Describe the big and small traders of the medieval period.
Answers
There were many kinds of traders. These included the Banjaras and several traders especially horse traders.
The traders usually traveled in caravans and formed guilds to protect their interests. There were several such guilds in South India from the eighth century onwards - the most famous being the Manigramam and Nanadesi. These guilds traded extensively both within the peninsula and with Southeast Asia and China. There were also communities like the Chettiyars and the Marwari Oswal who went on to become the major trading groups of the country. Gujarati traders, including the communities of Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras, traded extensively with the ports of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and China. They sold textiles and spices in these ports and in exchange, brought gold and ivory from Africa; and spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery, and silver from Southeast Asia and China.
The towns on the west coast were home to Arab, Persian, Chinese, Jewish and Syrian Christian traders. Indian spices and cloth sold in the Red Sea ports were bought by Italian traders and eventually reached European markets, fetching high profits. This ultimately drew European traders to India.