The Political Economy of Indigo in India, 1580–1930 <UN> European Expansion and Indigenous Response Editor-in-Chief George Bryan Souza (University of Texas, San Antonio) Editorial Board Cátia Antunes (Leiden University) João Paulo Oliveira e Costa (cham, Universidade Nova de Lisboa) Frank Dutra (University of California, Santa Barbara) Kris Lane (Tulane University) Pedro Machado (Indiana University, Bloomington) Malyn Newitt (King’s College, London) Michael Pearson (University of New South Wales) VOLUME 22 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/euro <UN> The Political Economy of Indigo in India, 1580–1930 A Global Perspective By Ghulam A. Nadri LEIDEN | BOSTON <UN> Cover illustration: “Indigo Manufacture in India”, in: The Graphic, September 3rd 1887, p. 253. From Brill’s own collection. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Nadri, Ghulam A., author. Title: The political economy of indigo in India, 1580-1930 : a global perspective / by Ghulam A. Nadri (Georgia State University). Description: Boston : Brill, 2016. | Series: European expansion and indigenous response, ISSN 1873-8974 ; 22 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016015288 (print) | LCCN 2016016816 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004311541 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789004311558 (E-book) Subjects: LCSH: Indigo industry--India--History. | Dyes and dyeing--India--History. | India--Politics and government. Classification: LCC HD9019.I3 N33 2016 (print) | LCC HD9019.I3 (ebook) | DDC 338.4/766726--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016015288 Want or need Open Access? Brill Open offers you the choice to make your research freely accessible online in exchange for a publication charge. Review your various options on brill.com/brill-open. Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1873-8974 isbn 978-90-04-31154-1 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-31155-8 (e-book) Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. <UN> Contents General Editor’s Foreword VII Acknowledgements X List of Illustrations xii List of Abbreviations and Short Titles XIV Currency, Weights, and Measures XVI Glossary XVII Introduction 1 1 The Making of Indigo: Cultivation and Manufacture 12 2 From Manufactory to Market: Logistics and Commerce 61 3 The Indigo Trade: Local and Global Demand 85 4 The Making of the World Market: Indigo Commodity Chains 124 5 The Political Economy of Indigo: States, Merchants, and Producers 154 Conclusions 192 Appendices 1 Annual Volumes (in Dutch pounds) and Values (in guilders) of the voc’s Indigo Exports from Surat, 1619–1742 197 2 Quantities and Values of Annual Indigo Sales by the voc, 1642–1765 200 3 Indigo Sale Prices (stivers/pound) in Amsterdam, 1695–1760 206 4 Quantities (in lb.) of Indigo Exported by the eic from Surat/Bombay, 1615–1729 208 5 Values (in rupees) of Annual Indigo Exports from India, 1795/96–1933/34 211 <UN> vi Contents 6 Quantities (in Dutch pounds) and Values (in guilders) of voc’s Exports of Java Indigo to the Dutch Republic, 1704–1781 216 7 Values (in guilder) and Volumes (in kilogram) of Indigo Exports from Java, 1824–1873 217 8 Indigo Prices (rupees per man and stivers per Dutch pound) in India, 1609–1757 219 9 Indigo Prices in Calcutta (rupees/factory man) and London (pence/lb.), 1843–1921 221 Bibliography 223 Index 240 <UN> General Editor’s Foreword Over the past half millennium, from ca. 1450 until the last third or so of the twentieth century, much of the world’s history has been influenced in great part by one general dynamic and complex historical process known as European expansion. Defined as the opening up, unfolding, or increasing the extent, number, volumes or scope of the space, size, or participants belonging to a defined people or group, location or geographical region, Europe’s expansion initially emerged and emanated physically, intellectually, and politically in gen- eral in southern Europe and specifically on the Iberian peninsula in the fif- teenth century and developed rapidly to include all of Europe’s maritime and, subsequently, most of its continental states and peoples. Most commonly asso- ciated with events described as the discovery of America and of a passage to the East Indies (Asia) by rounding the Cape of Good Hope (Africa), during the early modern and modern periods, European expansion and encounters with the rest of the world multiplied and morphed into several ancillary historical pro- cesses including colonization, imperialism, capitalism, and globalization and dealt with themes, amongst others, that relate to contacts, … ‘connections and exchanges peoples, ideas and products, especially through the medium of trad- ing companies; the exchange of religions and traditions; the transfer of tech- nologies; and the development of new forms of political, social and economic policy, as well as identity formation’. (from the series’ original objectives and mission statement) In consequence of its intrinsic importance, extensive research has been performed and much has been written about this field and the diverse topics that embody this subject over this entire period. With the first volume published in 2009, Brill launched the European Ex- pansion and Indigenous Response book series at the initiative of a well-known scholar and respected historian, Glenn J. Ames, who prior to his untimely pass- ing was the founding editor and guided the first seven volumes of the series to publication. George Bryan Souza, who was one of the early members of the series’ editorial board, was appointed the series’ second General Editor. The series’ founding objectives were and are to focus on publications ‘that under- stand and deal with the process of European expansion, interchange and con- nectivity in a global context in the early modern and modern period’ and to ‘provide a forum for a variety of types of scholarly work with a wider disciplin- ary approach that moves beyond the traditional isolated and nation bound historiographical emphases of this field, encouraging whenever possible non-European perspectives’… ‘that seek to understand this indigenous trans- formative process and period in autonomous as well as inter-related cultural, <UN> viii General Editor’s Foreword economic, social, and ideological terms’. (from the series’ original objectives and mission statement) The history of European expansion is a field that is challenging and interest in it, which is high is likely to continue, if not grow, in spite or perhaps, because of it being so polemical. The heightened dispute about the field has centered primarily on tropes conceived and written in the past by Europeans, primar- ily, concerning their early reflections, claims, and contestation about the tran- scendental historical nature of this process and its emergence and importance in the creation of an early modern global economy and society. One of the most persistent complaints about the field is that it is ‘Eurocen- tric’, which is a complaint about the perennial difficulty in introducing and balancing different historical perspectives, when one of the actors to some de- gree is neither European nor Europeanized—a conundrum that is alluded to in an African proverb, which states: ‘Until the lion tells his tale the hunt will always glorify the hunter’. Another and, perhaps, an even more important and growing historiographical issue is that with the re-emergence of historical mil- lennial societies (China and India, for example) and the emergence of other non-Western European societies successfully competing competitively politi- cally, economically and intellectually on the global scene vis-à-vis Europe, the seminal nature of European expansion is being subjected to greater scrutiny, debate, and comparison with other historical alternatives. Despite and, perhaps, because of these new directions and stimulating sources of existing and emerging debating points or lines of dispute about the field of history of European expansion, Souza and the editorial board of the series will continue with the original objectives and mission statement of the series and vigorously ‘… seek out studies that employ diverse forms of analysis from all scholarly disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, history, (including the history of science), linguistics, literature, mu- sic, philosophy, and religious studies’. In addition, we shall seek to stimulate, locate, incorporate, and publish the most important and exciting scholarship in the field. Towards that purpose, I am pleased to introduce volume 22 of Brill’s euro series, entitled: The Political Economy of Indigo in India, 1580–1930: A Global Perspective, which is a well-researched and well-written, detailed history of indigo trade and production in South Asia for over four centuries. Incorporat- ing a commodity chain approach, its author, Ghulam A. Nadri, has taken an inanimate object and explained how it was produced, went through significant expansion, fostered cross-cultural transactions, and transformation on the In- dian subcontinent in the early modern period. He has taken one commodity, a plant that naturally makes a blue dye, and presents its production, trade, <UN> General Editor’s Foreword ix enterprise, and politics in one narrative. He also demonstrates how a thing, so suggestively insignificant, could and did become entangled and embroiled in the history of European expansion to the degree that it did and significantly contributed to the historical process of globalization. Based upon extensive archival research, primarily in Dutch and English materials, this is evidence- based historical scholarship at its best. Nadri has succeeded in offering a con- nected narrative that links the history of agricultural development, technology, and imperial expansion in north, west, south and eastern India with that of the rest of Asia, the New World and Europe. The readers of this series should warmly welcome this work! George Bryan Souza <UN>