Marwari Merchant Networks and Bengal's Forgotten Coffee Trade
Marwari Merchant Networks and Bengal’s Forgotten Coffee Trade When we talk about Bengal’s colonial trade, certain commodities dominate the story: jute, indigo, opium, and later, tea. Coffee rarely makes the list. Yet by the 18th and 19th centuries, coffee was arriving in Calcutta and Dhaka as an imported luxury, moving through the same merchant networks that handled silk, salt, and piece-goods. Among those networks, Marwari merchants played a crucial but underexamined role.[1] Who were the Marwaris in Bengal? Marwaris merchant communities from Rajasthan began migrating into eastern India in significant numbers from the mid-19th century onward. By 1911, Calcutta alone had around 15,000 Marwaris, with tens of thousands more across Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. They started as small traders and moneylenders, then built some of eastern India’s first large Indian-owned companies.[2][3] Their strength lay in: - Kinship-based credit: Trust, family reputation, and communi...
