1 Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Dr. Krishnendu Ray Dept. of AIHC, University of Calcutta. Dr. V. Selvakumar Tamil University, Thanjavoor. Prof. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. 1 2 Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Economic History of India (from the Earliest Time to Paper Name 1707 AD) Module Name/Title Economy of the Sangam Age in South India Module Id IC / EHI / 12 Knowledge of English Pre requisites Basic Knowledge in History Knowing about the Sangam Age /Early Historic Period Objectives Understanding the Economy of Sangam Age Acquiring knowledge about the Inland trade Knowing about the Indian Ocean Trade Sangam Age South Indian History Tamil Literature Keywords Indian Economy Early Historic Economy Indian Ocean Trade Indo-Roman Trade E-Text (Quadrant-I): 1. Introduction The era of Sangam or Sangam Age refers to the Early Historic period in South India, and this spatio-cultural unit covers the regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, located in the extreme south, and bounded by the seas on three sides. This period is contemporary to the time of the Mauryas, the Sungas, the Indo-Greeks, Kushanas, and Satavahanas, who ruled in other parts of India. The developments in the Sangam Age cannot be seen in isolation; although the language used in this area was Tamil, the historical and cultural developments show connections with others parts of India and also with the Indian Ocean region, influencing this region. The economy of this period shows diversity and prosperity when compared to the early period and coins and script were introduced for the first time in history. The material cultural wealth revealed by the literature and archaeology do reveal the economic prosperity in some contexts, at least to a certain degree when compared to the preceding cultural period. The Iron Age in South India was a formative culture period and the Early Historic period succeeded the Iron Age, which is generally placed from ca. 1300 BCE to 300 BCE. The 2 3 Sangam Age, known so because of the association called Sangam that compiled the texts of this period, is placed between 300 BCE and 300 CE. But, these texts may have been compiled into anthologies in the later period than their original composition. The polity of the Sangam Age was dominated by the Vendars known as the Cholas, the Pandiyas and the Cheras, and numerous other small political entities or chiefs. The references to these larger political entities in the inscriptions of Asoka, besides the vast corpus of texts known as Sangam literature, mark the beginning of the Early Historic in South India. The Sangam corpus is the main, important source of information for this cultural period. The Sangam literature has references to the ways of life and the economic activities of the people from all walks of life. The evidence from the Sangam literature is corroborated by the Tamil inscriptions, the Asokan inscriptions, the Greco-Roman sources and archaeological evidence. Several scholars have contributed to the understanding of the Sangam Age. The early studies focussed on the investigation of literature; however, later studies have shifted their attention to the Indo-Roman trade. Archaeological excavations of megalithic burials and the habitation sites have contributed to the understanding of the cultural developments. Rajan Gurukkal has studied the early social formation of the Tamizhagam region (Gurukkal 1989, 1995, 1998, 2009) as well as evaluated the role of the Indo-Roman trade by integrating and scrutinising all kinds of sources (Gurukkal 2015). 2. Sources The sources available for the study of the Sangam Age economy are many and they are the Sangam Tamil texts, the Greco-Roman and Sanskrit Sources, the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, the Asokan inscriptions and the archaeological sites and materials. 2.1 Sangam Tamil Texts The Eighteen major works of the Sangam corpus include the Ettutogai, the eight anthologies and the Pattupattu, the ten long poems (Zvelebil 1974; Hart 1979; Ramanujan 1996). The Ettutogai poems are: Aingkurnuru, Ahananuru, Purananuru, Kalittogai, Kuruntogai, Nattrinai, Paripatal and Patitruppattu. The Pattupattu texts are Tirumurukarruppatai, Kurincippattu, Malaipatukatam, Maturaikkanci, Mullaippattu, Netunalvatai, Pattinappalai, Perumpanarruppatai, Porunararruppatai and Cirupanarruppatai. The Eighteen works of the later period and the Five Epics offer information on the early medieval period or Post- Sangam in date. These texts provide data on the landscapes, culture and the eco-cultural contexts. 2.2 The Greco-Roman Texts Because of the external connectivity of the Tamil region in the Early Historic period, the foreign accounts talk about the maritime activities of the Tamizhagam. Strabo’s account, the Periplus Marei Erythreae (Casson 1989), and Ptolemy’s account are the important sources for the development and the economy in this period (Warmington 1928), in addition to the Sanskrit texts including the Ramayana. 3 4 2.3 Inscriptions The Asokan inscriptions, especially the Rock Edict II, mention about the polities and the efforts of Asoka in undertaking welfare activities such as planting of herbs and medical facilities for the benefit of human and animals. The Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions found along the trade routes on the rockshelters with carved stone beds for the monks (mostly the Jains), and those on pottery reveal the nature and activities of the merchants and their diverse backgrounds and the development of script and literacy (Mahadevan 2003). 2.4 Archaeological Sources The archaeological sources for this period include the abundant megalithic burials and the rich variety of material culture from these burials including the iron, ceramics, copper, gold, carnelian, quartz artifacts and beads and the rare Roman coins (Gururajan Rao 1972; Leshnik 1974; Rajan 1991, 2014). Roman Coins and Local Coins The coins of the Roman origin (Turner 1989) and the Punch marked coins (Vanaja 1983) and the issues of the local rulers, namely, the Chola, Pandya, Chera, Malayaman and other rules reveal about the nature of transactions and the nature of monetization of the early period (Krishnamurty 1997). Excavated Archaeological Sites The excavated archaeological sites, both burials and habitation sites, form an important source. The excavation of the port sites such as Arikamedu, Azhagankulam, Kaveripumpattinam, Korkai, Uraiyur, Kanchipuram and Keezhati in Tamil Nadu and Pattanam (Shajan et al. 2004; Cherian et al. 2007; Cherian and Jaya Menon 2015) in Kerala and the numerous burial sites such as Sanur, Kodumanal and Adichanallur (sites of interior region) offer information on the material culture of the Iron Age-Early Historic period (Leshnik 1974). The excavated sites have also revealed evidence for extensive material cultural production. They reveal evidence of trade as well as craft production. 3. Previous Research of the Sangam Age and Its Economy Previous research attempts on the Sangam Age economy can be divided into the investigations on the megalithic burials, literature and the Indo-Roman trade. The early research on the Sangam Age focussed on the references in the Tamil texts and their interpretations to understand the society, polity and economy. Kanaksabhai Pillai (1904), Subramanian (1966), Singaravelu (1966), Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1970) and Nilakanta Sastri (1974) have studied the economy of the Sangam Age based on the Tamil literary evidence. Archaeological excavations of the megalithic burials unearthed the diverse varieties of megalithic burials and the variety of material cultural remains suggesting the wealth of the material culture found in the burials (Leshnik 1974; Rajan 1994). Archaeological excavations at the coastal port sites revealed evidence for the various industries such as bead-making 4 5 industry, shell bangle industry, textile industry and the possible trade activities and urbanization (Wheeler et al. 1946; Raman 1991; Champakalakshmi 1996; Nagaswamy 1991; Begley et al. 1996, 2004). The foreign ceramics found at these sites revealed about the overseas connections (Sidebotham 2010, Wendrich et al. 2003; Tomber 2008). Champakalakshmi (1996), and K.Rajan (2003) have studied the various aspects of Sangam Age society using archaeological evidence (See also Venkatasubramanian 1988, Ray 1994, 1996, 2003, Tripati 2002, Gupta 2007). K. Kailasapthy (1968), Sivathamby (1998) and Mathaiyan (2004) have studied the literary concepts of Tinai portrayed in the Sangam literature. These scholars have extensively worked on the concept of the tinai as elaborated in the grammar work of Tolkappiam. These studied mainly depended on the literary sources and their perspectives are distinctly literary in nature. The excavation of the overseas sites such as Berenike and Quseir al Qadhim (in Egypt) and Sumurram (Khor Rori, in Oman) too produced evidence for the connections with Tamizhagam and South India (Tomber 2008; Pavan 2017). Rajan Gurukkal’s work focuses on the early social formation and seeks to understand the nature of the early trade (1989, 1995, 1998, 2009). Gurukkal characterises the early polities and societies at the chiefdom level of political organisation and he argues that there was no state in the Early Historic period. He objects to the use of the term “trade” and concepts such as Balance of Payment with regard to the Indo-Roman trade (Gurukkal 2013, 2015). Research by K. Rajan has contributed to the understanding of the industrial