Question

What made the City of Masulipatnam populous and prosperous?

Answer 1

Hint: Masulipatnam literally means the Fish Port town. The port towns have their own significance under the rule of the Dutch, the Portuguese, and then the British.

Complete answer:
Masulipatnam was located in the Krishna River Delta, Andhra Pradesh. This port town was built by Dutch. The main reason for the city’s popularity and prosperity was the imposition created on the sale of textiles and spices by the Qutb-Shahi rulers of Golconda, to prevent the trade from falling into the hands of the British East India Company.
This imposition gave rise to immense competition within the other trading groups such as the Persian Merchants, Golconda Nobles, Telugu Komati Chettis along the European traders. Prior to this competition, Masulipatnam was a poor fisher town. When it started being used as the hotspot for the trade of textiles, spices, and other items, the infrastructures (such as roads) were improvingly built. Consequently, this led to the semi-permanent settlement of the merchants in the city.


Note:When Mughals started extending their territorial power to Golconda, they played the Dutch and the English against each other. Subsequently, Aurangzeb occupied Golconda in 1686-87. Due to this conquest, the English East Indian Company started looking for other places. It was a part of the English East India Company's new strategy that if a port had only ties with the manufacturing centers of the hinterland, it was not enough. It was thought that the new business centers of the group should incorporate strategic, managerial, and commercial functions. Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta became the important hotspots for trade. This led to towns like Masulipatnam to lose its glory and popularity.