During the past two deca¬des there has been a greater emphasis on the in-depth study of ‘regional history’. It has been observed that the general tendencies in history apparently found over a vast geo-political reality take differ¬ent forms in diverse situations. Like most other regions, Gujarat assumes some peculiar features which are reflected throughout its history. Being a coastal area, it has been open to the outer world for centuries—mainly for merc¬antile transactions. The rich alluvial and black soils of Gujarat possessed tremendous potentiality for the growth of cash crops leading to the commercialization of agricul¬ture, which in fact did take place on a large scale during the 17th century. Backed by the surplus agricultural pro¬duction the mercantile acti¬vities helped in the develop¬ment of a ‘commercial’ or business culture’. Never com¬pletely under the political sub¬jugation of any imperial power, including the Mughals and the British, the Gujarati people retained the norms and forms of their traditional society, though the process of borrowing from other cul¬tures was a concomitant deve¬lopment .
January 1983, volume 8, No 4