'The Concise Oxford History of Indian Business' traces the transformation of the Indian business class from merchants to industrialists and, more recently, service providers.

Illustrated With Rare Pictures, This Authoritative History Of Indian Business In The Modern Period Charts The Course Of The Transition Of Indian Business From Mercantile Capitalism To Industrial Capitalism. This Book Is One Of The First To Provide An Analysis Of The Roots Of Modern Business Practices In India And Of The Forces That Shaped The Features And Characteristics That Distinguish Business Today.

In recent decades, private investment has led to an economic resurgence in India. But this is not the first time the region has witnessed impressive business growth. There have been many similar stories over the past 300 years. India's economic history shows that capital was relatively expensive. How, then, did capitalism flourish in the region? How did companies and entrepreneurs deal with the shortage of key resources? Has there been a common pattern in responses to these issues over the centuries? Through detailed case studies of firms, entrepreneurs, and business commodities, Tirthankar Roy answers these questions. Roy bridges the approaches of business and economic history, illustrating the development of a distinctive regional capitalism. On each occasion of growth, connections with the global economy helped firms and entrepreneurs better manage risks. Making these deep connections between India's economic past and present shows why history matters in its remaking of capitalism today.

The course of south Indian history from pre-historic times to the contemporary era is a complex narrative with many interpretations. Reflecting recent advances in the study of the region, this volume provides an assessment of the events and socio-cultural development of south India through a comprehensive analysis of its historical trajectory. Investigating the region's states and configurations, this book covers a wide range of topics that include the origins of the early inhabitants, formation of the ancient kingdoms, advancement of agriculture, new religious movements based on bhakti, and consolidation of centralized states in the medieval period. It further explores the growth of industries in relation to the development of East-West maritime trade in the Indian Ocean as well as the wave of Islamicization and the course of commercial relations with various European countries. The book then goes on to discuss the advent of early-modern state rule, impact of the raiyatwari system introduced by the British, debates about whether the region's economy developed or deteriorated during the eighteenth century, decline of matriliny in Kerala, emergence of the Dravidian Movement, and the intertwining of politics with contemporary popular culture. Well illustrated with maps and images, and incorporating new archaeological evidence and historiography, this volume presents new perspectives on a gamut of issues relating to communities, languages, and cultures of a macro-region that continues to fascinate scholars and readers alike.

The volume introduces a new analysis of interconnected labour and economic history of colonial India and Scandinavia. From a recently found archive of a railway contractor’s private and business papers, the studies revise both Indian labour history and Scandinavian modern history, and ties south Sweden into the British Empire. With deep insights into everyday work practices of Indian and European contractors and manual labourers, the book establishes a bridge across the globe, between two poor regions as sites of extraction and industrial transformation, resulting from global migration and capital flows. Drawing on rich archival sources such as the Joseph Stephens Archive, Maharashtra State Archives, the National Archives of India, and the British Library, the book offers deep insights into everyday business practices of European contractors in India, which were rarely documented and have remained largely inaccessible so far. A unique look into the labour and entrepreneurship practices under British colonial rule in India, as well as its impact on the most transformative years of modern southern Scandinavia, the book will be of great interest to students, academics, and teachers of history, labour studies, subaltern studies, colonialism, imperialism, economic history, railways, economics, and Scandinavian and South Asian studies.

This concise yet lively new survey guides the reader through 5,000 years of Indian art and architecture. A rich artistic tradition is fully explored through the Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Colonial, and contemporary periods, incorporating discussion of modern Bangladesh and Pakistan, tribal artists, and the decorative arts. Combining a clear overview with fascinating detail, Mitter succeeds in bringing to life the true diversity of Indian culture. The influence of Islam on the Mughal court, which produced the world-famous Taj Mahal and exquisite miniature paintings, is closely examined. More recently, he discusses the nationalist and global concerns of contemporary art, including the rise of female artists, the stunning architecture of Charles Correa, and the vibrant art scene. The very particular character of Indian art is set within its cultural and religious milieu, raising important issues about the profound differences between Western and Indian ideas of beauty and eroticism in art.

This book reflects on the growing appetite for plurality in management knowledge that addresses the problems important to business and society. Over the last three decades, India’s rapid economic growth has helped to make it a leading economy of the world. The social and cultural setting of India is unique because of its diversity, large population, and social and economic stratification. India is a living culture of more than three thousand years that simultaneously embraces traditional and contemporary beliefs and practices. From world trade to climate change to democratization, India’s actions have a global impact. Reviewing management literature in the Indian context, this book attempts explaining and addressing the problems important to business and society. This book has three primary aims: to identify and describe the insights from traditional culture of India relevant to management, to report on the Indian institutional dynamics and its reflection on management and to present pedagogical initiatives that integrate the wisdom of Indian culture and tradition with contemporary management knowledge. In light of these objectives, this book will be relevant to management scholars, educators, and practitioners, particularly in the areas of organizational behavior, human resource management, strategic management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and international management.

In a second edition of their successful Concise History of Modern India, Barbara Metcalf and Thomas Metcalf explore India's modern history afresh and update the events of the last decade. These include the takeover of Congress from the seemingly entrenched Hindu nationalist party in 2004, India's huge advances in technology and the country's new role as a major player in world affairs. From the days of the Mughals, through the British Empire, and into Independence, the country has been transformed by its institutional structures. It is these institutions which have helped bring about the social, cultural and economic changes that have taken place over the last half century and paved the way for the modern success story. Despite these advances, poverty, social inequality and religious division still fester. In response to these dilemmas, the book grapples with questions of caste and religious identity, and the nature of the Indian nation.

The complex and hard-fought movement for political freedom in India coincided with the rise of a wealthy capitalist class of Indian industrialists who had profited under British rule. By 1947, these prominent businessmen had forged a partnership with the socialist-led Indian National Congress, and supported Jawaharlal Nehru's implementation of a centrally-planned economy. In this political history of modern India, David Lockwood traces the roots of this capitalist class, concentrated in Bombay, Calcutta and the west Bengal coal mining region, and examines British economic policy in the nineteenth century. Indian capitalists, such as J.R.D Tata of Tata Steel, established powerful relationships with domestic governments throughout the period, holding indigenous industrial conferences and supporting the swadeshi movement which aimed to promote Indian-manufactured goods. The Indian Bourgeoisie is a unique and important contribution to the lively debate on the role of India's capitalists during the Raj and throughout the early years of independence.

Dalit assertion has been a central feature of the states in the Hindi heartland since the mid-1980s, leading to the rise of political consciousness and identity-based lower-caste parties. The present study focuses on the different political response of the Congress party to identity assertion in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Digvijay Singh. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in response to the strong wave of Dalit assertion that swept the region, parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) used strategies of political mobilisation to consolidate Dalit/backward votes and capture state power. In Madhya Pradesh, in contrast, the Congress party and Digvijay Singh at the historic Bhopal Conference held in January 2002 adopted a new model of development that attempted to mobilise Dalits and tribals and raise their standard of living by providing them economic empowerment. This new Dalit Agenda constitutes an alternative strategy at gaining Dalit/tribal support through of state-sponsored economic upliftment as opposed to the political mobilisation strategy employed by the BSP in Uttar Pradesh. The present study puts to test the limits of the model of state-led development, of the use of political power by an enlightened political elite to introduce change from above to address the weaker sections of society. The working of the state is thus analysed in the context of the society in which it is embedded and the former’s ability to insulate itself from powerful vested interests. In interrogating this state-led redistributive paradigm, the study has generated empirical data based on extensive fieldwork and brought to the fore both the potentials and the limitations of using the model of ‘development from above’ in a democracy. It suggests that the absence of an upsurge from below limits the ability of an enlightened political elite that mans the developmental state to introduce social change and help the weaker sections of society.