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The Marwaris: From Jagat Seth to the Birlas
In the nineteenth century, a tiny community from the deserts of Rajasthan spread out to every corner of India. The Marwaris controlled much of the country's inland trade by the time of the First World War. They then turned their hand to industry and, by the 1970s, owned most of India's private industrial assets. Today, Marwari businessmen account for a quarter of the Indian names on the Forbes billionaires list.
What makes Marwaris so successful? Is it their indominitable enterprise, or their incredible appetite for risk? In this new book, Thomas A. Timberg shows how the Marwaris rely on a centuries-old system for conserving and growing capital which has stood them in good stead, alongside a strong sense of business ethics which has earned them respect.
Family businesses in general and the Marwaris in particular might have a vital role to play in shaping India's economic future. This book tells us why.
What makes Marwaris so successful? Is it their indominitable enterprise, or their incredible appetite for risk? In this new book, Thomas A. Timberg shows how the Marwaris rely on a centuries-old system for conserving and growing capital which has stood them in good stead, alongside a strong sense of business ethics which has earned them respect.
Family businesses in general and the Marwaris in particular might have a vital role to play in shaping India's economic future. This book tells us why.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published May 15, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 5, 2015
An okayish introduction to the Marwaris, a community in India that has produced a large number of successful (and large) businesses over the last few centuries. I bought this book in the hope that it takes an in-depth look at the practices of this community over the years, in an attempt to explain their disproportionate representation in successful businesses in India. Timberg does dive into these details to a limited extent, but only in the second half of the book.
The first half of the book is quite garbled. Paragraphs appear disconnected amidst a sea of names of Marwari business houses of old and their descendants. Among this cloud of names appear some orderly classification of the early Marwari businessmen starting out as speculators, and ultimately ending up as industrialists, as agents to foreign brokerages, or as bankers to the British Raj. I would advise giving these chapters a quick skim at best. These chapters try to focus on the firm of Tarachand Ghanshyamdas, an old "Great Firm" in British India, but does a pretty bad job of it.
The second half of the book is a very pleasant read. Calling upon sources in his earlier book from 1978 (also titled "The Marwaris"), as well as Gita Piramal's (and other) biographies on business families in India, Timberg starts to draw distinctions and parallels between successful Marwari business families in India. The Birlas and Goenkas feature prominently in this part of the book, especially the Birlas. There are interesting observations presented, albeit not always with references - like for instance, family-owned firms are less profitable than professionally-run firms in America, but the reverse is true in Europe. Similarly, the theory that conglomerate groups of companies are prevalent in countries with an under-developed financial system is explored to a certain extent, and studied from the perspective of Indian business groups.
Overall, I wished the book had gone more in-depth into the Birlas and Goenkas than it did, or at least looked at a few other business families. Luckily, the book is chalk full of references in the latter half of the book, and provides a good reading list for any interested reader.
The Story of Indian Business series, of which this book is a part, looks interesting in general, and it is probably worth looking into more books in this series.
The first half of the book is quite garbled. Paragraphs appear disconnected amidst a sea of names of Marwari business houses of old and their descendants. Among this cloud of names appear some orderly classification of the early Marwari businessmen starting out as speculators, and ultimately ending up as industrialists, as agents to foreign brokerages, or as bankers to the British Raj. I would advise giving these chapters a quick skim at best. These chapters try to focus on the firm of Tarachand Ghanshyamdas, an old "Great Firm" in British India, but does a pretty bad job of it.
The second half of the book is a very pleasant read. Calling upon sources in his earlier book from 1978 (also titled "The Marwaris"), as well as Gita Piramal's (and other) biographies on business families in India, Timberg starts to draw distinctions and parallels between successful Marwari business families in India. The Birlas and Goenkas feature prominently in this part of the book, especially the Birlas. There are interesting observations presented, albeit not always with references - like for instance, family-owned firms are less profitable than professionally-run firms in America, but the reverse is true in Europe. Similarly, the theory that conglomerate groups of companies are prevalent in countries with an under-developed financial system is explored to a certain extent, and studied from the perspective of Indian business groups.
Overall, I wished the book had gone more in-depth into the Birlas and Goenkas than it did, or at least looked at a few other business families. Luckily, the book is chalk full of references in the latter half of the book, and provides a good reading list for any interested reader.
The Story of Indian Business series, of which this book is a part, looks interesting in general, and it is probably worth looking into more books in this series.
December 31, 2018
The book is poorly written and organized. The overarching narrative is also absent. The only chapter of any importance is the third one - The Marwaris, the Bazaar Economy, and the British Raj. Mostly, due to the informational content of different Marwari groups and their business activities. All the later discussion on the viability of family firms, with particular emphasis on the Birlas, was mostly ambiguous in nature. In the title, there is written - From Jagat Seth to the Birlas, however, Jagat Seths, meaning the firm of Tarachand Ghanshyamdas, has received disoriented attention, scattered haphazardly all over the pages.
The author on his website has only mentioned the positive reviews from the newspapers. He should either remove those positive reviews or also include the Goodreads rating of the book. A book which has been given a prominent place as a member of a series on Indian Business and edited by Gurcharan Das should have kept to the mark. Most of the sales of the book will happen due to such associations and not quality, giving wrong signals to the market.
The author on his website has only mentioned the positive reviews from the newspapers. He should either remove those positive reviews or also include the Goodreads rating of the book. A book which has been given a prominent place as a member of a series on Indian Business and edited by Gurcharan Das should have kept to the mark. Most of the sales of the book will happen due to such associations and not quality, giving wrong signals to the market.
July 25, 2016
The Marwaris form a powerful business community in India. More than a quarter of the country’s richest men belong to the group. They control many large and profitable enterprises that are leaders in their area of expertise. However, the term ‘Marwari’ conjures up images of a usurer or a non-ethical trader in many parts of India, most notably in the South. They are associated with money lending at cut throat interest rates, and are intent on promptly getting the money back without any leniency or kindness. In other words, their social standing may be likened to Jews in medieval Europe, with Shylock as their most notorious representative. The term ‘Marwari’, which is used in the book, however refers to enterprising families from the region of Marwar in Rajasthan, which is centered on the city of Jodhpur and adjoining areas. They do not belong to any particular caste – which is very important to note – but includes Hindus and Jains as well. A typical Who’s Who of Indian business includes names like Birla, Goenka, Ruia, Singhania, Mittal, Khaitan, Bajaj and numerous others, who are all Marwari. Thomas A Timberg is a scholar and consultant on economic development. His fields of study include Baghdadi Jews in India, contemporary microfinance and Islamic finance. His doctoral dissertation was on the Marwaris as industrial entrepreneurs and this book is a result of his continued interest in following the affairs of the community. This book is also a part of the series, ‘The Story of Indian Business’ edited by Gurcharan Das. Another title in the series, ‘Merchants of Tamilakam’ was reviewed earlier. Das has contributed an illuminating Foreword to the book.
Business communities are groups of castes with a common regional origin and a traditional involvement in trade and industry. They constitute several castes. Incidentally, different occupational interests may be seen in one caste. The Amils are traditionally service oriented, with most of them taking up positions in government, while the Bhaibands are entrepreneurial by turn of mind. However, both are members of the same Lohana caste. The Marwaris found lucrative business opportunities in an India moulded by the British East India Company. Many of them migrated under Jagat Seth to Kolkata. Their acumen in identifying a business opportunity quickly enabled them to grow beyond comparison. Three typical roles were donned by the Marwari businessmen in running the economic system put in place by the British. This included great firms, that is, large state banks; formal Banias or guaranteed brokers to large foreign firms; and firms that dealt with future and ready markets for shares and commodities. Timberg identifies the reasons for the growth spurt seen in Marwari establishments, such as psychological disposition, social support networks and individual and historical factors. They had innovative ideas the world had not thought about. For example, the Birlas had a kind of accounting system called Parta, which was widely used in the family business for monitoring and financial control. However, the author’s remarks hide echoes of racial profiling of successful business people. There were Marwari firms like Tarachand Ghanshyamdas which failed. Also, Marwari firms flourished in foreign lands too, where you can’t point to social support or historical factors for the success story. Hence, the most logical thing to conclude is that they excelled because they cultivated the above-mentioned redeeming characteristics and not under the umbrella of an enveloping caste system. Timberg’s unwarranted assumption on the effects of caste in the observation that there is a large portion of Indians in the Fortune 500 list is challenging the wisdom of modern Indian society and the principles of social justice. The last two chapters of the book are of a general nature applicable to any business. Where the time-honoured principles of watching the money, delegation of authority with constant monitoring, importance of having a plan with a style, inhibition-free growth and right corporate culture is enunciated, that enterprise is bound to create wonders.
As in most practical cases, good business firms are not necessarily ethically good too, for at least some of the times. Marwari enterprises are also not totally immune from this general principle. The institutions freely traded in opium, but of course, it was completely legal in those days. We should not examine an event in the past under the glow of enlightenment of a future era. But still, it was evident even in those days that opium was a dangerous substance that dissipated men into insignificance and a destroyer of families and health. Besides, industrialists always supported the ruling power. In 1857, when the country erupted into its war of independence, the Marwari businesses helped the British in crushing the insurrection. All of them were richly rewarded for their loyalty. However, it should also be pointed out that industrialists like Birlas sided with the national movement spearheaded by Gandhi, providing all material support, even at the risk of antagonizing the British.
Timberg adopts a very prejudiced point of view in assessing the entrepreneurial spirit of Indians, incorrectly attributing it to the ethos of belonging to a caste or community that traditionally indulged in business. Thus, Nandan Nilekani is hailed as a successful businessman ‘even though’ he did not belong to any recognized community that specialized in business. An unfortunate aspect that cries out is the lack of proper structure in the book’s organization. Though it is rather small, the book took a time disproportionately longer to complete, owing to its regretful inability to interest the reader. The author has relied heavily on the work ‘The Life and Times of G. D. Birla’ by Medha M. Kudaisya. The text transforms into a review of the book at times. History and anecdotes of prominent business personalities abound in the book, but there is no thread of analysis that strings them meaningfully together. The work is adorned with a good section of Notes, a Bibliography and an Index.
The book is recommended.
Business communities are groups of castes with a common regional origin and a traditional involvement in trade and industry. They constitute several castes. Incidentally, different occupational interests may be seen in one caste. The Amils are traditionally service oriented, with most of them taking up positions in government, while the Bhaibands are entrepreneurial by turn of mind. However, both are members of the same Lohana caste. The Marwaris found lucrative business opportunities in an India moulded by the British East India Company. Many of them migrated under Jagat Seth to Kolkata. Their acumen in identifying a business opportunity quickly enabled them to grow beyond comparison. Three typical roles were donned by the Marwari businessmen in running the economic system put in place by the British. This included great firms, that is, large state banks; formal Banias or guaranteed brokers to large foreign firms; and firms that dealt with future and ready markets for shares and commodities. Timberg identifies the reasons for the growth spurt seen in Marwari establishments, such as psychological disposition, social support networks and individual and historical factors. They had innovative ideas the world had not thought about. For example, the Birlas had a kind of accounting system called Parta, which was widely used in the family business for monitoring and financial control. However, the author’s remarks hide echoes of racial profiling of successful business people. There were Marwari firms like Tarachand Ghanshyamdas which failed. Also, Marwari firms flourished in foreign lands too, where you can’t point to social support or historical factors for the success story. Hence, the most logical thing to conclude is that they excelled because they cultivated the above-mentioned redeeming characteristics and not under the umbrella of an enveloping caste system. Timberg’s unwarranted assumption on the effects of caste in the observation that there is a large portion of Indians in the Fortune 500 list is challenging the wisdom of modern Indian society and the principles of social justice. The last two chapters of the book are of a general nature applicable to any business. Where the time-honoured principles of watching the money, delegation of authority with constant monitoring, importance of having a plan with a style, inhibition-free growth and right corporate culture is enunciated, that enterprise is bound to create wonders.
As in most practical cases, good business firms are not necessarily ethically good too, for at least some of the times. Marwari enterprises are also not totally immune from this general principle. The institutions freely traded in opium, but of course, it was completely legal in those days. We should not examine an event in the past under the glow of enlightenment of a future era. But still, it was evident even in those days that opium was a dangerous substance that dissipated men into insignificance and a destroyer of families and health. Besides, industrialists always supported the ruling power. In 1857, when the country erupted into its war of independence, the Marwari businesses helped the British in crushing the insurrection. All of them were richly rewarded for their loyalty. However, it should also be pointed out that industrialists like Birlas sided with the national movement spearheaded by Gandhi, providing all material support, even at the risk of antagonizing the British.
Timberg adopts a very prejudiced point of view in assessing the entrepreneurial spirit of Indians, incorrectly attributing it to the ethos of belonging to a caste or community that traditionally indulged in business. Thus, Nandan Nilekani is hailed as a successful businessman ‘even though’ he did not belong to any recognized community that specialized in business. An unfortunate aspect that cries out is the lack of proper structure in the book’s organization. Though it is rather small, the book took a time disproportionately longer to complete, owing to its regretful inability to interest the reader. The author has relied heavily on the work ‘The Life and Times of G. D. Birla’ by Medha M. Kudaisya. The text transforms into a review of the book at times. History and anecdotes of prominent business personalities abound in the book, but there is no thread of analysis that strings them meaningfully together. The work is adorned with a good section of Notes, a Bibliography and an Index.
The book is recommended.
December 19, 2019
It was a very good read on a very inspiring topic . I liked the expanse Timberg tries to achieve both across time and geographies. This exactly has been his undoing of giving sketchy or anecdotal references to issues which needed a lot of research and detailing,especially the families and the reasons for their continuing success. otherwise else a good attempt on business community,their roots,practices even though lacking in depth.
June 28, 2026
The Marwaris: From Jagat Seth to the Birlas by Thomas A Timberg
I came to this book, having finished Merchants, Traders, Entrepreneurs: Indian Business in the Colonial Era by Claude Markovits.
I have read a reasonable amount of Indian history, and one gap I noticed is not much coverage for the Business community of India, as part of India’s history.
Even within Tamil Nadu, Marwaris are present, and people in my state might know only a few lines. Oh, they are from Rajasthan, from a dry region. They do financial lending business and a few others.
Outline:
1. The Strength of Commercial Communities in Indian Industry
2. Marwari Entrepreneurship: An Historical and Theoretical Overview
3. The History
4. Marwari Merchant Migration: A Survey and Discussion of the Relevance of Theory
5. Great Firms
6.Banians and Brokers
7. Speculators and Industrialists
8.Many Roads to Capitalist Development
9.Why did a small number of commercial communities come to dominate Indian industry during 1860–1940?
Why did a small number of commercial communities (like the Marwaris, Parsis, Gujaratis) come to dominate Indian industry during 1860–1940, instead of industrial entrepreneurs emerging broadly across Indian society?
To answer this, the author uses three parts to respond to it
a. Context of Indian industrialization
b. Nature of entrepreneurship needed in India
c. Industrial entrepreneurs mainly came from trading communities
Transition of North-India’s (1860–1940) industries.
The ports of Calcutta and Bombay, plus inland centers, Ahmedabad and Kanpur. These were the hubs of early modern industry. By around 1860, British political control over India was secure, and commercial exploitation of agriculture was in full swing.
Industrialization mostly meant in the Indian context, the domestic processing of export commodities (jute, cotton, tea), jute mills in Calcutta, cotton mills in Bombay/Ahmedabad. Import substitution of items previously imported (steel, chemical dyes, etc.). Before WWI, the government was largely indifferent or openly discouraging toward Indian industry.
In England’s first textile mills, entrepreneurs had to solve technical problems, innovate in machinery, processes, and production. In India, those technical problems were largely solved elsewhere; technologies could be imported, which was mainly “coordination of the factors of production”
Enter, the commercial communities, who actually became industrialists?
A rapid survey of Indian industrialization indicates that India’s industrial entrepreneurs came largely from a small number of trading communities.
A “Marwari” is a diasporic commercial community originating in Rajasthan/Rajputana. Marwari business groups have larger accumulated assets than Gujarati groups. A journalistic estimate (Time magazine) even claimed Marwaris controlled 60% of assets in the Indian industry. Their assets are also more geographically and sectorally dispersed than Gujarati assets.
Marwaris, Gujaratis, Parsis. Many trading communities exist in India that are primarily in the Bania or Vaishya communities. They have special institutions and norms that make trading easier. They have a joint family setup and gendered mobility. Here, wives and children stay back in the home village/town. This setup makes long-distance trade and migration feasible without dissolving family support. When traders migrate to a new town, they often first settle in a basa, a collective boarding house. In Calcutta, two charitable messes were run by leading cloth merchants. G.D. Birla’s grandfather, Shiv Narain, first lived in a cooperative basa run by immigrants from his home village, Pilani, when he arrived in Bombay in the 1860s. This kind of institution makes it cheap, safe, and socially supported for young men to migrate and start trading in new cities.
Marwari cloth traders in Benares practiced the sarafi system, an inter-firm network of short-term, on-demand credit. Young men enter business through apprenticeships with established firms. There are profit-sharing schemes so that apprentices gradually build capital and can eventually start their own enterprises. This is a systematic pipeline for reproducing entrepreneurs within the community. There are communal or inter-communal mechanisms for adjudicating commercial disputes. These commercial communities together make up less than about 6% of India’s population, yet they account for a disproportionate share of industrial entrepreneurship and ownership.
Region explains the environment and opportunities; commercial communities explain who actually seize them and build large business houses. Bombay, a port city, had more exposure to new ideas, foreign influences, and innovative entrepreneurs. Ahmedabad, which is inland, is more likely to produce follower entrepreneurs. Bengal’s had an anti-commercial ethic. Marwari and Gujarati regional cultures assign a higher status to commerce and merchants than Bengal does. This cultural valuation of trade supports the emergence of merchant networks and business dynasties.
To support the importance of commercial communities, Timberg cites the Monopolies Inquiry Commission Report (1964). He looks at the 37 largest North Indian–owned industrial houses. Their combined assets ≈ 19.6 billion rupees, 1.2 billion rupees for similarly sized South Indian proprietors. 3.7 billion rupees for foreign-owned firms. Together, these large groups control about half of the assets in the non-financial organized industrial sector. Large-scale Indian entrepreneurs are overwhelmingly from the Marwari and Gujarati communities.
The core Economic sociology question is how social structures and groups shape who becomes an entrepreneur?
What makes someone successful in business, especially in industrial business?
What is the relation between the successful industrialist and industrial development itself?
Why do certain pre-existing groups, often commercial communities, end up dominating commerce in some countries?
To answer these questions, He’d select the Marwari community. The Marwaris, while somewhat behind other elite classes educationally, are more conservative socially, and are later entrants into industry than some other trading communities, now play a dominant role in the industry of North and East India. The Bengalis are educationally advanced and socially modern, and were one of the first groups to enter industry.
An entrepreneur is someone who buys factors of production, combines them, and bears risk. Timberg observes, In early Indian industry, radical technical innovation is rare. Entrepreneurs are mostly combining known technologies, adjusting organization and finance, and entering sectors already developed elsewhere. Timberg’s focus is not primarily on technical innovation, but on the successful founding and management of new businesses, which is the essence of capitalist development in follower industrializers. He still acknowledges that technical or commercial innovation can be the secret of success in particular cases.
Economic historian Thomas Timberg relied heavily on psychologist David McClelland's Need for Achievement framework to analyze South Asian business groups. McClelland’s claim is that people with high achievement motivation are more likely to create new enterprises. He also tried to raise entrepreneurship by training people to increase their motivation. In the Howrah engineering industry, the Mahishya caste began as skilled labor and later took over ownership of many units. Ashish Nandy found that successful Mahishya entrepreneurs did not score especially high on “n-achievement.” For Marwaris, their motivation level has not been directly measured.
Timberg treats entrepreneurship as both socially selected and socially productive: entrepreneurs are recruited by community-structured resource endowments, and then act to reorganize production, particularly by undertaking organizational (rather than primarily technical) innovations.
Timberg floats the case, Marwari institutions, such as the joint family, Strong, particularistic caste loyalties might be the secret of success in Indian business and industry. He has a nuanced take on the joint family as a restraint or as a resource. Joint family constrains the individual; the entrepreneur can’t move freely because he is bound by kin obligations. Joint family businesses are the rule, not the exception. Banfield’s study of Southern Italy suggests that the absence of a joint family system is a key factor retarding economic progress there. Scholars like Lloyd & Suzanne Rudolph and Morris-Jones emphasize the “modernity of tradition. Traditional institutions can accelerate modern transformations (e.g., democratic politics, capitalist development) rather than simply obstruct them.
So, Timberg is saying, Tradition is not simply a drag on modernization; in some cases, tradition is a key enabling infrastructure, especially for commercial communities. Because the Marwaris are a prime example of Religious conservatism, Strong caste/jati community, Joint families, dense communal credit networks, and apprenticeship norms. All of these jointly lower the cost of entrepreneurship and raise the probability that community members can enter and survive in business and later industry.
Jains supposedly had an ascetic ethic that encouraged saving and reinvestment, and their rules kept them out of agriculture and many forms of production, pushing them toward commerce, banking, and moneylending. Vallabhacharya Vaishnavas were less ascetic, but their sect still gave merchants a useful social network: travel, pilgrimage, and co-sectarian support helped business. By the early 20th century, Jains owned half the textile mills in Ahmedabad. Some major industrial houses among Jain Oswals and Khandelwal Jains became important industrializers.
Great tradition: what intellectuals, theologians, and philosophers write and teach in temples and schools. Little tradition: what ordinary people actually do in villages and communities, their working norms, practices, and everyday institutions.
The “little tradition” of trading castes, their institutions, attitudes, resource groups, and skills, is what really explains their business success.
For Marwaris, children were taught Bookkeeping, dealing with credit, reading markets, accepting losses, and learning from them.
A resource group is a bounded social entity, where relations are primarily instrumental, aimed at economic success, but supported by expressive ties such as kinship, religion, and shared identity. Within this group are Hostels (basas) for migrants, Credit facilities and communal lending, Commercial arbitration bodies, Joint family capital, and inheritance structures.
Why traders become industrialists in India?
Because they were able to execute tasks that were required for economic activity, such as Secure capital, Secure raw materials and markets, Bear risk, and keep books. When India moves into domestic processing (mills, factories), the trading communities simply extend their existing commercial operations into production.
Some Marwari industrial firms were indeed destroyed by over-speculation after entering the industry. Buying at a certain price and selling at an uncertain price is the quintessential entrepreneurial act. For inheritance, Marwaris follow the Mitakshara school of Hindu law. Mitakshara rules may help keep joint family property together, supporting the accumulation and continuity of business capital. Muslim law, by contrast, tends to fragment inheritance and does not recognize the joint family as a corporate entity, so some Muslim merchant groups preferred to retain Hindu family law to keep capital consolidated.
Trading communities are habituated to credit and risk. Being a good trader is not enough by itself to push people into the industry. To move from trade to industry, you need an impelling force such as War profits, unprofitability, or saturation of older commercial lines, Ideological motivations, Consciousness of industrial possibilities, Awareness that factories, mills, and presses are viable and profitable, Means to acquire industrial credit and markets, enough capital and borrowing capacity, and access to raw materials and reliable buyers for industrial output.
Marwari economic ascent in the last 150 years:
During the Mughal period (1525–1707), Marwaris from Rajasthan were already in long‑range trade and high finance across North India. Several semi‑permanent migrant communities formed outside Rajasthan. Jagat Seth house (Marwari Oswals) became bankers to the Nawabs of Bengal; they monopolized minting and currency in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. A cluster of Oswals settled in Murshidabad, Azimganj, Jiaganj; many became large zamindars while still engaging in banking and trade. In Benares, leading merchant houses claim descent from Marwari merchants who came as commissary officers with Rajput regiments under the Mughals.
The big push came under British rule, British defeated rival European powers and major Indian polities between the mid‑18th and early‑19th century, and consolidated control over. Marwaris respond by migrating into new commercial frontiers, Central India, rural Bombay Province, Bihar, Marathwada (Hyderabad), Assam, and Marwaris become pre‑eminent local moneylenders and merchants. They finance the growth of new cash crops demanded by the British. In Assam, Marwaris hold a near monopoly in the export of all products except tea, and in the import of provisions. They follow British armies and tea planters, establish shops in haats, provide goods and credit, and eventually take stakes in tea itself.
Marwari education in Shekhavati changed to include English for telegraphic commercial intelligence. Migration to Bombay began after 1800, and to Calcutta, especially after 1830. Early migrants often arrived as clerks, agents, or supercargoes attached to larger Marwari firms. Once in Calcutta, many started their own firms, then moved up into brokerage and finance. Ramdutt Goenka came as a clerk and later became a major broker. Nathuram Saraf rose from clerk to banian and also helped with migration by creating a base for newcomers. By the 1860s, Calcutta directories already showed a growing number of Marwari banking firms and native bankers.
Marwaris first came along trade routes to Calcutta, then moved into rural Bihar as shopkeepers, moneylenders, and produce dealers. Some families also bought landed estates in distress sales.
Cotton boomed during the American Civil War because the American supply was disrupted. Jute expanded rapidly in Bengal, and jute mills grew quickly after 1859. Tea from Assam and North Bengal became important and moved through Calcutta. Opium rose, then later declined because of Chinese production, British policy restrictions, and currency changes. Indigo declined after the rise of synthetic dyes. Marwaris were good at following profitable commodity shifts.
Marwaris then moved into jute, one of the biggest colonial industries. By 1900, more than half the jute balers were Marwaris. They entered jute first as buyers and balers, then as exporters and shippers. They also challenged the European monopoly in jute institutions by creating the Baled Jute Association. Marwaris became especially strong in jute futures, opium futures, and increasingly in the stock market before and during World War I.
Migration and finding a niche, 1860–1900. Marwaris leave Rajasthan for places like Calcutta, Central India, Western India, U.P., Assam, and Hyderabad. They settle and find commercial niches such as Moneylenders, Grain and opium dealers, Export–import intermediaries, speculators, and stockbrokers. In Calcutta, by World War I, Marwaris gained commercial pre‑eminence next to the British, displacing Bengalis and Khatris in key indigenous money markets and trade.
The first Marwari industrial groups entered jute, cotton textiles, sugar, cement, etc. only after WWI. They use their accumulated capital, credit networks, and market knowledge to build mills and factories.
Bengalis withdrew from commerce for several reasons. Investment shifted into land: wealthy Bengali firms found permanently settled zamindari and tax-farming landholdings attractive.
Two types of Marwaris: One group was conservative, cautious, religious, and less likely to support nationalism, and another was reformist, who were supportive of nationalism. Birla is presented as the best-known example of the reformist industrialist. Racial humiliation by English businessmen pushed him toward political nationalism.
Marwaris created organizations to support expanding their economic activities, such as the Marwari Association of Calcutta, the Marwari Chamber of Commerce, Vaishya Sabha. Marwari modernization into its post-independence phase: industrial success feeds social reform, nationalism, and eventually a more professional business style. Marwari money heavily supported the Indian National Congress. Leading figures such as G. D. Birla and Jamnalal Bajaj became major Congress supporters.
Marwari migration
The Marwari rise started with migration out of Rajasthan into eastern and southern India. Evidence comes from two places: census data, especially place-of-birth tables, and family/firm histories. Migration pattern, by degree of commitment.
So their pattern created:
Migration from Rajasthan
Commercial settlement in the inland and port markets.
Accumulation of capital through trade, credit, and speculation.
Industrial investment in mills and factories
Typology of Marwari firm types:
The author asks, " How does Indian private capital differ from Western capitalism?
His central example is the family firm, which handled deposits and loans, transferred government funds, traded wholesale and retail, moved into processing and manufacturing, opened branches, and combined commerce, finance, and family strategy in one organization. The family firm had two logics, an economic logic: profit, expansion, and finance, and a social logic: family name, status, and community standing.
Marwari entrepreneurs helped drive northern India’s commercial and industrial growth because they had capital, credit, networks, and a trading mindset that let them seize opportunities. Their success came from not locking too much money into land, instead using mobile family and caste networks to move into new businesses opened by colonial change. Marwaris were central to India’s capitalist development because they were adaptable and able to move capital from one line of business to another.
Overall, good work on the Marwari community.
I came to this book, having finished Merchants, Traders, Entrepreneurs: Indian Business in the Colonial Era by Claude Markovits.
I have read a reasonable amount of Indian history, and one gap I noticed is not much coverage for the Business community of India, as part of India’s history.
Even within Tamil Nadu, Marwaris are present, and people in my state might know only a few lines. Oh, they are from Rajasthan, from a dry region. They do financial lending business and a few others.
Outline:
1. The Strength of Commercial Communities in Indian Industry
2. Marwari Entrepreneurship: An Historical and Theoretical Overview
3. The History
4. Marwari Merchant Migration: A Survey and Discussion of the Relevance of Theory
5. Great Firms
6.Banians and Brokers
7. Speculators and Industrialists
8.Many Roads to Capitalist Development
9.Why did a small number of commercial communities come to dominate Indian industry during 1860–1940?
Why did a small number of commercial communities (like the Marwaris, Parsis, Gujaratis) come to dominate Indian industry during 1860–1940, instead of industrial entrepreneurs emerging broadly across Indian society?
To answer this, the author uses three parts to respond to it
a. Context of Indian industrialization
b. Nature of entrepreneurship needed in India
c. Industrial entrepreneurs mainly came from trading communities
Transition of North-India’s (1860–1940) industries.
The ports of Calcutta and Bombay, plus inland centers, Ahmedabad and Kanpur. These were the hubs of early modern industry. By around 1860, British political control over India was secure, and commercial exploitation of agriculture was in full swing.
Industrialization mostly meant in the Indian context, the domestic processing of export commodities (jute, cotton, tea), jute mills in Calcutta, cotton mills in Bombay/Ahmedabad. Import substitution of items previously imported (steel, chemical dyes, etc.). Before WWI, the government was largely indifferent or openly discouraging toward Indian industry.
In England’s first textile mills, entrepreneurs had to solve technical problems, innovate in machinery, processes, and production. In India, those technical problems were largely solved elsewhere; technologies could be imported, which was mainly “coordination of the factors of production”
Enter, the commercial communities, who actually became industrialists?
A rapid survey of Indian industrialization indicates that India’s industrial entrepreneurs came largely from a small number of trading communities.
A “Marwari” is a diasporic commercial community originating in Rajasthan/Rajputana. Marwari business groups have larger accumulated assets than Gujarati groups. A journalistic estimate (Time magazine) even claimed Marwaris controlled 60% of assets in the Indian industry. Their assets are also more geographically and sectorally dispersed than Gujarati assets.
Marwaris, Gujaratis, Parsis. Many trading communities exist in India that are primarily in the Bania or Vaishya communities. They have special institutions and norms that make trading easier. They have a joint family setup and gendered mobility. Here, wives and children stay back in the home village/town. This setup makes long-distance trade and migration feasible without dissolving family support. When traders migrate to a new town, they often first settle in a basa, a collective boarding house. In Calcutta, two charitable messes were run by leading cloth merchants. G.D. Birla’s grandfather, Shiv Narain, first lived in a cooperative basa run by immigrants from his home village, Pilani, when he arrived in Bombay in the 1860s. This kind of institution makes it cheap, safe, and socially supported for young men to migrate and start trading in new cities.
Marwari cloth traders in Benares practiced the sarafi system, an inter-firm network of short-term, on-demand credit. Young men enter business through apprenticeships with established firms. There are profit-sharing schemes so that apprentices gradually build capital and can eventually start their own enterprises. This is a systematic pipeline for reproducing entrepreneurs within the community. There are communal or inter-communal mechanisms for adjudicating commercial disputes. These commercial communities together make up less than about 6% of India’s population, yet they account for a disproportionate share of industrial entrepreneurship and ownership.
Region explains the environment and opportunities; commercial communities explain who actually seize them and build large business houses. Bombay, a port city, had more exposure to new ideas, foreign influences, and innovative entrepreneurs. Ahmedabad, which is inland, is more likely to produce follower entrepreneurs. Bengal’s had an anti-commercial ethic. Marwari and Gujarati regional cultures assign a higher status to commerce and merchants than Bengal does. This cultural valuation of trade supports the emergence of merchant networks and business dynasties.
To support the importance of commercial communities, Timberg cites the Monopolies Inquiry Commission Report (1964). He looks at the 37 largest North Indian–owned industrial houses. Their combined assets ≈ 19.6 billion rupees, 1.2 billion rupees for similarly sized South Indian proprietors. 3.7 billion rupees for foreign-owned firms. Together, these large groups control about half of the assets in the non-financial organized industrial sector. Large-scale Indian entrepreneurs are overwhelmingly from the Marwari and Gujarati communities.
The core Economic sociology question is how social structures and groups shape who becomes an entrepreneur?
What makes someone successful in business, especially in industrial business?
What is the relation between the successful industrialist and industrial development itself?
Why do certain pre-existing groups, often commercial communities, end up dominating commerce in some countries?
To answer these questions, He’d select the Marwari community. The Marwaris, while somewhat behind other elite classes educationally, are more conservative socially, and are later entrants into industry than some other trading communities, now play a dominant role in the industry of North and East India. The Bengalis are educationally advanced and socially modern, and were one of the first groups to enter industry.
An entrepreneur is someone who buys factors of production, combines them, and bears risk. Timberg observes, In early Indian industry, radical technical innovation is rare. Entrepreneurs are mostly combining known technologies, adjusting organization and finance, and entering sectors already developed elsewhere. Timberg’s focus is not primarily on technical innovation, but on the successful founding and management of new businesses, which is the essence of capitalist development in follower industrializers. He still acknowledges that technical or commercial innovation can be the secret of success in particular cases.
Economic historian Thomas Timberg relied heavily on psychologist David McClelland's Need for Achievement framework to analyze South Asian business groups. McClelland’s claim is that people with high achievement motivation are more likely to create new enterprises. He also tried to raise entrepreneurship by training people to increase their motivation. In the Howrah engineering industry, the Mahishya caste began as skilled labor and later took over ownership of many units. Ashish Nandy found that successful Mahishya entrepreneurs did not score especially high on “n-achievement.” For Marwaris, their motivation level has not been directly measured.
Timberg treats entrepreneurship as both socially selected and socially productive: entrepreneurs are recruited by community-structured resource endowments, and then act to reorganize production, particularly by undertaking organizational (rather than primarily technical) innovations.
Timberg floats the case, Marwari institutions, such as the joint family, Strong, particularistic caste loyalties might be the secret of success in Indian business and industry. He has a nuanced take on the joint family as a restraint or as a resource. Joint family constrains the individual; the entrepreneur can’t move freely because he is bound by kin obligations. Joint family businesses are the rule, not the exception. Banfield’s study of Southern Italy suggests that the absence of a joint family system is a key factor retarding economic progress there. Scholars like Lloyd & Suzanne Rudolph and Morris-Jones emphasize the “modernity of tradition. Traditional institutions can accelerate modern transformations (e.g., democratic politics, capitalist development) rather than simply obstruct them.
So, Timberg is saying, Tradition is not simply a drag on modernization; in some cases, tradition is a key enabling infrastructure, especially for commercial communities. Because the Marwaris are a prime example of Religious conservatism, Strong caste/jati community, Joint families, dense communal credit networks, and apprenticeship norms. All of these jointly lower the cost of entrepreneurship and raise the probability that community members can enter and survive in business and later industry.
Jains supposedly had an ascetic ethic that encouraged saving and reinvestment, and their rules kept them out of agriculture and many forms of production, pushing them toward commerce, banking, and moneylending. Vallabhacharya Vaishnavas were less ascetic, but their sect still gave merchants a useful social network: travel, pilgrimage, and co-sectarian support helped business. By the early 20th century, Jains owned half the textile mills in Ahmedabad. Some major industrial houses among Jain Oswals and Khandelwal Jains became important industrializers.
Great tradition: what intellectuals, theologians, and philosophers write and teach in temples and schools. Little tradition: what ordinary people actually do in villages and communities, their working norms, practices, and everyday institutions.
The “little tradition” of trading castes, their institutions, attitudes, resource groups, and skills, is what really explains their business success.
For Marwaris, children were taught Bookkeeping, dealing with credit, reading markets, accepting losses, and learning from them.
A resource group is a bounded social entity, where relations are primarily instrumental, aimed at economic success, but supported by expressive ties such as kinship, religion, and shared identity. Within this group are Hostels (basas) for migrants, Credit facilities and communal lending, Commercial arbitration bodies, Joint family capital, and inheritance structures.
Why traders become industrialists in India?
Because they were able to execute tasks that were required for economic activity, such as Secure capital, Secure raw materials and markets, Bear risk, and keep books. When India moves into domestic processing (mills, factories), the trading communities simply extend their existing commercial operations into production.
Some Marwari industrial firms were indeed destroyed by over-speculation after entering the industry. Buying at a certain price and selling at an uncertain price is the quintessential entrepreneurial act. For inheritance, Marwaris follow the Mitakshara school of Hindu law. Mitakshara rules may help keep joint family property together, supporting the accumulation and continuity of business capital. Muslim law, by contrast, tends to fragment inheritance and does not recognize the joint family as a corporate entity, so some Muslim merchant groups preferred to retain Hindu family law to keep capital consolidated.
Trading communities are habituated to credit and risk. Being a good trader is not enough by itself to push people into the industry. To move from trade to industry, you need an impelling force such as War profits, unprofitability, or saturation of older commercial lines, Ideological motivations, Consciousness of industrial possibilities, Awareness that factories, mills, and presses are viable and profitable, Means to acquire industrial credit and markets, enough capital and borrowing capacity, and access to raw materials and reliable buyers for industrial output.
Marwari economic ascent in the last 150 years:
During the Mughal period (1525–1707), Marwaris from Rajasthan were already in long‑range trade and high finance across North India. Several semi‑permanent migrant communities formed outside Rajasthan. Jagat Seth house (Marwari Oswals) became bankers to the Nawabs of Bengal; they monopolized minting and currency in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. A cluster of Oswals settled in Murshidabad, Azimganj, Jiaganj; many became large zamindars while still engaging in banking and trade. In Benares, leading merchant houses claim descent from Marwari merchants who came as commissary officers with Rajput regiments under the Mughals.
The big push came under British rule, British defeated rival European powers and major Indian polities between the mid‑18th and early‑19th century, and consolidated control over. Marwaris respond by migrating into new commercial frontiers, Central India, rural Bombay Province, Bihar, Marathwada (Hyderabad), Assam, and Marwaris become pre‑eminent local moneylenders and merchants. They finance the growth of new cash crops demanded by the British. In Assam, Marwaris hold a near monopoly in the export of all products except tea, and in the import of provisions. They follow British armies and tea planters, establish shops in haats, provide goods and credit, and eventually take stakes in tea itself.
Marwari education in Shekhavati changed to include English for telegraphic commercial intelligence. Migration to Bombay began after 1800, and to Calcutta, especially after 1830. Early migrants often arrived as clerks, agents, or supercargoes attached to larger Marwari firms. Once in Calcutta, many started their own firms, then moved up into brokerage and finance. Ramdutt Goenka came as a clerk and later became a major broker. Nathuram Saraf rose from clerk to banian and also helped with migration by creating a base for newcomers. By the 1860s, Calcutta directories already showed a growing number of Marwari banking firms and native bankers.
Marwaris first came along trade routes to Calcutta, then moved into rural Bihar as shopkeepers, moneylenders, and produce dealers. Some families also bought landed estates in distress sales.
Cotton boomed during the American Civil War because the American supply was disrupted. Jute expanded rapidly in Bengal, and jute mills grew quickly after 1859. Tea from Assam and North Bengal became important and moved through Calcutta. Opium rose, then later declined because of Chinese production, British policy restrictions, and currency changes. Indigo declined after the rise of synthetic dyes. Marwaris were good at following profitable commodity shifts.
Marwaris then moved into jute, one of the biggest colonial industries. By 1900, more than half the jute balers were Marwaris. They entered jute first as buyers and balers, then as exporters and shippers. They also challenged the European monopoly in jute institutions by creating the Baled Jute Association. Marwaris became especially strong in jute futures, opium futures, and increasingly in the stock market before and during World War I.
Migration and finding a niche, 1860–1900. Marwaris leave Rajasthan for places like Calcutta, Central India, Western India, U.P., Assam, and Hyderabad. They settle and find commercial niches such as Moneylenders, Grain and opium dealers, Export–import intermediaries, speculators, and stockbrokers. In Calcutta, by World War I, Marwaris gained commercial pre‑eminence next to the British, displacing Bengalis and Khatris in key indigenous money markets and trade.
The first Marwari industrial groups entered jute, cotton textiles, sugar, cement, etc. only after WWI. They use their accumulated capital, credit networks, and market knowledge to build mills and factories.
Bengalis withdrew from commerce for several reasons. Investment shifted into land: wealthy Bengali firms found permanently settled zamindari and tax-farming landholdings attractive.
Two types of Marwaris: One group was conservative, cautious, religious, and less likely to support nationalism, and another was reformist, who were supportive of nationalism. Birla is presented as the best-known example of the reformist industrialist. Racial humiliation by English businessmen pushed him toward political nationalism.
Marwaris created organizations to support expanding their economic activities, such as the Marwari Association of Calcutta, the Marwari Chamber of Commerce, Vaishya Sabha. Marwari modernization into its post-independence phase: industrial success feeds social reform, nationalism, and eventually a more professional business style. Marwari money heavily supported the Indian National Congress. Leading figures such as G. D. Birla and Jamnalal Bajaj became major Congress supporters.
Marwari migration
The Marwari rise started with migration out of Rajasthan into eastern and southern India. Evidence comes from two places: census data, especially place-of-birth tables, and family/firm histories. Migration pattern, by degree of commitment.
So their pattern created:
Migration from Rajasthan
Commercial settlement in the inland and port markets.
Accumulation of capital through trade, credit, and speculation.
Industrial investment in mills and factories
Typology of Marwari firm types:
The author asks, " How does Indian private capital differ from Western capitalism?
His central example is the family firm, which handled deposits and loans, transferred government funds, traded wholesale and retail, moved into processing and manufacturing, opened branches, and combined commerce, finance, and family strategy in one organization. The family firm had two logics, an economic logic: profit, expansion, and finance, and a social logic: family name, status, and community standing.
Marwari entrepreneurs helped drive northern India’s commercial and industrial growth because they had capital, credit, networks, and a trading mindset that let them seize opportunities. Their success came from not locking too much money into land, instead using mobile family and caste networks to move into new businesses opened by colonial change. Marwaris were central to India’s capitalist development because they were adaptable and able to move capital from one line of business to another.
Overall, good work on the Marwari community.
September 1, 2016
I started reading this book expecting some meaty information on Marwaris, probably the most successful business community in India, however was disappointed with the material. Other than some broad references and a lot of long often confusing names of persons, I didn't see much useful information. Maybe I was expecting too much. It is an easy read, and relatively little content, so quick to finish. I would say, good for reading on a flight, but not if one is searching for details on the cultural and business aspects that make Marwari's so successful.
August 23, 2014
Just about okay, this whole series is turning out to be. Wish the writing style was more witty, the narrative more anecdotal, and the insights more revealing.
January 7, 2015
Vey mature bussiness knowledge and use of local resources
Read
March 6, 2016A light read, fairly informative.
May 3, 2016
Very disappointing book coming from what is meant to be one of the foremost experts on the subjects.
September 14, 2016
A lot of history about the families.
The crux is in the final chapters
An interesting and good-to-know + quick read/skim though
The crux is in the final chapters
An interesting and good-to-know + quick read/skim though
November 5, 2016
Found bits of it interesting (Being a Marwari) and the last chapter relevant. I guess expected more out of it .
June 15, 2019
If you are looking for tips....you could find them elsewhere too. Good to read for general curiosity.
September 14, 2019
lot of references to Gita Piramal's book .... not as insightful as expected
January 1, 2020
A lot of well-reserached facts about the Marwari community, but presented in a cluttered fashion.
Read
February 27, 2020Its a detailed book but not well written, It has description of Marwari Clan but presented in a haphazard manner.
January 9, 2023
This was an interesting book from which I learned a bunch of details about Marwari (but specifically bania castes) migrations and functioning of the larger firms over time. While some of those details are quite illuminating, this book comes across more as a soft hagiography of prominent Marwari businessmen. It doesn't even talk about the everyday Marwari businessperson of India over the years.
Further, I wouldn't say that the author really has a good grasp of how Marwari banias have historically fit into caste societies in different places they've been, particularly the day to day trader common people would come into contact with (not the Birlas). The author perhaps has no idea of the exploitative nature (land grabbing, high interest rates, containing inheritance of wealth through strict endogamy, corruption, cheaper lending within communities, anti-trust activities, tax avoidance through money laundering and many other things that even today's so-called "middle class" Marwaris have or continue to benefit from). At some point, the author even claims Nandan Nilekani (a Saraswat Brahmin) being a businessman as breaking the trend of business community dominance. At another point, the author makes the claim that an accurate caste census would encourage casteism (while denying the fact that caste-based representation for most SC/ST/OBC communities today is far from being significant).
Overall, I didn't mind reading this book because I learned a few things from it, and it was quite short. For the critical reader however, I would advise some caution against taking the author at face value on everything he says.
Further, I wouldn't say that the author really has a good grasp of how Marwari banias have historically fit into caste societies in different places they've been, particularly the day to day trader common people would come into contact with (not the Birlas). The author perhaps has no idea of the exploitative nature (land grabbing, high interest rates, containing inheritance of wealth through strict endogamy, corruption, cheaper lending within communities, anti-trust activities, tax avoidance through money laundering and many other things that even today's so-called "middle class" Marwaris have or continue to benefit from). At some point, the author even claims Nandan Nilekani (a Saraswat Brahmin) being a businessman as breaking the trend of business community dominance. At another point, the author makes the claim that an accurate caste census would encourage casteism (while denying the fact that caste-based representation for most SC/ST/OBC communities today is far from being significant).
Overall, I didn't mind reading this book because I learned a few things from it, and it was quite short. For the critical reader however, I would advise some caution against taking the author at face value on everything he says.
July 29, 2025
Being a Marwari myself, I dived into this book with a lot of expectations, but I was left wanting for more. The narrative is all over the place. The first two chapters are extremely difficult to read and the last two chapters are generic business principles with a bit of Marwarism inculcated. For the author, Marwari business equates with the Birlas and Goenka’s and Neotias only, as he has clearly missed out the dozens of families still inhabiting Kolkata and running smaller but successful business firms. The author has touched upon almost everything without going into the depths of anything. As an introductory text, the book somewhat works, but as someone interested to understand migration patterns, smaller successes and failures, the whole ethos of the globally positioned Marwari communities - the book misses the point by several marks. I hope someone someday does write comprehensively and cohesively about our clan.
May 28, 2024
The book gives a glimpse of how the Marwaris benefitted during the British rule by serving as traders/bankers for the empire. It shares how some Marwaris were able to transition from a bazzar economy operation to huge industrial houses while others failed in transition. The sense of community within the bania community helped them grow in different parts of India. The book could have been structured well as I felt the author's views were digressing from one topic to another in between.
December 30, 2020
A decent book that talks about the history of Marwari business people- particularly those who settled in Bengal. Well researched with primary inputs where possible. Although the book is organised into chapters, these seem disjointed as it lacks a coherent narrative. I’m also disappointed by the fact that women are not mentioned at all.
January 11, 2021
A big disappointment... author has collected few info randomly and compiled them into a book
January 29, 2022
Could have been better
This book is more like an academic research paper .
A more lucid book on this topic will be appreciated.
This book is more like an academic research paper .
A more lucid book on this topic will be appreciated.
August 2, 2024
Poorly written, not organised. Unnecessary detailed description of marwari family lineages. Nothing insightful to gain from it.
January 9, 2026
more of a historical memoir than a business guide...
April 16, 2026
Gives an overview of Marwari Community in India. Good read.
November 29, 2016
Very few books have been written on Indian Business history but these series of books edited by Gurucharan Das make up for it. The book primarily deals with what factors have led to make the Marwaris extremely successful businessmen not only in India but also outside of India.
A good amount of information about where these Marwari businessmen came from, how they migrated across different parts of India and set up businesses is covered in the book. A lot of comparison between the family firms set up by Marwaris and the Jewish family firms (mainly into money lending) is presented, the manner in which these small firms scaled up from money lending to becoming leading Industrialists in pre and post-independence Era is explained in detail. Marwari is a generic term which refers to the business community who were predominantly from the Marwar region in Western Rajasthan, they were typically Agarwals or Jains. It is interesting to note that most of these Marwari firms were not only into money lending to the peasants but also the preferred business partner for the smaller kings and also the East India Company when the British came into India to set up their trading business in India.
Most of the Marwaris migrated towards the Eastern part of India and set up their trading firms in and around Calcutta, Assam and to an extent Bihar also, while some of them ventured towards Bombay but it was usually the Parsee and the Gujarathi businessmen who dominated the trading empires in Bombay.
Over the period of 19th century many of these family firms had graduated from just money lending, to private banks to becoming dealers for various multinational products from Europe and this set the stage for the MNCs to enter India post-Independence.
The reader get a good overall picture of what fundamental traits the Marwaris have to make them so successful in the field of business. The most important of them being a good accounting method (Parta as it is called), ability to allocate capital in the most efficient and productive way and form a good network within their own community to help each other in times of distress. What initially started of just Opium and cotton textiles trading over the years has now seen Marwari firms into various industries be it old economy or the new age business. As the fundamentals of business management haven’t changed much the family firms have changed and adapted to the new paradigms of business.
Case in example is of the Birla group which has been extensively covered by the Author and also taken input from the book Business Maharajas by business historians Swati Piramal. The challenges faced in today’s complex business world be it about succession planning, corporate culture etc etc is something the new generation of Marwari firms have to deal with. The GD Birla group seems to have got their act together by appointing professionals to run the company but the family still monitors it on a regular basis and also involved in key decisions, something that other first generation non business group will have to learn from.
A good book for anyone interested in knowing Indian Business history and the rise of Marwari businesses in particular.
A good amount of information about where these Marwari businessmen came from, how they migrated across different parts of India and set up businesses is covered in the book. A lot of comparison between the family firms set up by Marwaris and the Jewish family firms (mainly into money lending) is presented, the manner in which these small firms scaled up from money lending to becoming leading Industrialists in pre and post-independence Era is explained in detail. Marwari is a generic term which refers to the business community who were predominantly from the Marwar region in Western Rajasthan, they were typically Agarwals or Jains. It is interesting to note that most of these Marwari firms were not only into money lending to the peasants but also the preferred business partner for the smaller kings and also the East India Company when the British came into India to set up their trading business in India.
Most of the Marwaris migrated towards the Eastern part of India and set up their trading firms in and around Calcutta, Assam and to an extent Bihar also, while some of them ventured towards Bombay but it was usually the Parsee and the Gujarathi businessmen who dominated the trading empires in Bombay.
Over the period of 19th century many of these family firms had graduated from just money lending, to private banks to becoming dealers for various multinational products from Europe and this set the stage for the MNCs to enter India post-Independence.
The reader get a good overall picture of what fundamental traits the Marwaris have to make them so successful in the field of business. The most important of them being a good accounting method (Parta as it is called), ability to allocate capital in the most efficient and productive way and form a good network within their own community to help each other in times of distress. What initially started of just Opium and cotton textiles trading over the years has now seen Marwari firms into various industries be it old economy or the new age business. As the fundamentals of business management haven’t changed much the family firms have changed and adapted to the new paradigms of business.
Case in example is of the Birla group which has been extensively covered by the Author and also taken input from the book Business Maharajas by business historians Swati Piramal. The challenges faced in today’s complex business world be it about succession planning, corporate culture etc etc is something the new generation of Marwari firms have to deal with. The GD Birla group seems to have got their act together by appointing professionals to run the company but the family still monitors it on a regular basis and also involved in key decisions, something that other first generation non business group will have to learn from.
A good book for anyone interested in knowing Indian Business history and the rise of Marwari businesses in particular.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2024
Detailed Review here https://www.anuradhagoyal.com/the-mar...
March 23, 2017
Risk taking and intrigue
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