In the nineteenth century, a tiny community from the deserts of Rajasthan spread out to every corner of India. The Marwaris controlled much of the country s inland trade by the time of the First World War. They then turned their hand to industry and, by the 1970s, owned most of India s private industrial assets. Today, Marwari businessmen account for a quarter of the Indian names on the Forbes billionaires list. What makes the Marwaris so successful? Is it their indomitable enterprise, or their incredible appetite for risk? In this new book, Thomas Timberg shows how the Marwaris rely on a centuries-old system for conserving and growing capital which has stood them in good stead, alongside a strong sense of business ethics which has earned them respect. Family businesses in general and the Marwaris in particular might have a vital role to play in shaping India s economic future.

The Marwaris: From Jagat Seth to the Birlas

Business & Money

Gurcharan Das (Intro.)

Thomas A. Timberg

Economics

Penguin/Portfolio

The Mouse Merchant: Money In Ancient India

Literature & Fiction

Arshia Sattar

Dramas & Plays

The story of corporate India is linked to managing agencies, an organizational form dominant in the subcontinent from 1875 until its abolition in 1970 that allowed entrepreneurs to promote diverse companies while exercising disproportionate control over cash flows. This is the definitive economic history of Indian companies through the lens of managing agencies, whether controlled by goras or desis.

Goras and Desis: Managing Agencies and the Making of Corporate India

Omkar Goswami

Biography & History

Caravans tells 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 and moneylending ventures. Caravans challenges the belief that the rising tide of European trade in the Indian Ocean usurped the overland Silk Road trade, and demonstrates how thousands of Punjabis created a booming market in Central Asia at precisely this historical moment.

Caravans: Punjabi Khatri Merchants On the Silk Road

Scott C. Levi

This book is a definitive introduction to the classic text, the Arthashastra, the world s first manual on political economy. The 2000-year-old treatise is ascribed to Kautilya, the prime minister of King Chandragupta Maurya, and is as important to Indian thought as Machiavelli s The Prince is to Europe. Arthashastra, or the science of wealth , is a study of economic enterprise, and advises the king entrepreneur on how to create prosperity. Thomas Trautmann s exploration of this seminal work illuminates its underlying economic philosophy and provides invaluable lessons for the modern age.

Arthashastra: The Science of Wealth

Thomas R.Trautmann

Three Merchants of Bombay is the story of three intrepid merchants who traded out of Bombay in the nineteenth century Tarwady Arjunjee, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Premchand Roychand founding pioneering business empires based on trade in cotton and opium. Set against the backdrop of global and local economies undergoing rapid and unforeseen change, these stories stand as a microcosm for the history of indigenous capitalism in western India. In this succinct and lucid account, Lakshmi Subramanian traces that history and locates it in the greater narrative of the economic development of India, South Asia and the world.

Three Merchants of Bombay: Business Pioneers of the Nineteenth Century

Lakshmi Subramanian

The fascinating story of the network that made modern India The railways brought modernity to India. Its vast network connected the far corners of the subcontinent, making travel, communication and commerce simpler than ever before. Even more importantly, the railways played a large part in the making of the nation: by connecting historically and geographically disparate regions and people, it forever changed the way Indians lived and thought, and eventually made a national identity possible. This engagingly written, anecdotally told history captures the immense power of a business behemoth as well as the romance of train travel; tracing the growth of the railways from the 1830s (when the first plans were made) to Independence, Bibek Debroy and his co-authors recount how the railway network was built in India and how it grew to become a lifeline that still weaves the nation together. This latest volume in The Story of Indian Business series will delight anyone interested in finding out more about the Indian Railways.

Indian Railways: The Weaving of a National Tapestry

BIBEK DEBROY

Sanjay Chadha

Vidya Krishnamurthi

Why did Harsh Mariwala leave his family business? What made the entire Dabur management to quit one day? How did Dhingra brothers turn a suffering business in to India s second largest paints company? This is a fascinating behind the scenes look into what goes behind brands like Marico, Dabar, Keventers, Berger Paints, Select Group, Max Group and many others. The book focuses on the culture, family politics, business rivalries between and within families, ego battles and a lot more. Plus there are the inheritors themselves who sometimes take the business to great heights and during others, lead to its doom.

The Inheritors: Stories of Enduring Success and Innovation

Sonu Bhasin

The Tip of the Iceberg: The Unknown Truth Behind India's Start-Ups

Suveen Sinha

When we talk about great business empires, we often talk about the first generation entrepreneurs who found businesses or the third generation, which is commonly associated with the disintegration of family businesses. The consolidators are second-generation entrepreneurs who tend to be the most interesting and the ones who make or break a business. In this highly original book, Prince takes us through the stories of seven super successful second-generation entrepreneurs who showed imagination, gumption and foresight in turning around the companies they inherited from their fathers. Inspiring and revealing, these stories will propel you to dream big and show you how you can take your business to the next level.

The Consolidators

Paranjoy Guja Thakurta

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