Book Review: The Marwari Heritag

Book: The Marwari Heritag

Author: Dr DK Taknet

Publisher: IIME 

Pages: 511

Rs: 12,000 

"The government makes you a promise. You may settle here fearlessly and confidently and start your trade in food grains, cloth, provisions and all other commodities. Make this region your home. The state will look after you in every way. Allah tala (God Almighty) willing, nobody will create any trouble for you without any reason. If anybody harasses you, the administration will take action in your support."

Unimaginable in today's era of modern business machinations, this was the invitation that the Nizam of Hyderabad extended to the Marwaris back in the day when he wanted them to settle in his kingdom. Not that much testimony is required for the community's skill in driving trade and commerce, the words on the Nizam's kaulnama are testament of the extent to which the Marwaris were wooed even back then.

This and other nuggets about the Marwari community — not restricted to their business acumen — are compiled in the coffee table book The Marwari Heritage. Printed on 511 pages of matte art paper, this weighty tome is a narrative of the history of the Marwari community, the beginnings of its migration from the state of Rajputana, the chronicles of its contribution to India's freedom struggle and its astronomic growth in the post-independence era as well as the story of the community's philanthropic efforts.

The book is laced with old maps, beautiful paintings, colourful illustrations and rare and recent photographs. Compiled over five years of painstaking research, the venture saw Dr DK Taknet and his team conduct interviews with more than 8,000 people and pore over reams of text in journals, newspapers, personal diaries and even account ledgers — the cumulative result of which is the richly pieced narrative of family histories and an extraordinary glimpse into generations of Marwari empires. For every story of the Khaitans, the Birlas and the Mittals, there are equally compelling tales of opium speculator Sir Sarupchand Hukamchand, who transacted business worth Rs50 lakh on the very first day when he opened his Calcutta office in 1915; of aristocrat-philanthropist Seth Dulichand of Chirawa who used his wealth to build schools, hospitals and temples, and many others of their ilk.

A chapter on the Marwaris' role in India's freedom struggle is a treasure trove. It highlights and reinforces the financial contribution of wealthy Marwaris in backing national leaders but also documents little-known tales of Marwaris supporting and partaking in revolutionary activities, such as the 1911 attempt to assassinate the then Viceroy of India Lord Hardinge, or the 1914 Roda Scandal in which many young Marwaris were arrested for trying to smuggle out 50 pistols and 46,000 cartridges imported by Marwari firearms firm RB Roda Company from the Calcutta port.

The section (not a chapter) on Marwari women candidly states the dichotomy of the community's women. Without mincing words on the role that Marwari women play, the book states: "While they usually held the keys to the tijori (the safe) and advised their husbands on risky business acquisitions, they had no say in their own development or independence." It then narrates the contributions made by Marwari women such as Jankidevi Bajaj, Padma Binani, Rajashree Birla, Promila Saraf, and many more from the current generation of Marwari achievers.

Much of the latter part of the book talks about the generations of charity work done by some of India's well known Marwari clans, such as the Birlas, the Bajajs, the Poddars and others, and that of upcoming 'visionaries and pioneers'.

In true academic rigour, the author has encapsulated the noteworthy events in the community's history in a truncated timeline, listed the names and business interests of Marwari firms from 1750-1940, stated the names of 'outstanding' Marwaris and provided a list of proverbs and sayings — presumably for the benefit of non-Marwari readers.

There is no doubt that the coffee table book is an extensively sourced and a richly produced addition to the increasing body of literature on the Marwari community, but a lot of its focus on what the community has done (by contributing to the freedom struggle, fought for social rights) and achieved (pioneers of business and given birth to strategists and leaders) has resulted in an excessive focus on the community's book-keeping abilities. One assumes this would be an easy trap to fall into when undertaking an endeavour that examines the history of the Marwaris, and while Marwaris themselves are unlikely to object to such a narrative, the non-Marwari readers might find the stress on bahi (account) keepers a tad repetitive. As a married-into-the-Marwari community breed of reader, I was equally hoping to devour pages on the Marwari 'heritage' of costumes, traditions, folk rituals, food and a lot more — much of which is glaringly amiss. Nevertheless, if you like your dal-batti-churma dripping with ghee, The Marwari Heritage will be a valuable addition to your table.