Mughals to Ambanis: The roots of India Inc

A new book on the history of Indian business explains what led to the creation of wealth in the country under the Mughals

- Sundeep Khanna

In popular imagination, Reliance represents the starting point for big business in India, with Dhirubhai Ambani the man who showed Indians the way to make money. Lakshmi Subramanian's new book India before the Ambanis seeks to dispel that notion by stretching the timelines deep into the 16th century and offering a smorgasbord of people, stories and situations from the pre-Ambani era.

That Indian business history needs a new lens which is not coloured by hero worship is evident. At the same time, no history is complete without people. Subramanian, a historian and a professor, manages to capture both the characters and the spirit to pen an enlightening but entertaining business history of India.

The author's lament on the lack of handy and accessible books on the subject is not new. In a 1963 essay, Towards a Reinterpretation of Nineteenth-Century Indian Economic History, published in the Journal of Economic History, Morris D. Morris writes: "The neglect of India's economic history, particularly the period 1800-1947, is one of the most distressing gaps... Not only is ignorance of Indian economic behaviour over time disturbing in itself, but the attempts at planning since 1947 have suffered because of this. It is difficult to predict outcomes and consequences of any major development policy in the absence of any clear clues about the long-run dynamics of the Indian economy and Society."

This new book is an earnest attempt to fill that gap. Its premise is straightforward—if the essence of business is knowing how to make money, and accumulate and redeploy it for social and commercial gain, there was enough evidence of this in the India of the 17th century with travel writers like John Fryer noting the Bania's ability to do so. As evidence, she profiles not just well-known businessmen like Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Dwarkanath Tagore but also introduces us to newer ones who played a crucial facilitating role.