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Home , Kalady, Kollam, Malabar Coast

Volume-3, Issue-6, December-2013, ISSN No.: 2250-0758 International Journal of Engineering and Management Research Available at: www.ijemr.net Page Number: 168-171

Maritime Trade of with Sung

Liji K Research Scholar, Department Of History, Ssus, ,

ABSTRACT again prohibited and the government tired to limit the trade Merchants played a major role in ancient Sino- with Malabar, Quilon and Fandaraina to the meager amount Indian relations. They not only paved the way for the very of 50,000 ding. The attempts to stem the trend of private first diplomatic and religious contacts, but also played an trading and flow of metals continued into early fourteenth important role in the exchange of ideas and information. century. While the through the perilous deserts of Central Chau-Ju-kua speaks of the goods transacted by the formed the main overland route from China to northern India, the coasts of two countries were linked by the maritime Chinese at Kollam. They included ho-chi silks, porcelain route through South East Asia. ware, camphor, cloves, sandal wood, and gharu wood. He also testifies to the use of coins at the markets of Keywords-- Foreign Trade, China-Indo Relation, Cola Kollam. According to him twelve silver coins were worth a gold coin. Every year ships from Sumatra called at th I. INTRODUCTION Kollam. Chao-Ju-Kua (13 century) held the post of superintendent of the Bureau of maritime trade. Levying Kollam in the Wave of Sung Maritime Activities taxes from seafaring merchants, inspection of incoming and At the end of the tenth century, the Sung outgoing ships, taking care of tributary envoys, etc. were government showed great interest in foreign trade. It his duties. He was in charge of receiving the foreign became a government monopoly and strenuous efforts were envoys; inspecting their official documents; inquiring about made to increase it. The Colas sent ‘embassies’ to China. the size, strength and the distance of the envoy’s country Chinese sources record four separate Cola missions to from China; and making a list of all the tribute to be China. The first mission was sent by in 1015. The presented to the court. Chau-Ju-Kua, therefore, could have envoy of the mission presented the Emporer with 800 kgs. got his information on the Cola kingdom from the traders of pearls, sixty pieces of ivory, sixty pounds of incense and and envoys coming from . Port officials in 3,300 pounds of perfumes.[1] The chief articles of charge of collecting customs revenue were certainly merchandise in this long distance trade were necessarily engaged in buying up the high-valued imports and reselling goods that carried great value for small bulk. them at an inflated price in the open market. , and are canut of had great demand in China and the Chinese brought to Kerala coast II. BACKGROUND silk, porcelain, copper, quick silver, tin, lead etc. Chinese net and ceramics of China had great demand in Kerala The expansion and the new activities which became coasts and Kollam was an important centre of Chinese faintly evident in the rhythm of both caravan and trans- trade. oceanic trade from the seventh century onwards in the This trade was at first welcomed in China; but in the northern and southern China received a great deal of their twelfth century, the drain of currency and precious metals impetus from the domestic aspirations and developments of resulting from this expansion of the trade in luxuries caused the T’ang and Sung empires. However, in the west it was serious concern to the Chinese government. They therefore joined by the most powerful of the historical forces of time, prohibited the export of precious metals and coined money, the rise of and its expansion across the fertile lands of and put restrictions on the trade with ‘Ma’bar’ and ‘Kulam’ the near East and South Asia. This in turn ushered in a that is the and Quilon. process of movement of people, which by definition Drainage of China`s metallic currency, compelled involved the exchange of ideas, economic systems, social China to take measures from time to time to preserve the usage, political institutions, and artistic traditions. metals from flowing out. For example, as early as 1282 and The last Sung emperor has been reported having said 1283 use of cash was restricted and only iron was strictly “profits from maritime commerce are very great. If properly prohibited. In 1296 the exportation of gold and silver was managed, they can amount to millions”. A permanent navy 168 was established for the protection of the new maritime trade steward service, lifeboats, and common rooms for the and financial support was offered for innovation in ship passengers added to the comfort and safety of a voyage design and naval gun powder weapons. across the eastern sea. He also claims that the crew of a The heavily planked, multi-decked Chinese ships sizable junk might number 1000 men, counting both sailors known as junks began to sail towards South East Asia only and fighting mariners. He says that in his time junks were from the later T’ang period and could not reach the built exclusively in the southern Chinese ports of Canton or commercial emporia of the before the Zaitun. accession of the Sung dynasty. Muslim traders were well Referring to the of Zaitun, says received at the port of canton and they were allowed to that the quantity of pepper imported there was so conduct their commercial and communal affairs through the considerable that was carried to to meet the traditional Islamic institutions. demands of the western parts of the world was not more The expansion in China’s seaborne trade during the than even a hundredth part. centuries under the Sung dynasty was part of the During the era of the Sung dynasty (960-1279), development that took place in the whole of the coastal China experienced spectacular economic growth. provinces south of the river Yangtze. The dema Agricultural and industrial output shot up, population nd for goods increased, as did the purchasing power of the soared, multiplied, and the internal network of roads urban classes. The increasing prosperity and urbanization and canals was vastly improved. A remarkable expansion of under the Sung dynasty necessitated the import of bulk overseas trade accompanied these trends. Chinese nautical commodities like cloth, pepper, sugar, etc. apart from items and naval technology was well in advance of the Arabian of luxury. The Sung government encouraged mass Sea tradition and could conceivably have been wielded to production of ceramic. enforce a monopoly over the eastern sea routes. In fact, the Sung emperors embraced a dual policy. They encouraged III. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY Chinese merchants to trade directly to India. But at the same time they invited foreign traders, notably , to Increased use of foreign imported products and establish, settlements in the cities of South China. greater knowledge of non-Chinese people and kingdoms are Moreover, Chinese mercantile operations tended to reflected in Chu-fanchi written by Chau Ju-kua in be hampered by the Sung government’s insistence on close 1225. Chau Ju- kua in the course of his official duties regulation and control. By contrast, the alien Muslim would have had the opportunity and the incentive to acquire trading groups were fluid, versatile, and unimpeded by any a first hand knowledge of the different branches of Indian central bureaucratic authority. They could therefore move Ocean trade of the merchants and commodities that arrived goods across the and the South China more in China from different ports. speedily, more efficiently, and probably at lower cost than Zaiton was a centre of fine quality porcelain and could the Chinese junk masters. Thus the “commercial silk manufacture. When visited the city, it revolution” of Sung China stimulated the expansion of seemed to him to be the greatest, port in the world, its Muslim shipping east of Malabar and the growth of busy, commercial traffic exceeding that of Alexandria, Quilon multinational settlements in Zaitun, Canton and other such and Calicut. coast ports. The Sung rulers had derived a large income from The Yuan “open door” policy on foreign sea customs and taxes paid by merchants and hence had a recruitment attracted Muslim merchants into China’s vast direct incentive to encourage overseas economic relations. market. The growth of Muslim commercial settlements in In addition, the government raised impressive revenue from China in the Mongol Age was mirrored in similar the sale of tribute goods sent by foreign princes. Quantities developments along the coasts of Southeast Asia. of drugs and aromatics which entered China as tribute from The payments for international exchanges were in dependent kingdoms in South East Asia were probably as kind, or in gold, silver or copper and occasionally iron. The great as those imported by private merchants, although the payment in kind was advocated in Sung China in 1219 profits of the tribute trade must be measured against the when it was suggested that silks, porcelain, brocades, and valuable presents which the imperial court returned to those lacquer ware be offered in exchange for aromatics in order rulers who had sent their envoys to China. to reduce the outflow of precious metals. Kwabara records Ibn Battuta was so impressed with Chinese ships. gold, silver and copper cash among the main exports of the The dhows of the western sea were only partially decked or Sung period. Numismatists believe that one of the causes of not decked at all, and if some vessels had a rudimentary significant metal outflows could be an unfavourable cabin or two, most of the passengers were expected to brave balance of trade. Chinese imports included pearls, dyes, the elements the whole time they were at sea. Ocean-going pepper, aromatics and some drugs which may have come junks could support as many as five decks, as well as from South Asia and these may well have necessitated numerous enclosed cabins for the convenience of the more considerable cash outflows. affluent passengers. Some of the rooms even had private In Sung times ivory and spices were already in use as lavatories, a convenience far superior to the little seat currency. Foreign trade in key commodities which also hooked over the side of a dhow. Firefighting equipment, served as substitutes for money surely was of importance to

169 medieval states. According to T’ien Ju Kang after the the Malabar coast. The restriction indicates very clearly the voyages of Cheng Ho “silver, paper money, cloth, fact that the ports on the Malabar coast had very active sapanwood and pepper were interchangeable as trade relations with China in the thirteenth century. currency.” The mission from the Colas in A.D. 1015 is Explorations have proved the presence of extensively described in the ‘History of Song Dynasty’. Led sixteenth and seventeenth century Chinese porcelain (white by the Cola Samanta, Soli Sanwen, the mission comprised and blue and celedon) wares spread over a large coastal fifty-two members and carried a great quantity of pearls, area of Kerala. Similar, Chinese cultural materials found on precious stones, resinous substances, spices and medicinal the coastal regions of Kollam. The finds include a large herbs. number of Chinese porcelain potsherds and other ceramics Wheatley refers to the import of ‘skeins of Ho-chih from various sections on the sea-shore as well as from the silk’ in Malabar in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. trenches at . They were found between 0.5 and 2 According to him Chinese silk fabric was imported into meter depth from the surface. Certain sections on the coast Cola and Pandya country in Sung times. Chau Ju-kua refers have yielded more blue painted white celedon ware while a to “cotton stuffs with coloured silk threads” as part of the few other sections have dominence of red, and grey ware produce of the Cola country. Goitien refers to the export of potteries which have incised decorations. High quality “Indian silk” from west coast ports. celedon wares were seen only near the coast while the red The khim-khwab referred to in the account of and grey wares were even found five km inland at Kulottunga’s A.D. 1077 mission to China was probably rich in 2 meter depth. The occurrence of high brocade woven of gold and silk thread which may have quality celedon types and the red and grey ordinary wares come from West Asia. Twelve variations of silks have in Tangassery perhaps indicates one of the evidences for appeared in the Geniza papers. Very good silk is produced social stratification among the traders settlement in the area. in China from which they make great store of damask The celedon wares might have been used by the high class cloths in colours, satins and other cloths and brocades.Silk people while the red and grey wares which had wide was used as capital investment, rather than a commodity, it distribution were intended for the common people. is continued to be a stable factor in international trade. Here Some of the place names, fishing practices, and silk was not necessarily considered a commodity certain articles’ names still prevalent in Kollam are some of transported from its place of production to the place where the examples of Chinese cultural diffusion with the local there was a market demand for it, but in fact was regarded culture. Such an imprint could last only through the long as a good to be traded for other commodities that would settlements of Chinese in this region for several centuries. fetch a profit. In this sense, silk took a form of currency. Besides the material and cultural evidences the Chinese In Sung period the trade was made a government chronicles as well as travel accounts indicate that monopoly, and strenuous efforts were made to increase its Tangasseri in Kollam was one of the important trading volume. A mission was sent abroad by the emperor with centre. credentials under the imperial seal and provisions of gold Prof. Karashima discovered many fine pieces of and piece-goods to induce “the foreign traders of the South 14th century celadon of the Longquan kiln at Tangasseri. Sea and those who went to foreign lands beyond the sea to These were found at a section of the sea shore which trade” to come to China. Special license to import goods exposed by sea erosion southwest of the light house. were promised them. Trade in the articles like jewels and Judging from the remains of some old brick structure and semi-precious substances, such as ivory, rhinoceros horn, also from a map of the 17th century, there appears to have amber and various aromatic products and perfumes, was been an old fort in the area. The porcelain pieces are of high open only to licensed vendors who bought their supplies at quality. The specimens belonging to the Yuan dynasty are government warehouses in quantities and at prices fixed by of export quality. government. Trade in cotton fabrics, spices and drugs, was ’s naval voyages had paved the way for a under no restrictions, and subject only to an import duty wave of Chinese migration to South- East Asia and increase payable in kind and varying from one-tenth to two-tenths of in commercial intercourse with this region. The Arab and the goods imported. Besides the import duty collected at the Persian traders had suffered a set back due to aggressive time of their entering the port, these goods had also to bear Chinese naval voyages to the far end of the , a fixed tonnage tax on the ship. verging on armed trade. The foreigners were no longer Export of cotton fabrics, spices and drugs to China had required to come to the Chinese ports to obtain Chinese already reached high watermark during the Sung dynasty products; instead, the junk fleets of China now carried towards the end of the twelfth century. Even when the Chinese produce into all parts of the continent to contend southeastern and southern provinces of China passed into for commerce in the East. the sway of Mongols since 1227, external trade went on unaltered and perhaps with more vigour. A few more ports IV. CONCLUSION such as Kingyuan(Ning-po),Shang-hai, and Kan ju were also opened to foreign trade. In 1296 an order prohibiting The Chinese influence had been strong in Kollam exportation of gold and silver was issued along with the may be seen from the design of its wooden palaces, order restricting the trade with Kollam and Pantalayani on resembling their sampan-shaped boats, to the method of

170 fishing with counter-weighted dip nets, operated from the [4] K.N.Choudhuri Trade and Civilization in the Indian shore, which are still called Chinese nets. Even to this day Ocean,And Economic History from the Rise of Islam to large olive green Chinese water pots are in use in several 1750, Cambridge University Press, New , 1985,,p.53. old houses in Quilon, and pieces of blue and white [5] Ross E.Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Batuta (A Muslim porcelain can still be picked up on the beaches. Traveller of the 14th Century), University of California, Kollam maintained a multi-layered network for the California, 2005,p.223. movement of commodities: on the one hand it stretched to [6] Ibid.,p.249. west Asia encompassing the exchange centres of Abbassid [7] Meera Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant-guilds of Persia, while on the other hand it extended to China, , Manohar,, 1988, p.154. feeding the consumption classes of T’ang, Sung, Yuan and [8] Ibid.,p.177. Ming periods. By locating itself at the central position of [9] Haraprasad Ray, “ Trade between South India and the multiple mercantile networks, Kollam emerged as a China-1368-1644” in Om Prakash and Denis Lombard leading trade centre of the Indian Ocean supporting and (ed.), Commerce and Culture in the Bay of Bengal-1500- empowering the local ruler in his political needs. 1800, Manohar,New Delhi, 2003, pp.14-15. [10] Xinru Liu, Silk and Religion (An Exploration of REFERENCES Material Life and the Thought of People, A.D.600-1200, Oxford University Press, New Delhi,1996,p.129. [1] K.S.Mathew (ed.), Mariners, Merchants and Oceans- [11] Ibid.,p.129. Studies in Maritime History, Manohar, New Delhi, [12] Xinru Liu, Silk and Religion (An Exploration of 1995,p.28. Material Life and the Thought of People, A.D.600-1200, [2] K.S.Mathew, Indo-Portuguese Trade and the Fuggers Oxford University Press, New Delhi,1996,p.129. of Germany, Manohar, New Delhi, 1997,p.42. [13] Ibid.,p.608. [3] Kenneth Mc.Pherson, The Indian Ocean, Delhi,1993, [14] P.Rajendran, “Ancient Chinese, Trade Links” in p.99. S.R.Rao (ed.), Journal of Marine Archaeology,Vol.5-6 (1995-96), , 1997,p.72.

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