The Development of Urbanisation and Commerce

India between the ancient period India and the modern period India is referred to as medieval India. It began with the decline of the Gupta Empire. Many changes were observed in India during this period in terms of culture, commerce, religion, etc.

The establishment of regional kingdoms and the expansion of the Indian ocean trade are linked to the urbanisation in medieval India. This resulted in increased foreign trade and the development of commerce. Many cities were developed into urban trade centres. Many non-agricultural occupations were emerging, and various new trades flourished in the Indian subcontinent.

Medieval India

The medieval era of India was an important time. A lot of development in culture, languages, religion, and art took place in this era. The medieval error witnessed the rise of empires such as the Delhi sultanate, the Marathas, the Rajputs, the Mughals, and the invasion of Turks. The British had not invaded India until much later after the medieval era was over.

Hinduism started dominating Jainism and Buddhism during the medieval era. Many cities have begun emerging as urban places. This period also witnessed a lot of economic developments related to commerce. 

Let us look at the development of trade and commerce during the medieval era.

Development of Trade and Commerce in Medieval India

Trade and commerce in the Indian subcontinent rose exponentially during the medieval era. Many non-agriculture started flourishing, and foreign trade was expanding in urban centres. As for commerce, most of the middle-class people of India were merchants or other non-agricultural professionals like Vaidya. A few merchants specialised in retail trade while the others in wholesale trade.

The merchants who specialised in wholesale trade were known as “Seth,” and the merchants who specialised in retail trade were known as “Banik”.The banjaras were for the people who moved from one place to another for trading, and they carried food grains, salt, a lot of oxen, and daily use stuff with them. The trade was carried out by giving Hundis in exchange for the material. Hundis for money that was payable after a certain period. Later, the British and Dutch who invaded India found the system of trade and commerce in India to be highly developed.

The urban towns were the centres for foreign trade. Many trade and commerce organisations were formed in medieval India. Towards the start of the 17th century, the arrival of the English and Dutch traders promoted foreign trade in India. India welcomed foreign traders so that they could break the Portuguese Monopoly of the sea trade. India was getting closely linked to markets of the world like the European market.

Let us now learn about urbanisation in the same era.

Urbanisation in the Medieval Era

Urbanisation is the development of an area into an urban centre where people live and work and have better opportunities. The expansion of foreign trade and the growth of regional kingdoms contributed to urbanisation in the medieval era. At the beginning of the medieval era, the rate of urbanisation was quite slow due to political conditions. 

As trade and commerce began to expand, the areas that lay along the major travel routes or near rivers or fertile land began to develop in urban centres. The places where things like swords, carpets, perfumes, etc., were being manufactured and started emerging as important trade centres, making them into urban centres.

Therefore various types of urban centres during the medieval era. Due to the influence, the administrative towns or towns that were the capital of any kingdom became urban centres. The important people like the king and his court lived in these administrative towns and hens that emerged as urban centres.

The temple towns always had a lot of tourists, which resulted in the development of trade in this town. The centres of pilgrims began developing into townships. Many non-agricultural occupations emerged in temple towns. Port towns and commercial towns are where trade and commerce activities took place. Traders from all over the world visited this town which resulted in its development into an urban centre. Such was the development of trade and commerce and urbanisation in medieval India.

Conclusion

The medieval era in India witnessed many cultural, political, economic, and commercial changes. It was a period between modern and ancient times. Foreign trade was increasing exponentially, giving rise to the development of trade and commerce. Most of the middle class of India began turning to trade. Many centres underwent urbanisation and were developed into urban centres. Major administrative towns and the pilgrims’ towns began developing into urban towns. The cities like Surat, Masulipatnam, etc., were important townships in medieval India. The urbanisation of medieval India could be mostly attributed what’s the development of commerce.