The Turkish Merchants at Surat in Mughal Times

Abstract

The article endeavours to critically assess the role played by the Turkish merchants in the Indian Ocean trade during the seventeenth century. While the Turkish merchants’ trading activities in Persia were marked by frequent disturbances occasioned by political incursions, their trade in India was completely free of such troubles. The Turkish merchants’ preferred routes were (a) through northern Iran, touching Qazwin and Tabrez, to Turkey and (b) through Qandahar, Isfahan, Merv and Yezd. Among the Turkish merchants, those belonging to Chalebi group were apparently more active. Some were substantial shipowners as well. The various aspects of the multidimensional trade have been examined with the help of a variety of sources. An attempt has been made to shed some light within the contours of contemporary trade, traders and ruling elite of those times and this is the central argument of the article.