If one emphasizes the influx of American precious metals, one can say that, to some extent, the commercial activities in Europe throughout the 16th century were subject to the rhythm of the amount of trade between Seville and Spanish America. An upward trend of the volume of this trade (tonnage) is cut off by a depression at the middle of the 16th century. Hamilton's curve of the importation of American precious metals to Spain shows the depression from 1556 to 1560. On the ascending price movement in Spain, the period from 1550 to 1560 constitutes a landing. The price indices in France also mark a depression from the latter half of the fifteen-forties to the fifteen-fifties, and it corresponds almost exactly to the sluggish coinage of this period. At the same time, the bankruptcy of the Habsbourgs and the French monarchy dragged many merchants including the Fuggers into the trouble. What influence did this financial crisis of 1557-1559 have on the French economy? The judgements are opposed among Doucet, Hauser and Mousnier. Meanwhile, the trade activities at the ports of the Atlantic coast (La Rochelle, Nantes and Bordeaux) did not slacken in this period. When the state was seriously exhausted, these ports were in full activity. How is it that these ports did not share the financial crisis with the state and rather met a rush of trade? We think this is due to the following : firstly, those engaged in the commercial activity were small merchants (Nantes); and secondly, the merchants enjoyed the practically perfect right of duty-free (La Rochelle). For these reasons, the trade activities at the Atlantic ports were relatively kept apart from the sovereign powers and they did not share the trouble with the state. In addition, the following fact is more important. About the middle of the 16th century there occurred a conjunctural change in French monetary structure, which affected the region of the Atlantic coast more markedly than other regions. As the change took place earlier there, the silver coinage was growing rapidly instead of gold, which was insufficient or almost disappeared, in many cities of the Atlantic coast in the latter half of the fifeen-fifies. Consequently, these Atlantic ports suffered less from the monetary famine.

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This article is an attempt at assessing the impact of foreign trade on the economic and political conditions of India during the two centuries, and especially in the 17th century on the basis of certain modern and recent works. First of all we point out that India producing precious metals in no significant amount had to import them for the exchange with her specialities and monetary economy was developed since ancient period and more especially during the 17th century. Then we estimate that roughly 25% to 38% of gross produce of peasants was constantly exchanged into money as the revenue to the Mughal authorities, and that 70% to 90% of the state revenue was assigned to bureaucrats in jagir, which thanks to the established monetary system could be frequently transferred from a place to another. Next we point out that the annual output of silver currency was increased by two or three times during the 17th century due to the increasing inflow of silver bullions from abroad, and the prices of agrarian commodities also rose at the similar rates. The expansion of foreign trade naturally caused the development of domestic commerce in India, which was further fostered by the existence of indigenous merchant communities or castes. They facilitated the movement of goods and money between distant places, and government officials, jagirdars and European merchants also availed themselves of the indigenous banking. Many of the indigeilous merchants were engaged not only in putting-out system of production. The Dutch Company organized some dozens of local merchants into a joint stock company at the Colomandel coast to supply it with cotton cloths, and other local merchants followed the model in the second half of the 17th century. Thirdly we pay attention to handicraft industry and agriculture. Most of the spinning and some part of coarse weaving was carried out by the peasants as their side work. Besides, most of the professional artisans seem to have been independent producers. But many others were under the putting-out system of merchants. But the model of Manufacture system was there in the form of state factory (karkhana). Moreover the Dutch Company collected a number of weavers and dyers in their factory at Colomandel in the early 17th century and organized a Manufacture. And this mode of production seems to have spread rapidly into the inland centres of production as suggested by the 19th century evidences. Among the peasants, too, there was developed a distinction between land owners and tenants, or rich and poor peasants, despite that there was abundant cultivable waste land there. Whereas poor peasants had no economic strength to carry out independent farming, the rich peasants may have tended to produce cash crops, by actively responding to the market situation of their region. Finally regarding the impact of foreign trade on Indian politics we may point out two aspects. Firstly the developed monetary system fostered by constant inflow of precious metals was the basis of the centralized bureaucratic system of administration in the Mughal Empire. Secondly, however, the same developed monetary economy did contribute to the decline of the Mughals Empire : the Marathas, that struck the fatal blow against the Mughals, Looted an enormous amount of wealth from the rich merchants at Surat and were thus unintendedly supported by the commercial wealth in their fight against the Empire. Moreover, the relation between the master and retainers among the Mughal nobility was extremely frail once the master became personally weak. It was not firmly based on any principle of contract or strong sentimental bond, but more on personal gains of power and wealth by the subordinates. This pecuniary human relations among the nobility may have also been fostered by the too early and widely developed monetary economy, which was maintained by the expanding foreign trade.

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