Merchants And Faith

‘This book with its felicitous title brings together with great skill and sensitivity a large amount of current historical scholarship on the trade and civilization of the Indian Ocean during the Islamic centuries. It will be welcomed by both students and teachers as a fine introduction to a complex subject.”

In The Merchants of Siberia, Erika Monahan reconsiders commerce in early modern Russia by reconstructing the trading world of Siberia and the careers of merchants who traded there. She follows the histories of three merchant families from various social ranks who conducted trade in Siberia for well over a century. These include the Filat'evs, who were among Russia’s most illustrious merchant elite; the Shababins, Muslim immigrants who mastered local and long-distance trade while balancing private endeavors with service to the Russian state; and the Noritsyns, traders of more modest status who worked sometimes for themselves, sometimes for bigger merchants, and participated in the emerging Russia-China trade. Monahan demonstrates that trade was a key component of how the Muscovite state sought to assert its authority in the Siberian periphery. The state’s recognition of the benefits of commerce meant that Russian state- and empire-building in Siberia were characterized by accommodation; in this diverse borderland, instrumentality trumped ideology and the Orthodox state welcomed Central Asian merchants of Islamic faith. This reconsideration of Siberian trade invites us to rethink Russia’s place in the early modern world. The burgeoning market at Lake Yamysh, an inner-Eurasian trading post along the Irtysh River, illuminates a vibrant seventeenth-century Eurasian caravan trade even as Europe-Asia maritime trade increased. By contextualizing merchants and places of Siberian trade in the increasingly connected economies of the early modern period, Monahan argues that, commercially speaking, Russia was not the "outlier" that most twentieth-century characterizations portrayed.

Two of the most influential forces in American history are business and religion. Merchants and Ministers weaves the two together in a history of the relationship between businesspeople and Christian clergy. From fur traders and missionaries who explored the interior of the continent to Gilded-Age corporate titans and their clerical confidants to black businessmen and their ministerial collaborators in the Civil Rights movement, Merchants and Ministers tells stories of interactions between businesspeople and clergy from the colonial period to the present. It presents a complex picture of this relationship, highlighting both conflict and cooperation between the two groups. By placing anecdotal detail in the context of general developments in commerce and Christianity, Merchants and Ministers traces the contours of American history and illuminates those contours with the personal stories of businesspeople and clergy.

Reveals a distinct trajectory of Islamic history that developed among Muslim merchant communities across the medieval Indian Ocean.

An analysis of merchant lives in three northern British cities in the later middle ages.

What impact did the cultural origin and religious background of a merchant in the early modern period have on his business activity and how could he become integrated in a foreign society? In this book the author examines merchants who traded betwee

Socio - Cultural Life of Merchants in Mughal Gujarat by Monika Sharma focuses on the identification of the varied communities involved in commercial activities and maritime trade - Banias, Bohras. Parsis, Khojas, Memons, Ghanchis, Chalebis, Armenians and European during 16th-17th centuries. The project embraces life-style, traditions, festivals, institutions and the professional aspects of merchants life. The study explores the region of Gujarat its geographical layout, urban set-up, trade centres, cities, manufacturing centres, ports and trade routes. The living standards, viz. housing, system of education, entertainment, the status women, food habits, dresses, ornaments and other aspects of their daily life etc. are investigated in order to make a comparative study of the different cultures. The study intends to know about the religion, social activities, festivals, rituals, marriages, customs and mores followed. The present work entails the investigation of custom, rituals and mores related to society and religion of the various merchant communities. One can also discern the existing social evils like sati, polygamy and enforced widowhood. The focal point of the study is merchants-Mughal nexus too, which is vital to understand the benefits accrued by the merchant communities. In what manner the proximity with imperial court benefitted them and resulted in their social elevation. One of the objectives of this study would be contextualize the idea of money for different merchants, which is discussed in chapter six. How the various communities invested their money to acquire political and social advantages. The stable system of brokers, sarraf and sahukars, mahajan, and nagarsheth which sustained the community are also focussed.

What impact did the cultural origins and religious backgrounds of the merchants in the early modern period have on their business activities? How did these people manage to integrate themselves into the foreign societies within which they lived and worked? In this book Jorun Poettering examines the circumstances of the merchants who traded between Hamburg and Portugal in the seventeenth century. Her study offers new insights into the history of migration and intercultural encounter as world became more interconnected.