IN THE 18TH CENTURY, THERE WAS A PUNJABI TRADERS COLONY IN RUSSIA

                                                                

                                                                  

                                            (Photo.. Old Cathedral of Astrakhan, Russia)

 

 

IN THE 18th CENTURY, THERE WAS A PUNJABI TRADERS COLONY IN RUSSIA.

 

 Beyond any shade of doubt, like Marwaris and Gujaratis, Punjabi Khatris ( Kshatriyas ) have proved an equally enterprising community the world over. In the Indian subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantilistic professions such as banking and trade. They were the dominant commercial and financial administration class of late mediaeval India. In addition to trade and commerce, the Kshatriyas also played a very important role in the development of Indian political thought, penning key texts of political strategy such as the Arthashastra. 

 

The word Khatri in the Hindi and Punjabi language comes from the Sanskrit word "Kshatriya". "Khatri" and "Kshatriya" are synonymous. Several key figures in Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism were Kshatriyas, indicating the power and prestige that this group once held in ancient Indian society. The famous religious leaders Gautama Buddha and Sri Mahavira, Lord Rama and Lord Krishna all belonged to this social order. Most Khatris trace their lineage to Sri Rama or one of his brothers. Guru Nanak belonged to the Bedi clan of Kshatriyas. Other Sikh Gurus belonged to the Sodhi clan of Kshatriyas. The main clans of Kshatriyas in India are Suryavanshi, Chandravanshi, Agnivanshi, Nagavanshi and Yaduvanshi.

 

In a recently published book, “Caravans: Indian Merchants On The Silk Road”, we are informed about the fascinating story of countless Punjabi Khatri merchants who built great business empires through their ingenuity and spirit of adventure. Operating during the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, these merchants risked everything and travelled across Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iran and Russia. They used sophisticated techniques to convert a modest amount of merchandise into vast portfolios for trade ventures. The book also informs how thousands of Punjabis created a booming market in Central Asia and contributed to the economic and trade development in such far-flung areas . Many European travellers have noticed their movement on the Silk Route leading to Central Asia . A few travellers have also recorded having seen Punjabi travellers in Kashgar and Yarkand. Punjabi trader Banda Kapoor Chand was a very well-known name in Central Asia. Punjabi merchants and traders were largely involved in trade with Central Asia, China, Azerbaijan and as far as Russia and Ukraine. After a Jewish merchant gifted a Kashmiri Pashmina shawl to the Czar of Russia, the Punjabi traders started trading in these shawls in the Russian markets made the Pashmina shawls popular among Russia's elite. Many European traveller accounts inform us about Punjabi traders purchasing these shawls from Kashmiris in Leh and then carrying them to Russia. The Punjabi Khatris had set up a colony in Astrakhan, a beautiful city located in the southeast of the European part of Russia in the Caspian Lowland in the lower reaches of the Volga River.

 

Prussian zoologist Peter Simon Pallas who visited Astrakhan ( Russia ) in the first half of the 18th century writes this:- 

 

“ I attended with pleasure at the idolatrous worship place of the Indian merchants who reside together in the Indian court called the Indeiskoi Dvor. The temple included idols of Rama, Lakshmi and Hanuman, as well as three black stones brought from the Ganges and regarded by the Indians as sacred.” 

 

Dr W R Rishi writes this in Punjab Monitor:-

 

“At the beginning of the nineteenth century there existed an Indian colony in the Astrakhan region inhabited by traders and merchants from India, particularly from the Punjab. This is borne out by more than 600 manuscripts in about thirty languages of India and South Asia, now lying in the precious possessions of the Asian Museum at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This collection includes manuscripts of books dealing with varied subjects - there are handwritten copies of books on Hindi and Punjabi poetry, copies of Bhagwat Gita and Shri Guru Granth Sahib and copies of books in Hindi and Punjabi languages by Indian authors on Cosmography, Astronomy, Astrology and even on sex. There are copies of Bhagwat Gita and Gita Mahatmya which belonged to a Brahman from Lahore who died in Petersburg. There are 14 account books (Bahi-khata) including two empty ones in Landa language (the shorthand language used by the Munims (accounts clerks) of the Punjabi businessmen even now.”

 

Not a big surprise to know the presence of Punjabi Khatri traders in Gilgit, Astor, Kargil, Leh, Chilas, Bonji and into the length and breadth of Kashmir valley during the recent past for the promotion of trade and commerce. They have been in Kashmir since Afghan rule or maybe even earlier. Maharaja Ranbir Singh built a special market for their business at Maharaj Ganj, Srinagar. In Kashmir, they were pioneers in many fields like cloth trade, tea trade, photography, Mithai shops, trade in spices, trade in provisions, booksellers, hardware trade, hotel and restaurant business, goldsmithery, cosmetics and hosiery trade, fruit Ahratiya business and many other fields. Their contribution towards the development of trade and commerce in Kashmir is immense.The Khatris were addressed by the honorific title of Lala, Shah or Bakshi. Most of the  Khatris ( Kshatriyas ) of Kashmir , who are as good state subjects as any other Kashmiri, had also to move out after the eruption of Pakistan sponsored  armed insurgency in the Kashmir valley.

 

( Avtar Mota )

 

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