Commodity trading, globalization and the colonial world

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This micro-historical study examines the modern commodity trade through the lens of the Swiss trading company Volkart Brothers, founded in 1851 by Salomon and Johann Georg Volkart. With offices in Winterthur and Bombay, the firm became one of the largest cotton exporters in India by the late nineteenth century and emerged as a leading player in the global cotton and coffee markets during the twentieth century. The success of this Swiss merchant house in the colonial era highlights how countries without overseas territories were integrated into the colonial world order, contributing to ongoing research into Swiss involvement in colonialism. The study reveals that, even during the Imperial Age, key markets for Indian raw cotton—Volkart's primary product—were located outside the British Empire, particularly in continental Europe and East Asia. This work also aligns with recent efforts to explore India's economic history beyond the confines of formal empire during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, emphasizing the complexity of trade networks and market dynamics that transcended imperial borders.