The Story of Indian Business, edited by Gurcharan Das, is a collection planned over several volumes, whose first three have just been released. It could be the most important foundational study of the evolution of modern Indian business for the layman. The first volume, Arthashastra, The Science of Wealth, written by Thomas R Trautmann, is followed by The Merchants of Tamilakam by Kanakalatha Mukund, ending with The East India Company by Tirthankar Roy.
As Trautmann notes, the Arthashastra is a treatise, evolved over a period of about 500 years, about creation and expansion of wealth, in which the king played a pivotal role. The source document of Trautmann’s book is a seminal work of R P Kangle, who compiled an authoritative version in Sanskrit based on seven manuscripts and eight commentaries. Many eminent historians, including R C Majumdar and Vincent Smith, also believe that it is actually a compilation of treatises written by several gurus over a period between the 7th century BC and 2nd century AD.
In Arthashastra, the author defines creation of wealth in stages, from individual ownership to kingship. Individual wealth began with ownership and cultivation of land. Mother Earth was the source of all wealth, and this included mining rights. Protection of this land and its produce by the king secured the right of ownership, which was the basis of human enterprise. The king played multiple roles — from that of entrepreneur (as an owner who used his own cultivable land for production), taxing authority, arbiter of disputes, and keeper of public order. Protection from plunderers and maintenance of peace became an important function of the king. The hallmark of ancient Indian kingdoms was guaranteeing private property and facility for free trade. As opposed to the “Oriental Despotism” propagated by Aristotle, Indian kings were instruments of a proto-welfare economy. Kautilya goes on to describe forms of state as kingdoms and republics.
Kanakalatha Mukund’s volume describes the long coastline of the Indian peninsula as advantageous for maritime trade, leading to thriving international and coastal trade since ancient times. Her study is supported by archeological finds, a body of poems called Sangam, written by during 50-300 AD, and by epics like Silappadikaram and Manimekalai. Trade thrived during the rule of the Pandyas of Madurai, the Cholas of Uraiyur (Thiruchi) and Cheras of Vanji (Karur), mainly with Romans, Arabs and Greeks. Pliny, writing in 75 AD, complained that there was no year in which India did not drain the Roman Empire of more than 55 million sesterces (a silver coin of the Roman Empire). Important ports were at Puhar on the Bay of Bengal, above Nagapattinam and Tondi on the Palk Straits.
The author has wavered in her descriptions of international trade after 4th century AD. The navy under Chola emperor Rajaraja I, in 1015 AD, held sway over a large area, from Bay of Bengal to the South China Sea. But its impact on trade has not been discussed at all. She has described at length temples, nagarams and merchants, which suffer from lack of purpose. Lack of specific information has rendered this section meaningless. There is little analytical material.
The East India Company, The World’s Largest Corporation, written by Tirthankar Roy, traces the history of the EIC right from its inception in 1600 to its dissolution in 1874. Long before that, it had ceased to exist as a commercial entity. EIC brought in a tradition of keeping records beneficial not only for shareholders, but also in retrospect for historiography. By plundering the wealth of India, it fuelled the industrial revolution in England. The author has, however, held that the British plunder was not responsible for the pauperisation of India, without substantiating his conclusion with facts and figures. He has not even mentioned Dadabhai Naoroji’s authoritative work in this regard. He has also elided various acts of systematic brutality that it carried out to bring the vast subcontinent and its peoples under its rule. But then again, this is a history of finance, not a socio-political history.