ABSTRACT
With a focus on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this essay wishes to look at how trade contributed to the shaping of early modern India, particularly urbanization and political processes. The Deccan has been chosen as the unit of study because it provides the essay with a thematic and geographic coherence. Neatly corresponding to the three levels of analysis attempted here, the essay has been divided into three sections. While the first section looks at the nature and implications of trade in the Qutb Shahi Sultanate of Golconda, the second and third sections try to raise questions for further research. This essay is mainly based on secondary literature. The idea here is not to provide the readers with a mine of new information on the theme, rather to reflect on the subject through secondary literature. Far from concluding as a definite voice on the theme, the idea here is to raise questions if possible.
