Handicrafts in the Medieval Andhra: Its Role and Prospects

V. Ramabrahmam1 and Siva Kumar Challa2

1. Department of History and Archaeology, Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa – 516 003, Andhra Pradesh, India (Email: [email protected]) 2. Indian Archaeology Research Group, 8‐3‐282, New Street, Tirupati – 517 501, Andhra Pradesh, India (Email: [email protected])

Received: 31 August 2017; Revised: 25 September 2017; Accepted: 16 November 2017 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5 (2017): 1054‐1061

Abstract: The Satavahana Empire built the great city of Amaravati and reached its zenith under Satakarni. At the end of the Satavahana Empire, the Telugu region was ruled by various Satavahana feudatories. Prof. Champakalakshmi places the early medieval urbanization in South India within a broad time span of six centuries i.e. 7th to 13th centuries. Trade in coastal Andhra was carried out by merchants mainly from the communities of Chettis or Sethis, bania or Vanika, Komati and also some other communities mainly concentrated around weaving villages. Among the Hindu merchants, Telugu speaking people dominated the north of the Palar River and to the south as far as Nagapatnam. The Indian merchants who were the middlemen to European trade during the Post‐Medieval period, i.e., 17th century with their understanding with the Europeans, monopolizes, both in export and import. They were allowed to import grain, betel and other food items duty free from the Dutch. The rise of kingdom of Golconda in the Andhra coast and hinterland made Machilipatnam and from Nizampatnam to Nellore important regional entre pots. The sea ports that flourished during this period played major role in the development of markets for the imports. The industrial towns and commercial villages come up and developed as main trading centers of Coastal Andhra. Rajahmundry became famous for fine quality of clothes such as bet tiles (muslin), sale pores bordered calico, which were the best calicoes in the markets. Kalamkari or Qalamkari is a hand‐painted or block‐printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India and Iran. The word derived from the Persian words ghalam (pen) and Kari (craftmanship), means drawing with a pen (Ghalamkar). There are evidences about the string puppets in A.P. during 12th century A.D. Professor T. Donappa assessed that “Mr. Kisthtappaʹ son of Bommalata Veerappa of Siddhala Ghatta area of Kolaru Mandalam, Bommalata Kalayya of Humpi Vizianagara, Bommalata Veerappa of Udayagiri area of Nellore Seema and Bommalata Siddaiah of Lcpakshi area of Anantapur Mandalam are the Contemporaries during 16th century A.D. This paper aims to discuss the mercantile activities on the Coromandel Coast in general and coastal Andhra in particular during the seventeenth century.

Keywords: Handicrafts, Medieval, Andhra, Maritime Trade, Commerce, Tax, Prospects

Introduction The Satavahana Empire built the great city of Amaravati and reached its zenith under Satakarni. At the end of the Satavahana Empire, the Telugu region was ruled by various Ramabrahmam and Challa 2017: 1054‐1061

Satavahana feudatories. The Andhra Ikshvakus ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna River during the latter half of the 2nd century. In the 4th century, the Pallavas extended their rule from southern Andhra to the Tamil region and established their capital at Kanchipuram. They increased in power during the reigns of Mahendravarman I (571 – 630 A.D.) and Narasimhavarman I (630 – 668 A.D.), dominating the southern Telugu and the northern parts of the Tamil region until the end of the 9th century (Andhra Pradesh state information).

Prof. Champakalakshmi locates the period of early medieval urbanization in South India within a broad time span of six centuries i.e. seventh to thirteenth centuries. She discusses the changing character of two royal cities, Kancheepuram and Madurai of Pallava‐ Pandya period, as a result of the new institutional forces of integration (brahmadeya villages and temples), which brought them into a much closer relationship with their hinterlands in the northern and southern parts of the Tamil country as well as with their ports located on the coast (Champakalakshmi 1996).

The land and resources were used or exploited for the construction of huge fortification, structural temples and amenities, and the maritime environment was largely utilized for overseas trade and commerce during this period. In other words, urbanization in South India from eleventh to thirteenth century, often described as “temple urbanization”, is the direct result of organized commerce through the Nagarams, merchant bodies and craft organizations (Heitzman 2001). The “Vasco da Gama epoch of Indian history”, as Sardar K.M. Panikkar calls it, started with the landing of Gama at Calicut in 1498, marked a new epoch in the history of Indian urbanization (Panikkar 1999). The European phase of India’s urban history has its beginnings, ironically, in the period during which Mughal supremacy was at its height. This period witnessed the growth of several minor and major port cities having the presence of several European trading groups and other indigenous merchant classes.

And also about the nature of merchants, the role of different caste groups, the relations between the merchant class and the state, the type of trade that was carried out through these coastal Andhra ports and type of taxation system (Chaudhuri 191).

The Role of Different Social Groups in Maritime Trade Trade in coastal Andhra was carried out by merchants mainly from the communities of Chettis or Sethis, bania or Vanika, Komati and also some other communities mainly concentrated around weaving villages. Among the Hindu merchants Telugu speaking people dominated the north of the Palar River and to the south as far as Nagapatnam (Arasuratnam 1966: 225). The vanika or vanik was called bania by the Europeans. Banias were most enterprising traders and amassed great wealth during the period of study. In contemporary European records, they are described as greedy persons. Komattis also called as Vaisya (Sundaram 1968: 14) were the most important caste group because of their settlements along the coast and where largely engaged in commerce and handicraft production. They acted mainly as brokers and suppliers from the producing villages to

1055

ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5: 2017

coastal ports in the textile trade. They travelled far and wide from their Andhra homelands south wards up to Nagapatnam and the Tanjore kingdom.

Besides being brokers and suppliers of textiles, they traded in food stuffs. The important caste group was that of the beri chettis. Many wealthy and large scale ship‐owners, brokers and whole‐sale sellers came from this caste (Thurston 1909: 26). Komattis dominated in coastal trading wholesaling; retailing and banking activities (They were termed as Komattis, these were generally the merchants who by themselves) (Moreland 16). They had opposition from the beri merchants of Tamil districts who also claimed to be Vaisyas. They were skillful traders and dominated all along the coast right up to the port of Nagapatnam. They were suppliers of textiles from the centers of production to the ports of Nizampatnam and Nellore on the Andhra coast.

Among their other commercial activities building of ships, exporting goods to other countries and trading in food stuffs were more important. Because of their wealth and status they became leaders of the valangai or right hand faction. The Balanja or Banajiga or Baliga merchants were other merchant communities who played an effective role in the distribution of goods. They were many sub castes among the Banajigas, who specialized in trading in different items.

 Dasa banajigas, Elebanajigas or Totabanajigas (betel growers)  Dudi banajigas (Cotton traders)  Gajula banajigas (glass bangle traders)  Puvvula banajigas (flower sellers)  Nayudu, balija  Jidipalli balija  Rajamahendra balija (belonging to Nellore, Cuddapah and Anantapur)

There were two other important Telugu castes known as the Devangulu and sale, who were mainly weaving castes. The Devanga weavers continued to be important in Andhra and Karnataka regions (Vijayaramaswamy 150). The Devangulu were spread over wide area but concentrated mainly in the districts of Visakhapatnam, and Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts (Appadorai 1936: 475). There were many sub castes among the salies known as padamasales, Karmasales and Pattusales who were specialized in weaving of silk fabrics. Salavaru seems to indicate the Telugu sales but since they are referred as to ancient inhabitants and they were probably the Saliyar the earliest weaving community to be mentioned in Chola inscriptions (Vijayaramaswamy 151).

Middleman in Trade and Commerce The Indian merchants who were the middlemen to European trade during the Post‐ Medieval period, i.e., seventeenth century with their understanding with the Europeans, were able to monopolize, both in export and import of trade. They were allowed to import grain, betel and other food items duty free from the Dutch. The joint stock associations of merchants became popular in Masulipatnam, Draksharamam, Palakollu

1056

Ramabrahmam and Challa 2017: 1054‐1061 and Madapollam (Brennig 1977). Coastal Andhra merchants of joint stock associations wanted to trade with the English and other foreign companies (Chaudhuri 2010: 131).

The merchants of Coromandel Coast were spread out all along the coast. The Muslim traders who came from west Asia and local Muslim merchants had trading relations with Hind merchants (Pearson and Gupta 146). The joint stocks not only stood for the purchase of textiles but also responsible for sailing of European imports like woolens, lead, copper, zinc, quick silver, brimstone and coral. The Merchants who were humble and obedient to the English in the trading system became very close to the English and they got benefitted in the process.

Taxes Paid by the Traders They adopted different type of taxes and different type of mercantile practices. On Andhra coast land they adopted mainly two types of taxes. One was custom duty on import and export trade, second was local tax that was to be collected by regional authorities. Custom duty was one of the chief sources of revenue in coastal Andhra. Sea customs were collected at Masulipatnam and at other ports. These taxes were either collected by royal officers or contractors.

The local Governors, Zamindars and Palegars collected other specific imports with or without the states permission. Governors during Golconda period imposed toll percent tax on exports from Masulipatnam and Nizampatnam as a stamping and brokerage duty. Regarding commercial activities, maritime trade in Coastal Andhra benefited from the liberal regime that all Andhra rulers permitted along the coast and the autonomy they gave to the communities that dwelt there during seventeenth century (In the seventeenth century merchants acquired further levers of political influence as economic activity expanded and as merchants were called upon to assist the state in other ways).

Trade and Commerce during Qutubshahis of Golconda The rise of kingdom of Golconda in the Andhra coast and hinterland made Machilipatnam and from Nizampatnam to Nellore an important regional entre pots. The sea ports that flourished during this period played a major role for the development of markets for the imports (Pearson and Gupta 104). Machilipatnam trade with Burma, Bengal, Malaya and Sumatra grew. It is to be noted that the intrusion of Islamic power that is Muslim settlers into Andhra Coast affected the activities of Telugu chettis and we see more of them moving towards southern Coromandel and competing with Tamil chettis in their traditional preserves. The Hindu merchants of Golconda did not have the power and influence they had enjoyed under Vijayanagar rulers (Methods description does, however, suggest that domestic consumption of cloth must have gone up, although this would apply predominantly to the north Coromandel where the Muslim influence was very strong (Ramaswamy 128).

There is a need to discuss the internal trade and external trade that was carried through the ports of Coastal Andhra during the period of our study. It is to be noted that trade

1057

ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5: 2017

and industry like textiles, diamond and steel, wood carving flourished during the 17th century and even supplied articles to the local as well as foreign markets. The policies of Golconda rulers to maintain good commercial relations with the neighboring rulers as well as foreign countries in west Asia, Europe and south East Asia were an important feature for the growth of the trade in coastal Andhra.

Foreign Trade The major item in export trade was textiles or manufactured cloth which was the produce of handloom weavers of the Andhra coast (Raychaudhuri 1962). Indian varieties of textiles have always won the admiration of the outside world and Indonesian archipelago. All foreign visitors to India paid glowing tributes to the fineness and delicacy. It formed about 1/10 of the total exports. The extensive markets and the diversity in demands encourage the export of the textiles.

The goods were brought from the hinterland and were exported to many countries. The east coast was dotted with ports from where textiles were exported to Europe and East Indies. Masulipatnam was the most important of these. Srikakulam was noted for Muslin export while Rajahmundry produced fine cloth. Masulipatnam was the centre Kalemenda cloth i.e. Cloth painted with Qalam or fine pen, while the Dutch factory at Pulicat manufactured cloth painted fine‐textured or plain.

There was much demand for Indian‐made cloth by the English, the Danes and Moors. The ports on the eastern coast especially through the port of Masulipatnam required the merchants to have direct contact with the weavers sometimes through the brokers to get the goods according to the requirements of regional markets. The trade in textiles operated in two directions (1) bilateral trade from the ports of Masulipatnam and others to the markets to Aching, Malacca and etc. Which in return imported into India many of the products (2) textiles were exported to Mediterranean regions through Red sea and Persian Gulf and also to Western India To? Exchange for the spices of Malaccas were sent to the Mediterranean and the West Asian markets (Foster 1651‐54).

The sale pores were reputed to be produced in Nellore district and also round about Masulipatnam (Varadarajan 1977). Mori was also in the district of Nellore. Masulipatnam, Nizampatnam and Narsapore were famous for the production of printed cloth (Satyanarayana 553). Guinea cloth made of cotton thread which was dyed in bright colors and its Dutch modification was exported to south East Asia and also to Africa and also Southeast Asian countries, it was available in Bimlipatnam and surrounding areas. Painted cloth was the main article of trade on the east coast. Initially the Europeans had dealt in coarse cloth, cotton yarn and indigo. Later many commodities were added such as spices, lead, quick silver, porcelain and broad cloth. But it was the paintings that were the pride of manufacture. The principle centers were Masulipatnam, Palacole and Petapolee, now called Nizampatnam (Ramaswamy 4). Next item of articles which were exported were known as allegias which were cotton fabrics that include cotton mixed with silk and with gold threads worked into color combinations of red and white or blue

1058

Ramabrahmam and Challa 2017: 1054‐1061 and white. These were exported mainly to West Asia, Bandar Abbas and Mocca and later to the European countries. They were known near Masulipatnam, Palakollu and Draksharamam areas. The other item which was exported was Chivvies which were a light and thin white cotton cloth knotted with silk of different colors which were blended in Masulipatnam and Palakollu. The other two varieties which were exported from Masulipatnam to the Malay states were known as cassa Putah and Cassamera which means cloth in white and red colors in Malay origin.

The other item was sasthrakundis or sacegundis which was a cotton cloth made of a thread before weaving and produced in Masulipatnam. It is a Sanskrit name traced from the Sanskrit word sahasra grandhi which means thousand knots. Sukatoons was another material which was exported to Burma and Persia and it was down in around Bimlipatnam. This material is very heavy cotton cloth being used for packing and also as blankets. Romals were small cotton or silk pieces used as hand kerchiefs that were produced in and around Nizampatnam (Mangamma 107). These centers were famous for various manufacturing materials like cotton, muslin, chintz. The textiles from various parts of the regions of the kingdom were brought to Masulipatnam (This town was known for the manufacture of large quantities of muslins during the first century after Christ) (Majumdar: 307).

Development of Industrial Towns The industrial towns, and commercial villages had come up and developed as main trading centers in Coastal Andhra. Rajahmundry became famous for a fine quality of cloth, such as bet tiles (muslin), sale pores bordered calico, which were the best calicoes in the markets. Weaving, bleaching, dying and printing were practiced both in the northern and southern centers on the Andhra coast. Masulipatnam and Armagaon were superior for the dyes and dyed pieces of cloth were ordinarily brought by merchants there (Sangar 1970).

Selected Handicrafts from the Study Area

Kalamkari Kalamkari or Qalamkari is a type of hand‐painted or block‐printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India and in Iran. The word is derived from the Persian words ghalam (pen) and Kari (craftmanship), meaning drawing with a pen (Ghalamkar). The Machilipatnam Kalamkari craft made at Pedana near by Machilipatnam in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, evolved with patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda sultanate.

This rare art of printing on fabric is exclusive to only to two areas in Andhra Pradesh. There are two distinctive styles of kalamkari art in India ‐ one, the Srikalahasti style and the other, the Machilipatnam style of art. The Srikalahasti style of Kalamkari, wherein the “kalam” or pen is used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colors, is entirely hand worked. This style flowered around temples and their patronage and so

1059

ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5: 2017

had an almost religious identity ‐ scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners and the like, depicted deities and scenes taken from the great Hindu epics ‐ Ramayana. Mahabharata, Puranas and the mythological classics. This style owes its present status to Smt. Kamaladevi Chattopadhayay who popularized the art as the first Chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board. Only natural dyes are used in Kalamkari and it involves seventeen painstaking steps. The outstanding feature of Kalamkari (art with a pen) is the extensive use of vegetable dyes (Rao 2005). Those in Machilipatnam of Krishna district have developed the art of creations through block printing.

Puppetry There are evidences about the string puppets in A.P. during 12th century A.D. Professor T. Donappa assessed that “Mr. Kisthtappaʹ son of Bommalata Veerappa of Siddhala Ghatta area of Kolaru Mandalam, Bommalata Kalayya of Humpi Vizianagara, Bommalata Veerappa of Udayagiri area of Nellore Seema and Bommalata Siddaiah of Lcpakshi area of Anantapur Mandalam are the Contemporaries during 16th century A.D. There are so many families of puppeteers throughout A.P., concentrating more in Kakinada, Madhavapatnam, Near Kotappakonda, Nimmala Kunta of Anantapur District, Cuddapah, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam Districts (Sarma 14).

Dye Painted Fabrics Machilipatnam located on the coast of Andhra Pradesh, is the headquarters of the Krishna district. The rivers Krishna and Godavari renders the region very fertile. The coastal area around Machilipatnam, known as the Coromandel Coast used to be famous for the export of Chintz, floral, dye‐painted fabrics. The accounts of early Arab travelers describes the port of Machilipatnam where ships of many nationalities lay anchored in the harbor waiting to pick up the choicest of hand‐woven and printed fabrics, which they traded in the Far East for spices. A flourishing trade in vegetable dyed textiles existed between the Golconda region and Persia for centuries. In the 16th 17th and 18th centuries, the Coromandel Coast, with Machilipatnam as its trade centre, was a chief producer and exporter of `tree of life` kalamkari, dye‐painted textiles to western Europe (Hand Made in India‐ an Encyclopedia on Crafts of India: 283‐284).

Conclusion It is known that the ancient andhradesa had a long coastal line which had resulted in the presence of trade and commerce in the land. Trade and commerce associated with different parts of the world had flourished here since Pre‐Christain era. The handicraft practice began from the pre‐medieval and continued up to post‐ medieval and further to the modern period.

References Andhra Pradesh state information. Appadorai. 1936. Economic Conditions of Southern India, 1000‐1500, Madras, Vol. II, p. 475.

1060

Ramabrahmam and Challa 2017: 1054‐1061

Arasuratnam, S. 1966. “Indian Merchants and their trading methodsʺ, IESHR, Vol. Ill, No. l, p. 225. Brennig, J.J. 1977. “Chief Merchants and European Enclaves of seventeenth century Coromandel”, Modern Asian Studies, p. 324 Champakalakshmi, R. 1996. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization ‐ South India 300 BC to AD 1300, New Delhi, pp.37‐26. Chaudhuri, K.N. 2010. Trading world of Asia and the East India Company, 1660‐1760, Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Hand Made in India‐ an Encyclopedia on Crafts of India, pp. 283‐284. James Heitzman. 2001. Gifts of Power: Lordship in an Early Indian State, New Delhi, pp. 82‐ 120. Lotika Varadarajan. 1977. “Golconda Cotton dying, A Dutch Grant”, Itihas, p. 77. Majumdar, R.C., The classical accounts of India, p. 307. Mangamma, J., 1981. ʺEarly Andhra Ports and activity around themʺ, Proceedings of Andhra pradesh History Congress, p. 107. Moreland, W.H., Relations, p. 16. Panikkar, K. M.1999. Asia and Western Dominance, New Delhi, pp. 21‐29. Pearson, M.N, & Asin Das Gupta, India and the Indian Ocean‐ 1500‐1800, p. 146. Pearson, M.N, & Asin Das Gupta, op.cit, p. 104. Ramaswamy, N.S., Fort St. George, p 4. Raychaudhuri, T. 1962. Jem Company in Coromandel, 1605‐1690, A study in the interrelations of European Commerce and Traditional economies Hague; C R. Boxer, Dutch Seaborne Empire, p. 197. Sambasiva Rao. 2005. Etikoppaka Cultural Development intervention Project, NIFT, Hyderabad. Sangar, P. A. 1970. “The Cloth Manufacturers, on the Coromondel Coast in the Sarma, M.N., Tolubommalata, p. 14. Satyanarayana, K., A Study of the History & Culture of Andhra, Vol. II, p. 553. Seventeenth century”, 32nd Session, proceedings of Indian History Congress, p. 241. Sundaram, K. 1967. Studies in Economic and Social Conditins of medival Andhra 1600. Triveni Publishers. Andhra. Thurston. 1909. Castes and tribes of south India, Vol‐7, Madras, p. 26. Vijaya Ramaswamy, Textiles and Weavers, p. 128. Vijayaramaswamy, op.cit, p. 151. Vijayaramaswamy, Textile Trade, p. l50. William Foster. EFI, 1651‐54, p. 251.

1061