Handicraft Trade of Kashmir during the Mughal period

Abstract

With the establishment of Mughal rule, Kashmir became the famous centre of handicraft production. The Mughal rulers maintained trade routes, constructed bridges and serais and thus promoted to a great extent, the export of handicrafts in the Mughal suba of Kashmir. The handicrafts were exported to every part of India and its neighbouring countries. South India also emerged as the great marketing centre of Kashmir handicrafts and thus in return Kashmir earned huge profits. The present paper deals with the ways how Kashmir handicrafts were exported. For instance, what were the routes through which these handicrafts were exported, why the people from different parts of India and its neighbouring countries had the craze of the handicrafts of Kashmir and finally to what extent their export benefited the economy and culture of Kashmir.