ABSTRACT
It is now accepted that European maritime powers did not succeed in transforming the well-established pattern and methods of Indian trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They tried to manipulate the trade of the Indian Ocean by the use of cartazes or passes, and later by a policy of armed trade. They also participated in the already existing intra-Asian trade in order to maximize their profits. Domination of the seas and efforts to monopolize trade in important commodities like spices and cotton textiles were part of the leitmotif, which became successful as a colonial policy in the eighteenth century. The world of the Indian merchant did not change until empires were established. The Indian mercantile ‘world’, signifying economic networks, social organizations and the relationship between merchant and state, remained quite stable during the period 1500 to 1800. It is useful to examine whether institutional, infrastructural and operational aspects underwent change, and if so, at what pace.
