The Flow of Silver

Source 8 — How silver came to India. An excerpt from Giovanni Careri's account (based on Bernier's), giving an idea of the wealth that flowed into the Mughal Empire (c. 1690):

That the Reader may form some idea of the Wealth of this (Mughal) Empire, he is to observe that all the Gold and Silver, which circulates throughout the World at last centres here. It is well known that as much of it comes out of America, after running through several Kingdoms of Europe, goes partly into Turky (Turkey) … and part into Persia … Now the Turks not being able to abstain from Coffee … nor Persia, Arabia, and the Turks themselves to go without the commodities of India, send vast quantities of Mony (money) to Moka (Mocha) … to Bassora (Basra) … which is afterwards sent over in Ships to Indostan (Hindustan) … the goods carry'd hence into Europe … are all purchas'd for ready Mony, which remains there. …

The figure shows both faces of a silver rupya coin minted under Akbar. On one side (the obverse) is the Islamic declaration of faith, the kalima, along with the names of the first four caliphs — a standard feature of Mughal coinage that asserted the emperor’s legitimacy as a Muslim ruler. On the reverse side is the name and title of the emperor himself, along with the mint name and the date of issue (in the Islamic Hijri calendar). The coin is round, struck in high-purity silver, and its design is calligraphic — no portrait or animal imagery appears, as was typical for Mughal coins.

This single coin is a window into the massive economic transformation described in the section. The rupya was the backbone of Mughal currency, and its widespread availability in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was not a natural accident. India had no significant silver mines of its own. Instead, as the textbook explains, silver from the New World (mined in Potosí, Mexico, and Japan) flowed across the globe — through Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Iran, and the Red Sea ports — and eventually into India to pay for textiles, spices, and other goods. The rupya in the figure is physical proof of that global trade network: it was minted from silver that had travelled thousands of kilometres before reaching Akbar’s mints. …

Figure 8.12 shows a silver rupya coin issued by Emperor Aurangzeb. On the obverse (front) is the emperor’s name and his imperial title, along with the date of minting in the Islamic calendar. The reverse carries the mint name — the city where the coin was struck — and a formula declaring the coin’s purity and weight, typically “struck at [mint name]” in Persian. The coin is round, made of high-purity silver, and its design follows the standard Mughal pattern established under Akbar.

This coin is not just a piece of metal. It is a direct piece of evidence for the argument the textbook makes in the section “The Flow of Silver.” The Mughal Empire, unlike China or the Safavids, had no domestic silver mines. Yet by the late 17th century, when Aurangzeb ruled, the empire was flooded with silver — most of it from the New World, via Europe, and then through the Ottoman and Safavid empires into India. That silver was melted down and reminted into rupya coins like this one. …

Figure 8.13 is a visual record of the kind of textile that was being produced in the Indian subcontinent specifically for sale to European buyers during the Mughal period. The image shows a piece of finished cloth, likely a length of fine cotton or silk, decorated with patterns that were popular in European markets — floral motifs, intricate borders, and possibly figures or scenes that appealed to foreign tastes. The fabric is finely woven and dyed, illustrating the high quality of Indian craftsmanship that made these textiles so sought after.

The figure does not show a map, a diagram of trade routes, or any arrows or labels indicating places or processes. It is simply a photograph or drawing of a single textile sample. The caption tells us that this is an example of the goods for which "the silver of the world was exchanged" — a direct reference to the global flow of silver bullion into India, as described in the textbook section. The textile itself is the physical evidence of that trade: a product made in India, exported to Europe, and paid for in silver. …

The painting shows a jeweller’s workshop in seventeenth-century Mughal India. In the centre, a master jeweller sits on a low stool, holding a pair of fine tweezers and examining a gemstone held up to the light. Around him, several assistants are at work: one is polishing a finished piece with a soft cloth, another is cutting a rough stone with a small file, and a third is weighing tiny pearls on a delicate balance scale. On a low table in front of the master lie scattered tools — small hammers, pliers, and shallow trays of loose gems and gold wire. A small furnace glows in one corner, with a crucible resting on it, and a young boy works a pair of bellows to keep the fire hot. The walls of the shop are lined with shelves displaying finished ornaments: necklaces, earrings, armlets, and turban ornaments, some studded with rubies and emeralds. Through an open doorway at the back, one can glimpse a courtyard where a merchant in a long coat and turban is examining a tray of jewellery held by an apprentice. …