(a) The condition of Indian textiles before the age of machine industries was as given below:
(i) SiIk and cotton goods from India dominated the international market in textiles.
(ii) India produced finer varieties of cotton textiles that were taken to eastern Persia and central Asia on camel back via the north-west frontier, through mountain passes and across desert.
(iii) A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports i.e., Surat, Masuli-patam and Hoogly.
(b) Role played by the Indian merchants in the growth of textiles was as given below:
Different types of Indian merchants and bankers were involved in network of export trade i.e., financing, production, carrying goods and supplying exporters.
(ii) Supply merchants linked the port towns to the inland regions. They gave advances to weavers, procured the woven cloth from weaving villages and carried the supply to the ports.
(iii) At the port, the big shippers and export merchants had brokers who negotiated the price and bought goods from the supply merchants operating inland.