How the foreign trade from India conducted before the age of machine industries ? Explain
Before the age of machine industries the foreign trade was conducted as mentioned below : Silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international market in textiles. Coarser cottons were produced in many countries but Indian cottons were of finer varieties. Bales of fine textiles were carried on camel back via the north-west frontier, through mountain passes and across deserts. A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports i.e., Surat, Masulipatam and Hoogly. (v) A variety of Indian merchants and bankers were involved in this network of export trade – financing production, carrying goods and supplying exporters. They gave advances to weavers, procured the woven cloth from weaving villages, and carried the supply to the ports. At the port, the big shippers and export merchants had brokers who negotiated the price and bought goods from the supply merchants operating inland.
