BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE

WEEKLY MARKETS

Weekly Markets: The weekly market is a meeting together of people at a particular time and place on a particular conventional day for the purpose of traffic by private purchase and sale, and usually not by auction. The description of the weekly markets as given in the old Akola District Gazetteer published in the year 1910 is reproduced below [Central Provinces and Berar District Gazetteers, Akola District, 1910, pages 213-15.]:—

"The Berar Gazetteer of 1870, p. 234, says following in reference to weekly markets in Akola District: 'The weekly markets have tided over heavy tolls and duties, to which the traders were liable at every village on their line of route, in default of a certain protection by the patel of the market village to which they happened to be bound. In order to start a weekly market the patel of the village had to make valuable presents to the traders who attended the inaugurative gathering. The annual fairs (jatras), as they intervene, attract all the traders within wide circles, and are visited by crowds from tong distances. Fairs usually have a religious origin. Both the markets and fairs suffered from the dangers attending transport of goods before British rule; since then they have recovered, and far exceed what they ever were be fore, even according to local tradition.' Small weekly gatherings which are markets in their nature are held in many villages; no official account is taken of them unless the right of collecting dues (at certain fixed rates) can be sold for Rs. 100 or more; if the bazar reaches this degree of importance the right of collection is sold by public auction, and one of the local bodies, receiving the sale-price, makes various provisions for the bazar-building stalls, digging a well, planting trees, or attaching a sweeper to the village as occasion requires. The weekly markets of the four municipal towns are in the hands of the local municipalities and are all of some importance. Including these and the bazars at jagir villages of Malegaon in Basim taluk and Umarda in Murtizapur, the total number of weekly markets in the District is 75, of which Mangrul taluk contains 9 and Murtizapur 10, and all the other taluks have 13 or 14 apiece. The selling price of the Akola market for the present year, 1909, was Rs. 2,900. Among the village bazars there were 9 which sold for over Rs. 1,000 each, Rajanda and Borgaon in Akola taluk, Mundgaon (Rs. 4,755), Malegaon (Rs. 4000), Asegaon, and Akoli jagir in Akot, Balapur (Rs. 2,275) and Murtizapur (Rs. 3,150) in the taluks to which they give their names, and Shelu bazar in Mangrul. (The exact price has been given whenever it exceeded Rs 2,000;. Thus Akot taluk, which has many wealthy Villages remote from the railway, has by far the most important bazars, its revenue from this source, Rs. 15,500 (excluding municipal bazars), being more than double that of any other taluk; Basim in fact only provides Rs. 3,000 and Mangrul Rs. 4,000. Basim appears to be outside the busier circles of bazar trade, while the north of Mangrul, where Shelu bazar fetched Rs. 1,500, barely falls within them. Every village in the flatter parts is within reach of a different bazar for almost every day of the week, though of ail these a single one would be preferred above the remainder. A number of traders make their living by visiting six or seven important bazars every week, carrying their goods in carts or on ponies. Almost anywhere within six or eight miles of bazar like Malegaon in Akot taluk on the morning after bazar day such traders keep passing singly or in little strings, while on the day itself the chief roads close to the village are hidden in clouds of dust. A bazar village used to be marked by a high while flag, but this is not always noticeable now. A large bazar is a busy sight, but it is very difficult to get reliable figures of the attendance or sales. The chief articles sold are firstly, all kinds of grain; secondly, such groceries as salt, oil, and Indian and other sugar; thirdly, various articles of clothing; fourthly, cattle; and fifthly a large number of miscellaneous articles, such as, pots and pans, cotton-seed, vegetables, betel-leaves, and timber. People who have received payment in kind may exchange their cotton or jawari for other goods. Money-changers attend almost all bazars. Bi-weekly markets are held only at Akot, Basim, and Borgaon; the bazar at Umarda atone lasts for two days."

The 1931 Census Report of Central Provinces and Berar vividly describes the Market village in the following words:

"The bazar village corresponded and still corresponds in many respects, though on a smaller and more primitive scale, with the small market town in rural areas in England. A large village with a weekly or bi-weekly bazar will be found all over the province at distances of 5 to 10 miles, serving the surrounding villages. Go through any of those surrounding villages in the afternoon of the bazar day, and you will find it practically deserted. But if you proceed on to the bazar village, you will find all the country-side collected. Many of these village bazars are now under the management of the district council, who arrange for the sanitation and have often constructed chabutras or raised platforms for stalls, some-times covered in to keep off the sun and rain and make charges in return for the use of these sites for stalls. Here will sit, with their wares spread out before them, the purveyors of all those commodities required in rural life. The local Kachis or market gardeners will be there with their onions, pumpkins, metons, vegetables etc. There will be the grocers with their salt condiments, haldi (turmeric), etc., and the oil-sellers with sweet oil and the coarse red kerosene oil which is now used for lighting, and which is purchased by the bottle. There will be the weavers with the home-made saries and dhoties, etc., while now-a-days there may be some mill-made cloth imported from outside. There will be stalls for the sale of glass bangles, cheap anklets and bracelets of silver alloy, combs and cheap hand looking-glasses, etc., so popular now-a-days. There will be some leather workers with the gaily decorated country shoes; and some sellers of country tobacco and pan, etc., etc. Cartwheels, carved doors, whips, leather thongs, rope, etc., and numerous other articles will be for sale here, all of local manufacture. To many of these bazars the small cultivators still take small quantities of grain which they sell retail and with the proceeds make their petty purchases. The larger bazars may also have risen to the rank of cattle markets and here cattle, young and old, will be brought for sale to cultivators who require them, or in some tracts, to the Kasai (butcher) for slaughter, although in many tracts Hindu sentiment is proving too strong for this latter class. Sometimes the local bazar is also a grain market, where dealers come for purchase and wholesale export to the rail head. Sometimes ghee also may be purchased for export in the same way. To the bazar nearly every one will go, sometimes from considerable distances, in their country carts or damnis. The womenfolk particularly will be there in large numbers, often decked out in their best clothes. They go not always to make purchases, but here they meet their friends, wander about and hear the latest gossip of the country side, and enjoy the weekly outing. In fact with the exception of occasional visits to the large religious fairs the weekly visit to the bazar village is one of the few outings which occur to break the monotony of village life. In the tracts more cut off from the towns grain is still the chief medium of exchange and the supply of money required for implementing the exchange of commodities at some of these bazars is sometimes surprisingly small. But the money changer, who changes silver into copper coins for a small charge, will still usually be found. Some of these petty tradesmen reside in the bazar village if it is a big one, but now-a-days, with improved communications, there are numerous petty grocers or hawkers who travel round to the various small bazars selling their wares and often purchasing small quantities of ghee and grain in exchange. Thus the needs of the villager, food grain, clothing, cattle, etc., were, and still can be, met in or near his village in the countryside."

The above description of a village market given some forty years ago holds good even now.

A considerable amount of retail trade is carried on even at present in the weekly markets. "These bazars as well as the street markets in the villages provide an easy access to the agriculturists for contacting the prospective buyers. It is estimated that approximately a third of the total agricultural output is sold in these markets." [ Report of the Expert Committee on the Review of the Bombay Agricultural Produce Market Art, 1939, para 80.]

At such bazars sales are made directly to the purchasers on cash basis. Besides local traders, agents of outside merchants especially from Amravati, Yeotmal and Nagpur and pedlars in the district put up their temporary booths at the market place on the bazar day. Agricultural produce, cattle and articles of domestic requirements are brought for sale.

The important commodities transacted in these markets are agricultural commodities produced in the respective areas. The quantity of agricultural produce handled in these markets varies with the season. In addition to foodgrains, oil-seeds, pulses, gur (unrefined sugar), tobacco, vegetables, fruits, etc., are also sold. Besides live-stock and live-stock products like ghee, butter, eggs, poultry, hides and skins are also handled in some of the periodical markets. Apart from agricultural produce other articles, such as, ctoth, salt, spices, oils, metallic vessels, bangles, sarees and khans, brooms, ropes, shoes and fodder are also sold.

Attendance in various weekly markets varies from hundred persons to several thousands depending upon the importance of the market place. Agriculturists attending the periodical markets are from the locality or from the neighbouring villages or towns.

Every village, where a bazar is held has its separate market place. The local authorities collect cess and stall fees from the traders and provide facilities for the upkeep of the bazar including arrangement of water supply, provision of otas for stocking goods and so on.

The largest number of weekly markets found in the district is 51 in Murtizapur tahsil followed by Akola tahsil with 45. There are only eight cattle markets in the district. There are, at present, 216 weekly markets in the district. The biggest weekly market attended by about 8000 persons is in Washim tahsil. The following statement gives the total number of weekly markets and cattle markets in each tahsil in Akola district.

TOP