Chapter VI Conclusions

Chapter VI Conclusions Trade and commerce of Adil Shahi Sultanate was gradually increasing through various stages, but it reached to a height after the fall of Barid Shahi and Vijaynagar. The establishment of Bahmani rule had removed Bijapur’s status as a remote frontier post, however, under the Bahamanis Bijapur never possessed the economic or political importance of Gulbarga and Bidar, the two Bahmani capitals. Bijapur’s de facto independence (1490), from Bahmani authority could not suddenly transform the city into a notable centre of Islamic civilization. One political city had to fall or decline so that a new political city rose and grew in its stead. Bidar was declined in the last quarter of 15th century and Vijaynagar was destroyed by confederate Muslim states of the Deccan in the battle of Talikota in 1565 and on its ashes raised the glory of Bijapur. By the end of sixteenth century Bijapur had emerged as one of the major Islamic urban centres. The early seventeenth century saw the peak growth of the city’s population, on the basis of the estimation of James Campbell, two million of population was resided within and outside of fort of Bijapur. Under the aegis of Ibrahim II and Muhammad Adil Shah, Bijapur’s significance in all respects grew further and it became an important city of the Deccan. Migration of Qadiri Sufis into the Bijapur during this period could be seen as an important indicator of urbanization. After the fall of Vijaynagar the resources of sultanate increases and Karwar, Honawar and Bhatkal came in their possession which helps to boost up their trade and 548 J.D.B., Gribble, History of the Deccan, op. cit. p.249. 235 commerce. When the Sultanate extended up to the Coromandel Coast, there was more access to the trade and commerce network along the coast as well. The Adil Shahi sultanate struck coins in gold, silver and copper. Hence the Adil Shahi was the only dynasty of the post Bahmani period to issue coins in all three metals. Dabul [Dabhol] is the only mint known to the Adil Shahi coins, appears only in silver coin larin. Other than larin no coin bears the mint name. Coins of Bahmani, Vijaynagar, Mughal, Marathas etc. were also in current. Larin of silver was an important coin of sultanate. European Companies and every substantial merchant had to secure pagodas for their trade. They could do this in a variety of ways. They could import unminted gold and take it to the nearest mint to the port where they wanted to make their investment. Alternatively, if they had bought different types of coins, they could take these coins to the sarrafs, the money-changers and exchange them for the coins current in the Sultanate. However, it seems that the markets, especially at the ports, did accept a variety of coins, for we find references in the European records to the availability of Dutch florins, Venetian ducats and many other coins. We also get information about the involvement of various Bijapuri nobles in the external trade of the Sultanate. Khwaja Noor, the Bijapuri ambassador to Goa during 1620, is frequently mentioned in Portuguese records as someone who was using his official position to trade from Goa, which was against the Portuguese monopoly of trade. A ship belongs to Ekhlas Khan was captured in the Straits of Hormuz for not carrying a cartaz on 18 July 1644. Mir Kamaluddin Mazendarani an astute politician was also involved in such trade. The English records show that he kept his relations with all the companies on a sound footing, rendering services to them, but expecting services in return. Such activities can be seen in areas that were not part of the Bijapur Sultanate as well. For example, Mange Nayak, Rama Kini and 236 Vithala Sinai who in the seventeenth century traded in pepper and rice from the ports of Bhatkal and Basrur had great influence in the Ikkeri court. Another such political merchant on the Coromandel was Khan-i-Khanan, the Bijapur general and governor of Karnatak. When the Bijapur regime secured control of South Coromandel ports and Khan-i-Khanan became governor of coastal lands, he involved extensively in overseas trade, owning ships and having merchants trade on his behalf. Krishnappa, the commander of the armed forces of the Nayak of Jinji, was also in a similar position; he secured administrative control over the ports of Porto Novo, Pondicherry and Devanampatnam in the 1640s and used his position to invest in trade. He had prominent Coromandel merchants, Chinnanna, his brother Latchemanaiyah, his nephew Koneri Chetty managing his interests. The activities of Khwaja Noor, Ekhlas Khan, Mir Kamaluddin Mazendarani and Mange Nayak, Rama Kini and Vithala Sinai, Khan-i-Khannan and Krishnappa have been briefly analysed within the framework of the theory of Portfolio capitalism. The administrative units of the Sultanates particularly crown districts or muamalas were important from the trade and commerce point of view. The geographical location of these places shows that, they were established in the regions of confluence of important rivers (e.g. Sandalapur, Raichur, Torgal and Bankapur), in the valleys (e.g. Mudgal and Miraj), in port areas (e.g. Goa and Chaul), and in important traffic centres (Kalyan and Bhivandi); they would be scattered along the frontiers rather than in the inner territories. In other words, muamalas were created in such regions where, soils were fertile for agriculture with good facilities of water, important in trade and traffic, and vital for military strategy. Similarly qalah districts were established in the confluent areas of important rivers (Badami and Shahdurg), in their valleys (Kopal, Panhala, Satara, Mandan and Chandan), or in the strategically 237 important regions along the Western Ghats (Wasota, Parari, Raher or Rohira, Rajgad and Kondhana). In short, we may say that muamala and qalah districts were situated in zones which were important, both financially and militarily. Such secured places provided necessary atmosphere for the growth of trade and commerce. Devanampatnam, Puduchery, Porto Novo and Cuddalore were important Adil Shahi ports on Coromandel. These ports were having good business during the early decades in the second half of the seventeenth century. Textile trade from these ports appears to have operated in two ways. There was firstly a bilateral trade directly between these ports and the ports of various regions where these goods were marketed. These were in mainland and island South East Asia. In this bilateral trade Coromandel textile were exported to these ports by Coromandel merchants, or by merchants of these particular regions and in return into Coromandel were imported a variety of products of these regions. A second trading pattern was where Coromandel textile became a link in a trade cycle which embraced the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, western India, Malabar and Coromandel, Malacca, Java and the Spice Islands. In this trade Coromandel textile were used to barter for the spices of Moluccas or to acquire purchasing power for the acquisition of spices for the Mediterranean and West Asian markets. The arrival of the Portuguese on the west coast and Indian Ocean put some limitations on the Sultanate’s sea-borne trade, but at the same time, can be also seen to have provided some additional prospects with their established trade network. The sources show that the Bijapur state also pursued policies to attract Dutch investment to the southern Coromandel districts. With the Farman of May 1651, the Dutch were permitted to purchase cloth, indigo, saltpetre and other goods in the Jinji province and transport them to the ports of Devanampatnam, Puduchery, 238 Porto Novo and others on payment of half the embarkation duty of 2 ½ per cent. Similar policies were also adopted while giving permission to establish a factory at Puduchery to the French in 1674. Continuous warfare among Deccani Sultanates and with Vijaynagar, Mughal, Marathas and Portuguese were the constant activities of this period, hence horses were the important need for the cavalry, resulted in the demand of the horses. During the early decades of the second half of the seventeenth century Adil Shahi Sultanate had control over the ports of both the coast. The kingdom was at its height of prosperity. A populated, productive and well-administered hinterland was a necessary ingredient to the continuation of the processes of trade and commerce. This precondition was fulfilled in varying degrees during the better part of the study. The geography of the area and its settlement pattern were such that communication between ports and interior markets were easy and reasonably well protected by the forts across the Western Ghats region. A north-south and an east-west grid of trade routes, roads and pathways usable through most of the year, except the short period when the monsoon was at its height, provided the link between ports and markets. The advantage of trade and access to overseas market were kept favourable by the state’s policies to trade. However, after the loss of some of western ports and nearby territories to Shivaji, Coromandel trade sustained Adil Shahi economy up to certain level. But when the hold on Coromandel ports and other area was loosening the Sultanate found it difficult to retain its trade prosperity. Adil Shahi Sultanate failed to control over Goa, strategically the most important outlet on the west coast for the overseas trade. The loss of Goa was vital factor for the trade and commerce of the sultanate. As compare to the study of trade and commerce of India, this study is though minor one, but relevant in the present 239 situation of the country and would guide for the protection of strategic trade centres from the outward influence.

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