Divines richesses

A majority of studies on Indian merchants and industrialists tend to neglect their religious practices even though they are commonly associated with their activities. How do religious and economical ideas and behaviours interpenetrate in their daily activities? The papers collected in this volume deal precisely with this question. Written by indologists, anthropologists and specialists of religious sciences, they examine the ways in wich the usual forms of wealth have been religiously valorized, how mercantile actor of various creeds – Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Christian – perpetuate them today within the frame of the modern Indian economy. They also try to understand why the merchants often belong to voluntary sectarian groupings and whether this is due to some sort of affinity between such religious affiliations and their activities or because their economic activities benefit from them. Contributions deal with different forms of gifts, distinguishing them according to the way they are solicited, collected, delivered or allocated, or to the qualities of the donators and donees. From these various points of view, the essays collected in this volume are a clear reminder that in India, the political, social and religious spheres are not clearly delimited or circumscribed.