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The paper analyses the composition, social organization and wide range of activities of the Indian maritime merchant of the early modern period. Regional contrasts between Gujarat, the Coromandel coast and Bengal are discussed. The last section of the paper discusses the interaction between the Indian maritime merchants and the Europeans, both the corporate enterprises as well as private traders. It is argued that the Indian merchants displayed a remarkable degree of adaptiveness and resilience and refused to be overwhelmed by the competition provided by the Europeans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]