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(A) – Personal Details Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Dr. Krishnendu Ray Dept. of AIHC, University of Calcutta. Dr. K. Mavali Rajan Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. Prof. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. 1 Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Economic History of India (from the Earliest Time Paper Name to 1707 AD) Module Name/Title Cholas : Trade and Commerce Module Id IC / EHI / 19 Pre requisites Early Chola dynasty and Imperial Cholas Economic History of the Cholas provides valid points on the trade and commercial activities. Through their commercial and trade policies the Objectives Imperial Cholas tried to enhance their maritime strength by gaining control over all strategically important coastlines and well as hinder-land exchange. Cholas / Thanjavur / Merchants / Guilds / Maritime Keywords Trade / Nagaram E-Text (Quadrant-I) : 1. Introduction During the 9th century AD, there were many kingdoms in South India. One of the most prominent dynasties in Indian history is the Chola dynasty. The rulers of this line founded during the 9th century AD as a powerful empire which dominated a large part of the peninsula right till the early part of the 13th century AD. The strongest among them were the Pallavas and the Pandyas. The Pallava king at that time had a vassal named Vijayalaya who used to come to his master’s aid with troops during war time. The Pallava and the Pandya rulers were always at war with one another as each wanted to be the strongest king in the region. During one such war in the year 848 AD, Vijayalaya attacked and captured a place named Thanjavur, which probably belonged to the Pallava chieftain. Instead of handing over his conquest to his Pallava master, Vijayalaya crowned himself the king of Thanjavur and established there the famous Chola dynasty. 2. Trade Trade and commerce flourished under the Cholas. Trade was carried on with West Asia and China and South-east Asia. Trade with China reached unprecedented volume during these centuries. Foreign trade provided an additional incentive to an already developing local market. There existed a brisk internal trade in several articles carried on by the organized mercantile corporations in various parts of the country. The metal industries and the jewelry art had reached a high degree of excellence. The manufacture of sea-salt was carried on under government supervision and control. Trade was carried on by merchants organized in guilds. The guilds described sometimes by the terms nanadesis were a powerful autonomous corporation of merchants which visited different countries in the course of their trade. They had their own mercenary army for the protection of 2 their merchandise. There were also local organizations of merchants called "nagaram" in big centers of trade like Kanchipuram and Mamallapuram. 2.1. Maritime Trade This is the Anchor of an Unknown LOLA class Chola ship, excavated by the Indian Navy divers off the coast of Poombuhar. Maritime trade and commerce flourished under the Chola Empire. The Imperial Cholas tried to enhance their maritime strength by gaining control over all strategically important coastlines. They captured the Southwest Coast of India and almost the entire Indian east coast up to the mouth of Gangas. They also seized the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and the Andamans. All these military activities ultimately lead to the commercial relation with the Chola Empire. The Cholas also had commercial relation with the Sri Vijaya and Cambodia. The inscriptions of Rajendra I indicates the relationship between the Cholas and South East Asian rulers. The expanding maritime activities must also be seen in the context of increasing diplomatic activities at that time. The Chinese had sent envoys to the countries of south in the late 10th century indicating their interest in an increase of trade. Chola Navigation 2.2. Trade with Rome Early Chola ruler had trade relation with the Rome and Greek merchants. The merchants were visited the ports of south India. They came in quest of species and cotton cloth for which south India had become famous in the ancient world. There were Roman warehouses in south India. Rome received fine cloth, pearls, species, sandalwood, gems, and drugs from south India. A great number of Roman coins were found in south Indian Territory, which indicates the Roman trade relation with India. Large numbers of Roman gold coins have been discovered form the coromandalam coast and in Tondaimandalam and Pandimandalam regions. Apart from gold coins Roman also exported wine to Tamil country. The early literatures of Tamils provide a vivid picture of the trade activities. The Tamil literatures also speak about the ships of the Yavanas (Greeks). Periplus has listed out the market towns of the Dachinabadas (Deccan) in his work. 3 2.3. Trade Relation with China and other Countries The Merchants of the Chola period participated in maritime trade since ancient times. The Cholas excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity, extending their influence overseas to China and Southeast Asia. The annals of the Sung dynasty of China and the accounts of the medieval travelers like Ibn Khurdadbeh, Abu Zaid, Alberuni, Marco Polo, etc. give testimony to a brisk maritime contact between south India and the South East Asian countries. The Tang and Sung rulers of China Saliendras of Srivijaya and the Abbasid Khalifs of Bagdad established commercial relations with the Cholas. The Cholamandalam and its coastal regions were very with commercial transaction with the China and Arabia. Mamallapuram, Saliyur, Korkai, Quilon, etc. were important port city, busy with the overseas trade. They exported the articles like pearls, elephants, cardamom, cotton, pepper, perfumes, ivory, coral, etc. to the foreign countries. Horses were imported from the Arabian Peninsula. According to Benjamin of Tudela, the ships entering the Chola ports were required to pay tolls. Commercial transaction was carried on with places as far off as China in the north. The Cholas tried to encourage trade with China by sending embassies to the country. The articles brought for trade by the Cholas included glass ware, camphor, brocades, rhino horns and ivory. Their ships carried goods from West Asia and Africa to China. Roads were built across the Chola country which not only facilitated the movement of goods for trade but also of troops during wartime. The chronicles of the Sung dynasty of China record the arrival of diplomatic missions from Chola (Chu-lian). The Arab Merchants (Ta-shi), from Quilon went to China by way of Srivijaya and Java. A Hindu temple seems to have been established at Canton in China in the 8th century A.D. The trade and commercial relationship between the Tamil country and China was prosperous in the medieval period of south India. Too much of imports seem to have drained Chinese resources which was regulated by Imperial legislation. The Karandai plates records that Suryavarman (1002-50 A.D.) of Kambhoja sought friendly relation with the Cholas. Much evidence is available to trace the cultural impact of Tamil country with the Far East. Apart from the temples in China, a temple at Ch’uan Chou (near Formosa) contains a sculptural panel of Hindu mythological stories. Chola Port at Kambhoja 4 Towards the end of the ninth century, southern India had developed extensive maritime and commercial activity. The Cholas, possessing parts of both the west and the east coasts of peninsular India, stood at the forefront of those ventures. The Tang dynasty of China, the Srivijaya Empire in the Malayan archipelago under the Saliendras, and the Abbasid Kalifat at Baghdad emerged as the main trading partners. Chinese Sung dynasty reports record that an embassy from Chulian (Chola) reached the Chinese court in the year 1077, the king of the Chulien at the time called Ti-hua-kia-lo. Those syllables might denote "Deva Kulo[tunga]" (Kulothunga Chola I). That embassy embodied a trading venture, highly profitable to the visitors, who returned with 81,800 strings of copper coins in exchange for articles of tributes, including glass articles and spices. A fragmentary Tamil inscription found in Sumatra cites the name of a merchant guild Nanadesi Tisaiayirattu Ainnurruvar (literally, "the five hundred from the four countries and the thousand directions"), a famous merchant guild in the Chola country. The inscription dated 1088, indicating an active overseas trade during the Chola period. If we summaries that the Cholas had trade relation with the following countries: Persia China Arab Kambhoja Burma Java Sumatra Ceylon Maldiev Islands Rome 5 2.3.1. Migration and Trading Networks: The Merchants of the Chola period often migrated to other localities for trade. They had strong links with their own home base as well as the nearby commercial centres. Most of the migration took place over very short distances, and merchants moved within a relatively small radius. For examples they migrated from Thiruvannamalai to Kanchipuram, or from Thanjavur to Thiruvaiyaru or Uttiramerur to Thiruvottur. In some cases the traders moved over much longer distances. For examples merchants from Mylapore had migrated to Thiruvidaimaruthur (Thanjavur, 10th century A.D), and in Salem (12th century AD). There are also evidences to migration of traders from Thanjavur, Thiruchirappallli and Chinglepet to the nearby commercial centres after the 12th century. The emergence of market areas in urban centers was also another feature associated with expanding city based trade. The Thanjavur inscriptions and the Madras Museum Copper Plates give vivid descriptions of the layout of commercial as well as capital centres Thanjavur (capital city of Imperial Cholas) and Kanchipuram (religious capital of the Cholas). Both were known as mahanagaram (big town) in inscriptions. There are also references to various kinds of commercial areas- like angadi (market), perangadi (the main market), perunteru (the commercial main street usually named after the Chola king, Rajaraja as Rajaraja-perunteru).
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