| Recherche | My general research interest lies in the socio-economic history of
early-modern South Asia. Culling information from a variety of English,
Dutch and Persian sources, I have been writing research papers on a wide
range of issues and aspects of merchants and their social and commercial
world, European companies and maritime trade, piracy and labour market. My
PhD thesis, which is nearing completion, focuses on the nature of
political economy of Gujarat in the eighteenth century. This is a detailed
study of I) the temporal and spatial dimensions of Asian commercial
activities in Gujarat, ii) the dynamics of agricultural and craft
productions in that region, iii) the implications of European trade for
the economy and iv) local gentry and the nature of consumer demand. At a
broader level, the thesis seeks to contribute to ongoing debate on the
nature of the eighteenth century in Indian/Asian economies. It also
analyses the nature of engagement between trade and politics and
delineates and distinguishes the processes of colonial intervention in
western India from those of Bengal and south-eastern India. |
