Gujeratis

Abstract

Of the Indian trading groups that conducted international trade throughout Southeast Asia, the most Widespread and important was the Gujarati. The Gujaratis, from their base at Gujerat on the west coast of India, were skilled shippers and traders and formed part of the vast trading network that linked western Indian ports with ports on the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal. These included the Burmese ports of the Irrawaddy Delta, Thai ports, and Malay ports. The Gujaratis plied routes linking West Asia, the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, Japan, and China. They were specialist textile traders, distributing silk and cotton textiles from Ahmedabad and Baroda to the Southeast Asian region in exchange for rice and teak from Burma, pepper and tin from western Indonesia and Malaya, and spices gathered in the Straits of Melaka from the neighboring region. Gujarati shipowners controlled the interisland trade and parts of the international trade with western Asia and Europe.