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BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE
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HISTORY OF TRADE.
Under the rule of the Gonds, Chandrapur was an important trade centre, and it is said that produce used to come to it from the country to the south to a distance of nearly 250 miles. After the Maratha conquest, is importance declined as it no longer lay on the main route of traffic. Till 1868. foreign goods came to Chandrapur chiefly by the Amravati route, but the internal commerce in country produce with Nagpur and Wardha continued to be important. In 1877 the railway was extended to Warora. which thereupon assumed a paramount position as the main gate of the district which it held unchallenged for the next thirty years. Until 1861, trade suffered from a transit duty, which brought in a revenue to Government of more than half a lakh annually. The chief obstacles to trade at the time of the first settlement were the Hyderabad transit duty, which was at that time exacted from all goods crossing the frontiers save gram imports with a rigour previously unknown, and the inland customs line established in 1865. This line traversed the district longitudinally from north to south in the west, and from south to north in the centre of the district, and created a series of bewildering jurisdictions, the annoyance being aggravated by the fact that the line lay alone, not across, the main routes of traffic. The customs line which practically killed the trade in salt was abolished in 1874, but the Hyderabad transit duty discouraged exports from that quarter.
Under Bhosle's rule Chandrapur was an important commercial centre, next to Nagpur. During Vyankoji Bhosle's reign it was
chiefly noted for considerable trade and industry. Merchandis
consisting of cocoanuts, betel-nuts and salt were first brought to
Chandrapur from the south before they were sent to Nagpur
In return cotton and cotton cloth were exported in bulk. During
that time Chandrapur was inhabited by a large number of
weavers most of whom were engaged in the manufacture of
cloth and its export outside Chandrapur. Vairagad was another
important trade centre towards the close of the last century. In
his travel account Captain Blunt remarks that it was a big town
visited by hordes after hordes of Lamanis from Chhatisgad and Northern Circar. They used to bring large quantities of cotton
from Nagpur and Vidarbha and sell it to the merchants in
Northern Circar. From south they used to bring with them
betel-nuts, cocoanuts and salt and do a good business.
Since the turn of the last century the trade in Chandrapur district has greatly increased due firstly to World Wars and secondly to facilities it has enjoyed after Independence. The establishment of banks and improvement in communications and transport have further increased the volume of and scope of trade, internal as well as external. By 1965 almost every village, except the smallest had one or more shops providing day-to-day requirements including grains, salt, oil, chillis, sugar, spices, soap, tea, tobacco, betel-nuts etc. Besides, there were number of weekly markets or bazars which served chiefly as distributing centres. Pedlars and hawkers, too, played their significant role in boosting trade from place to place.
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