A Gate to Agate: The Historical, Material and Social Lives of Agate Artisans in Khambhat, Gujarat

This study examines the historical, material, and social lives of agate artisans in Khambhat, Gujarat. The latter is a town with a documented lapidary tradition which extends back to the Indus Valley Civilisation The main findings are that production is organised through household workshops structured along caste-based divisions of labour, mediated by hereditary debt (the peshgi system), and compensated through piece-rate wages that accumulate to approximately one hundred and fifty to two hundred rupees per working day.