01256    a2200145   4500020001800000082002100018100001800039245003000057260004000087300001200127504001800139520088400157650004601041700002301087  a9780199486687  a380.10954bBAG-M  aBagchi, Amiya  aMerchants and Colonialism  bOxford University Press aUSAc2019  a160, pp  aInclude Index  aMerchants and Colonialism is part of the Occasional Papers series circulated by the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata. Amiya Bagchi provides a historiographic account of the traditional role of merchants in pre colonial India and identifies how these roles were different from the role of the capitalist in post-colonial India. In general, the behaviour of merchants in precapitalist societies was, according to Bagchi, widely different from that of capitalists in developed capitalist societies. In developed capitalist societies, capitalists, generally with state support, played a very important part in modifying techniques of production and seeking ways of expanding their markets. By contrast, the pace of modification of techniques of production was slower in precapitalist societies and owners of capital did not play a significant role in such modification.  aMerchantsvColonialismvIndustrial policy  aChaudhuri, Rosinka