The World of the Tamil Merchant, is a part of a larger series on India’s rich trade history that is anchored by Gurcharan Das. I have one other of the series, the one on Gujarati merchants, and how they pioneered globalised (yet to read)., is a part of a larger series on India’s rich trade history that is anchored by Gurcharan Das. I have one other of the series, the one on Gujarati merchants, and how they pioneered globalised (yet to read).

What is fascinating about the World of the Tamil Merchant, is the way the narrative is structured. Picking up from literary sources from the Sangam period, inscriptions, archaeological sources, and the limited historical material, the author Kanakalatha Mukund carves out a story that is full of the promise of adventure.  Merchants on ships laden with rare goods, merchants who sought out new lands, caravans that proceeded overland to trade, small armies that protected these caravans.

It is the story of the land of the Tamils, or Tamilakam, and the way they organised themselves.

The notion of Tamilakam was based on a larger linguistic and cultural identity and did not denote a single political identity or nation state. Traditionally, the Tamil region was said to be ruled by muvendar, the three kings: Pandya, Chola and Chera. Madurai, Uraiyur, which is now a suburb of Tiruchi, and Vanji (modern Karur)2 were the respective capitals of the three kingdoms. To these should be added the kingdom in the north, with its capital in Kanchi or Kanchipuram, which was later ruled by the Pallavas.

Mukund, Kanakalatha.

Straddling the land between the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal, with the Deccan Plateau marking it’s northern boundaries, Tamilakam was a prosperous land, that had extensive trade relations with the ancient and medieval world. There was extensive trade between the Tamils and the Egyptians, the lands around the Mediterranean, and with the Romans (Yavanas).

Trade was recognized as the engine of growth and economic well-being in Tamilakam. Old texts listed six pre-eminent economic activities—cultivation, manufacturing, trade, pictorial art, learning and sculpture.

Mukund, Kanakalatha. The World of the Tamil Merchant: Pioneers of International Trade (Kindle Locations 433-435). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

The World of the Merchant King, pays heed to the kingdoms of that era. The kings administered, and their job was to ensure that those who produced – farmers, artisans, craftsmen –  or traded – merchants, shopkeepers, traders –  were able to go about their business with least interference from enemies including brigands, pirates, and enemy forces. For this the King charged a price, a tax. The taxes were of two kinds – land tax paid in paddy, and commercial tax paid in money. There is a description of the tax system that is exceedingly sophisticated, and decentralised.

According to the dharmasastras, the tax rate had to be fixed at one-sixth of the value of the produce. The actual tax rates, however, were much higher and sometimes went up to as much as 40 per cent. It must be remembered that many taxes were also collected by the local bodies for their own revenue, which had to be added to the taxes paid to the state. In general, the tax rate was probably around one-third of the gross produce.

Mukund, Kanakalatha. The World of the Tamil Merchant: Pioneers of International Trade (Kindle Locations 1111-1114). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

Although they ran the state, the Kings were not all powerful. State power was decentralised to the village level. One interesting titbit i picked up was the relationship of Tamilakam with ancient China

The power of the Pallava and the Chola states, while noteworthy in the Indian context, was no match for the Chinese empire, which was the pre-eminent power in the region. The rulers of South-East Asia acknowledged its superior status and sent it tribute regularly. So did the Pallava ruler Narasimhavarman II—he sent an embassy in 720 CE. The Chola rulers followed and sent regular embassies to the Chinese court—Rajaraja I in 1015 CE; Rajendra in 1033 CE; and Kulottunga in 1077 CE……….

India. Chinese histories recorded three embassies which were sent by the Chola kings to the Chinese emperor. The first was sent by Rajaraja I, ‘Lo-tsa-lo-tsa’ in the Chinese accounts, and reached the Chinese court in 1015, carrying a large quantity of pearls, ivory and frankincense.33 A second embassy was sent by Rajendra I, ‘Shi-lo-lo-cha Yin-to-lo-chulo’, in 1033. Kulottunga I, ‘Ti-hua-kia-lo’, sent the third embassy, which reached China in 1077. The envoys carried glassware, camphor, brocades, rhinoceros horns, ivory, incense, spices and other expensive gifts for the Chinese emperor, and in return received a large amount of copper.34

Mukund, Kanakalatha. The World of the Tamil Merchant: Pioneers of International Trade (Kindle Locations 1241-1247). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

But trade with the west was older than that. As early as the 1st century

Pliny, writing in 75 CE, complained that there was ‘no year in which India does not drain our Empire of at least fifty five million sesterces’.25 In fact, trade with Rome peaked in the latter half of the first century CE during the reign of Tiberius, which is substantiated by the large share of the coins of Augustus and Tiberius among all the Roman coins found in India.

The volume of trade was high. At one point the author talks about a ship a day mooring at the docks,  unload goods from faraway lands and to load goods from Tamilakam. Roman traders would travel inland to market their wares in other towns. So not only was there trade, the people of Tamilakam were not really wary of foreigners. The foreigners were good buyers, the money was good, and trade flourished

One side records a business loan drawn up in Musiri. The other side, written in Alexandria, lists the imports from Musiri—spikenard, ivory and bales of cloth. ‘The business contract … covers the period of shipment from Muziris until the arrival of the cargo at Alexandria and mentions the specific type of merchandise, the quantity and value as well as the 25 per cent tax rate levied by Roman customs officials.’35 The cargo amounted to 700 to 1700 pounds of spikenard, 4700 pounds of ivory items, and 790 pounds of varieties of textiles. The total value of this cargo was equal to the price of 2400 acres of land in Egypt.

To manage all this, there were various merchant guilds that organised themselves to represent the interests of their members.

What were the advantages of the guild as an organization? Being a part of a group lessened risk in two ways. One, it minimized the physical danger of long-distance travel, which was of grave concern while travelling through unsettled and unprotected tracts of the country. ….It also addressed the disadvantage of trading as an individual merchant, especially in markets in distant lands. The group could also be a possible source of credit for individual members to tide over any short-term needs. Finally, a group identity engendered greater trust in all societies, and members belonging to a guild were perceived to be less risk-prone than individual merchants

So the King was one centre of power. the guilds were the other. The local villages were the third, and the temples were the fourth. The temples themselves organised themselves in a local area – becoming the centre of activity.

In a reflection of its centrality, the temple became the depository of all information relating to administration and resource management. …..Inscriptions also give details of the functioning of local assemblies and administration; of revenue assessment and taxation; of the management and more productive use of land and irrigation resources through reclamation, desilting, repairing sluices and building of embankments……

for more than three centuries, over a period which saw the rise and ultimate disintegration of the powerful Chola empire, the position of the temple remained stable, and it retained its significance as the focal point of social interaction and an outlet for the concerns of the community.

The temple as a core of economic activity, is a fascinating concept, and it is around large cathedrals that market cities evolved in Europe. Here the largest temples were built, after the economic boom. They were given land that they used for tilling, and the proceeds of that for ‘good work’. The relationship between the temples and the merchants, including a mention of the district (North Arcot)  where my family village (calamur) is based

corporate assemblies, the nagaram or sabha, borrowed money from the temple and agreed to supply the required amount of ghee or oil as interest on the money. It is evident that individual donors as well as the temple authorities preferred to give the donation to corporate groups since a collective body was perceived as better security.

Mukund, Kanakalatha……..

The shepherds of the temple in Melpadi, North Arcot, as a collective body thus stood security for ninety sheep received by one shepherd. Similarly, the Sivapuram nagaram of Kilur, South Arcot district, jointly signed an agreement when three member merchants borrowed money to supply turmeric to the temple to be used for turmeric paste or manjal kappu.

Mukund, Kanakalatha. The World of the Tamil Merchant: Pioneers of International Trade (Kindle Locations 1482-1493).

In addition to being the centre of the community, the temples also played the role of the bank. Providing money for expansion of business. This is a fascinating insight into the temples of Tamilakam.

Temples provided the ideal institutional base for capital formation as well as the circulation of capital across various sections of society. Endowments to the temple comprised donations and deposits. In the case of deposits, the purpose was mentioned. Money was deposited as nilai poliyuttu, a permanent deposit, though it is not clear if the deposit was expected to be repaid. Interest rates were nearly always specified. Interest could be paid as a percentage on the borrowed capital, or in kind, which meant that the return was calculated based on the price of the commodity to be supplied in lieu of interest.

Interest was sometimes also defined as service. In the eighth century, the ganam, local assembly, of Paiyanur, Chengalpattu district, agreed to remove the silt from the large tank in the village each year as interest on paddy given by a merchant of Mamallapuram.

Mukund, Kanakalatha. The World of the Tamil Merchant: Pioneers of International Trade (Kindle Locations 1497-1508). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

The role of the temple as the banker. In a country where banks are behaving in a manner that are going beyond the raising of eyebrows, the idea of the temple as a bank is very appealing. Can you imagine loan defaulters to the Tirupathi Devesthanam, or the Shirdi trust. The social pressure to repay would be so high, that NPA’s would possibly come down.

Non-specific gifts of gold or money were lent out on interest by the temple. According to a tenth-century inscription, the temple of Tiruvorriyur, now a northern suburb of Chennai, invested a part of 60 kalanju gold which it had been gifted with the residents of a village near Ponneri, further north, at an interest of 15 per cent, payable every six months, including two meals for the man who went to collect the interest from the borrowers.

Mukund, Kanakalatha. The World of the Tamil Merchant: Pioneers of International Trade (Kindle Locations 1508-1511). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

.Temples played the role of  the community enabler, and they became the core binder of the community, and beyond. Even today. The temple plays such an important role in the lives of people in Tamil Nadu even today – more than a place of worship. It is a place of social congregation. Where you make plans, crack deals, and get your kids wed.

The World of the Tamil Merchant is an easy read, and written well. It looks at all aspects that went into constructing the land of the Tamils. While it isn’t a detailed history of trade, or even the Tamils, it is a good launch point to read more. There are many interesting titbits there, that you read, and go – oh wow . For example, I learned that one of the Great Pallava Kings Nandivarman II (who was elected as king) was part of the Pallava family branch that was ruling Champa (Vietnam).

I am planning to collect the entire series.