Merchant and Mercantile Practices in India — DU B.A (Prog.) History as Major Previous Year Question Papers

1. What is the relevance of studying merchant communities in South Asian history? Explain with reference to primary sources such as inscriptions, literary texts, archival data etc. 2. Examine the historical development of corporate organization in ancient India? 3. Critically examine the contributions of merchant and artisan guilds in the growth of trade and urbanization between 750 CE to 1300 CE? How did it change their social and political status? 4. Do you agree or disagree that the rise of feudalism in India in early medieval period led to the decline in trade and commerce? 5. How did European traders such as the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English impact Indian Ocean trade during the 16th and 17th centuries? 6. How were money and credit systems organized during the medieval period? Explain with reference to either the Sultanate economy or to the Mughal economy. 7. How did commercialization in the 18t and 19th century erode the endogamous nature of Indian guilds. Illustrate with reference to either artisan guilds or merchant guilds. 8. Write notes on any two of the following : (a) The Arthashastra as source on merchant history (c) Banking in colonial India (d) Shikarpuri merchant networks