The Oxford India Anthology of Business History

This anthology analyses the role played by Indian business in the making of modern India. It takes up critical strands within Indian business history and highlights the tremendous diversity of forms, ethnic and regional affiliations, cultural practices, strategies, and types of organization which characterize Indian business. In doing so, it gives ’voice’ to Indian business as an agent of change embedded within larger historical processes in the twentieth century.
The anthology brings together for the first time critical texts relating to several major themes in Indian business history. It includes not just academic texts but also letters, speeches, memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, community publications, commercial newspapers, records of trading organizations and chambers of commerce, and government sources. The objective is to highlight themes, personalities, dimensions, events, and processes which illustrate the history of Indian business and which reflect debates that are alive and pertinent.

Medha Kudaisya is a Professor, Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore.