Muslim Capitalism: Legal and political history of Khojas, Bohras, and Memons in Colonial Bombay

Nothing matches the relief and elation one feels after finishing your thesis. I examine the Gujarati Muslim trading communities and situate them firmly within the political economy of colonial Bombay/India. Archives and other sources contributed immensely. But every journey is unique. I used family history, newspaper archives, legislative debates, court judgment, government proceedings to make my case.   

I want to highlight some work which appealed directly to my research, and shaped the final outcome. I have critiqued them, agreed and disagreed with the arguments, and examined some points in the setting of Western India and for Muslim traders.     

This is a rather small list, chosen because it represents the mixture of what my thesis is all about.

1. Rulers, Townsmen, and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion 1770-1870 by Chris Bayly: The book represents the era when a lot more historians were writing economic history, which is not the case now. Family history, government archives, newspaper reports - all put to best use. Bayly also extracted details from old commercial families of North India to produce a dazzling account of trade, communities, and culture in the period after the decimation of the Mughal Empire.

2. Stages of Capital: Law, Culture, and Market Governance in Late Colonial India by Ritu Birla: An innovative analysis of commercial and financial legislation in colonial era grounded in interesting and provocative theoretical framework. Birla’s book deserves to be read and discussed more widely. Good use of the National Archives of India. 

3. Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia: Parsi Legal Culture 1772-1947 by Mitra Sharafi: The Parsis in Bombay were prominent in trade and industry. The story of their commercial advancement is well known, but they were also serial litigants. Sharafi’s book chronicles and analyses the complex interaction between Parsis and courts in Bombay and brings to light the Parsi legal culture and how they heralded exemption oriented lobbying. ‎

4. Jim Masselos: Jim’s pioneering and rich body of work on Bombay ensures every scholar interested in the city will have to engage with his books and journal articles. Jim has used Maharashtra state archives (Bombay Presidency) with great effect, covering several aspects of the city. Before noteworthy interventions by Amrita Shodhan and Teena Purohit, Jim was among the earliest to expound on the famous Aga Khan cases of the nineteenth century.

5. Muslim Endowments and Society in British India by Gregory Kozlowski: There is something enduring about this slim volume on Waqf which has ensured that it remains handy nearly 40 years after it was first published. My sense is that a new perspective is needed, but it will be still difficult to ignore this one.

6. Timur Kuran: Kuran has been very prolific on waqf, Islamic law, and Muslim societies. He has made some compelling arguments after examining waqf endowments in the Ottoman and Arab world. Kuran is also eminently readable. He has also examined Muslim traders in India in a work with Anantdeep Singh.   

7. Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western India Ocean 1780-1950 by Fahad Bishara: A much enjoyable work, which I read with some relish. Bishara makes use of family history and archives to present a narrative of India Ocean trade which is not well known. A good fusion of law, commerce, migration, and culture.    

8. The origins of Industrial Capitalism in India: Business Strategies and the working classes in Bombay, 1900-1940 by Rajnarayan Chandavarkar: A solid work which explores the relationship between capital and labour in colonial Bombay. Rich in details and compelling arguments. The University of Cambridge now houses the Chandavarkar archives, a must for historians working on urban history and Bombay. 

9. Jairus Banaji: Banaji's sweeping and magisterial accounts of capitalism and merchant communities offer much food for thought. He continues to write and comment widely on trade and commerce in the Arab world, Europe, and South Asia showing a remarkable depth.

10. No Birds of Passage: A History of Gujarati Muslim communities, 1800-1975 by Michael O' Sullivan: Michael's book reaffirms my work by showing convincingly that the story of Khojas, Bohras, and Memons can be told together. Don't take my word, read it yourself and discover its brilliance. 

11. Tirthankar Roy: In the last few years, Roy has emerged as the foremost economic historian of South Asia. Some now call him 'controversial'; his arguments are backed with rich analysis and data. He has written widely - trade guilds in India, commercial communities, Indian capitalism, British-India legal architecture.