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Economy of ancient Tamil country

Economy of ancient Tamil country

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Ancient Tamil country, also known as Tamilakam
Ancient Tamil country, also known as Tamilakam

The economy of the ancient Tamil country (Sangam era: 200 BCE - 200 CE), a region in southern India covering the present-day states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, was predominantly agrarian. The main economic activities were agriculture, weaving, pearl fishery, manufacturing and construction. Paddy was the most important crop; it was the staple cereal and served as an important medium of exchange for inland trading. Pepper, millets, grams and sugarcane were the other commonly grown crops. Industrial activity also flourished during this age. Madurai and Urayur were important centers for the textile industry; Korkai was the center of pearl trade.

Inland trading was done mainly under the barter system and was fairly organised with busy market places, merchant associations and commercial lending institutions being in vogue. Merchants formed associations and operated autonomously, without interference from the state. The people of ancient Tamil country engaged in brisk overseas trade with Rome; the trade reached a peak after the discovery of a direct route between Tamilakam and Egypt, utilising the monsoon winds. Pepper, pearls, ivory, textiles and gold ornaments were exported from Tamilakam, while the imports were usually luxury goods like glass, coral, wine and topaz. Foreign trade also brought in a large amount of foreign exchange, in the form of Roman currency.

The state played an important role in building the necessary infrastructure such as roads and ports to meet the demands of the economic activity. An effective taxation scheme was put in place to bring in enough revenue for the state to provide these facilities. As in nearly all economies, wealth was unequally divided among the people giving rise to distinct economic classes, though the wealthy often gave away a part of their wealth to charity.

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Ancient Tamil country
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Main article: Sources of ancient Tamil history

The most important source of ancient Tamil history is the corpus of Tamil poems, referred to as Sangam literature, dated between the last centuries of the pre-Christian era and the early centuries of the Christian era.[1][2][3] It consists of 2381 known poems, with a total of over 50000 lines, written by 473 poets.[4][5] Each poem belongs to one of two types: Akam (inside) and Puram (outside). The akam poems deal with inner human emotions such as love, while the puram poems deal with outer experiences such as society, culture and warfare. These poems contain descriptions of various aspects of life in the ancient Tamil country. The Maduraikkanci by Mankudi Maruthanaar and the Netunalvatai by Nakkirar contain a detailed description of the Pandyan capital Madurai, the king's palace and the rule of Nedunj Cheliyan, the victor of the Talaialanganam battle.[6] The Purananuru and Agananuru collections contain poems sung in praise of various kings and poems that were composed by the kings themselves. The Pathirruppaththu provides the genealogy of two collateral lines of the Cheras and describes the Chera country. The Pattinappaalai talks about the riches of the Chola port city of Kaveripumpattinam and the economic activities in the city. The historical value of the Sangam poems has been critically analysed by scholars in the 19th and 20th centuries. Historians agree that the descriptions of society, culture and economy in the poems are authentic, for the most part: many eminent scholars including Sivaraja Pillay, Kanakasabhai, K.A.N Sastri and George Hart have used information from these poems to describe the ancient Tamil society.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Herman Tieken, a Dutch author, has expressed his disapproval of doing so, arguing that the poems were composed much later in the 8th-9th centuries CE.[15] Tieken's methodology and his conclusions about the date of Sangam poems have been criticized by other scholars.[16][17][18]

Among literary sources in other languages, the most informative ones are Greek and Roman accounts of the maritime trade between the Roman empire and the kingdoms of Tamilakam. Strabo and Pliny give the details of the trade route between the Red Sea coast and the western coast of South India. Strabo (ca. 1st century BCE) mentions the embassies sent by the Pandyas to the court of Augustus, along with a description of the ambassadors. Pliny (ca. 77 CE) talks about the different items imported by the Romans from India and complains about the financial drain caused by them. He also refers to many Tamil ports in his work The Natural History. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (c. 60 - 100 CE) an anonymous work, gives an elaborate description of the Tamil country and the riches of a 'Pandian Kingdom'.

Archaeological excavations have been carried out in many sites in Tamil Nadu including Arikamedu, Kodumanal, Kaveripumpattinam and Alagankulam, which have yielded a wide variety of artifacts, belonging to the Sangam era, such as different types of pottery like black and red ware, rouletted ware and Russet coated ware, brick walls, ring wells, pits, industrial items, remains of seeds and shells[19][20][21][22] Many of the pottery sherds contain Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on them, which have provided additional evidence for the archaeologist to date them. Archaeologists agree that activities best illustrated in these material records are trade, hunting, agriculture and crafts.[23] These excavations have provided evidence for the existence of the major economic activities mentioned in Sangam literature. Remnants of irrigation structures like reservoirs and ring wells and charred remains of seeds attest to the cultivation of different varieties of crops and knowledge of various agricultural techniques.[24][25][26][27] Spinning whorls, cotton seeds, remains of a woven cotton cloth and dyeing vats provide evidence for the activities of the textile industry.[28][29] Metallurgy has been supported by the discovery of an ancient blast furnace, along with its base and wall, anvil, slags and crucibles. The remains have indicated that, in addition to iron, the blacksmith may have worked with steel, lead, copper and bronze.[30] The Kodumanal excavation recovered several jewellery items and semi precious stones at different stages of manufacture, suggesting that they were locally manufactured.[31] Remains of import and export articles recovered from Arikamedu indicate the important role it played as an Indo-Roman trading station.[32] Building construction, pearl fishery and painting are other activities that have been supported by findings from these excavations.[33][34][35][36]

Inscriptions are another source of deducing ancient Tamil history: most of them are written in Tamil-Brahmi script and found on rocks or pottery. The inscriptions have been used to corroborate some of the details provided by the Sangam literature. Cave inscriptions found at places such as Mangulam and Alagarmalai near Madurai, Edakal hill in Kerala and Jambai village in Villupuram district record various donations made by the kings and chieftains.[37] Brief mentions of various aspects of the Sangam society such as agriculture, trade, commodities, occupations and names of cities are found in these inscriptions.[38] Several coins issued by the Tamil kings of this age have been recovered from river beds and urban centers of their kingdoms. Most of them carry the emblem of the corresponding dynasty, such as the bow and arrow of the Cheras; some of them contain portraits and written legends. Numismatists have used these coins to establish the existence of the Tamil kingdoms during the Sangam age and associate the kings mentioned in the legends to a specific period.[39] A large number of Roman coins have been found in Coimbatore and Madurai districts, providing more evidence for the brisk maritime trade between Rome and Tamilakam.[40]

[edit] Agriculture

Main article: Agriculture in ancient Tamil country

Agriculture was the main vocation of the ancient Tamils and was respected as the most important occupation.[41][42] The cultivators were aware of the different varieties of soil, the kinds of crops that can be grown on them and the various irrigation schemes suitable for any given region. Among the five geographical divisions of the Tamil country in Sangam literature, the Marutam region was the most fit for cultivation, as it had the most fertile lands. Land was classified, according to its fertility, as Menpulam (fertile land), Pinpulam (dry land), Vanpulam (hardland) and Kalarnilam or Uvarnilam (salty land). Menpulam yielded rich produce on a variety of crops, but Pinpulam was cultivated only with dry crops due to limited irrigation facilities. The yield from Vanpulam was limited, while Kalarnilam was unfit for cultivation. Some of the well known types of soil were alluvial soil, red soil, black soil, laterite soil and sandy soil.[43]

Pearl millet
Pearl millet

The Tamils cultivated a variety of crops such as paddy, sugarcane, millets, pepper, various pulses, coconuts, beans, corn, cotton, plantain, tamarind and sandalwood. Paddy was the main crop, with different varieties such as Vennel, Sennel, Pudunel, Aivananel and Torai grown in the wet land of Marutam. The peasants lived under shady groves close to the farmlands and each house had jack, coconut, palm, areca and plantain trees. Turmeric plants were grown in front of the houses and flower gardens were laid in between the houses. It was known that ploughing, manuring, weeding, irrigation and crop protection need to be followed in a proper way for the yield to be rich.[44] A wide range of tools needed for agriculture, from ploughing to harvesting, were manufactured. The basic tool was the plough also known as meli, nanchil and kalappai. Palliyadutal referred to the process of removing weeds using a toothed implement attached to a plank and drawn by oxen. Lower-class peasants used stone sling devices to scare animals and birds away from the standing crops.[45] Sickles were used for harvesting fully grown paddy and reaping the ripe ears of corn. Since the rivers of the region were not perennial, several irrigation techniques were developed to ensure an adequate and continuous supply of water. Farmers used a bullock-propelled contrivance called Kapilai for baling out water from deep wells and a manual setup called Erram, for shallow wells. Tanks, lakes and dams were some of the water storage systems that were developed and the water supply from these systems was regulated using sluices and shutters.[46] Kallanai, a dam built on river Kaveri during this period, is considered the oldest water-regulation structure in the world.[47][48][49] Surface irrigation, sprinkler mechanism and drip irrigation methods were followed to prevent wastage of water.[50]

Kallanai is considered the oldest water-regulation structure in the world
Kallanai is considered the oldest water-regulation structure in the world

The bulk of the agriculturists were cultivators of their own plots of land and were known by different names such as Ulutunbar, Yerinvalnar, Vellalar, Karalar and Kalamar. Apart from these traditional landlords, there were also absentee landlords who were mostly brahmins and poets who received donations of land from the king, and left these donations with tenant farmers. Sometimes independent farm laborers, known as Adiyor, were engaged for specific tasks. Regardless of the nature of ownership, there was a feeling of pride among the cultivators about the fact that they were the producers of food.[51] Landlords and peasants paid tax on the land and its produce - the land tax was known as Irai or Karai and the tax on produce was called Vari. It is believed that one-sixth of the produce was collected as tax.[52] Taxes were collected by revenue officials known as Variya and Kavidi, who were assisted by accountants called Ayakanakkar. For survey and taxation purposes, various measurements were used to measure the land and its produce. The small land was known as Ma and bigger one as Veli. The produce was measured using cubic-measures such as Tuni, Nali, Cher and Kalam and weight-measures such as Tulam and Kalanju.

[edit] Industry

Main article: Industry in ancient Tamil country

During the Sangam age, industrial activity was considered ancillary to agriculture and was mostly domestic, not factory-based. Simple workshops where the blacksmith made the wheel or the carpenter his wooden wares could be called factories of a sort. Weaving, pearl fishing, smithy and ship building were some of the prominent industries of ancient Tamilakam. Spinning and weaving were widely practised crafts, next only to agriculture. In addition to being the full-time occupation of many people, weaving was practised part-time by the farmers in rural areas. Madurai and Urayur were important centers of the industry and were well known for their cotton textiles. The muslins carried fine floral work of different colors and were compared to the slough of the cobra and the cloud of steam. Silk cloth was manufactured with its threads gathered in small knots at its ends. The art of embroidery was also known; the nobles and aristocrats were the main customers for embroidered clothing. Dyeing was a widespread ancillary industry to weaving. The blue dye for the loin cloth was a favorite color among the people. In addition to silk and cotton fabrics, cloth made of wood fibre called Sirai Maravuri and Naarmadi was used by the priestly class.[53] The cloth manufacturers wove long pieces of cloth at a time and delivered it to the dealers. The textile dealers then scissored off bits of required length, called aruvai or tuni, at the time of sale. Hence, the dealers were called aruvai vanigar and the localities where they lived aruvai vidi. Stitched garments were worn by the people and there were tailors called tunnagarar in Madurai and other big towns.[54]

Pearl fishing was an important industry in ancient Tamilakam
Pearl fishing was an important industry in ancient Tamilakam

Pearl fishing was another industry that flourished during the Sangam age. The Pandyan port city of Korkai was the center of pearl trade. Written records from Greek and Egyptian voyagers give details about the pearl fisheries off the Pandyan coast. According to one account, the fishermen who dove into the sea, avoided attacks from sharks, brought up the right-whorled chank and blew on the sounding shell.[55] Convicts were used as pearl divers in Korkai. The Periplus mentions that "Pearls inferior to the Indian sort are exported in great quantity from the marts of Apologas and Omana".[56] Pearls were woven along with nice muslin cloth, before being exported and were the most expensive animal product that Rome imported from India.[56] The pearls from the Pandyan kingdom were also in demand in the kingdoms of North India. Several Vedic mantras refer to the wide use of the pearls: the royal chariots were decked with pearls, as were the horses that dragged them. The use of pearls was so high that the supply of pearls from the Ganges could not meet the demand.[57]

The smithy, or the Panikkalari (literally: workplace), played an important role in the lives of ancient Tamils. Some of the essential items produced in the smithy were weapons of war, tools such as the plough, domestic utensils and the iron wheel. These ancient factories used a blow pipe or a pair of bellows (a turutti) to light the fire that was used for smelting and welding. These workplaces were not numerous, especially in the rural areas. Each smithy catered to the needs of many neighboring villages and hence was overworked.[58] Ship-building was a native industry of Tamilakam. Ocean craft of varying sizes, from the small catamaran (a bunch of logs tied together) to the big ships, were used in Tamil ports. Among the smaller crafts were ambi and padagu that were used as ferries across rivers and the timil which was a fishing boat. Pahri, Odam, Toni, Teppa, and Navai were other smaller craft. The large ship, called Kappal, had masts (Paamaram) and sails (Poy).[59][60]

Carpentry, fishing, salt-manufacture, forestry, pottery, rope making, chank-cutting, gem cutting, manufacture of leather sheaths for war weapons, dealing in conches and ivory, manufacture of jewellery, production of jaggery, and the construction of religious structures such as temples, procession cars and images were other industries. Baskets made of wicker for containing dried grains and other edible articles were also very popular.[61] [62]

[edit] Inland trade

Ancient Tamils participated in active trading in various commodities, both among themselves and outside. The kingdoms of northern India sought pearls, cotton fabrics and conch-shells from Tamilakam while they exchanged woollen clothing, hides and horses.[63] Locally, trading activity revolved mainly around food products - the agricultural produce was supplemented by products from hunters, fishermen and the pastoral folk who provided meat, fish and diary products for consumption. In addition to trading on food products, people bought other items for household needs such as personal hygiene, adornment and transportation. There were market places where busy mercantile transactions went on. Traders used various modes of selling: hawking their goods from door to door, setting up shops in busy market places or stationing themselves at royal households. Sellers of fish, salt and grain hawked their goods, the textile merchants sold cloths from their shops in urban markets and the goldsmith, the lapidary and sellers of sandlewood and ivory were seen in the quarters of aristocrats.[53] Most of the trade was carried on by barter. Paddy was the most commonly accepted medium of exchange, followed by purified salt. Honey and roots were exchanged for fish liver oil and arrack. Sugarcane and rice flakes were exchanged for venison and toddy. Poems in Purananuru describe the prosperous house in Pandya land that was well stocked with paddy, which the housewife exchanged for grams and fish. Artisans and professionals traded their services for goods.[62] Things were measured using the weighing balance, called the Tulakkol named after Tulam, the standard weight. Delicate balances made of ivory were used by the goldsmiths who used the measures Urai, Nali and Ma.[64] A different kind of barter involving deferred exchange was known as Kuri edirppai which means taking a loan of a fixed quantity of a commodity to be repaid as the same quantity of the same commodity at a later date. Since barter was prevalent, coins were used mostly in foreign trade.

[edit] Markets

Sangam works such as Maduraikkanci and Pattinappalai give a detailed description of the markets in big cities.[65][66] The market, or angadi, was situated at the central location of a city.[65] It had two adjacent sections: the morning bazaar (nalangadi) and the evening bazaar (allangadi). The markets of Madurai bore a cosmopolitan look, as people of various ethnicities and languages crowded the shops. Foreign merchants and traders from northern kingdoms such as Kalinga were found in Madurai, making wholesale transactions.[67] According to the Mathuraikkanci, in the great market, which was held in an extensive square, several articles were put up for sale such as garlands of flowers, fragrant pastes, coats with metallic belts, leather sandals, weapons, shields, carts, chariots and ornamented chariot steps. The garment shops sold clothing of various colours and patterns, made of cotton, silk or wool and were neatly arranged in rows. In the grain merchants' street, sacks of pepper and sixteen kinds of grains including paddy, millet, gram, peas and sesame seeds were heaped along the street. The jewellers, who conducted business from a separate street, sold precious articles such as diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, topaz, coral beads and varieties of gold.[66]

Vanchi, the capital of the Cheras, was a typical fortified city, with two divisions inside the fort - the Puranakar and the Akanakar. The Puranakar was the outer-city which was adjacent to the fort wall and was occupied by the soldiers. The Akanakar was the inner-city, which included the king's palace and the localities where his officers lived. The city market was located between these two divisions; the artisans and traders lived closer to the market.[68] Kaveripumpattinam, the port-city of the Cholas, had its market in a central wide-open area close to the two main suburbs of the city - Maruvurpakkam and Pattinapakkam. Maruvurpakkam was adjacent to the sea and housed the fishermen community and the foreign merchants. The main streets of the market met at the center where a temple dedicated to the guardian deity of the city was located.[69] The market of Kaveripumpattinam was similar to the one in Madurai; dyes, scented powder, flowers, textiles, salt, fish and sheep being some of the articles sold in abundance. Flowers were in great demand, especially during festivals such as Indira vizha. Near the bazaar, there were warehouses that had very little ventilation and were possibly located underground. Since merchants from various places thronged the bazaar, each package had the name and details of its owner written on it. Simple advertisements were used to indicate the goods available at different locations.[70]

[edit] Mercantile organization

There were different types of merchants who operated in the ancient Tamil market, which gave rise to a wealth-based class distinction among them. Merchants in the lower levels of the hierarchy were of two varieties: the itinerant merchants who sold goods that they manufactured themselves and the retailers who sold goods manufactured by others. Itinerant traders were found in both the rural and urban markets, but the retailers were concentrated in the cities. In the rural markets, salt and grain merchants usually produced the goods themselves, transported them and sold them directly to the consumers. Salt merchants, known as umanar, moved about with their families in trains of carts.[53] In the cities, artisans such as the blacksmiths and the oil mongers sold their products directly to the consumers. The bulk of the retailers operated in the textile industry. The textile dealers (aruvai vanigar) bought their products from the weavers (karugar) and resold them to the consumers. Merchants selling agricultural produce in the cities were also retailers. At the upper end of the merchant hierarchy, were the rich merchants who participated in long-distance trade. There were three classes among them - ippar, kavippar and perunkudi - based on the extent of their wealth; the perunkudi made up the wealthiest class. Foreign merchants, mainly Romans, also operated in the Tamil markets - not just in the port cities, but in in-land cities such as Madurai, where they exchanged indigenous goods for their offerings. Another category of merchants were the intermediaries or the brokers, who acted as information channels and offered their services mainly to the foreign merchants.[71]

Coin of Roman Emperor Augustus found in Pudukkottai
Coin of Roman Emperor Augustus found in Pudukkottai

Merchants organized themselves into groups called Sattu or Nikama. Stone inscriptions at Mangulam (c. 200 BCE) and pottery inscriptions found at Kodumanal refer to merchant guilds as nikama and the members of the guilds as nikamattor. These findings have indicated that merchant guilds were established at several industrial and trade centers of ancient Tamil country.[72] Many of these merchant associations acted in union in their public activities. They were greatly autonomous, which meant that they enjoyed freedom from state interference but also suffered from the lack of state backing. Merchants were expected to abide by a code of conduct, which was: "Refuse to take more than your due and never stint giving to others their due". Therefore, they went about running their business by openly announcing the profit they were aiming at, known as Utiyam.[73][53] The mercantile community of Tamilakam was aware of elementary banking operations. Lending through houses specializing in monetary transactions and fixation of rates were common. This was, evidently, necessitated by the extensive overseas trade.[58] Accountants were in demand in view of monetary transactions and considerable trading activity.[74] Merchant groups from Madurai and Karur are also known to have made endowments, or donations, as attested by inscriptions found in Alagarmalai (c. 1st century BCE) and Pugalur (c. 3rd century CE). These inscriptions also mention that the various commodities in which such merchants traded include cloth, salt, oil, ploughshare, sugar and gold.[72]

[edit] Foreign trade

Foreign trade was one of the planks on which the economic prosperity of the Tamils depended. Literary, archaeological and numismatic sources confirm the trade relationship between Tamilakam and Rome, where spices and pearls from India were in great demand. With the accession of Augustus in 27 BCE, trade between Tamilakam and Rome received a tremendous boost and culminated about the time of Nero who died in 68 CE. From then on, the trade declined until the death of Caracalla (217 CE), after which it almost ceased. It was revived again under the Byzantine emperors. Under the early Roman emperors, there was a great demand for articles of luxury, especially beryl. Most of the articles of luxury mentioned by the Roman writers came from Tamilakam. In the declining period, cotton and industrial products were imported by Rome.[75] The exports from the Tamil country included pepper, pearls, ivory, textiles and gold ornaments, while the imports were usually luxury goods like glass, coral, wine and topaz.[76] Essential infrastructure facilities such as good harbours, lighthouses, and warehouses were developed to promote overseas trade.[60]

[edit] Trade route

Trade route between Rome and Tamilakam, according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Trade route between Rome and Tamilakam, according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

The route taken by ships from Rome to reach Tamilakam has been described in detail by writers such as Strabo and Pliny. Roman and Arab sailors were aware of the existence of the monsoon winds that blew across the Indian Ocean on a regular and periodic basis. It was a Roman captain named Hippalus who ventured upon a direct voyage to India, utilising the monsoon winds and his effort was later improved upon by merchants who made the voyage shorter. They found that striking due east from the port of Cana or Cape Guardafui it was possible to go straight to Tamilakam. Strabo writes that every year, about the time of the summer solstice, a fleet of one hundred and twenty vessels sailed from Myos Hormos, a port of Egypt on the Red Sea, headed towards India. With periodical assistance from the monsoons, they traversed the ocean in about forty days to reach the ports of Tamilakam or Ceylon. Pliny writes that if the monsoon was blowing regularly, it took forty days to reach Muziris (Musiri) from Ocelis at the entrance to the Red Sea (from the South). He also mentions that the passengers preferred to embark at Bacare (Vaikkarai) in Pandya country, rather than Musiri, which was infested with pirates.

The ships returned from Tamilakam with rich cargo which, as soon as it was transported on the back of camels from the Red Sea to the Nile and descended the river as far as Alexandria, was poured without delay into the capital of the Roman empire.[77]

[edit] Imports and exports

Fine muslins and jewels, especially beryls (vaiduriyam) and pearls were exported from Tamilakam for personal adornment. Drugs, spices and condiments as well as crape ginger and other cosmetics fetched high prices. Even greater was the demand for pepper which, according to Pliny, sold at the price of 15 denarii (silver pieces) a pound. Sapphire, called kurrandam in Tamil, and a variety of ruby were also exported. The other articles exported from Tamilakam were ivory, spikenard, betel, diamonds, amethysts and tortoise shell. The Greek and Arabic names for rice (Oryza and urz), ginger(Gingibar and zanjabil) and cinnamon (Karpion and quarfa) are almost identical with their Tamil names, arisi, inchiver and karuva.[78] The imports were mostly luxury items such as glass, gold and wine. Horses were imported from Arabia.[63]

[edit] Foreign exchange

Local imitation of a coin of Augustus, c. 1st century AD.
Local imitation of a coin of Augustus, c. 1st century AD.

Trade with Romans, which flourished for centuries, had a big impact on the economy of ancient Tamil country - with the royal treasury and the export traders accumulating a large amount of Roman currency. Pliny writes that India, China and Arabia absorbed between them one hundred million sesterces per annum from Rome. This sum is calculated by Mommsen to represent 1,100,000 pounds, of which nearly half went to India especially the South.[79]

Hoards of coins of the early Roman emperors (Augustus to Nero) have been found in the vicinity of the South Indian beryl mines which produced the best and purest quality products in the world. There have been fifty-five different discoveries, mostly in Coimbatore and Madurai districts, that have unearthed these coins; the number of gold coins discovered has been described as a quantity amounting to five coolly loads and the number of silver coins has been described variously as: a great many in a pot, about 500 in an earthen pot, a find of 163 coins, some thousands enough to fill five or six Madras measures etc. These discoveries have produced coins of all Roman emperors from Augustus (27 BCE) to Alexander Severus (235 CE), a period of nearly three centuries. By far, the greater part of these Roman coins belongs to the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. After 235 CE, there are no coins that can be dated to the next one hundred years, suggesting a temporary abeyance of trade between Rome and South India. This could be due to internal revolts and external attacks suffered by the Roman empire during that period. When order and good government were restored in Rome, trade with Tamilakam seems to have revived, as indicated by more coins belonging to this period that have been found. Zeno’s coins carry us to almost the end of the Roman empire. Some scholars believe that there might have been a Roman settlement near Madurai and that little copper coins with the Roman Emperors' heads on them might have been minted locally.[79]

[edit] Role of the state

The role of the state with regard to trade related to two aspects: first, to provide adequate infrastructure necessary to sustain the trade and second, to organise an efficient administrative apparatus for taxation.[80]

During the Sangam period, the main trade routes, such as the ones going over the Western Ghats, traversed thick forests. It was the duty of the state to protect the merchant caravans plying these trade routes from robbers and wild life. Main roads, known as Peruvali, were built that connected the distant parts of the country. These roads were as important to the traders as they were for the army. Commodities like salt had to be transported long distances, such as from the sea coast to the interior villages. The state was also responsible for developing coastal infrastructure such as ports, lighthouses and warehouses near the ports to promote overseas trade. Several ports were developed on both the east and the west coast of Tamilakam. Kaveripumpattinam (a.k.a Puhar) was the chief port of the Cholas; their other ports were Nagapattinam, Marakkanam and Arikamedu, all on the east coast. The Pandyas had developed Korkai, Saliyur, Kayal, Marungurpattinam (present day Alagankulam) and Kumari (present day Kanyakumari) as their centers of trade along the east coast. Niranam and Vilinam were their west coast ports. Musiri, Tondi, Marandai, Naravu, Varkkalai and Porkad were the principal ports of the Cheras and all of them were on the west coast.[81]

To collect revenue from commerce, the state installed customs checkposts (sungachavadi) along the highways and the ports. In the ports, duty was collected on inland goods, before being exported, and on overseas goods meant for the local markets, which were stamped with the official seal before being allowed into the country. The volume of trade in the port cities was high enough to warrant a large workforce to monitor and assess the goods. The state issued licenses to liquor shops, which were required to fly the license flag outside their premises. Flags were used by foreign merchants too, to indicate the nature of goods they were selling. The state also kept records of the weights and counts of all the goods sold by merchants. One of the significant aspects of the state intervention in commerce was that it reinforced the authority of the ruler.[80]

[edit] Personal wealth

The measure of wealth varied from one community to another: among the agriculturists it was the number of ploughshares one owned and among the pastoral folk it was the number of cows. Wealth was distributed unequally among the people, leading to distinct economic classes - the rich, the poor and the middle class. The nobility, state officers, export traders and court poets formed the wealthy class. Most agriculturists and inland merchants made up the middle class. The lowest class consisted of labourers and wandering minstrels. It was believed that this economic division of people was the result of a divine arrangement; the poor people were made to feel that their miserable condition was due to their past sins, tivinai, and was inevitable.[82] The extreme opulence of some people as well as the abject poverty of some others are clearly portrayed in the contemporary literature. Most of the rich spent a part of their wealth on charity, the king's philanthropy setting an example. It was believed that one needed to accumulate wealth in order to give donations and perform righteous obligations. Sometimes, the men of the household undertook a long journey to the north of the Venkata Hill or the northern boundary of Tamilakam, to earn wealth. One possible region that they might have gone to is the Mysore region, where the gold mines were getting famous. F.R. Allchin, who has discussed the antiquity of gold mining in the Deccan, says that the high period of mining in South India was the last centuries of the pre-Christian era and the first two centuries of the Christian era, which coincides with the Sangam period.[83]

[edit] References

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  • Sharma, TRS (2000). Ancient Indian Literature: An Anthology. Vol III. Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, p. 43.
  • Sivathamby, Karthigesu (1981). Drama in ancient Tamil society. New Century Book House, Madras.
  • Subrahmanian, N (1972). History of Tamilnad. Koodal Publishers, Madurai.
  • Subrahmanian, N (1980). Sangam polity. Ennes Publications, Madurai.
  • Sundararajan, Dr.S. (1991). Ancient Tamil Country. Navrang Booksellers and Publishers, New Delhi.
  • Tripati, Sila; A.S. Gaur, Sundaresh, P. Gudigar (1996). "Marine Archaeological Explorations in the Kaveripoompattiname Region: Fresh light on the Structural Remains". Man and Environment 21 (1): pp. 86-90.
  • Venkata Subramanian, T.K. (1988). Environment and urbanisation in early Tamilakam. Tamil University, Thanjavur.
  • Zvelebil, Kamil (1975). Tamil Literature. Leiden : Brill.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Subrahmanian. , p. 22.
  2. ^ Sharma, TRS (2000). Ancient Indian Literature: An Anthology. Vol III. Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, p. 43.
  3. ^ "Cankam literature". The Encyclopaedia Brittanica 2. (2002). p. 802.
  4. ^ Rajam, V. S. 1992. A reference grammar of classical Tamil poetry: 150 B.C.-pre-fifth/sixth century A.D. Memoirs of the American philosophical society, v. 199. Philadelphia, Pa: American Philosophical Society. p12
  5. ^ Dr. M. Varadarajan, A History of Tamil Literature, (Translated from Tamil by E.Sa. Viswanathan), Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1988 p.40
  6. ^ Sastri. A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar, p. 127.
  7. ^ Pillay, Sivaraja. , p. 11.
  8. ^ Venkata Subramanian. , pp. 12-13.
  9. ^ Subrahmanian. Sangam polity, p. 23.
  10. ^ Sundararajan. , p. 3.
  11. ^ Pillai, J.K. , p. 8.
  12. ^ Sastri. The Pandyan Kingdom, pp. 14-15, 21, 31.
  13. ^ Mukund. , p. 24.
  14. ^ Husaini. , p. 7.
  15. ^ Tieken, Herman Joseph Hugo (2001) Kāvya in South India: old Tamil Caṅkam poetry. Groningen: Egbert Forsten. pp. 229-230
  16. ^ Geroge Hart III. "Review of Tieken's Kavya in South India." Journal of the American Oriental Institute 124:1. pp. 180-184. 2004.
  17. ^ G.E. Ferro-Luzzi. "Tieken, Herman, Kavya in South India (Book review). Asian Folklore Studies. June 2001. pp. 373-374
  18. ^ Anne E. Monius, Book review, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 61, No. 4 (Nov., 2002), pp. 1404-1406
  19. ^ Begley, p. 461
  20. ^ Rajan, p. 57
  21. ^ Tripati et al., pp. 86, 89
  22. ^ Gaur and Sundaresh, pp. 126-7
  23. ^ Abraham, p. 219
  24. ^ Cooke et al., pp. 342-3, 348-9
  25. ^ Tripati et al., pp. 86-88
  26. ^ Gaur and Sundaresh, p. 124
  27. ^ Begley, p. 472
  28. ^ Rajan, p. 67
  29. ^ Begley, p. 475
  30. ^ Rajan, pp. 65-66, 95, 98-102
  31. ^ Rajan, pp. 66-67
  32. ^ Begley, pp. 472, 480
  33. ^ Tripati et al., pp. 86, 88-89
  34. ^ Begley, p. 472
  35. ^ Gaur and Sundaresh, p. 127
  36. ^ Rajan, p. 141
  37. ^ Mahadevan, pp. 7-24
  38. ^ Mahadevan, pp. 115-159
  39. ^ Krishnamurthy, pp. 20-23, 97-107, 132-148
  40. ^ Husaini, pp. 20-21
  41. ^ Venkata Subramanian. , p. 26.
  42. ^ Thirukkural. Thirukkural. “உழுதுண்டு வாழ்வாரே வாழ்வார்மற் றெல்லாம் தொழுதுண்டு பின்செல் பவர். They live who live to plough and eat; The rest behind them bow and eat.”
  43. ^ Balambal. , p. 60.
  44. ^ Pillay, J.K. , pp. 50-51.
  45. ^ Pillay, J.K. , p. 51.
  46. ^ Pillay, J.K.. , p. 51.
  47. ^ Balambal. , p. 64.
  48. ^ Singh, Vijay P.; Ram Narayan Yadava (2003). Water Resources System Operation: Proceedings of the International Conference on Water and Environment. Allied Publishers, p. 508. ISBN 817764548X.
  49. ^ "This is the oldest stone water-diversion or water-regulator structure in the world". Retrieved on 2007-05-27.
  50. ^ Balambal, p. 65
  51. ^ Balambal. , pp. 61-62.
  52. ^ Balambal. , p. 67.
  53. ^ a b c d Venkata Subramanian. , p. 86.
  54. ^ Subrahmanian. Sangam Polity, pp. 240-241.
  55. ^ Caldwell, Robert (1881). A Political and General History of the District of Tinnevelly p. 20. Retrieved on 2005-07-15.
  56. ^ a b Venkata Subramanian. , p. 55.
  57. ^ Iyengar, P.T. Srinivasa (2001). History Of The Tamils: From the Earliest Times to 600 AD p. 22. Asian Educational Services. Retrieved on 2007-07-15.
  58. ^ a b Subrahmanian. Sangam Polity, p. 241.
  59. ^ Sundararajan. , p. 85.
  60. ^ a b Subrahmanian. Sangam Polity, p. 253.
  61. ^ Subrahmanian. , p. 356.
  62. ^ a b Sivathamby. , pp. 173-174.
  63. ^ a b Krishnamurthy. , pp. 5-6.
  64. ^ Venkata Subramanian. , p. 87.
  65. ^ a b Venkata Subramanian. , p. 45.
  66. ^ a b Husaini. , p. 24.
  67. ^ Subrahmanian. Sangam Polity, pp. 244-245.
  68. ^ Venkata Subramanian. , pp. 75-76, 80.
  69. ^ Venkata Subramanian. , pp. 71, 80.
  70. ^ Subrahmanian. Sangam polity, p. 245.
  71. ^ Mukund. , pp. 17-19.
  72. ^ a b Mahadevan. , p. 141.
  73. ^ Subrahmanian. Sangam polity, p. 246.
  74. ^ Subrahmanian. , p. 357.
  75. ^ Husaini. , p. 20.
  76. ^ Krishnamurthy. , p. 6.
  77. ^ Husaini. , p. 18.
  78. ^ Husaini. , p. 19.
  79. ^ a b Husaini. , pp. 20-21.
  80. ^ a b Mukund. , pp. 22-23.
  81. ^ Krishnamurthy. , p. 5.
  82. ^ Subrahmanian. Sangam Polity, p. 232.
  83. ^ Sivathamby. , p. 175.
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