Indigenous traders & trade of 18th century Murshidabad

It is quite overwhelming that the trade, commerce and economy of Bengal as a whole flourished under the Nawabs of Murshidabad during 18th century with great extent. Being the capital of Bengal, Murshidabad holds its financial supremacy throughout the century and makes the Bengal most prosperous province of India. It is to be noted that it was Bengal textiles and silk, together with few other commodities like saltpetre monopolized the trade of the East. Consequently, various kind of traders and merchants from different parts of India and abroad made their frequent visits to Murshidabad. Most of them settled here to make fortune, compete with each other’s and tried to establish their monopoly on local and long-distance trade. In this context the indigenous traders actually played most important role. Moreover, they created the ground of trading atmosphere and developed trading industries of Murshidabad. Hence, in this study, I made an attempt to focus the emergence of various kinds of indigenous and inland merchants and the nature of their trading activities during 18th century.