During the fourteenth century, the primarily agrarian Delhi sultanate disintegrated, giving rise to regional states. These states were characterized by diversified economic activity, significant agricultural and craft production, and – for those bordered by seas – an opening onto long-distance maritime trade (Gaborieau 1995a: 454). The sultanates of Gujarat and Bengal are the best examples of these sea-oriented states which were centers for both production and banking. India developed significant textile production, exported mostly from Gujarat, Bengal, and the Coromandel coast. These exports stimulated cotton and indigo cultivation, as well as production in other sectors and trade among the various regions of the subcontinent. The emergence of regional sultanates led to a dual movement, with, on the one hand, cultural models inherited from the Delhi sultanate (such as the influence of the Persian culture; the adoption of Urdu as its lingua franca; and the significance of the Chishtiyya brotherhood – introduced in Rajasthan as early as the twelfth century) and, on the other, a diversification of local Islamic cultures (Gaborieau 1995a).