Urban Wage Earners in Seventeenth Century India: Artisans, Labourers, Service Providers and Entertainers

This Volume Takes A PanIndian View Of Different Professional Groups And Service Providers Mainly Based In Towns. While Persian Texts Provide Limited Information On The Subject, European Sources In The Form Of Travelogues, Letters, Memoirs And Official Reports Unfold An Interesting Panorama On The Subject. Here Focus Has Been On The Seventeenth Century, As Some Prominent European Share Holders Companies Established Their WarehousesCumResidential Complexes In India In This Very Century. Officials Of These Companies Sent To India Or Elsewhere, Maintained Proper Records Of Their Transactions And Interaction With The State Officials, Common People, Servants Inside The Household And Outside, And Through Their Reports Attracted Many European Freebooters Also To Have A Firsthand ExperienceOfTheEast. Here From, We Get Numerous Details On The Social Life, Working Conditions, Wages And Other Aspects Of Life Of People Who Earned Their Livelihood Through Manual Labour, As Conditions In India Appeared Novel To Them And They Meticulously Recorded Everything With Much Interest. Their Information Is Corroborated With The Indian Sources. In Both Types Of Sources Persian And European Artisans, Labourers And Service Providers Have Generally Been Projected As Poor, Miserable And Wretched; Who Faced Exploitation At All Levels. Still, Their Contribution To The Economy And Society Was Imperative. Aspects Of Life Of Such People Deserve A Detailed Discussion As ThisVolumeAmplyProves. About The Author Nishat Manzar Has Been Teaching History Of Medieval India, Medieval Central Asia And Islam At Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, Since The Last TwentyFive Years. An Alumnus Of Amu And University Of Delhi, She Has Presented And Published Papers Based On Contemporary Persian And EuropeanAccountsOnVariousAspectsOfMedievalHistory.