Globalization Before Its Time: The Gujarati Merchants from Kachchh

The book explores how merchants from Kachchh used Gujarat's long tradition of maritime trade to expand into international markets. Their entrepreneurial spirit, ability to create new markets and willingness to take risks made them early practitioners of globalization.

Chhaya Goswami is an independent scholar specializing in the maritime history of the western Indian Ocean. She has researched Kachchhi traders and their commercial networks, particularly their activities around the Gulf of Kachchh, Muscat and Zanzibar.

The book traces the rise of Kachchhi merchants during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It describes their trade in pearls, dates, spices and ivory, their connections with ports such as Muscat and Zanzibar, and their ability to identify and develop new markets. By examining their business practices and risk-taking approach, the book shows how these merchants displayed many characteristics of modern global entrepreneurs long before the age of globalization