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• W79481993 abstract "There were no complicated business arrangements. People trusted each other in those days. When you opened a shop, you would do your utmost to pay your creditors first.... To be insolvent was a stigma. Traders tried to help one another. They helped others to open a shop. They lent money to one another without interest, but by and large it was a stigma to borrow. For Muslim merchants to borrow on interest was unlawful.1 In this 1980 interview, the renowned journalist Faruqi Mehtar summarized popular notions among Muslims about Muslim trade and traders in Natal. Similar ideas are echoed today from mosque pulpits in South Africa by religious leaders who contrast the greed and materialism of present-day traders with the pristine habits of their predecessors. Given the difficulty with oral history, due partly to problems associated with memory, and the fact that certain myths are repeated so often that they are accepted without question,2 this article examines the veracity of these commonly held sentiments. Are they an idealization of the past or do they reflect reality? There have been several studies of traders in Natal during the colonial period.3 This paper variously augments earlier studies, challenges some conclusions, and increases our understanding of trade among Gujarati migrants. It is based on archival materials not previously examined in detail, including, in particular, the Estates of the Dead, a very rich source that included copies of last wills and testaments, complex business arrangements among traders, patterns of purchases, profit margins, and credit patterns. Other valuable sources included insolvent estates and court records. The life histories and business practices that emerge from these sources underscore the lived reality of Gujarati traders and deconstruct myths passed from generation to generation. It is well documented that settlement in colonial Natal originated with the importation of indentured workers from 1860 to work on sugar plantations and coal mines.4 These initial flows were supplemented from the early 1870s by migrants from Gujarat on the west coast of India. They were termed because they came of their own free will and expense, and were subject to the ordinary laws of the Colony.5 While passengers were numerically too small to alter the overall working-class character and low-income status of settlers, they aroused the ire of Whites as a result of their dominant role in social, political, and economic life. It was also because of the success of many traders that the image of the alien, affluent, and exploitative trader became ubiquitous. Many important aspects of the business lives of these Gujarati traders will be explored in this article, including their sources of commercial and economic information, the involvement of their extended families, their relationship with African clients, and their business structures and practices. This study is set within the broader economic and politico-institutional processes in colonial Natal that influenced the opportunity structures of immigrant enterprise. Gujarati Capitalists and Transnational Linkages Gujarati traders began arriving in Natal from the early 187Os. The first traders relocated from Mauritius because of better business opportunities, but subsequent migration was directly from Gujarat to Natal. They dominated Indian trade within a decade. The Wragg Commission of 1885 reported that Arabs were rapidly replacing ex-indentured Indians in retail trade in every part of the Colony.6 In a 1911 Dialogue between two friends, Udayshanker explained to Manharram: In this country, Muslims have a firm hold on business. They have gone everywhere except the Free State. Many of them have established big warehouses. They conduct wholesale business in a large scale with many countries. Even retailers are doing flourishing business. On the other hand, Hindus are mostly involved in fanning. …" @default.
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• W79481993 date "2005-09-01" @default.
• W79481993 modified "2023-09-28" @default.
• W79481993 title "Passengers, partnerships, and promissory notes : Gujarati traders in colonial Natal, 1870-1920" @default.
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