This volume examines new ways of conceptualizing consumption historically in South Asia through a series of case studies on different commodities and consuming groups. It argues that notwithstanding the widespread character of poverty and the absence of a mass consumer society, consumption...

The historical and global contexts of artisan production -- Consumers, merchants and markets -- Artisanal towns -- The organization of production -- Small town capitalism and the living standards of artisans -- The colonial state and the handloom weaver -- The paradox of the long 1930s -- Weaver...

Markets in modern India : embedded, contested, pliable / Sebastian Schwecke and Ajay Gandhi -- Banking in the bazaar : the Nattukottai Chettiars / David Rudner -- Space in motion : an uneven narrative of urban private property in Bombay / Nikhil Rao -- Magic of business : occult forces in the...