Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:11:45.304Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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
Get access

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.

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • 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
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • 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
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • 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
×