Bombay's People, 1860-98
Journal Data
| Type | SOURCE_BOOK |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press India |
| ISBN-13 | 9780199472208 |
| Open Library | OL21141711W |
| Total publications | 5 |
| Coverage period | 2018 - 2018 |
| Language | EN |
Petitioners frequently identified themselves with reference to their religion and occupation, as well as their origins. In this chapter, we discuss the correlation between religion and occupation, and the fact that people of specific religions tended to follow particular occupations. We believe that a heightened sense of religious and regional identity is evident in the way petitioners identified themselves. This might follow from the introduction of censuses that solicited personal information. Or, a sense of separate identity may have been strengthened by the kinds of encounters between people from different communities in an urban milieu, encounters that at times precipitated clashes.
Conclusion
The conclusion recapitulates the key arguments of the book. It also reflects on the operations of colonial law and the state. We notice in the laws of debt and insolvency an attempt to systematize and render definite what had been flexible. Earlier, debt obligations were tacitly looked upon as a matter of honour, involved the credibility of a person’s dealings, and were enforced by the influence of those whose personal authority was acknowledged …
Bombay's People, 1860-98
Caught in the web of global economic fluctuations, Bombay experienced a cataclysmic financial crisis in the 1860s. Before the crash the city’s economy was heavily dependent on the trade in cotton. By 1865, with the end of the American Civil War, the price of cotton plummeted, and with it the fortunes of Bombay’s people. Even people not directly involved in the cotton trade were affected. Thousands declared themselves insolvent and sought the prot…
The Bigger Merchants
This chapter is concerned with how some bigger merchants were adversely affected by judicial decisions concerning their commercial activity. A change in the mores of business activities is noticeable. In the older values that underpin commercial activity, mutual trust played an important role. A significant cause of instability in the export trade was the structure of the consignment system. The manner in which credit was raised for the consignme…
Reading the Records
The marks and signatures of the insolvents recorded in the documents yield a variety of information about modes of self-identification, kinds and degrees of literacy, and income levels. Taking signatures on documents as indexes of literacy—those who were not literate signed with marks of various kinds—we found that a surprisingly large number of petitioners were literate. We also found that the proportion of literate petitioners seemed to go up, …
Religion and Occupation
Petitioners frequently identified themselves with reference to their religion and occupation, as well as their origins. In this chapter, we discuss the correlation between religion and occupation, and the fact that people of specific religions tended to follow particular occupations. We believe that a heightened sense of religious and regional identity is evident in the way petitioners identified themselves. This might follow from the introductio…
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Conclusion
The conclusion recapitulates the key arguments of the book. It also reflects on the operations of colonial law and the state. We notice in the laws of debt and insolvency an attempt to systematize and render definite what had been flexible. Earlier, debt obligations were tacitly looked upon as a matter of honour, involved the credibility of a person’s dealings, and were enforced by the influence of those whose personal authority was acknowledged …
Bombay's People, 1860-98
Caught in the web of global economic fluctuations, Bombay experienced a cataclysmic financial crisis in the 1860s. Before the crash the city’s economy was heavily dependent on the trade in cotton. By 1865, with the end of the American Civil War, the price of cotton plummeted, and with it the fortunes of Bombay’s people. Even people not directly involved in the cotton trade were affected. Thousands declared themselves insolvent and sought the prot…
The Bigger Merchants
This chapter is concerned with how some bigger merchants were adversely affected by judicial decisions concerning their commercial activity. A change in the mores of business activities is noticeable. In the older values that underpin commercial activity, mutual trust played an important role. A significant cause of instability in the export trade was the structure of the consignment system. The manner in which credit was raised for the consignme…
Reading the Records
The marks and signatures of the insolvents recorded in the documents yield a variety of information about modes of self-identification, kinds and degrees of literacy, and income levels. Taking signatures on documents as indexes of literacy—those who were not literate signed with marks of various kinds—we found that a surprisingly large number of petitioners were literate. We also found that the proportion of literate petitioners seemed to go up, …
Religion and Occupation
Petitioners frequently identified themselves with reference to their religion and occupation, as well as their origins. In this chapter, we discuss the correlation between religion and occupation, and the fact that people of specific religions tended to follow particular occupations. We believe that a heightened sense of religious and regional identity is evident in the way petitioners identified themselves. This might follow from the introductio…