The role of subsistence commodities such as grains, herbs, and other staples seems mundane, but it has been crucial in shaping the early modern circuits of capital and exchange across the Indus delta and the Arabian Sea. What appears as ordinary trade has, in fact, laid the infrastructural and financial groundwork for the large-scale circulation of high-value goods such as ivory, pearls, textiles, and spices. At our Online Talk #GrainBeforeGold, professor and maritime historian Dr Chhaya Goswami will examine how grain corridors stretching from Shahbandar, Karachi, Lakhpat, Mandvi, and Mumbai operated as arteries of regional wealth formation and enabled communities such as the Lohanas, Bhatias, Bhanushalis, and Sindhi merchants to convert agrarian surpluses into trade capital, thus expanding their reach into transoceanic ventures.
About the speaker:
Dr Chhaya Goswami is a specialist in the maritime history of India’s west coast and the western Indian Ocean. Her research focusses on trans-regional and trans-oceanic commodity exchanges, maritime trading networks, diaspora and community histories, business history, oral history, and the phenomenon of violence at sea. She is the author of two acclaimed books on the maritime trading linkages of Kachchh with Eastern Arabia and East Africa: ‘The Call of the Sea: Kachchhi Traders in Muscat and Zanzibar, c.1800–1880’ (Orient BlackSwan, 2011) and ‘Globalization Before Its Time: Gujarati Merchants from Kachchh’ (Penguin Books, 2016). Currently, she is Head and Associate Professor for the Centre for Indian Ocean and Transoceanic Studies, Somaiya School of Civilisation, Somaiya Vidyavihar University.
The following “Terms and Conditions” shall be binding on each participant making a donation hereinafter referred to as (“The Donor”) to Khaki Heritage Foundation hereinafter referred to as (“KHF”) which is a Not For Profit Company Registered under Section 8 of the The Company’s Act, 2013 and having its registered number as U93000MH2018PTC305786 and its registered address at 802 Aster, Dosti Acres, Wadala East, Mumbai – 400037.
Due to a temporary issue on our website, online donations are currently unavailable.
Please support Khaki Heritage Foundation via online bank transfer until the issue is resolved.
Contact khakilab@gmail.com for any information.
Thank you for your patience and generosity.
Team KHAKI
Please read the following terms and conditions very carefully as your use of our service is subject to your acceptance of and compliance with the following terms and conditions (hereinafter referred to as “Terms”).
By subscribing to or using any of our services you agree that you have read, understood and are bound by the Terms, regardless of how you subscribe to or use the services. In these Terms, references to “client”, “guest” shall mean the end user (including individuals, corporates and other bodies) availing tour services by Khaki Tours Private Limited (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”).Reference to the term “host”, “Ambassador of Mumbai” shall refer to the person conducting the tour on behalf of the company.
The Khaki Heritage Foundation needs your help to make heritage a mass movement. Your donations will enable us to create awareness for the city’s heritage and archive and conserve it.