Craft Production in Mughal Period | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Introduction

Craft Production in Mughal India:

• High Level of Craft Production: During the Mughal period, India was known for its high level of craft production. This production was mainly driven by demand and consumption in the home market and was closely linked to trade and commerce.
• Influence of Overseas Demand: In the 17th century, there was a significant increase in demand from overseas markets, which began to influence production activities in India.
• Limited Information from Persian Chronicles: Persian chronicles offer limited insights into the crafts and production techniques of the time.
• Detailed Accounts from European Sources: More detailed information about Indian crafts and production techniques comes from European travelers, documents, and the correspondence of various European trading companies.

Agro-Based Production 

• India was known for its high production of cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, indigo, and tobacco, which contributed to the flourishing of related crafts.
• Cotton Textiles were produced widely across the country, with significant centres identified by Abul Fazl.
• Gujarat was a major region for textile manufacture, with centres like Ahmedabad, Broach, Baroda, Cambay, Surat.
• In Rajasthan, centres included Ajmer and Sironj.
• Uttar Pradesh had prominent centres like Lucknow, Banaras, Agra, Allahabad.
• Other northern areas like Delhi,Sirhind,Samana,Lahore,Sialkot,Multan, and Thatta produced quality textiles.
• Bengal,Bihar, and Orissa had centres like Sonargaon,Dacca,Rajmahal,Qasimbazar,Patna.
• In the Deccan, Burhanpur and Aurangabad were known for fine cotton cloth.
• On the western coast of Maharashtra, Chaul and Bhivandi had thriving weaving industries.
• The Qutab Shahi kingdom, Masulipatnam, and Coromandel were also known for cotton textiles.
• In the South, Coimbatore and Malabar produced high-quality cotton textiles.
• Specialisation in yarn production led to the spinning of yarn becoming a distinct occupation.
• Notable varieties of cotton textiles included Bafta from Gujarat, Muslin from Bengal, Chintz, and various regional cloths like Dariabadi and Khairabadi.
• Manufacturing steps included ginning, carding, spinning, weaving, bleaching, dying, and printing.
• Silk textiles were produced in Kashmir, Patna, Ahmedabad, and Banaras.
• Bengal was a major centre for silk production and export, with fabrics made at Qasimbazar and Murshidabad.
• Kashmiri shawls, made from fine wool imported from Tibet, were famous worldwide.
• Woolen textiles, including blankets, were made throughout North India.

Other textile items 

• Bihar, Delhi, Agra, Lahore, and Mirzapur in the north were famous centers for carpet weaving.
• Warangal in the south was also well-known for this craft.
• The output of carpet weaving was not very large, and Persian carpets remained popular.
• Akbar showed special interest in developing the manufacture of silk carpets in the royal Karkhana, inspired by the Persian variety.

Tents, used mostly by the royal establishment and nobles, were also manufactured.

• Abul Fazl mentions eleven types of tents.

Embroidery on all types of textiles with cotton, silk, or silver and gold thread was also a related craft.

Indigo: The demand for indigo, both domestically and for export, was very high.

• Indigo was available throughout the country, except in hilly regions.
• The best variety came from Bayana, near Agra.
• The second-best variety was from Sarkhej, near Ahmedabad.
• In North India, Agra and Lahore were major centers for indigo dye.
• On the Coromandel coast, Masulipatam was another significant market for this dye.

Sugar, Oil, etc: Sugar was widely manufactured across the country due to the extensive cultivation of sugarcane.

• Three types of sugarcane products were commonly referenced:gur or jaggery, powder sugar, and candy.
• Jaggery was made in all sugarcane-producing areas and was mainly consumed locally.
• The other two qualities were primarily manufactured in Bengal, Orissa, Ahmedabad, Lahore, Multan, and parts of Northern India.
• Bengal sugar was considered the best and was in great demand for export to Europe and Persia.
• The extraction of oil was mostly a village-based industry, with oilseeds being pressed manually or with animal power.
• The specialized caste involved in oil extraction was called telis, and the residual product was used for animal feed.

Minerals, mining and metals 

Deep mining was not practiced in India during the 16th and 17th centuries. However, surface mining for various minerals and metals was common.

Mineral Production:

• Salt was a crucial commodity, and India was largely self-sufficient in its production.
• Sources of salt included Sambhar Lake in Rajputana, rock-salt mines in the Punjab, and sea water.
• Sea salt was produced primarily in Sind, the Rann of Cutch, and along the coasts of Gujarat, Malabar, Mysore, and Bengal.
• Due to uneven salt availability, it became a significant article of trade at regional and inter-regional levels.
• Saltpetre was a vital mineral product, chiefly used in making gunpowder.
• Initially extracted in Ahmedabad and Baroda, production expanded to the Delhi-Agra region due to high demand.
• By the late 17th century, Patna in Bihar emerged as a major saltpetre production center.
• Indian artisans used earthen pans for boiling saltpetre, while Europeans preferred iron or copper pans.
• Alum and mica were produced in smaller quantities.

Metals:

• India lacked significant gold and silver mines.
• The famous Kolar gold mines were not fully explored.
• Small amounts of gold were obtained from riverbeds, but the cost of extraction often exceeded its value.
• Copper was primarily produced in Rajasthan, particularly at Khetri.
• Iron was widely available and mined in various regions, including Bengal, Allahabad, Agra, Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi, and Kashmir.
• Chhotanagpur in Bihar and parts of Orissa were also significant iron-producing areas.
• Iron from the south was often converted into steel, used to make Damascus swords, which were highly prized worldwide.
• Lead was found in northern and western India.
• Diamonds were famously mined in Golconda, with other notable locations including Panna in Madhya Pradesh and Chhotanagpur in Bihar.

Other craft production 

Wood-Based Crafts:

• Palanquins and bullock-drawn carts.
• Boats, both small and large.Ports on the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, such as Thattah, Surat, Bassein, Goa, Cochin, Masulipatam, Satgaon, and Chittagong, were significant ship-building centers.
• When the Europeans intensified their activities, they got their ships repaired at these places. They found Indian ships better suited for eastern waters and, hence, they purchased ships built in India.
• Other crafts: doors, windows, furniture, boxes, etc.

Miscellaneous Crafts:

• Stone-cutting: A significant craft as stones were widely used in the construction of houses, palaces, forts, temples, etc. Indian stone-masons were recognized for their skill.
• Leather goods: Items such as shoes, saddles, book covers, etc., were manufactured all over the country.
• Paper: Manufactured in centers like Ahmedabad, Daulatabad, Lahore, Sialkot, Biharsharif near Patna, etc. Ahmedabad paper was exported to Arabia, Turkey, and Persia. Kashmir paper was also famous. Most paper was handmade and of a coarse variety.
• Pottery: Earthenware for cooking, storing water and grains, etc. Fine crockery was also made. Earthen crockery was mentioned by Manucci (1663) as being finer than glass and lighter than paper.
• Glass manufacturing was undertaken in many parts of the country.
• Other items produced included soap, objects of ivory and shell, articles of horn, etc.
• Forest-based crafts included the use of lac for manufacturing bangles, varnishing doors and windows, making toys, and preparing a red dye. Bengal lac was considered the best.
• Pearl fisheries were practiced along the southern coast.
• These various types of craft production during the Mughal period contributed significantly to the economy of the time.

Organisation of craft production during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 

Organization of Production in Different Crafts and Industries:

• The organization of production varied in different crafts and industries based on their specific needs and requirements.

Artisans and Master-craftsmen (Ustads):

• In medieval India, the construction of royal buildings required a massive workforce.
• Alauddin Khalji employed 70,000 workers for his construction projects.
• Babur reported that 680 workmen worked daily on his buildings in Agra, with 1491 men working as stone cutters in various locations.
• Under Akbar, daily construction involved 3,000 to 4,000 artisans, laborers, and functionaries, with an additional 8,000 laborers for stone and lime supply.
• Tavernier noted that 20,000 men worked continuously on the Taj Mahal.
• Artisans were organized primarily on a caste basis but could be added to in response to increased demand.

Major Industries:

• The textile industry, primarily based on cotton and supplemented by silk or tussar, was a major industry.
• Other major industries included carpentry (including shipbuilding), leather goods production, metallurgy, paper making, and glass making.
• Rural artisans produced daily use items as part of the jajmani system, with crucial services provided by blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, and shoemakers.

Village Artisans and Balutedars:

• In the Deccan and Maharashtra, village artisans and servants, known as balutedars, played a significant role in production.
• With the penetration of a money economy and rising demand, the subsistence-oriented system began to change.
• By the 17th century, payments in cash and kind for additional work coexisted with fixed shares of rural produce or land allocated to artisan families.

Rural Artisans:

• Rural artisans could be part-time artisans and were often indistinguishable from cultivators.
• As demand increased, some rural artisans catered to urban markets and became mobile, moving between villages and towns.

Professional Artisans in Towns and Villages:

• Merchants extended control over professional artisans through the dadni or putting out system, providing loans, raw materials, and laying down specifications for production.
• This system, described by Russian scholar Chicherov as deconcentrated capitalist manufacture, did not overthrow the old mode of production but preserved it.
• Unlike Europe, manufacturing industries did not concentrate exclusively in towns in India; villages continued traditional crafts and developed localized production centers.

Artisan Work and Royal Karkhanas:

• Artisans generally worked on a domestic basis, owning their tools of trade.
• Royal karkhanas were exceptions where craftsmen worked under supervision, provided with tools and raw materials.
• Large-scale enterprises like public building construction, diamond mining, and shipbuilding occasionally brought workers together under supervision.
• However, most large-scale work was organized ad-hoc, with workers dispersing after the completion of tasks.

Emergence of Master Craftsmen:

• Master craftsmen emerged as organizers of production, merchants, and financiers, gaining economic and social standing.
• Abul Fazl placed artificiers, including master-craftsmen, in the second rank of society, below nobles and warriors.
• Examples include affluent master-weavers in Bengal, a master printer in Awadh with 500 apprentices, and master-carpenters in various regions.
• Scholar Tapan Ray Chaudhury noted the emergence of artisans as capitalist entrepreneurs, indicating a transition from mercantile to industrial capitalism in India.

Production for the market

Production for the market:

• Primarily independent artisan-level production.

Specialization in Textile Manufacture:

High specialization evident in textile manufacture.
Different groups of workers handled specific operations:

• Carding
• Spinning of yarn
• Winding silk thread
• Weaving of cloth
• Bleaching
• Dyeing
• Printing
• Painting of cloth

Role of Peasants in Manufacturing:

• Peasants in villages were crucial in various manufacturing activities.
• Core to agro-based crafts like indigo,sugar,spinning of silk and cotton yarn,manufacture of salt and saltpetre.

Localization of Manufacture:

• Regions specialized in specific crafts.
• European traders had to travel to different places to procure desired commodities.

Examples of Weaving Centers:

• Masulipatam and Benaras: Each had around 7000 weavers.
• Qasimbazar: Approximately 2500 silk weavers.

Individual Artisan-Level Production:

• Artisan procured raw materials and tools, performed manufacture, and also retailed products.
• Working place was typically the artisan's home.
• Artisans had limited capital, resulting in small individual output and variable quality.

Dadni System:

• Emergence of dadni, a form of putting out system.
• In dadni, merchants advanced money to artisans, who promised to deliver goods by a certain time, with merchants dictating specifications.
• Practice in textiles became so common that obtaining cloth often required advance payment to artisans.
• In South India, most artisan settlements along the Coromandal coast were under the control of a single trader.
• The dadni system allowed buyers to dictate the quality and quantity of goods produced.
• Artisans received necessary funds to purchase raw materials

Adoption of technology

High-Quality Production with Simple Tools:

• Indian craftsmen were noted for their ability to produce high-quality goods using very simple tools.
• This was partly due to a general indifference to labor-saving devices, driven by a limited domestic market and a fear of unemployment if such devices were introduced.
• For example, in 1672, the Dutch in Coromandel introduced a technique that quadrupled the production of iron nails and cannon balls.
• However, local authorities banned this new technique to protect the livelihoods of local locksmiths.

Technological Advancements in Comparison:

• Historian Tapan Raychaudhuri noted that early modern Europe and medieval China were far ahead of mid-eighteenth century India in crucial technological fields such as the use of wind and water power, metallurgy, printing, nautical instruments, and basic tools and precision instruments.

Technological Progress in Medieval India:

• Despite the challenges, India made significant technological strides during medieval times.
• For instance, ships produced in Surat were comparable to those sent from Europe to Asia, and India could manufacture heavy guns effectively.
• There were also improvements in the techniques of raw silk reeling, indigo or saltpetre manufacture, and the arts of dyeing and printing cloth under the influence of European companies.

Adaptation to New Techniques:

• The willingness of Indian artisans to adopt new techniques was evident as long as these innovations did not threaten their livelihoods and had the potential to augment their income.

Manufactories

• During the early 17th century, English and Dutch traders established factories in India, marking the beginning of organized trade.
• These factories were involved in the production of commodities like silk, diamonds, and saltpetre, employing a significant number of workers.

Silk Production:

• Patna(1620-21): The English factory at Patna is considered one of the first units for winding silk yarn, employing around 100 workers.
• Qasimbazar: The Dutch established a silk factory in Qasimbazar, employing 700-800 weavers.

Shipbuilding and Construction:

• Large numbers of workers were gathered for shipbuilding and building construction, though specific details on these operations are limited.

Diamond Mining:

• Golconda and Deccan: These regions were known for their diamond mines where miners were paid daily wages.
• Bihar: During the mining season (December-January), approximately 8000 men, mainly peasants and workers, would come to the diamond mines after sowing their fields.

Saltpetre Production:

• In Bihar, large groups of people worked under a master in small units to produce saltpetre, known as nooneas.
• With increasing demand, the Dutch and English set up their own units for refining saltpetre, where workers used equipment provided by these European companies.

Karkhanas 

Karkhanas: Royal and Noble Production Units:

• Karkhanas were part of the royal and noble establishments, producing goods for the royal household and court consumption.
• High nobles often had their own karkhanas, where expensive and luxury items were manufactured.
• Skilled artisans worked under one roof, supervised by state officials, to produce necessary items.
• The need for karkhanas arose because:
• Artisans could not invest the large sums required for royal needs.
• The state wanted to control valuable raw materials and prevent artisans from working at their own places.
• Production was mainly for the personal consumption of the king and nobles, not for the market.
• During this period, production processes were changing, but the overall developments did not signify a break from the past.
• Continuity was the dominant feature, with changes in organization being more fundamental than those in technique.

Mughal Karkhanas 

Mughal Karkhanas and Their Role in Manufacturing:

• Mughal Karkhanas were large-scale workshops where artisans and craftsmen worked collectively in various industries. The most significant among these were the Imperial Karkhanas.
• The state in Mughal India was the largest manufacturer of several commodities, establishing karkhanas not only in the capital but also in the provinces.
• These karkhanas supplied many of the needs of the Mughal royalty and nobility, producing items such as cloths, robes, arms, furniture, utensils, metal works, jewelry, and miniature paintings. Raw materials were typically provided by the state or nobles.
• The output of the karkhanas was rarely sold in the market; instead, it was reserved for royal use, gifts, and even provincial revenue payments and exports.
• The manufacture of cotton cloth was the principal industry, with references to the quality of cotton fabrics from Khandesh noted by Abul Fazl in his Aini-Akbari.

Different types of Karkhanas and organisation of production in Karkhanas 

Imperial Karkhanas 
Imperial Karkhanas during the Mughal Era:

• Imperial Karkhanas were workshops under the Mughal Emperor, managed by a royal department.
• During Akbar's reign, Karkhanas were established in cities like Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Lahore, and Ahmedabad. Under Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, Delhi also had Imperial Karkhanas.
• Bernier, a traveler, wrote about the Karkhanas in Delhi, while Abul Fazl mentioned them in his work Ain-i-Akbari.
• According to Abul Fazl, the Diwan-i-Buyutat(Diwan-i-mir saman) was responsible for overseeing these Karkhanas.
• Each Karkhana had a supervisor called malik who managed specialized craftsmen. There were also experts for specific articles, along with an Accountant and a Mushrif.
• A Darogah was appointed to inspect production and ensure quality control.
• The most experienced artisans in the area were chosen and registered for each Karkhana, with strict working hours and regulations.
• Akbar himself showed interest in the crafts of ordinary artisans, reflecting his hands-on approach.

Provincial Karkhanas 
Karkhanas in Provinces:

• Provincial governors and nobles maintained karkhanas similar to imperial ones.
• Governors in provinces like Agra, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir supported local product manufacturing.
• Bengal had a thriving silk weaving industry.

Private Karkhanas 
Private workshops of nobles and royalty:

• Nobles and members of the royal family operated private workshops for creating luxury items.
• These items were made for personal use and as gifts for the emperor.

Individual workshops of Shah Jahan and others:

• Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh, Jahan Ara, and Aurangzeb had their own karkhanas(workshops) to fulfill their personal desires.

Management of noble karkhanas:

• Each noble's karkhana was overseen by a Darogah(superintendent).
• Other key officials included tahvildars, musrifs(record keepers), shahs, and bhayyas(security personnel).

Other types of karkhanas 
During the later Mughal period:

• Many artisans who had saved up money through various means started their own karkhanas(workshops) where they hired other artisans to work for them on a wage basis.
• Numerous merchants and brokers also managed their own karkhanas. Some of these entrepreneurs expanded their karkhanas into rural areas to boost their profits by taking advantage of cheaper labor and raw materials.