Marwari business discourse

The aim of this article is to analyse the patterns of the business discourse of the Marwari community, one of the most successful business communities in India. Two specific business contexts — of the dispute situation and non-dispute situation — have been examined across the pre-colonial, the colonial and post-colonial period to gauge the Marwari responses to social, cultural and political changes in the history of India. The Marwari culture is synonymous with their business ethos. Migration, religion and family are factors that contribute to their distinct identity as a business community. Various observations made by business historians about the community have been examined through the lenses of communication and discourse to highlight the distinguishing features of the Marwari business ethos. The second part of the article examines the Marwari dispute resolution method as the secret behind the success of the Marwaris as a business community, when compared to the adversarial method of dispute resolution adopted by disputing parties at large in India. The concluding part of the paper recognizes certain ambivalences in the context of a confluence between the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial methods of dispute resolutions in Marwari dispute resolution contexts in the globalization era in India.