Medieval Merchant guilds and their dimensions – Medieval India – History DU Notes

Medieval merchant guilds and their various dimensions

Ayyavole and Manigramam, the two medieval merchant guilds of south India originated independently of each other. However from the mid thirteenth century onwards the Ayyavole association became so powerful that the Manigramam functioned as a subordinate group to Ayyavole. They operated in the region comprising modern day Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Coromandel strip of Andhra Pradesh and west coast of Kerala and Sri Lanka[1] during the period ranging from ninth to mid-fourteenth century. During this period, two dynasties chola and Pandya doiminated Tamil Nadu while Rastrakutas, the western Chalukyas of Kalyan and the Hoysalas and to a lesser extent the Yadavas and the Kakatiyas were the important ruling dynasties in Karnataka. It will be important to mention here that regional developments affected the course of these trade guilds. E.g. Ayyavole expanded in Karnataka as well as overseas with the cola expansion through conquests.

This paper aims at discussing the origin and expansion of Ayyavole, its components, its relation with other associations and the ruling groups. It will also analyse the list of commodities of trade as it comments on the nature of trade, whether it was primarily a luxury trade or whether it also catered to basic needs for food and clothing. We will also examine the role of trade guilds in the urbanization in South Indian Peninsula. Before we go into details of the debate regarding origin of Ayyavole, it will be useful to look at the source of our information i.e. inscriptions and its significance.

The chief source of our information on Ayyavole and Manigramam is the corpus of Tamil and Kannada inscriptions[2]. They are generally stone and occasionally copper plate inscription. They are often located in or near temple and record various kinds of taxes e.g. taxes in cash or kind levied for the benefit of temple on merchant groups and townspeople, taxes on commodities produced in the area or on goods in transit. Sometime they also record agreement between ruler and merchants, granting certain rights to these traders.

Noboru Karashima, a prominent historian of South India comments on the significance of epigraphy for any serious study of South India. In response to the criticism of his methodology by scholars like Sanjay Subrahmanyam, David Shulaman and Narayan Rao, he argues that South Indian Temple inscriptions are rich in data for reconstructing South Indian history.[3] In his own words,

“I deem it very important to have a dialogue with the source material. I always start my study by reading inscriptions as many as possible, so that I may listen to their whispers.”

Meera Abraham cautions us against the shortcomings of the abridged inscriptions. She argues that the location, chronology, and the full contents of the inscriptions are of immense importance for any serious study of south India as the abridged version of many inscriptions omit the part of the inscription which are of use for social and economic historians. Similarly she also underlines the importance of Prasasti (eulogy) which has been ignored in the abridged versions. She argues that the wordings of the prasasti is of considerable significance as it provides information on the relationship of merchants with the state, or the position of the guild in relation to other corporate bodies, or the religious affiliation of its member at a particular place and time[4].

Having briefly discussed the importance of epigraphy in the study of trade guilds one can look at the revival of long distance trade in South India. The tenth century AD witnessed the revival of long distance trade in South India which was itself a part of the increase in the south Asian trade which involved distant regions like Egypt, West Asia, South East Asia and China. This trading network has been referred by Meera Abraham as the ‘Medieval Maritime Trading Arc’. The significance of the medieval long distance trade is borne out from the fact that commodities of trade were transported over surprisingly long distances by both overland and by sea. e.g. there is evidence to show that goods of Chinese origin were transported as far back as Europe and also to closer places like southeast and South Asia. Similarly some South Asian Aromatics were marketed in North Africa. Manufactured goods from South Asia as well as raw materials were sold both in the east as well as in the west.

1. Champakalakshmi argues that our information of South Indian involvement in Overseas trade mainly centers around the Five hundred and to a lesser extent on the Manigramam and Anjuvannam. The dominant role of five Hundred in inter regional trade and overseas trade is attested from the vast corpus of trade guild inscriptions in peninsular India as well as from the presence of guild inscriptions in Northern Sri Lanka, Siam (Southern Thailand), Sumatra ( Indonesia) and Burma[5]. These inscriptions in Indonesia and Sri Lanka have been studied by Y. Subbarayalu and N. Karashima which we will discuss later in this essay.

Before going into a discussion over the origin of Ayyavole, it will be useful to distinguish between the Five Hundred and other organizations like Manigramam, Anjuvannam and Nagaram etc.

1. Karashima on the basis of his study of various inscriptions like Managoli inscription ( Bijapur district), Kolhapur inscription, Nattam inscription (Madurai district), Kovilpatti inscription ( Tiruchirapalli dist.), Hirahadagali inscription ( Bellary dist.) argues that the five Hundred was a large organization of itinerant merchant of a supra regional character[6]. Manigramam was a localized merchant body operating within specific regions like Kongu and pudukkotai region of Tamilnadu. Their localized character also reflects from their designations like Kodambalur Manigramam. However they interacted with the Five Hundred and had inter regional and long distance trade links[7].

On the basis of Kollam and other inscriptions scholars have interpreted Anjuvannam as the organization of foreign marchents. It seems that they began their commercial activities on the west coast, particularly Kerala in the 8^th and 9^th centuries and later spread to other coastal areas of South India, interacting with both local merchants as well as the Five Hundred. Initially, Anjuvannam seems to have referred to Jewish traders who came to the west coast and acquired settlements. Later, it was also used for Arab Muslim Traders. The Nagaram appears to be a much more specific organization of merchants found in every market centre, collection and distribution centre, where local and itinerant merchants exchanged their items of trade.

1. Karashima has questioned such an understanding of nagaram by Kenneth R. Hall and suggests a more nuanced underdtanding of nagaram on the basis of his study of Managoli and other inscriptions. He suggests that Nagarma represented a group of merchants who were specially dealing with some particular merchandise such as betel leaf, oil, fruit etc. He cites evidence from the Valikandapuram inscription (Tamil Nadu) to prove his argument that each specified group has its own nagarm. He also comments on Nagaram’s relation with Five Hundred by arguing that whether nagarattar represented a variety of merchants of a town or only a specific merchant group in a town, it is clear from the evidence in the Valikandapuram and other inscriptions that nagarattar were also part of the Ainnurruvar[8]. Champaklakshmi argues that nagarttar became a generic term for all the traders and trading communities, particularly in Tamil Nadu. It is used even today by the Nattukhottai Chettiars.

Having distinguished between Five Hundred and various other organizations, one can discuss the origin and spread of the Five Hundred. The Ainnurruvar originated in the 8^th century AD in Aihole of the Bijapur district of Karnataka. Meera Abraham argues that the founding of the Ayyavole can be seen as the result of a decision of a group of Mahajanas or Brahmanas (also called the Five hundred swamis of the Mahaagrahara of the Aihole) to institutionalize the control of the existing commerce of the region[9]. Kenneth hall explains the origin of ayyavole in a different manner. Hall traces the origin of the itinerant merchant organization to small groups of expeditionary merchants who catered to the need of less wealthy and isolated communities of the hinterland and found it profitable to band together for mutual interests like protection etc. These groups later grew into quite powerful commercial association[10].

Champakalakshmi criticizes Hall’s explanation on the origin of Ayyavole as M. Abraham’s explanation is based on inscriptional evidence and thus seems more convincing. Other terms like Padinen visayam[11], nanadesi, ubhaya-nanadesi, Valanjiyar or vira Valanjiyar have been used interchangeably to denote ainnurruvar in various trade guilds. These terms are of a descriptival or adjectival nature denoting the trading profession of the itinerant merchants[12].

It has been argued that the Five Hundred cannot be treated as a single unified body of Merchants throughout its history, nor did it function as one cohesive whole except the early days of the organization. The growing development of regional kingdoms and regional interests affected the course of the Five Hundred in the two broad divisions of Kannada and Tamil Speaking areas.

From the 11^th century onwards, Ayyavole acquired new bases and established several towns as ‘southern Ayyavole’, both under the patronage of the Western Chalukyas of Kalayani and the Hoysalas of Dwarsamudra. However, most of these towns came up in South Karnataka only after regular interaction between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu was established following cola inroads and a possible movement of the Tamil merchant organization into the link areas and Karnataka. This has lead Champakalakshmi to argue that these towns represent an expansion of the Tamil Five Hundred into Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, the Ainnurruvar acquired the character of a composite body of itinerant merchants who came from different parts of the Tamil speaking areas.

On the basis of Tirumalai inscription ( Ramnathpuram district), Champakalakshmi underlines the heterogeneous composition of the trade guild and argues that the Five Hundred was an association of people of several castes, religion and regions, associating together for a common purpose i.e. trade. She also points to other components like mercenary and craft groups of the Five Hundred.

The presence of mercenary fighters in the trade guild was meant for protection of the merchandise and interestingly some of these fighter groups also became merchant due to their long association with the guilds. The militant character of the guild is also attested from the Kongu nadu inscriptions where the sculptural representations of weapons, horses and elephants accompany some of the records. Being the largest itinerant merchant organization covering distant regions and divergent commercial areas, the Five Hundred was the only organization to have mercenaries to protect their goods and they set up protected mercantile towns called Erivirappattanas. Craft groups are also sometime mentioned with the Five Hundred, probably due to the links established between the two for the marketing of commodities particularly textiles, metal ware and pottery.

Scholars have pointed out the concentration of five Hundred inscriptions in the Pudukkottai and Ramnathapuram district which can be dated between the time period of 9^th to 14^th century. The sudden appearance of the five hundred in the pudukkottai region far away from Aihole has been attributed to the commercial importance of the region. Champakalakshmi suggests that the trade guild might have used the route of Chittor region and Palar valley southwards or the alternative route through the Kongu region as both these routes saw the movements of people between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This brings us to the expansion of the trade guild in peninsular India.

The expansion of Ainnurruvar was actively supported by the various dynasties. In the Pudukkottai region, the early and middle colas and their feudatories, the Irukkevela of Kodambalur encouraged the activities of Five Hundred. The Five Hundred followed the cola conquests .e.g. the region south and north of the upper Kaveri valley i.e. the Kongu and Ganga countries respectively, the Ainnurruvar moved in following the cola conquest of the region under Rajraja I and Rajendra I. Talakkadu (north of the kaveri) and Mudikondan (south of the Kaveri) were the two major centers of merchant activity in this period. In the 11^th century, Aiyapolil Kattur and Basinikonda in the Chingleput and Chittor districts, respectively became Erivirapattanas (protected mercantile towns) under special charters from the cola rulers for the Tondaimandalam region. Similarly, in Sri Lanka, in the wake of the cola conquest in 11^th century AD, the Five Hundred became active in the organized commerce and movement of trade in the northern parts. After the political unification of Vengi with the Colas under Kulottunga in 11^th century, the Five Hundred operated in vast area covering Vishakhapattinam to Drakshrama in Orissa. Similarly, under Cola patronage, Tamil traders moved more frequently into the Andhra region. Kulottunga’s efforts e.g. trade missions to China, maritime expeditions to Srivijaya and abolition of tolls encouraged the movement of itinerant traders and helped in establishing trade links with China. This is also attested by the canton inscription of Kulottunga I’s reign[13].

During this period, the trade routes even in the region of settled agriculture saw the emergence of Erivirapattannas. The participation of local traders and nagaram members in itinerant trade reached such a height that it led to establishment of a series of settlements named after ainnurruvar or Valanjiyar, as semi-permanent or permanent residential quarters in various centers[14].

On the origin of urban settlement in the 12^th to 13^th century, Meera Abraham argues that besides the role of temple and sectarian movement in urbanization as stressed by Burton Stein, trade also played an equally important role. She further argues that at ports such as Quilon, Kodungallur, or Nagapattinam merchants and the requirements of commerce were of primary importance. In the twelfth century, trade contributed to the growth of settlements-market towns in the interior of the country. Therefore, she argues that some stimuli for urbanization (ports and market towns) might have come from external trade. In the case of some urban settlements it is difficult to determine which factor whether religious or commercial played a decisive role over the other[15].

In the period of later Colas (12^th-13^th century), one notices a phenomenal increase in the activities of the Five Hundred, showing a tendency to increase its sphere of influence by relying less on the royal support and patronage. During the period of Pandyas (13^th-14^th c.), one also notices the institutionalization of coming together of several organizations and exercise of joint authority.

The elaborate prasasti of Tirumalai and Piranmalai inscription ( Ramnathpuram district) and Kovilpatti ( Tiruchirapalli dist.) and others mention organized groups like cittirameli or Padinen visyam along with Ainurruvar who exercised joint authority to levy and grant cesses and tolls to the local temples on merchandise passing through the region. However, it appears that Five Hundred on no occasion had the authority to levy and grant such tolls, except in conjunction with the Cittirameli or the padinen visaya[16] which has been understood by Champaklakshmi as the organization of agriculturists and local elite groups controlling production of agricultural and other goods. The counterpart of cittirameli in Karnataka were called okkalu which was more like a group of agriculturists in specific localities.

It is interesting to note that there appears a difference of opinion regarding Padinen visayam referred in Tirumalai and Piranmalai inscriptions. N. Karashima regards that it is synonymous with Ainnurruvar[17] while champakalakshmi refers to it as the organization of agriculturists and local elites.

The urban development of this period and the growing food needs of the urban settlements increased the importance of agricultural commodities. Thus it increased the influence of the agrarian classes. As a result, the power of the land owning classes in south India as well as in Sri Lanka increased remarkably in the 12^th century. In the late 13^th and early fourteenth centuries, the joint presence of weavers with trading guilds like the Five Hundred also suggests a closer link between textile production and trade. Some of these weavers group gradually took to trading in textiles or organized production for a wider market. The largest craft organization which came to be set up by the fourteenth century AD was of the weavers headquartered at Kancipuram, which is considered as the most ancient textile centre of South India[18].

The twelfth to Sixteenth century inscriptions of the Kongu region, refer to large scale artisan activity and their participation in important civic duties, for which special privileges were granted to them. It seems that the craft production was perhaps more intensive in the Kongu region. Having dealt with the presence of craft groups in Ainnurruvar and the urbanization aspect, it will be useful to discuss the overseas trade links of Ainnurruvar by examining the trade guild inscriptions discovered from Indonesia and Srilanka and the long lists of expensive imported communities.

One of these trade guilds is found in Barus, Sumatra ( Indonesia) is particularly useful and it has been studied by Y. Subbarayalu. Subbarayalu points out that Ainnurruvar did not only play a dominant role but it also had control of port towns. The inscription refers to Barus as Varoca in Tamil and records the arrangement made by the trade guild in AD 1088-89, for a regular income or gift in gold to the local chief of merchants to be paid by South Indian merchants who came to that port. The role of Ainnurruvar in the overseas trade is also attested by the long lists of expensive imported commodities which has been mentioned in the Shikarpur inscription ( Shimoga dist, Karnataka) and the Piranmalai inscription ( Ramnathapuram dist, Tamil Nadu). The shikarpur inscription provides a long list of commodities traded e.g. well bred horses, superior elephants, large Sapphires, moonstones, pearls, rubies, diamonds, lapis lazuli, onyx, topaz, carbuncles, bdellium, sandal, camphor, musk, Saffron etc. Champaklakshmi argues that through this trade the royal treasury was filled with gold and the royal family encouraged this trade by being the greatest consumers of luxury items[19].

The imported item mentioned in the Piranmalai inscription are of a different kind , like aloeswood, sandalwood, silk, rosewater, camphor oil and perfume apart from horses and elephants which are common to most guild inscriptions. As far as the origin of these imported goods is concerned, most of it came from Southeast Asia, except horses which came from Arabia. Meera Abraham points out that the Barus inscription came from the heart of the camphor growing region of Sumatra[20].

Champaklakshmi argues that silk may have come from China and rose water from West Asia. Elephants from Burma and horses from Arabia came into the ports of the western coast and on the Pandayan coast. Spices, Pepper and incense were some of the important items meant for local consumption and onward trade. The temple, mathas or monastries of the Tamil region were next to the royal family in terms of consumption of luxury goods.

Other commodities referred in the Piranmalai and other inscriptions are agricultural products like paddy, sesame, pulses, betel-nuts, leaves, salt and raw materials like cotton. Metals like copper, zinc, lead and iron also figure among the items of trade. There was an ever growing demand for processed iron South Indian textile. Meera Abraham argues that the new emphasis in the nature of trade from luxury to commodities of basic need in the overseas trade was dictated by changes in commodity demand within India as well as outside[21].

The textile industry which required both technology and organized production led to the prosperity of the weavers group. Hence, Weavers group gradually acquired a position of great social and economic importance[22]. This is attested by the references to kaikkolas and saliya nagarattar who not only controlled the production and marketing of clothes but also participated in temple services and donations, conduct of festivals and administration. Organized commerce in this period followed exchange by barter and also the use of money, although monetization in medieval south India was very limited till the fourteenth century.

Thus the organized commerce by nagarams, Manigramam and trade guilds like ainnurruvar accelerated the process of urbanization, crafts organization and a three fold social division ( brahamna, velala and the right and left hand castes) in the context of temple centered urban spaces. To conclude, one can say that there was a dramatic expansion of local and foreign trade in the thirteenth century. Meera Abraham argues that the range of commodities traded indicates a quality of life which does not support the early views of a ‘stagnant’ society in India. Similarly, the data from inscriptions show that majority of villages were by no means ‘self sufficient isolated units’ rather there was dynamism.

Bibliography:

1. R. Champakalakshmi, Trade, Ideology and urbanization, South India 300 BC to AD 1300, OUP, New Delhi,1996.

Chapter 5: The south Indian guilds : Their role in early medieval trade and urbanization.

2. Meera Abraham, Medieval Merchant guilds of South India, Manohar, New Delhi, 1988, p.1-73, 99-127.

Chapter I. The Manigramam guild of Traders

Chapter II. The History of the Ayyavole association

Chapter III. Some Aspects of the structure and functioning of the Ayyavole

Association.

Chapter V. Section one: Some aspects of the international trade and

Medieval south Indian external commerce.

3. Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscription and ceramic sherds, report of the Taisho University, Research project 1997-2000. ed. Noboru Karashima.

Chapter III. The Tamil Merchant guild inscription at Barus, Indonesia: A rediscovery, Y. Subbarayalu.

Chapter IV. A trade guild from Viharehinna in Sri Lanka, Y. Subbarayalu and N. Karashima.

Chapter IX. Ainnurruvar: A supra-local organization of South Indian and Sri Lankan merchants, N. Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu.

4. Noboru Karashima, Whispers of inscription, in State and Society in Early South India, essays in honour of Noboru Karashima, ed. Kenneth R. Hall.

[1] As evident from Noboru Karashima’s study of Viharehinna inscription ( SriLanka)

[2] P.3, Meera Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant guilds of South India, Manohar, New Delhi,1988.

[3] P. 56, N. Karashima, whispers of inscription.

[4] P.4, Meera Abraham.

[5] P.322, R. Champakalakshmi, Trade Ideology and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300, OUP,1996.

[6] P. 84,N. Karashima, Ainnurruvar.

[7] P. 313, R. Champakalakshmi.

[8] P.87, N. Karashima.

[9] P.43-44, Meera Abraham.

[10] P.151, K. Hall, Trade and State in the age of the colas, New Delhi, 1989.

[11] P.85, N. Karashima.

[12] P.314, R. Champakalakshmi.

[13] P.317-318, R. Champaklakshami.

[14] P.319, ibid.

[15] P.9, Meera Abraham.

[16] P.320, R. Champaklakshmi.

[17] P.85. N. karashima

[18] P.321, R. Champakalakshmi.

[19] P.323.R. Champakalakshmi.

[20] P.160. Meera Abraham.

[21] P.7, ibid.

[22] P.324, R. Champakalakshmi.