Trade Guilds of South India

Merchants of Southern India formed Trade Guilds in order to organise and expand their trading activities. Trade guilds became channels through which Indian culture got exported to other lands. From the 11th century to the 13th century, South-Indian trade in Southeast-Asia was dominated by the Cholas; and it replaced the Pallava influence of the previous centuries.[1]

Early guilds

Before the rise of the Cholas, inscriptions from Java, Indonesia mention only the Kalingas as foreign visitors from the eastern coast of India. In 1021 AD an inscription added Dravidas to the list of maritime powers, and they were then replaced by the Colikas (Cholas), in the year 1053 AD.[2] The Kalinga traders (of modern Orissa) brought red colored stone decorative objects for trade. And Kalinga was an important source of Cotton textiles to Southeast Asia at an early date.[3] In the Tamil Sangam classic, Chirupanattuppadai (line 96), there is a mention of blue Kalingam. Fine garments of high quality cotton imported from Kalinga country into the Tamil country were called Kalingam, which shows that Kalinga was an exporter of cotton at an early date.[4][5]

Description

Several trade guilds operated in medieval Southern India such as the Gatrigas, Nakaras, Mummuridandas, Ayyavole-500, Ubhayananadesigal, Settis, Settiguttas, Birudas, Biravaniges, Gavares, etc.[6] Temples were the pivot around which socio-economic activities of the land revolved. Some trade guilds, such as the Nakaras and Gavares, met only in the temple premises.[7]

Some trade guilds were very powerful and decided the fortunes of the kingdom. One example is the trade guild of Nanadeshis who not only financed local development projects and temple-constructions but also lent money to the kings. The rulers did their best to accommodate the guilds because of the benefit they derived from them. Trade guilds employed troops, enjoyed immunities, and had international connections and thus constituted a state within a state.[8]

Trade guilds were often independent bodies over which kings tried to exercise control; and sometimes failed. One such example relates to the bankers and money-changers of the Bahmani Kingdom who ignored all warnings and melted all new coins that fell into their hands and supplied the metal to the mints of Warangal and Vijayanagar.[9]

Guild names

Some trade guilds are listed below.

References

  1. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja, p.10
  2. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja, p.10
  3. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja, p.100 and p. 180
  4. Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: Volume 100, p.1199
  5. Women studies, by N. Jayapalan, p.21
  6. South Asian studies, Issue 18, p.78
  7. Cultural heritage of the Kakatiyas: a medieval kingdom of south India, by S. Nagabhushan Rao, p.59
  8. A history of India, by Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund, p.126
  9. A study of the history and culture of the Andhras, Volume 2, by Kambhampati Satyanarayana, p.192
  10. The Chālukyas of Kalyāṇ̄a: seminar papers, by M. S. Nagaraja Rao, p.87-88
  11. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja, p.xviii
  12. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja, p.163
  13. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja, p.50
  14. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja, p.181
  15. The trading world of the Tamil merchant: evolution of merchant capitalism in the Coromandel, by Kanakalatha Mukund, p.30
  16. Maritime heritage of India, by Karuna Sagar Behera, p.114
  17. A study of the history and culture of the Andhras, Volume 2, by Kambhampati Satyanarayana, p.53
  18. Cultural heritage of the Kakatiyas: a medieval kingdom of south India, by S. Nagabhushan Rao, p.59
  19. The Second Pandyan empire, A.D. 1190-1312, by Alice Justina Thinakaran, p.7
  20. Cultural heritage of the Kakatiyas: a medieval kingdom of south India, by S. Nagabhushan Rao, p.59
  21. South Asian studies, Issue 18, p.78
  22. Brahma sri: Researches in archaeology, history, and culture in the new millennium : Dr. P.V. Parabrahma Sastry felicitation volume, Volume 1, p.169