Commerce

Brief History of Insurance in India                 In India, insurance has a deep-rooted history. It finds mention in the writings of Manu (  Manusmrithi  ), Yagnavalkya (  Dharmasastra  ) and Kautilya (  Arthasastra  ). The writings talk in terms of pooling of resources that could be re-distributed in times of calamities such as fire, floods, epidemics and famine. This was probably a pre-cursor to modern day insurance. Ancient Indian history has preserved the earliest traces of insurance in the form of marine trade loans and carriers’ contracts. Insurance in India has evolved over time heavily drawing from other countries, England in particular.    1818 saw the  advent of life insurance business in India  with the establishment of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta. This Company however failed in 1834. In 1829, the Madras Equitable had begun transacting life insurance business in the Madras Presidency. 1870 saw the enactment of the British Insurance Act and