The Mughal bazaars were alive

Lot has been written about on the medieval Mughal rule in India in recent years, mostly about the iconic rulers than the ordinary masses. Hotly contested, some see the regime as a benign entity while others as one harmful to India’s long-term development. But by fixating on the king’s actions rather than those of his subjects, much seems to have been missed. Jageet Lally, an associate professor the history of early modern and colonial India, at the University College, London, prisms the business schedule of moneylenders, traders and the related in presenting the dynamic economic life through the Mughal period. To do so, Lally looks through the lives of small trader like the saint Guru Nanak, a failed businessman like Banarsidas and a complaining diplomat like Sir Thomas Roe to weave the daily rhythms of religious and commercial life in that era.    

Through the lived reality of real-life characters of the time viz moneylenders, merchants and middlemen, Badshah Bandar Bazaar examines what has long been taken for granted for the Mughal empire. It identifies the regime as a mighty giant at the apex of both the fledgling markets and expanding ports. It is part of a series of books on The Story of Indian Business that aims to trace the arc of commerce from earliest times, “mining great ideas in business and economics that have shaped commerce.” Despite ups and downs in the Mughal authority, its impact on both local societies and economies remained profound and durable.  

Need it be said that the Mughal power rested upon the state’s ability to set and collect taxes effectively, while ensuring effective spending on defense and expansion of the regime. While day-to-day petty trading went in full steam, the political elite were not disconnected as they depended on participation in rural and urban production cycles in buying and selling. As a result, unprecedented degree of centralization overtly nurtured the state as a mighty hegemon, but in reality, it had a a soft version that made its economy dynamic and robust. 

Interestingly, the day-to-day commercial life had an essential religious element to social life. Religion had a significant role in it. Guru Nanak and his Khatri background influenced trade and commerce during the early Mughal period. Though the guru applied his scribal and accounting skills in his early years before he set off to pursue his spiritual quest, the Khatris remained the core of the Sikh panth in helping expand the regime widen and deepen. The globalization of world economy started steadily after 1500, and with it the shift towards market-oriented production and marketing became relevant. With exotic goods for purchase, and ever more artful ways to make money, businesses became more potent and enticing. Some of the issues addressed in the book resonate powerfully even today. What and how trade expanded and diversified during those times need careful examination from the present perspective?

Badshah, Bandar, Bazaar fuels new life and a fresh perspective into the economic history of the Mughal Empire. fifteen volumes under the series do capture the wide socio-economic-political diversity of the time, the books are no less important for students and others who want to understand how historic currents shaped contemporary realities. The six chapters in the book provide insights on what role trade and business played then and what role it might play in emerging globalization and development of capitalism. 

Infrastructure development for trade and business held the key then, but its relevant even more today. There is much that can be inferred from the historic details. It relates the macro-level political reality with the ordinary lives of people, be it a diamond trader in Surat or a shopkeeper in Chandni Chowk. Badshah Bandar Bazaar draws an engaging connection between the throne and the world of business. The court was definitely above the daily realm of buying and selling, but it wasn’t beyond the ledgers and account books. 

Breaking a fresh perspective into the history of the Mughal Empire, the book takes us on a fabulous journey through its many twists and trails. It not only introduces the empire’s rich but exposes the reader to its fertile countryside. Such times were rich in opportunities and crises alike. All this was possible because the Mughals welcomed the firangis, who dealt with a wide range of economic actors. Their perspectives are difficult to access first-hand, because they left no testimony of their own. Had they been able to do so, they would have rid of some of the pervading myths? 

Badshah Bandar Bazaar is an absorbing study on the kinds of people and pleasures to be found within the Mughal bazaars.       

Badshah Bandar Bazaar 
by Jagjeet Lally
Penguin Business
Extent: 200, Price: Rs. 399.

First published in Hindu BusinessLine on Feb 23, 2026.

Solace from the printed word

The writer has always been an avid reader and a collector of books. But it was a health emergency that made him realize that books have transformative powers.

Books have always kept me company -- during flights, in waiting lounges and in the privacy of a clean toilet. I have never felt lonely in the company of a book. They have helped me visit new places, meet unknown people, and travel to bygone eras. Each book is unique, and each has something different to offer. Indeed, each book, each story, and each character has something to teach the reader.

Collecting books has been a lifelong habit. However, this has resulted in a serious space constraint at home. Still, bookshelves continue to expand at the cost of a shrinking wardrobe. Simply put, they are proud possessions and a new one is added to my personal library every week. I live in a typical middle-class home, one in which books are found in every room. The only rule is that books found in one room should not be shifted to another as space is in short supply everywhere.

But this is not a piece about books as home décor or even as an impediment to it. This is about how books have helped me throughout my life. When I regained my senses after being hit by a paralytic attack in 2024, the first thing I noticed was a book titled One Medicine by Dr Matt Morgan. Concluding that the most time we spend with animals is when they are on our plates, the author suggests that learning how animals survive and thrive be brought into our circle of concerns. At that point my cognitive ability was severely restricted. But I still managed to learn, via the book’s fascinating dive into the physiology of the animal kingdom, that the female kangaroo has three vaginas – two for having sex and one for giving birth.

2025 was a year of recovery for me. During its course, I met many relatives and friends though the numbers shrank as time progressed. Understandably, frequent visits were replaced by convenient phone calls and video chats, which worked as well.

Books, however, maintained their incoming regularity – a book once every week. Since I’m no fan of virtual volumes, I went ahead and kept buying, ending up with about 55 new books in more than 10 genres. They have all been comforting and a few have been transformative.   

My own experience made me think of the devastating accident in Rome in 2022 that left noted writer Hanif Kureishi paralyzed but did not dent his creative zeal. In Shattered, he records his daily ordeal with rare insights from hospital beds in different hospitals, and questions: Why me? Rarely is that question met with a credible answer. Why would it not be you? Though we would like to be acknowledged for our exceptional qualities, it is our ordinariness that comes to the surface most of the time. And this is what leaves us wondering, ‘Who else but not me?’ Though we may be important to one another, according to Kafka, we are not much more than nothing in the universe.

The self, however exceptional, is as best an illusion. Didn’t the Buddha argue that our belief in the self is the root cause of our sufferings? Drawing from ancient Buddhist texts, authors of How to Lose Yourself, Jay L Garfield, Maria Heim and Robert H Sharf, show the reader how to dismantle the notion of the self. I found that it made me forget my own troubles. Yes, physical books smell great, are reliable and informative, and, if you are lucky, are always there when you need them.

And of course, they are always full of information, stuff you never realized you absolutely needed to know before you stumbled upon it in a book. Take the case of the Italian invention once considered an indulgence befitting only the elite that has evolved into one of the most popular mass-market food products ever. In Ice Cream: A Global History, journalist Laura B Weiss embarks on a fascinating journey through the ages to tell the lively story of how this delicious dessert became a global sensation.

Then, there’s The Co-Intelligence Revolution envisions a future in which human ingenuity and artificial intelligence work as powerful allies to co-create ground-breaking innovations and transformed institutions. The book cites the cases of beauty giant L’Oreal and Venkat Ramaswamy, among others, to provide insights on how artificial intelligence engages as both co-worker and coach in generating new processes and products. 

I’ve realized that books on a variety of topics are now essential fodder for me to keep my cognitive faculties meaningfully engaged. I realize that I have been collecting and reading books and reviewing them too for a quarter of a century. Last year, I managed to review 26 books for a range of reputed publications. The neuro-surgeon’s yearly assessment revealed that my progress has been overtly satisfactory. According to the doctor, even in the medical exigency, a positive approach has worked.

Yes, books are essential; I’d say they have saved my life.  

First published in the Hindustan Times on Feb 12, 2026.