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The essays in the volume deal with a broad range factors integral to Indian history in the early modern era. They unfold many facets of the trade, politics and society of the country and offer new perspectives which will help dispel some long held misconceptions. The first part of the book is concerned mainly with trade and commerce in Bengal while subsequent chapters provide an extensive survey of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean and the unique contribution of Armenian communities in Dhaka’s commercial and social life of the eighteenth century.

Om Prakash reveals the central role played by Bengal in the Dutch East India Company's activities in India in the seventeenth and the early eighteenth century and the resulting integration of India into the world economy. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.