians cutting across its timeframes since it enjoys a mythological and cosmic popularity for religious and pilgrimage purposes. The history of the city can be traced from as early as the beginning of the Janapada time till today as it has the vibrant culture, society and living tradition. The Islamic religion had reached Banaras as early as the 11th century as per the existing historical sources. In due course of time, this city became a nodal centre for trade and economic activities between eastern and western parts of India paving the way for major activities cutting across culture and society. Many works have been done on Banaras such as „Kashi Ka Itihasa‟ (1962) by Moti Chandra, a special chapter on Varanasi Silk in „Silk Brocades‟ (2003) by Yashodhara Agrawal, „Textiles of Banaras: yesterday and today‟ (2010) by Tarannum Fatma Lari, „Banaras in Transition‟ (2012) by K. P. Mishra, and „Woven textiles of Varanasi‟ (2014) by Jaya Jaitly. These works only focus on political history, textile technique and the process of fabric making of present day and trading activities in the eighteenth century; but trading position, textiles and other industrial activities of Banaras during the sultanate and the great Mughal are not placed. So, the present study tries to make an attempt to trace its development from the extension of trade and economic activities to the emergence of Banaras as a major city of culture and social activities. The focus will be mainly on the period between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries which have not yet been adequately covered, and this is an initial attempt through which try to unfold some of the major historical transformation which occurred in medieval Banaras by using various historical evidences. The development of textile activities with its embroidery and production of copper pots, dishes, basins and the exchange of various agrarian goods will invariably become part of the present research. It also sees how Banaras became a central and major entrepot in India. Besides, the emergence of business activities and social networks, the region witnessed a range of multifarious activities covering all walks of life.

Parvez Alam. (2017) Trade, Textile and other Industrial Activities: A Study of Banaras region in Medieval India, Journal of Indian Studies, Volume 3, Issue 1.
  • Views 639
  • Downloads 123