Trade and Commerce in Medieval Bengal

Abstract

Bengal's medieval period, from roughly 1200 to 1757, witnessed an extraordinary expansion of trade and commerce, driven by its fertile river systems, abundant agricultural surplus, and strategic location on the Bay of Bengal. Under the Bengal Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire, Bengal became one of the wealthiest provinces of the Indian subcontinent. Its ports – Chittagong, Saptagram, and Hugli – connected it to Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, and Europe. Bengal was a global supplier of fine cotton muslins, raw silk, rice, sugar, and saltpetre. This paper traces the evolution of Bengal's trade networks, the role of merchant communities both indigenous and foreign, including Armenians, Portuguese, Dutch, and English, the impact of European trading companies, and the commercial integration of Bengal into the world economy. It argues that Bengal's medieval prosperity was not solely a product of Mughal revenue extraction but was rooted in a vibrant, indigenous commercial culture that persisted until the colonial transformation of the eighteenth century. The paper also examines the financial systems, shipbuilding industry, and urban commercial centres that sustained this trade.