Port of Call: Revisiting Machilipatnam of 18th Century A.D

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G Naga Sridhar

Abstract

The economic history of India in late medieval period and early modern era has been a matter of great interest for many researchers. This is so because there are many cross currents of change in various realms such as polity, society and economy with deep implications for the course of social, economic and political formations, The East Coast, popularly known as the Coromandel coast was a major area the impacted the history of Andhra Pradesh. The economic history of the east coast was marked by the prosperity generated by the flourishing trade and trade and commerce both inter-regional as well as overseas. However, the changed political scenario and the contestation of power between various political entities including the Mughals, regional states and European trading companies and their impact of the social and economic fabric of the country led to a range of interpretations on the fate of economic activity on the east coast in general and Andhra Coast in particular.  The present paper, `Port of Call: Revisiting Machilipatnam of 18th Century A.D’ takes a freshlook at the state of the economic activity of the port in the 17th and 18th Centuries posing questions such as (i) what was the centrality of Machilipatnam Port in the 17th Century? (ii) Had it lost its glory in the 18th century or it continued to attract activity?  (iii) What was the nature of Andhra – Telangana economic intercourse in 18th Century? (iv) Can we say that there was total decline in the economic centrality of Machilipatnam port? The answers are attempted based on analysis of existing scholarship as well examining new sources.

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