Urban Wage Earners in Seventeenth Century India (Artisans, Labourers, Service Providers and Entertainers)

The present work seeks to take a pan-Indian view of the sacio- economic condition of the urban and rural poor during the seven- teenth century. This assessment does not include a discussion on peasantry. The important components comprising the urban and some rural poor were-labourers, artisans, inferior servants, service providers and workers-both salaried and self-employed.

The most common feature distinguishing different categories of labourers was that they all earned their livelihood through manual labour, and in varying degrees their earnings were low when com- pared with other sections of the contemporary society, such as- servicemen, traders, owners of land and few others following ‘elite’ professions under the patronage of rulers, nobles, or merchants. People of low means and small wages residing in towns and cities were classified into a number of groups, each group being separately identified with an emphasis on the nature of profession, working conditions, pattern of wages, standards of life, social customs and ceremonies or rituals performed by the members belonging to these groups. This subject has been taken up to bridge a vital gap in the socio-economic history of India, and to construct a well-integrated picture of society by focusing on the previously neglected urban and rural class of labourers, artisans and service providers in all its details. Except a few excellent works containing information about the position of some categories of artisans based on contemporary evidence, many others have treated the subject in a perfunctory man- ner. As such, no comprehensive study on this theme encompassing all categories of workers, artisans and labourers or wage earners has so far been attempted. Scholars have mainly focused either on peasantry or some industries, especially textile industry, high- lighting the condition of weavers and those who provided allied services like spinners, dyers, printers and washers. At places, re- presentation of these classes as exhibited in the foreign travellers’ accounts is somewhat distorted, generally formed on erroneous estimates and hasty conclusions. They failed to comprehend the underlying factors of climatic conditions, economic constraints, and requirements of simple life and milieu of society as a whole. This study aims to present a detailed and critical analysis of labourers and workers engaged in fulfilling the social and economic needs of society in towns and cities of India. This is based on contemporary and semi-contemporary sources, particularly European Factory Records and foreign travellers’ accounts, supple- mented with the modern literature produced on aspects of social and economic history of India during the period under review.

Here the term ‘labourer’ has been used to indicate all those persons-men and women-who were engaged in manual labour, and it includes both skilled and unskilled workers. Some of the servants, often put in the category of inferior ones, working in royal palaces and the houses of nobles have also been included in the broad framework of discussion on account of the fact that they worked as labourers as their occupations involved physical labour. Menial servants attached to the household establishments of the kings and nobles have been included with a view to compare information about all such sections of the servants working elsewhere. To some extent, landless labourers can safely be put in the category of labourers, but agrarian society being a different branch of study, details on the life of the peasantry have not been taken into account.

The present study is centred on the description of artisans and labourers and self-employed wage earners in India during the seven- teenth century. The discussion cuts across the geographical boundaries of neighbouring kingdoms of the Mughal Empire and takes an overview of the position and working conditions of similar groups in Golconda, Bijapur and neighbouring small states as well. These regions have also been discussed for the reason that these king- doms became a part of the Empire in the last quarter of the seven- teenth century. Since Goa, Malabar and Coromandal coast had flourishing centres of trade and commerce and such activities were carried in full vigour, relevant information has been incorporated from the sources related to these areas. Somehow, sources in re- gional languages are left out and European accounts have been focused on. Wages of labourers and service providers in these places do not appear to have been substantially different from what was received by their counterparts in north India. Moreover, available evidence shows the existence of commercial intercourse between these regions and a regular link between traders and bankers of north and south. We also find different people from diverse professional groups like camel-men, carters, weavers, washers, porters, peons, etc., of one region employed in far-off places transcending the local or regional frontiers. They themselves, at times, moved from place to place in search of better prospects. Often they received wages in local currency.

This work is divided into five chapters, excluding Introduction and Conclusion. Each chapter documents a detailed discussion on various aspects of the condition of poor classes and those doing manual labour during the seventeenth century. Chapter 1 deal with the different categories of labourers, artisans, servants and service providers, both skilled and unskilled, in a systematic manner. It has been subdivided into three sections where, in the first section labourers, artisans and other servants working in the imperial house- hold have been dealt with. Second section of the same chapter is concerned about the nobles who maintained their own establishments on the pattern of imperial household and employed a large number of servants; and in the third section the details are of those who worked for the Europeans within and without the factory premises. Chapter 2 has been divided into five sub-sections dealing with the people involved in a variety of professions. Here all the professional groups and service providers have been discussed under different heads.

A critical analysis of the social and economic structure of the Indian society during the seventeenth century will necessarily in- clude an inquiry into the conditions of its various classes, castes and sub-castes or division of these classes, producing various agricultural and non-agricultural commodities, as well as their concri- bution in the growth of economy. Here, however, the primary emphasis is on the life of the lower strata or the common people, which constitute the theme of the present discussion. The main groups comprising the (medieval) Indian society were-the aristocracy, the rich merchants and bankers, scholars, landowning classes, peasants, labourers and artisans, etc. Of these, generally the last three formed the lower strata (W.H. Moreland, India at the Death of Akbar, Atma Ram edn., pp. 26-7). In his introductory chapter on ‘The Country and People’, Moreland discussed the population of India at two levels-racial classification and economic. While racial classification, involves discussion on people belonging to different religious traditions (not races), under the head of economic classification, he divided the population into two major groups-consumers and producers. In the former group, he included the court and imperial servants, professional and religious classes including mendicants and ascetics and domestic servants and slaves. In the other group, he puts those engaged in agriculture, industry and commerce. While giving his conclusion, Moreland classifies the population in the chapter entitled ‘The Standard of Life’ into three conventional segments-upper, middle and lower classes (Jndia at the Death of Akbar, pp. 237-62). Generally, it is assumed that the so-called lower classes, i.e. the artisans, labourers and peasants were always made a subject of exploitation.

Whatever information is available prior to the seventeenth century, or before the coming of Europeans in India, it is quite difficult to assess their actual condition. Late fifteenth century witnessed the arrival of the Europeans (Portuguese) on Indian soil and hereafter one can see a gradual surge in information about the artisans and labourers employed in different capacities. This was contrary to the traditional genre of Persian court-chronicles as well as local histories where we fall short of suitable material while trying to sift desirable information regarding such groups. Most of the official and non-official histories of the period are hardly of any help in terms of information on the life and condition of the common people in India. Initially such information was confined to the coastal areas or some (geographical) pockets of the Indian sub- continent or Asia as Portuguese merchants and missionaries rarely frequented the regions other than those under their direct control. The records maintained by the Portuguese provide us a glimpse of the life and condition of such people. Their contact with the Mughal court during Akbar’s time (1579 onwards) made them record the life of the common masses in northern India as well. The arrival of European companies, initially the Dutch and the English, and then followed by the French, filled the centuries old vacuum. Information regarding the life, professions, prices and earning of different segments of society started pouring in, all in the form of daily reports of business transactions, memoirs and travelogues. Had they not recorded their transactions and experiences so me- ticulously, we would have remained ignorant of many significant aspects of Indian society, especially chose involved in the manufacturing industry, as well as those who supported various establish- ments. Deviating from the convention of dividing and studying Indian society on the lines of caste, Moreland! as mentioned be- fore, classified it into two groups-consumers and producers. He excluded tribes inhabiting forests and mountains from either group. The fact, however, remains that division of Indian society into various groups prior to the seventeenth century and after, was largely based on profession(s), which in other words was a synonym for caste. Another fact which cannot be ignored either, is that mobility in the society was possible throughout. That is why we find people belonging to different castes/clans/background involved in a common profession, e.g. letter carriers, peons and guards, packers, brokers, carters, camel men, masons, etc. Here we can contemplate that apparently traditional and complex structure of society had a tinge of pragmatism.

Among the consumers, the kings’ dominant position remains beyond question. Apart from imperial household, courtiers and officials who held high military ranks or administrative positions consumed major portion of the resources of the Empire. They drew income from their jagtrs (land grants) or received salaries in nagd (cash). They were privileged in the sense that they were paid separately for their personal expenses (against zat ranks) and contingents (sawar ranks). Appointments were made on the principle of ability by the emperors themselves. They, especially highest rank holders, utilized a huge percentage of the state income. Abadis (‘gentlemen troopers’, also termed as ‘immediate servants’) of the emperor, performed important tasks and were counted among the most trusted servants of the emperor. Some of them served as king's messenger, while others were posted to guard the royal harem. On occasions, they were deployed in different household departments to perform variety of duties. They also accompanied the emperor and kept a watch on royal camp. Abui Fazl writes about the high salaries drawn by them, some of them receiving up to Rs. 500 a month."

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