MERCHANT ASSOCIATIONS AND MEDIEVAL TRADE IN SOUTH INDIA
Merchant associations or guilds were features common to many medieval economies.
The major Asian trade boom of the tenth to thirteenth centuries appears to have stimulated a significant restructuring of the administration of trade in most major economies of Asia, North Africa and Europe.
The Middle Eastern commenda-type investment contract (qirad, etc.), which had become such an important tool of commercial activity in the Middle East by the tenth century, was introduced into Italian seaports by the early eleventh century, thus providing a major impetus for the expansion of trade in medieval Europe.
(1) In China, the hang developed from a trading quarter into a nearly autonomous trade association, and the organization of collective financing and management of overseas shipping ventures became increasingly complex.(2) And in southern India a series of merchant associations developed powerful networks and vertical monopolies that included not only tied manufacturers but also private armies. These associations received a good deal of local political encouragement.
Southern India, because its tracts of cultivated land were more dispersed and limited than those of north India, was never the locus of large agrarian states. For much of the region's history, power was fairly evenly balanced between three or more medium-sized states with different linguistic characters: Tamil on the southeast (Coromandel or Cholamandala) coast; Malayalam along the southwest (Malabar) coast; Telegu on the eastern (Andhra) coast north of the Tamil heartland; and Kanarese on the western (now Konkan) coast to the north of the Malabar region. Many of these states relied upon overseas trade to enhance their limited agricultural income. The Pallavas were the first Tamil rulers of real consequence.
They grew in power from the mid-sixth to the mid-eighth centuries, and their contacts with Southeast Asia are reflected in many of the early Hindu remains of the maritime region.
Pallava power began to decline in the later eighth century, and by the later ninth century they had been replaced as the leading power in the southeast by the Cholas.
The Cholas built upon the economic networks developed by the Pallavas, and expanded their links with merchant associations.
Much of southern India's sea trade during the late first and early second millennia was controlled by these merchant associations, the most important of which appear to have first formed in southwest India.
During the eighth and ninth centuries much of southwest India's trade had been directed towards the west, and a number of Muslim, Jewish, Zoroastrian and Christian merchant groups from western Asia and the Middle East had established trading enclaves on the Malabar coast.
It was in this context that at least some of the early Indian merchant associations began to form. The Manigramam, one of the earliest of the south Indian merchant associations to appear in local records, was mentioned in the late ninth century Kottayam (Sthanu Ravi) copper plate inscriptions found near Quilon on the Malabar coast. These record a contract between the local authority and a group of resident Christians from the Persian Gulf allowing them access, free of certain taxes, to the fort which protected the port market, apparently operated by the merchant group.(3) This merchant association appears to have extended its influence to the east coast shortly afterwards, probably with political encouragement, since the Pallava rulers of the southeast had maintained close relations with the Chera state of the Malabar coast.
During the same period another merchant association had begun to form further to the north in the western Deccan, at Aihole (called Ayyavole in Kannada and Aryapura in Sanskrit) in the Chalukya heartland behind the Konkan coast.(4) They were known either as the Ayyavole/Aryapura association (after their eighth or ninth century place of origin), or more generally as the Ainnurruvar ("The Five Hundred"). This group rapidly became the most powerful of the merchant associations. A number of other merchant groups are known to have affiliated themselves with the Ayyavole, those most prominent in sea trade being the Manigramam and the Nanadesi. In addition, at its height, the Ayyavole appears to have occupied a dominant position in relation to at least forty-six other professional bodies, including major associations of artisans and mercenaries.(5)
The trend in southern India towards merchant domination of certain crafts appears to have accelerated after the turn of the millennium, under Chola rule, with the effective creation of vertical artisan- merchant monopolies. Knock-on effects of the Asian trade boom that were experienced in India included such developments in the weaving and dyeing industries as the introduction - possibly by the eleventh century - of the draw loom, and of the spinning wheel by the thirteenth century.(6) Block-printed textiles, resist-dyed with indigo or mordant-dyed with madder or morinda, were exported in large quantities to both the Middle East and Southeast Asia by the thirteenth century.(7) On the back of this expanding manufacturing and trading base, merchant groups gained a large degree of control over the non-agrarian economy in southern India, assuming the role of major patrons of religious establishments, and being drawn into the collection of certain tolls and taxes on behalf of the state.(8)
Under Chola rule merchant associations appear to have dominated the internal and external trade of south India and parts of Sri Lanka from the late ninth century to the late thirteenth century. The general Sanskrit term for such corporate trading communities was vanigrama ("community of merchants"), and more than one association appears to have used this term or a local variant in their titles: Vanigrama was taken as their title by a group of merchants mentioned in a tenth-century Sri Lankan inscription,(9) and the term Manigramam was a local variant.
The slow decline of the Chola state had already begun before the end of the twelfth century. During the thirteenth century, this decline accelerated into a collapse, as the Pandyans in the far south, the Hoysalas in Karnataka, and local chiefs in northern T
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I would be most thankful ifyou could space them out
Mahipala Vs Rajendra chola (Distance between the two country is 2000 km)
Mahipala I (c 995-1043 AD) is considered the second founder of the pala dynasty.
The existence of the continuous rule of the chandra dynasty in this area from the early 10th century AD onwards is now established beyond any doubt. Govindachandra was a contemporary of Mahipala and Rajendra Chola's army found both of them, the former in Vangaladesha and the latter in Uttara Radha. Mahipala held authority over southern Bihar (Magadha) and towards the close of his reign over northern Bihar.
The Chola inscription (Tirumulai inscription), which records Rajendra Chola's invasion of Bengal some time in between 1021 and 1024 AD, throws further light on the condition of Bengal.
The inscription records that after conquering Orissa the Chola general seized Dandabhukti after having destroyed Dharmapala (possibly belonging to the Kamboja line) and reached southern Radha where he met Ranashura. Then the army reached Vangaladesha, where the rainwater never stopped, and Govindachandra fled having descended from his elephant and subsequently they met Mahipala in northern Radha.
The narration of the Chola inscription clearly places Govindachandra in south-eastern Bengal and Mahipala is northern and western Bengal.
Mahipala seems to have a long reign as his two Imadpur inscriptions are dated in his 48th year. Mahipala, on his accession, found the Pala empire confined to southern Bihar and in his early years he fought successfully to recover northern and western Bengal from the Kambojas.
Towards the close of his reign he succeeded in spreading Pala authority in northern Bihar. So he must be given the credit for re- establishing Pala authority over their original kingdom, except a portion of southern west Bengal, where Ranasura and Dharmapala ruled.
Mahipala was better known for his peaceful pursuits. A number of towns and large tanks still bear his name. Mahiganj in Rangpur district, Mahipur in Bogra district, Mahisantosa in Dinajpur district and Mahipala in Murshidabad district; Mahipaladighi (tank) in Dinajpur and Mahipala's Sagardighi in Murshidabad - all these still bear testimony to his deeds and the high esteem in which the people held him.
It is further reflected in the numerous ballads believed to exist in Bengal commemorating his name. Brndaban Das wrote in his chaitanya bhagavat (1572 AD) that the people of Bengal in the early part of the 16th century were very fond of these songs of Mahipala.
The popularity of these songs and the name of Mahipala are reflected in the common saying, Dhan bhante Mahipaler git (songs of Mahipala while husking rice), which is still prevalent in rural Bengal.
Possibly after early years of war Mahipala devoted himself to peaceful pursuits and religious activities. His public works endeared him to the hearts of the people of Bengal.
The excavations at paharpur have revealed the revival of Pala power under Mahipala as manifest in the wholesale renovation of the main temple and in the monastic cells and in the numerous votive stupas at the shrine of Tara in the Satyapir Bhita