MEDIEVAL KERALA IN THE INDIAN OCEAN TRADE
NETWORK
Vijayalekshmy. M “Trade and trading centres in Kerala (A.D 800-1500)”
Thesis. Department of History, University of Calicut, 1997
CHAPTER V 1
MEDIEVAL KERALA IN T H E INDIAN OCEAN TRADE NETWORK
Having discussed the varlous aspects of trade and
of medieval Kerala, it
trading
centres
examine
her
role in Indian Ocean
studies
are
emerging with regard to
trade
is
relevant
network.
oceanic
to
New
trade
and
commerce and in the light of these new studies an
attempt
is made in this chapter to look into the status of
Kerala
as
a link in the East-West trade.
The theories of
world
economic system introduced by Wallerstein and Braudel
--
their
critics have been adopted as a guideline
h
2
study.
for
and
this
1.
Indian Ocean trade network means the entire area from
Red Sea to China, covering the Coast of East Africa
and South Africa in the West to the littoral areas of
south eastern China in the East.
2.
Immanuel
Wallerstein, The Modern World
System,
Orlando,1974, Fernand Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce
- Ci~i1izatii.i~
and capitalism, 15-18 Centuries vol.
I1 (1979), t~anslatedby Sian Reynolds, London, 1982.
Janet Abu Lughod, Before European Hegemony, The
World, System, A.D. 1250-1350, New York, 1989, Samir
Amin, Eurocentrism, London, 1989, M.N.
Pearson,
Before Colonialism - Theories on Asian European
Relations, 1500-1700, Delhi, 1988, K.N. Choudhuri
Asia Before Europe - Economy and Civilization of
Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to
1750,
Cambridge University press, 1990, Kenneth M C Pherson,
Indian Ocean, Cambridge, University Press, 1992 and
Andre Gunder Frank and Barry K. Gills, (ed),
The
World System,Five Hundred Years on Five Thousand'?
London and New York, 1993.
The
of
a
simple
contained
entire
definition.
economic
world
unit".
the
concept of world system is beyond the
It
system
but
"denotes
which need
is bigger than
any
a
largely
not
world,
juridically
economy
but
defined
because
because it
political
modern
encompasses
larger
unit and it
the
political
than
a
is
the basic linkage between the
this system is economic... u 4
present
is
self
include
"It is a world system not because it
whole
scope
any
world
parts
of
According to Wallerstine the
world system began in the 16th
century.
Before
this there existed a few world empires of which the Indian
Ocean
-
world
economies
Red Sea complex was one.
before
16th
'
To
century
Wallerstine
were
the
'empires.'
Wallcrstcine's thcory is essentially Eurocentric.
The
long
continuous accumulation of capital
distance
features
of
trade
the
in necessities
world
system
of
are
the
and
essential
Wallerstine.
existence a core and periphery is fundamental to it.6
core
or
the centre would be
exploiting
the
the
The
The
periphery.
3.
M.N. Pearson, op. cit. p.9.
4.
I. Wallerstein, op. cit. p.15.
5.
Ibid. p . 1 7 .
6.
Ibid. pp.300-344, and Wallerstein, "Incorporation of
~ n d i a nSub continent into Capitalist World Economy".
Economic
and Political Weekly, XXI, 4 January,
1986.
There are also peripheries which protect the core.
would
be changes in the centre-periphery
Hegemony
of
refers to the political
and economic
In
rivalry'. 7
supremacy
a centre of accumulation which varies with
period
of
Samir-Amin
speaks
02
rivalry
the
relations.
context Modelski speaks of 'hegemony and
this
There
among other such centres.
'metropolis' and 'tributaries' which are akin to
' centre '
and
periphery".
*
A.G. Frank
of 'metropolis' and 'Satellite
metropolis and tributaries. 9
concept
M.N.
Pearson
to
traces
the period
the
system
back
Lughod
in a critical discussion on
put
forward
the
' in the place of
development
before
the
of
this
Abu
thesis
colonialism.l0
Wallerstein's
- -
L
described a 13th century world system which begins in 1250
anu
ends
systems.
emerged
in
1350 and which is distinct
According
to
her the
from
present
from what developed in the 13th
Long Cycles
in
all
world
such
system
century Europe.,
7.
George Modelsky,
London, 1987.
World
Politics,
8.
Samir Amin, "Ancient World-Systems Versus the Modern
Capitalist World System", Andre Gunder Frank and
Barry K. Gills, op.cit. pp. 247-276.
9.
Andre Gunder Frank, Capitalism and Underdevelopment
p.9.
i n ~ a t i n A ~ New
~ ~ York,
i ~ ~ 1969,
,
10.
M.N. Pearson, op. cit.
11.
Janet Abu Lughod. op. cit.
Middle
East,
India and China and the "fall of
--
preceded
the rise of the West".
the
-
The central
regions of
East
system were Central Asia and Indian Ocean and later
_ -_---
this
the
Mediterranean was appended to it.12
The rise of
West
by the 16th century was but a hegemonic
East
to West and not a new one.
K.Gills
Barry
Andre Gunder
stretched the world system
thousand
years. l3
ancient,
medieval
shift
modern
and
to
five
back
in
world. l4
It has
continuing, with of course shifts in hegemony. 15
basic
societies
definitely
of
hold
like
flaws.
it neglects the
the America
had a trade system.
before
case
of
So also the world
the Wallerstein centred on U.K. and the U.S.A.
a candle with the empires like Mongol or Ming.
ground.
from
certain
colonisation
acceptance of A.D. 1.500 as a dividing line is
the
been
The Eurocentric view of Wallerstine suffers
certain
from
Frank
According to them it existed
and
the
which
system
cannot
The
also losing
The continued accumulation of capital can be seen
much before 15th century, as is highlighted by Elkhome and
12.
Janet Abu Lughod, "Discontinuities and Persistance".
A.G. Frank and B.K. Gills op.cit., pp. 278-291 and
Andre Gundcr Frank and Barry K. Gills. op. cit. p.9.
13.
Ibid. p.1.
14.
A.G. Frank and Barry K.Gills, op.cit, pp.81-115
15.
Barry K. Gills, "Hegemonic Transition in
Frank and B.K. Gills (ed.),
System", A.G.
pp.115-193.
World
op.cit
/,-A
Friedmen.l6
Actually capitalism was global from its
beginning.
It
economic
system
is
a
world
century.
The
this system changed through the
ages.
much
characteristics of
The
clear
that
before
there
the
existed
16th
concept of world system is to be analysed
through
view rather than a Eurocentric one. l7
humanocentric
very
a
Then
-
it can be applied to older empires and regional economies.
Orientalism
provides
Eurocentrism.18
-
ocean
an
..
The
alternative
traditional view
approach
that
the
to
Indian
-
trade
net work developed only with the
advent
of
European naval powers has been subject to several critical
analysis.
studies
work
Re-examining
have
was
the Eurocentric
theory
concluded that the Indian ocean
well knit long before the
advent
recent
trade
of
net
European
powers. Kerala w a s a link in this system.
On the one
that
connected
Indian ocean.
hand Kerala was part of a
world
together the various littoral
system
states
of
At the same time there developed a regional
economy and culture that could be compared with any of the
existing
system in other regions.
These are
facts
that
16.
Elkhom
and Friedman, "Capital
Imperialism
and
Exploitation in Ancient World System", Ibid., pp.5981.
17.
Ibid., p.11
18.
Ibid., p.12
v
often go neglected in a grand narrative. Medieval trade of
Kerala
is
regional
to be viewed from two angles, one
boundaries
economic world.
and
other
as a
The former part
link
within
in
a
its
wider
has been analysed in t h e
foregoing chapters whereas the latter will be discussed in
this chapter.
We
the
cannot find a single maritime
entire
series
Indian
of
local
technologies,
Ocean region.
traditions
each
suited
Instead
and
to
tradition
a
there
histories
are
of
particular
a
local
maritime
Medieval Kerala
environment and set of human needs.
for
is
an example to this.
The
seaward
hall
mark of Kerala's trade
orientation
resulting from her
line and peculiar sea board features.2 0
history
extensive
As cited
the
geographical location of Kerala brought her
the
ambit
Indian
of
monsoon winds
Ocean trade.
which
set
the
More than any political
is
a
coast
earlier
with
in
rhythm
of
and
social
factors,the oceanic trade of Kerala was determined by what
Braudel styled as the lonque duree. 21
19.
The
peculiarities
Kenneth MC Pherson op.cit p.18.
J
20.
For details of the
Kerala see chap. I1
geographical
peculiarities
of
21.
Fernand Braudel's famous theory of the slow moving
component of time, historical features that change
only imperceptibly over time. K.N. Choudhuri, op.cit
p.428.
Map- 1 2
THE INDIAN OCEAN TRADE WORLD
both in climatic conditions and the geographical
of
factors
the region resulted in the growth of rarities in
resources
and they in turn enriched trade, both
and overseas.
her
internal
The Arabs and Chinese, the important
trade
partners of medieval Kerala had extensive trade relations.
With
the
religion
rise of Islam trade got great stimulus
was
favourably disposed towards
trade.
Jews,Christians and Muslims who came for trade to
coast
connected
Kerala economy
with
the
as
the
**
The
Malabar
international
trade network.
the formation of Abbassid 'caliphate'in the
With
9th
century
the
Arab
affected Kerala also.
trade
Kerala
traders.
trade
gathered
settlements were due to
climatic compulsions.
which
Along with the development of
coast was studded with the
These
momentum
this
settlements
commercial
Traders had to wait for
of
and
favourable
winds or stay in the port for collecting cargoes.
In 'the
wake of the south west Jnonsoon traders from the West would
come
to the western por-tsof India.
As they were
unable
to reach Malacca and Canton in a single monsoon,they
forced
to
became
a stopover for the merchants from the west.
22.
stay along Malabar coast and thus
See note
chap. IV.
No. 17 in chap. I11 and
n o t e NO
the
.
were
region
This
220
in
along
with
other
factors
made
the
ports - o f Malabar
entrepots in the East-West Trade.
-- ---
The
Jews
intercontinental
settlements
In
were
who
famous
for
thcir
made
their
-_
trade
relations
-
had
in the important trading centres
of
Kerala.
the early medieval period their trade covered
a
vast
and
13th
centuries the main commercial activities of the Jews
were
area
between
Europe
and China.
In the
between Egypt and Malabar coast.
the
goods
written
Malabar
Jewish
The
markets. 23
merchant
chief
counterpart at Malabar reveal the systematic trade of
the
give pointers to the nature of
trade in the Indian ocean region.
the mzliki dingy was used.
In all the transactions
the
with
one
of
the
Eurocentric
the
The way in
mechanism
view
of
modern
integrates
world system only
European capitalism.
with
Indian
the
That is to say till the
export
Ocean
advent
of
development
For details of Jewish traders, see notes on the
trading communities in Chap. I11
*
S.D. Goitein, From Aden to India, JESHO, vol.XXII1,
Pt. I and 11, 1980, pp.41-66.
/
24.
prevailing
kept accounts and calculated freight charges and
The
23.
the
the
reminds
24
trade.
trade
Aden
which
money,
Jews
at
letters
his
and
a
wider
And through these-Jews
to
Jews
by
got
12th
L/
of
Western
isolated.
capitalism
Indian
ocean
trade
was
rather
But recent studies show that the Indian
ocean
trade network was well organised long before the emergence
of European capitalism.
Indian
Ocean
trade
How Kerala was linked with
scenario can
be
gleaned
the
from
the
following grounds.
To understand the maritime trade system of Indian
ocean is to know how the bulk of the pre-modern
in littoral
societies
regions of Indian ocean were integrated
into
The accounts of medieval travellers
a unique world. 2 6
on
South India reveal facts on oceanic trade system extending
from
Red
sea
to the China sea
eastern Mediterranean.
system
Kollam,
were
was
linked' with
The centres of this oceanic
Venice, Alexandria,
Kozhikode,
which
Malacca,
Hormuz,
Canton and
Aden,
the
trade
Cambay,
like
port
towns.
These maritime cities had links among them closer
than
the
importing
at
centres of their political
power.
The
spice
ports of Aden, Jiddah and Hormuz were
situated
the out let of land routes through which the
products
of Middle East and Mediterranean were carried by caravans.
25.
M.N. Pearson, op.cit.
26.
K.Mc. Pherson op.cit p.17.
/
Through
these
countries. 27
traders
carried
The vigorous activities of the
of Asia was facilitated by the
powerful
Burma,
ports they could be
governments in contemporary
South
focussed
on
Indian
states and
the two ends of
west and China in the east.
Egypt.
of
Indo-China,
I
These
traders
Asia;.Mediterranean
in
the
According to Fernand Braudel
the
centre
economic life in
K.N.
international
China,
Italian cities of Venice, Genoa and
Mediterranean.
overseas
establishment
the
of
to
the
Florence
fifteenth
Choudhuri extended
this
He affirms
formed
century
ideal
world
economy to the Indian ocean.
that
whole
of Indian ocean and eastern Mediterranean was
of
the
held
together by the urban gravities of Malacca, Calicut, Cairo
and
Alexandria. 28
the
seventh century the Middle East,
'For nearly 300 years from the end
and the ports of Western Indian ocean
of
political,
shared some
27.
economic and
cultural
South
of
Mcditcrrsncn
constituted a n arcs
unification
of the core periphery relations
of
a
which
world
Genevieve Bouchon and Denys Lambard, "Indian Ocean in
the Fifteenth Century". Ashin Das Gupta and M.N.
Pearson (ed.), India and Indian Ocean, Delhi, 1987.
p.57.
K.S. Mathew, Cochin and the Portuguese Trade in India
in the 16th Century. Heras Institute, Bombay, 1992,
p. 77.
See Fernand Braudel,
Mediterranean
and
Mediterranean World in the Age of Phillip 11, Sian
Reynolds (trans.), London, 1972. Also see Kenneth R.
all, Trade and Statecraft in the Aqe of the Colas,
Delhi, 1980, pp.162-163.
system.2 9
A
chain
of oceanic and
caravan
trade
that
stretched all the way from Indian ocean to the straits
Gibralter
supplied the practical means of
binding
of
local
production in the trans-oceanic system of distribution and
consumption. 30
In
voyages
the absence of modern
were
strenous
technological
and risky.
And as
it
was
difficult to touch all these centres in a single
the
commercial voyages were split into
devices
very
stretch,
various sections.
Usually merchant ships from Hormuz and Aden travelled upto
the
Malabar
coast.
Merchants
from
Siam
continued the trade from Malaya to China.
arc
was completed.
international
Merchants
Malaya
Thus the
This trade network was
co-operation.
and
trade
dependent
worked
on
beyond
h-2-
political considerations.31
The establishment of powerful
governments in the various littoral states of Asia had its
impact
on Indian ocean trade, especially on the trade
Malabar.
consequent
The
development
of
the
Caliphate
and
strengthening of East West trade dominated
at
the
by
Islamic traders, the establishment of the Yuan dynasty and
the unprecedented development of Chinese trade under
29.
K.N. Chandhuri, op.cit p.384.
30.
Ibid. p.385
31.
G.
Crone, Discovery of the East, London, 1990.
and p.9.
this
p.37
I
government, all had been stimulus
Asia.
There
were
powerful
to the oceanic trade of
merchant
families
dominated the trade of a region like the Ksrimi
which
merchants
of Egypt, in the 12th and 13th centuries. 32
These ~ g r i m imerchants specialised in spice trade
and
were known as merchants of pepper and
purchased
these
goods
from Yemen
to
spices.
where
they
transhipped by the merchants of Malabar coast.
or
Alexandria these articles were sold to
They
were
From Cairo
the
merchants
from Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Marseilles or Barcelona. 33
Thus
'commodities were
long
distance/ some
transported over a
times
.
Eurasian continent' 34
of a powerful
traversing
the
surprisingly
whole
breadth
The ~ g r i m imerchants were
mercantile
of
members
corporation dedicated to spice
trade namely Genossenschaft and under this organisation
a
trade net work functioned very actively connecting
Europe
on
other.
the one hand and Aden and Malabar coast on the
In the early decades of the 15th century the government of
Egypt
put effective control on these merchants and
their decline.
But they
continued
their
this
led
to
trade
32.
Walter J. Fischel, "The spice Trade in Mamuluk Egypt,
A Contribution to the Economic History of Medieval
Islam" JESHO, I (1958) pp. 157-17, 5.
33.
Ibid. pp.161-165
34.
Meera Mary Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant
South Indiat Delhi, 1988, p.6.
of
until
and
the discovery of the Cape route by
the
ports
the
establishment Portuguese power
of
Malabar.
Portuyucse
over
the
products of the East especially the pepper of Malabar
the
~ z r i m i merchants played the role similar to those of
the
companies
the
in
French
later
and
the
centuries.
and
major
Europe
Portuguese,
In supplying Egypt
the
English
Indeed
East
they
forerunners of these European naval powers in
West trade. 35
BY
the beginning of the 14th
and
India
were
the
15th
Malabar became the focal point in pepper trade.
the
East-
century
We
have
seen how trade in the Malabar coast was focussed mainly on
Kollam,
Kollam
Kochi,
and
Kodungallur,
other
Kozhikode
exchange centres.
and
These
flourishing local trade centres having the
for overseas trade.
of
for
Pantalayani
towns
infrastructure
Even in the 9th century the port town
Kollam was a brisk trading centre with all
foreign
were
trade. 36
Regarding the
Kollam Marco Polo records thus:
overseas
facilities
trade
of
"The merchants from Manzi
and from Arabia and from the Levant come tither with their
35.
Walter J. Fischel,op.cit I pp. 170-75
36.
See section on Kollam, Kodungallur and
Kollam in chap.111 and IV.
Panthalayani
ships and their merchandise and make great profits by what
U
they import and by what they export. 3 7
By
had
the beginning of the 15th
developed
trade.
into
Foreign
traders
diversity.
The
Persia,
also
China.
but
a great
emporium
could
be
consider
seen
international
there
traders were not only from
from Syria,
Egypt,
East
in
all
Arabia
and
Indies
and
This feature is all the more important when we
the
fact that
pirates were very
number
of ports along west coast. 38
waters
as
well
as the efficient
ship
centres
owners
of
reference
linked
Indian
facilities
Kozhikode
ocean.
active
in
The security of
attracted foreign trades to Kozhikode.
many
of
Kozhikode
Foreign traders and their merchandise were safe at
Kozhikode.
and
century
for
Wealthy
with
~ b nBattuta
makes
trade
trading
special
possessed
ships that were sent to different parts of the
also to China and
Yemen. 39
continent
and
Kozhikode
was famous for its trade with China.
her
merchants
other
to a wealthy merchant ship owner who
a
Like
sub-
Kollam
Its
port
was so large as to hold the massivechinesefleet. 40
These
37.
K.A. Nilakanta Sastri,
p.181.
India......,
South
38.
Genevieve Rouchonand Denys Larnbard, op.cit pp. 59-60.
Foreign
Notices
of
/
39.
Mahdhi Hussain (ed) Rehla of Ibn Battuta p.192.
4
40.
Ibid.
0
foreign
ships
Pantalayani
could
Kollam
winter
at
' h e near
by
which was safe from the
port
of
travails
of
weather.
The Chinese annals reveal the brisk trade at
the
The
port of Kozhikode, especially the trade in pepper. 41
chinese
travellers
refcr
to
the
fine
quality
horses
imported to Kozhikode. 4 2
The
spice
traders
payments in gold and silver.
at
Kozhikode
were
in
circulation
on
Egyptian dinars and ~ e n i t i m
ducats, the standard coins of the period in
trade
insisted
at
international
Kozhikodc. 43
1
tl~c
/
beginning of the 16th century Varthcr~~nspeaks of
ttlc
rrlollcy
changers and brokers at ~ o z h i k o d e .The
~ ~ very presence
these
money changers and brokers indicate a
involving
Razzak
foreign peoples and foreign
testifies
Zailsibar
to
brisk
tradc
currencies.
Abdr
to the goods brought from
Kozhikode.
From
of
Zindbad
Kozhikode
and
vessels
41.
SPP
the section on Chi~leset r q d c 1
Ko,:Ilik o d p i
ch,~pter IV-Also see Note Nos. 60 to 65 i n c h a p . IV.
42.
K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, op.cit, PP. 294-98
43.
G.R. Crone, 0p.ci.t. p.25
44.
George Percy Badger, (ed) The Travels of Ludovico
Varthema, London, 1863, pp 168-170.
rl
Di
continuously
between
Kollam
sailed
for Mecca. 4 5
The quantum of
China and Malabar is evident from the
and
Panthalayani Kollam were
among
trade
fact
the
that
trading
centres to where the export of precious metals from
was
banned
by
the
Chinese
government
in
China
the
13th
century.46
There
was a colony of South Indians at
(Zaitun) which formed the Indian diaspora in
the
light
centres
China.
of the naval expeditions of Cheng Ho
diplomatic
exchanges
between the China and
Quanchow
In
and
the
the
trading
of Kerala, one is inclined to believe that
there
were traders from Malabar also in that settlement.47
abundance
of
of pottery and pot sherds found along the coast
Malabar
China.
period
The
But
is a brilliant testimony to
when the world economic
the
system
is evaluated the trade between Malabar
trade
of
with
medeval
and
China
seems to have been neglected.
45.
R.H. Major (ed.), "Journey of Abdr Razzak", India
the Fifteenth Century, pp. 13-14.
in
46.
Meera Mary Abraham, "Currency System and Monetisation
69,
in
Karnataka in Vijayanagar Times", QJMS,
January-June, 1970, p.26.
47.
Haraprasad Ray, "Indian Settlements in China, An
Exploration in the Phenomenon of Indian Diasporas
from 1015 (Cola period) and 1487 (End of Cheghua
Reign in China)", K.S. Mathew (ed.), Indian Ocean and
- -pp. 52-74.
Cultural Interaction
Barbosa
Kozhikode
century.
and
testifies
the
to the
west in the
brisk
beginning
ships
of
between
the
year ten to fifteen ships sailed
Every
sea, Aden and Venice from Kozhikode.
these
trade
16th
to
Red
The goods carried by
included spices, items of
clothing,
metals
etc. 48
The trading centre of Kochi, by the mid-fifteenth
century further exposed the Malabar coast to the
trade.
Kochi
had powerful merchant families
connections in the inter Asian trade.
overseas
with
wide
One such family was
that of the Mamale Marakkar who had well established trade
connections
the
with the East Indies.
In the beginning' of
16th century, this merchant used to supply pepper
the Portuguese in large quantities in return for copper.
By
the closing decade of the 15th century trade at
was comparable.-with that of Lisbon. 5 0
that
before
developed
trading
the
into
a
advent
of
the
brisk overseas
l
All these
Portuguese
trading
centres of Kerala had been well
to
49
Kochi
reveal
Kochi
had
centre.
The
acquainted
with
the West and the westerners knew about the facilities
and
prospects of trade in these centres.
l
48.
M.L. Dames (trans.), Book of Duarte Barbosa, vol. 11,
pp. 73-77.
50.
M.L.
Dames, op.cit. p.93.
The
functiohing
of the port
towns
of
Kollam,
Kodungallur, Kozhikode and Panthalayani Kollam shows
that
they
were
were core areas fed by their hinterlands which
like
peripheries.
In
Kerala
we
cannot
overarching core exploiting the periphery.
find
Instead
an
there
are a number of cores and peripheries.
That trade developed connecting different centres
over such a distance from Aidhab to Canton was facilitated
by
the institutionalisation of trade.
During the
period
under review powerful merchant organisations having
and
international trade connections developed in
parts
the
of South India.
like
mercantile
in
inscription
gives
organisations
associations
transacted
53.
g
The Magiqy~mam had
trade.
clue
active
The
to
the
Takuapa
fact
in
the
special
that
these
sent their members to distant countries
by the ~ y y a v b l eguild in
and
Mapiqy~mam
Among
the
to
goods
international
were articles which were the monopoly of
51.. See
I11
52.
a
were
overseas trading stations. 52
establish
there
foreign
various
The ~Kcuva~r)am and Maqigrzmam
exchange system of Kerala. 51
interest
intra
the section on merchant organisations
trade
53
Kerala.
in
chap.
XVII. p.71.
I
Meera Mary Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds
South India, pp. 156-175.
of
I
~ala?icia~s,
functioning in the
The
Kerala
were
seaborne
traders.
trading
All
centres
these
of
mercantile
organisations were very active in Kerala from 9th to
14th
century,
town
connecting
each exchange centre and
with the Indian ocean trade.
port
Political boundaries were no
impediment to them.
The
advent
of
medieval
overseas trade of Kerala
foreign traders to the
reflected
in
indigenous
exchange
literary
and
the
centres
are
There
are
works.
references to foreign ships that call at the ports. 54
the
market
places
1n
~anipr-avzla kzvyas
55
there are traders from different countries.
Overseas
formation
secular
trading
diasporas along
her
coast.
These
arrangements
were
for cross
home
institutional
Their
/'
functions
effective
The
their
and the traders coming from their own
diasporas
the
Islamic
were to be brokers in the trade between
country
land.
trade in Kerala was facilitated by
functions of these Jewish, Christian and
diasaporas
host
of
described in the
. .-
resemble those of a(~akil1 a1 tullai
commercial
of
Muslim
54.
LJVnunili ~and~;arn,part I, v. 70, p. 70.
55.
uoniati Caritam, gadyam, 19 and ~ ~ n u n x l isand~ham,
part I, SlGkas, 80-85. See Note no. 38 in chap. IV
Mediterranean and the commission agents under the
East
India
The
company.5 6
very
formation
English
of
these
diasporas testifies to the age old overseas and over
trade.
It is to be noted that the settlements of
traders
land
foreign
along the Malabar coast have been typical of
the
trade and cultural diasporas.
Malabar ports were the entrepots for the trade in
horses
trade
which was was very significant in the
system.
Kulamukku and Kannur were centres
lucrative horse trade. 5 7
were
imported
inter-Asian
of
Thousands of fine quality horses
to the ports of Malabar from
centres of Red Sea, especially Hormuz.
the
trading
The ruling
powers
of the Deccan especially Vijayanagar obtained horses
Kannur
and
also.
this trade thus
It
political
was
because
had
of
political
the
and Goa the
horse trade.
Kannur
the
great
from
significance
economic
significance of this trade that the
wanted to monopolise the same trade.
Hormuz
and
Portuguese
With the capture
Portuguese managed to monopolise
They shifted the centres of this trade
to Goa.
The Portuguese could get the
of
horses
to them. The horse
Cross Cultural
of
the
from
support
Vijayanagar rulers mainly because the former was
suppliers
the
trade
56.
Philip D. Curtin,
History, p. 113.
Trade
57.
See the section on horse trade in chap. IV.
of
the
gives
in
a
World
classical
example
as to how the Portuguese
destroyed
a
1
flourishing
indigenous
progress.
their
own
commerical
Here we recall Abu Lughod "the fall
preceded the rise of the West". 5 8
East
is
trade for
of
the
Here what we see
not a creation or a development of a new trade by
a shifting of a centre
-
a
the
shifting
Portuguese
but
hegemony.
The rise of the European traders in
the
of
East
was at the expense of the native traders.
The
formed
traditional
belief
is
that
luxury
the bulk of the commodities exported from
items
Kerala.
But from the 12th century there was a change in the nature
of
commodities
Necessaries
traded
like
and
pepper
in
for
the
mass
quantum
of
trade.
consumption,
iron,
copper, and the like became important. 5 9
Marco Polo lists
copper
among the
in ballast, silk, porcelain etc.
imported from China to the Malabar coast.
goods
Among the goods
exported from Kozhikode there was a fine variety of cotton
called
the
commodity
Kerala.
58.
59.
bukram. 60
was
Horse
which
was
an
among the items of import from
essential
Arabia
That goods like iron, brass etc. were exported by
See note No. 12 above
Basil
Gray, 'Export of Chinese Porcelain to
TOCS No. 36, pp. 24-25.
60.
to
K.A.
Nilakanta Sastri (ed) op.cit., pp. 83-84.
/
India',
'
the
Jews from Kerala to Aden is well attested by some
of
the
Geniza
of
iron
from
letters.
Malabr
But for a long time the
coast
went
export
unnoticed.
Jews
also
transacted in the vessels from Malabar. 61
Overseas trade of Kerala had direct impact on the
production
of
necessities in side the region.
best
evident from the import of copper from the
the
Chinese
traditional
item
of
internal
and
from
West
by
the
is
East
by
Jews.
metal smiths of Kerala were depended on
external trade.
trade
acquisition
the
This
of
can
be
Here an
seen.
external
Polanyi
goods from a distance
this
origin
of
that
the
says
may
The
be
practiced
either because of status motive or profit motive. 6 2
Jewish
sources
copper
and
trade
show that in Kerala the
The
transactions
iron were out of profit motive.
Thus
in high bulk necessities, a characteristic
in
the
feature
of the modern world system was common in Kerala.
Thus
the
acquainted with
Portuguese.
trading centres of
Kerala
the West even before the
Gama
has made references
were
advent
to
the
of
well
the
Tunisian
merchants who spoke Castilian and Genoise and the Jews who
61.
S.D. Goitein, 'From Aden to India', JESHO, vol.XXII1,
part I and 11, 1980, pp.60-66.
62.
Karl Polanyi, "Traders and Trade" in J. Sabloff and
C.C. Lamberg Karlovsky (ed.), Ancient Civilization
and Trade, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico
Press, 1975, p. 154 and pp. 135 to 137.
spoke Venitian and German at Kozhikode. 63
intra
Asian
trade the Portuguese were
Actually in the
one
among
many.
They had to engage in this in order to have the purchasing
power
for
the goods from
themselves
in
this
Kerala. 64
system 'forming
They
new
accommodated
diaspora
operated along with the old one,using the same
that
commercial
technique'. 65
The
above
analysis reveals that
the
trade
of
Kerala during the period under discussion was not confined
to
luxury items only.
variety
China
Instead it
centred around a
of articles and embraced the entire
to
Mediterranean.
Trade
of
Kerala
region
testifies
bound
for Malabar coast66 and
Chinese
More
to the large number of ships
from
was
quite
comprehensive both in its scope and subject matter.
Polo
wide
at
Marco
Zaitun,
Ibn Battuta speaks of
ships lying anchored at the port of
the
67
Kozhikode.
convincing is the fact that the five signatories
of
63.
M.N.
Pearson, The New Cambridqe History of India,
The Portuguese in India, Delhi, 1990, pp.12-13.
64.
Andre Gunder Frank, World Accumulation
London, 1978, p.37.
65.
Georgia
Borsa, 'Recent Trends in
Indian
Historiography', Trade and Politics in Indian
Delhi, 1990, p.8.
66.
Nilakanta Sastri, op.cit. pp.83-85
67.
Mahdhi Hussain, op.cit. pp. 188-189.
(1492-1789),
Ocean
Ocean,
the
,I
7 7
TPCP
belonged to different regions of
?%?SF
Medieval
would
bulk
Asia.
of
Kerala was conducted on a broad spectrum and
it
a terrible injustice to reduce it to
narrow
a
like 'isolated' and confining to high priced,
commodities.
Medieval
68
r e v n ? l the truth that the trade and commerce
be
canvas
West
Kerala
Actually the trade
was
on
and
commodities
low
commerce
ranging
of
from
necessaries to luxury items.
According to Wallerestine in the 12th century the
eastern hemisphere contained a number of empires and small
worlds
and
the Indian Ocean Red Sea complex
such world. 69
a
brisk
formed
one
But the very fact that medieval Kerala
had
trade
with
China breaks
the
notion
of
such
isolation.
The Indian Ocean trade of Kerala was not based on
stereo
type.
Through the centuries
developments
in
The
was
process
there
were
steady
and
trade.
maritime technology, skills
indeed complex.
'monotonous repetition
It was not
of the same event'.O'
at
all
The
a
word
68.
Meera Mary Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds
South India, pp. 20-21.
69.
Imrnanuel Wallersteine, op.cit. p.17.
70.
Kenneth MC Pherson, op.cit. p.124.
See Fernand
Braudel
Civilization and Capitalisim
in
15-18
Centuries, vo1.3, 1986, p.485.
of
luxury
items has been over estimated in
the medieval trade of Kerala.
had
become
consumption
a
necessary
connection
By the 14th century
commodity
meant
in Europe and shipments of pepper
the Malabar coast.
with
pepper
for
mass
came
from
This increased demand was in
response
to the increase in population and wealth.
In the 16th century the Portuguese also traded in
very
same
articles as in the 15th century, as
Varthema.
trade. 71
There was only an increase in the
noted
by
quantum
of
And the basis of Portuguese trade in Kerala
was
their intimate collaboration with the native merchants who
had well established connections with the countries of the
West
and East.
Till the advent of the
Portuguese
was a near absence of documentation with regard to
---
It
may
be
-
there
trade.
1
- -
this absence
of
documentation which
1
made
,' I
historians
~erala.
minimise
the Indian Ocean trade
of
medieval/
In the 18th century the British built up a
knit
commercial net work in the Indian( ocean. It was
only
because of their capital and technology but
-
of
the
--
well
not
because
-
use of force.72
It is simplistic
71.
K.S. Mathew, op.cit.
72.
Pameela Nightingale, Trade and
India, London, 1974, p.236.
to
Empire
discard
in
a
Western
historical
process
reconstructions
"dangerous
because
-
is
non-European.
All
of history with preconceived concepts are
and misleading". 73
Edward said's
it
Here is t h e relevance
warning that t h e non-European world
not be viewed negatively. 74
73.
K . MC Pherson, op.cit.
74.
Edward Said, op-cit.
pp. 18-19.
of
should