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4 - The Afro-Indian Pivot (II)

Entangled Agencies and the Power of Africans, Indians and West Asian Muslims

from Part I - Multicultural Origins of the First (Historical Capitalist) Global Economy, 1500–1850

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2020

John M. Hobson
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
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Summary

Chapter 4 also focuses on the Afro-Indian pivot of the FGE by highlighting interconnections between African slavers, consumers/prosumers and Indian cotton textile trade/production in the making of the FGE. The first section brings the power and agency of African slavers to the fore, revealing how they were able to negotiate with the European slavers from a position of equality and often strength. The Africans had developed a vast infrastructure and knowledge pool in their dealings with the Muslims since the seventh century when the Islamic slave trade first emerged in Africa. Critically, the Africans preferred Indian cotton textiles (ICTs) to the Manchester ‘fustians’ right through to the latter part of the eighteenth century. This reflected the strength of Gujarati Indian merchants and the weakness of their British counterparts. The chapter also interrogates fundamentalist postcolonialism's ‘anti-racist refusal’ to recognise the power and agency of the African slavers. Finally, the chapter reveals the entangled agencies of the African slavers and prosumers along with the Gujarati Indian textile merchant capitalists. The latter formed symbiotic bonds with African middlemen (Vashambadzi and Patamares) which, inter alia, gave Indian merchants a considerable advantage over the Portuguese.

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Chapter
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Multicultural Origins of the Global Economy
Beyond the Western-Centric Frontier
, pp. 110 - 129
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • The Afro-Indian Pivot (II)
  • John M. Hobson, University of Sheffield
  • Book: Multicultural Origins of the Global Economy
  • Online publication: 17 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108892704.004
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  • The Afro-Indian Pivot (II)
  • John M. Hobson, University of Sheffield
  • Book: Multicultural Origins of the Global Economy
  • Online publication: 17 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108892704.004
Available formats
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  • The Afro-Indian Pivot (II)
  • John M. Hobson, University of Sheffield
  • Book: Multicultural Origins of the Global Economy
  • Online publication: 17 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108892704.004
Available formats
×