India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation

by Harish Damodaran

In order to do business effectively in contemporary South Asia, it is necessary to understand the culture, the ethos, and the region's new trading communities. In tracing the modern-day evolution of business communities in India, this book uses social history to systematically document and understand India's new entrepreneurial groups.

Genres: India, Nonfiction, Business, History, Economics, Finance

363 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Rick Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am interested in Tamil Nadu. I took this book to understand about my own story, my people's story.

This book gives me tools to explore sociology, business, social struggle of a community in Tamil Nadu. Rather than going into depth about each community, I would ask the reader to explore it by themselves.

I appreciated the references and case studies at the end of each chapter.

I think, it's important to write down history of each communities. Most history is orally transmitted and confines within a family. It helps outsiders to understand, story of each community. I am more familiar with Tamil Nadu.

I would recommend this to any reader who is interested in Caste, Business, India, History.

Deus Vult,
Gottfried

[Rama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an informative book regarding the rise of capitalist classes in India within traditionally non-business castes over time against the background of the business orientation of the Parsis/Gujarati Banias/Jains/Sindhis (Lohanas et al.)/Bhatias. While it is the shop-to-industry route for the Banias, it is urban employment-to-entrepreneurship for the upper castes (Tamil Brahmins, Kayasthas, Bengali bhadralok), peasantry-to-entrepreneurship for the Kammas, Reddys, Kapus and Rajus in Andhra Pradesh/Gounders and Naidus in TN and peasantry-to-cooperative initiatives in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The book takes time to cover upward social mobility within low ranked chaturvarna or high ranked avarna castes (whichever way one looks at it) such as Nadars (TN) and Ezhavas (Kerala). Further, the lack of sufficient Indian industry initiatives from within the capitalist farmer castes such as the Jats in Punjab and Haryana is explored. The author points out the initiatives existing outside India from within the community and theorizes that the Indian conditions (wide Bania web serving as a deterrent) were/are not suitable for the Jats. Also, Syrian Christians and Muslims are touched upon towards the end.

The conclusion is quite brief and incomplete. Here, the absence of real Dalit entrepreneurship is lamented, but the rise of regional caste-based players such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is associated with a lot of prospects.

The author has done a lot of research and interviewing to go along with it. To his credit (aided by his obviously advantageous background), South India has received deserved coverage within the confines of the book. In North India, there is a lot of resistance to affirmative action/positive discrimination/reservation, whereas the aforementioned is accepted as constituting reality within the South (and the West, to an extent). Moreover, according to the author, there has been a "vaishya vacuum" in the South, with Chettiar capital, for example, having been directed to intrigues abroad in the days of yore. This has made it easier for non-traditional castes to fill said "vacuum." In the North, it has always been the ubiquitous Bania.

Despite all this, the analyses throughout are a bit lightweight, and the writing/editing leaves a lot to be desired. The author gets into "case studies" at the end of each chapter; as the "case studies" contain mere facts and numbers and no analyses, they constitute a waste of pages.

Recommended, but could have been better!

[Ravish Tiwari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A racy read that traces the emergence of the new business class from among different social communities across different parts of India. Suggested read if one wants to understand the antecedents of many of the post-colonial business class.

[VJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book brings out the history of businesses categorised based on caste and region in India. Although the book has all the ingredients, it is hard to navigate through, read, retain, assimilate and think through after you read each page. The book needs more editing, strucuring it in a way that it is readable.

[Akash Premkumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Weekend spent well :) This is my 1st book in "Understanding Capitalism" Shelf. This book explores about different business communities throughout the passage of time.

Thanks for the recommendation
@ask_at_SHR
🫡

#Books

[Sudipt Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

First-rate research combined with superb writing makes this book a joyful as well as insightful read. This book expanded my understanding of the Indian business environment. Worth re-reading.

[Joyjeet Maity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insights into the business community of India and how they have helped shape the business ecosystem in the country. Recommended for everyone who are inclined towards doing business in India

[Surabhi Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harish Damodaran in his new book provides a comprehensive and engaging account of the emergence of the business class from communities whose traditional occupation was not commerce. In India, industry, trade, finance and big and small business alike have been dominated by "traditional" mercantile communities.- vaishya groups like baniyas in North India and Chettiars in the South, the Marwaris and communities like Parsis which began to specialise in business activities under colonial rule. Damodarans account portrays how this monopoly eventually withered away, beginning in the late colonial period and accelerated after independence, as members of a range of dominant agricultural castes like the kammas of Andhra Pradesh , patidars in Gujarat and Gounders in Tamil Nadu etc became prominent in different sectors of industry. He shows this emergence of the "new capitalist" and how business activity and trade and capital tend to concentrate on particular social groups. He further delves into how state and capital has had an unhealthy relationship (crony capitalism) with caste affiliations concentrating the capital within few communities. The fact that several powerful politicians have emerged from the new capitalist class underscores the need to contextualize this transformation within a wider political-economic framework.

[Murali Podile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book that deals with the context which enabled various communities to exercise their entrepreneurial spirit.There are very few of such books that go into the economic history and industrial evolution of India.

[ಸುನೀಲ್ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anybody interested in knowing the way Indian business emerged and the influence of caste in business, this is the one.

[Avinash Kamath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book, contains a good index of industries on a caste basis.