Title: Merchants of Tamilakam – Pioneers of
International Trade
Author: Kanakalatha
Mukund
Publisher: Allen
Lane, 2012 (First)
ISBN: 9780670085217
Pages: 191
This book is one among a series on the ‘Story of Indian Business’ by
various authors, with Gurcharan Das as the series editor. The author,
Kanakalatha Mukund is not a historian in the conventional sense, having a PhD
in economics. She was on the faculty of Economics and Social Studies of Bombay
and Bhopal universities. An economist with a keen interest in history, she has
authored many books and lives in Coonoor in the Nilgiris. This volume covers
the history of trade in the millennium between the dawn of Sangam Age in the
first century CE to the disintegration of Chola power in the thirteenth century
CE. Powerful kingdoms arose in the region only around the middle of the period,
but commerce thrived even under weak kings underlying the fact that absence of
undue intervention in the affairs of the market is more conducive for economic
activity than any kind of protection the king can confer on the merchants.
Development of the local temple as a factor in the distribution of surplus
wealth is also described in detail. The region’s maritime provenance is also
examined in the light of the supposed territorial conquest of Sumatra, Malaya
and Sri Lanka and consequent expansion of trade between the countries. In the
historical context, Tamilakam refers to the region of peninsular south India
that lies to the south of the Deccan plateau. On a modern map, this is roughly
coterminous with the Indian States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. However, the
author somehow manages to examine the history with a strictly Tamil point of
view.
The book incorporates an inspiring foreword by Gurcharan Das, former CEO
of Procter & Gamble and now full time writer and a renowned author. Apart
from commenting on the text to follow, he makes a good comparison of the
societies and economies of India and China. Relative merits of the two
societies can’t be compared in a few pages, but Das provides some clear
arguments that is elegant due to its simplicity. He also suggests actions on
what to do with the immense hoard of treasure found in the cellars of Shri
Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Major avenues of gainful
occupation in ancient Tamilakam were agriculture and commerce. Spices, food
grains and pearls were traded for bullion, salt, gemstones, and wine. A brisk
trade was ongoing with the Roman Empire when the Sangam Age dawned in the first
century CE. Literary and epigraphical evidence in the Tamil country is
corroborated by geographical works by noted Roman authors like Ptolemy, Strabo
and Pliny. Another great work is the ‘Periplus of the Erythrean Sea’, which is
a travelogue of an unknown sailor who travelled to South India. Tamil country
served as a hub for international trade. The Roman vessels didn’t venture past
India in quest of produce from South East and Far East Asia. Likewise, the
sailors from China, Malaya and Sumatra plied their trade only till South India.
This made Tamilakam a trans-shipment terminal for the world’s most prominent
sea lanes.
Mukund brings to light the real
significance of the central position of the temple in Tamil society and commerce.
Travellers to Tamil Nadu often wonder at the magnificence of these huge
structures in its imposing vastness and the delicate stone carvings. But no
clear answer was forthcoming to the straightforward question of what social
function did they perform. Mukund details the economically central position of
the temple. It received donations in the form of land, cash, jewelry and
livestock. In the absence of a welfare state, the crucial task of
redistribution of capital was carried out by the temple, which lent the
livestock to shepherds for proper rearing and offering loans to the village and
town assemblies for executing public works for the benefit of the residents and
local economy. Similarly, donated land was given on rent to cultivators. Inscriptions
and copper plates preserved in many temples attest to the steadily incoming
flow of donations and the systematic redistribution of wealth. Endowment to the
temple was sure to ensure religious merit and acceptance in the society to
which one belonged.
Many references are seen in this
book which are either historically inaccurate or wrong interpretations of
ambivalent references in ancient works. It associates the ancient Chera capital
of Vanji with Karoor in Tamil Nadu whereas the town was located near
Kodungallur in coastal Kerala. Here, the author succumbs to the prevalent
school of narrow-minded Tamil historians who want to confine important places
of ancient Tamil history within the confines of the present State of Tamil
Nadu. Another attempt along this route of Tamil nationalism is the author’s
repeated assertions that the Chola kings subdued Sri Lanka in the 11th
century and made it a province of Tamilakam. It claims a strong Tamil presence
in the island nation going back to Chola times. This point is reiterated almost
half a dozen times, seemingly without any necessity. But on closer inspection,
one may suspect that it is a clever device to confer respectability on the Sri
Lankan Tamils’ demand for a separate homeland in view of the historical right. Incidentally,
it may be pointed out that the emblem of the LTTE which drenched Sri Lanka in pools
of blood – before being smashed out of existence by the Sri Lankan Army – was
the tiger.They borrowed this symbol taking pride in the conquest of Sri Lanka
by the Chola kings. Kanakalatha Mukund looks like lending a helping hand to the
dreaded tigers with a cue from history, which is a shot in the arm for Tamil
nationalism in Sri Lanka.
It is a first principle of
historians that the political boundaries of the State to which one belongs
should not be construed as the timeless borders over centuries of history. It
doesn’t constitute an ‘intelligent field of study’ in the opinion of Arnold
Toynbee. Mukund miserably fails to grasp this basic dictum and narrates the
history of Tamilakam by forcing the events and places within Tamil Nadu’s
present boundaries. The State of Kerala also belonged to Tamilakam and played a
crucial role in the political sphere by the presence of Chera capital city
there and Roman trade through its ports. In fact, the Romans knew mostly about
only the ports on the west coast and it was only much later did they realize
about ports on the Coromandel coast. The author is however tight-lipped about
Kerala. This shows lack of research and credible resources on the part of the
author. Even though she claims that the Chera capital was located at Karoor,
she omits the Cheras also, without a single mention in the book! The text falls
to the level of misdirected propaganda for Tamil nationalism with the unfounded
assertion that the Pallavas and Cholas conquered Malaya, Sumatra and Java.
There are tenuous references in the literary sources, but the author naively
takes them at face value. If the conquest had indeed taken place, then why was
it that we don’t see any relic of Tamil language in those countries, apart from
very few artifacts naturally associated with trade? Another baseless premise is
that a high level of literacy prevailed in Tamil society in the ancient period
(p.41). The evidence suggested is a list of the poets of the era! However great
may be their literary merit, it doesn’t reflect on the general state of
literacy. This is as flawed an argument like stating that the late-19th
century Bengal was high in literacy by quoting the names of Tagore, Bankim
Chandra Chatterjee and others.
The book is not recommended as the
attempt has not been successful.
Rating: 2 Star
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