Port Hinterland Linkages in Mediaeval Indian Trade.

Abstract

There have been many references of over-seas trade of India in

Greco-Roman texts. There have been references of sea-ports and the

trade routes emerging from them reaching into the hinterland. To study

of trade through the mediaeval period extending between the 5th and 14th

century, till the arrival of the European colonial traders, it would be

adequate to examine the trade situation in three centuries as

representative of the entire period, namely the trade situation

prevalent during 6th, 10th and the 14th century.

Around 4th century A.D., the Roman trade with South India was

positively on a decline and was reaching a stage of extinction. Trickles

of trade from China and S. E. Asia prior to 4th century had also almost

stopped. This however does not mean that the Indian sea trade across

the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal had altogether ceased. No doubt

the ports which were prominent in the early Christian era like

Bhrugukaccha, Soparaka, Muziris and Nelcyndi on the west coast and

Korkai, Poohar, Masalia, Palur and Tamralipti on the east coast had lost

their importance but the Indian products like pepper and other spices,

textiles, timber, pearls, gemstones and conches and cowries continued

to be exported together with Chinese silk, camphor and other products

from S. E. Asia reaching Indian ports in transit trade. The areas of

destination however underwent a marked change. Persia, Persian Gulf

countries, Oman, Yemen and Eastern African coast became significant,

the Middle East developing a stranglehold on the overland trade in

Indian and S. E. Asian products to the Mediterranean countries, so too

Indian trade dominated the Bay of Bengal. The Indian states playing a

key role in the trade of the Indian ports indulging in sea trade had also

undergone a significant change. The ports that emerged did not last

long for more than a few centuries. The port sites were continuously

shifting over the centuries depending on the ruling powers of S. India

as well as those of Northern plains.

Port Hinterland Linkages in Mediaeval Indian Trade.

There are references to many ports like Sopara in North Konkan on the west coast

of India and to its Phoenician trade with Sopara for gold, sandalwood, cotton, sugar,

cinnamon, rice, and ivory. However, direct sea-trade with Egypt was through the port of

Bhrugukachha but not Sopara. Later sea trade relations continued under the Satavahanas,

which is evident from the inscriptions of the Nana Ghat. The Romans continued the use

of old Egyptian coasting route across the Persian Gulf to Karachi, and from there to

Chaul and Zizerus, (perhaps Janjira or Rajpuri) till Hippalus discovered the monsoon

around 47 A. D. There are references to many ports on the west coast of India and their

trade with the hinterland in early Greco-Roman works like the writings of Strabo,

Ptolemy and Pliny and a more authentic and a precise voyage account under the name

The ‘Periplus of the Erythrean Sea’. These references mostly talk of a number of trading

ports that were in existence on the west cost of India between the first century B.C. and

2nd Century A.D. In addition, Ptolemy makes mention of Armagara (Harnai), and Nitras

(Nivti) in the context of piracy in coastal waters. These references also mention the

external sea-linkages across the Erythrean Sea.

The trade flows through them and then through the land routes across the

Sahyadri into and out of the Deccan hinterland. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea gives a

very detailed and interesting account of Indian trade with the Roman World. It names

many Indian ports and harbours, some of which are in Konkan carrying on brisk trade

with foreign countries. The chief articles of export from India were spices, perfumes,

medicinal herbs, pigments, pearls, precious stones like diamond, sapphire, turquoise and

lapis lazuli, animal skins, cotton cloth, silk yarn, muslin, indigo, ivory, porcelain and

tortoise shell. The chief imports were cloth, linen, perfume, medicinal herbs, glass

vessels, silver, gold, copper, tin, lead, pigment, precious stones and coral. It is interesting

to study the mediaeval trade from and to India and its overland trade-route to its

hinterlands.

With the rise of Satvahanas between the 3rd century B.C. and 4th century A.D give

positive and definite indications of port locations. These references occur in inscriptional

evidences, mostly in Prakrit, in and around North Konkan. Under Ashoka the west coast

of India was enriched by the opening of a direct sea-trade with Egypt, emanating from the

great Deccan trade centre of Tagara. To study the trade through the mediaeval

period extending between the 5th and 14th century, till the arrival of the

European colonial traders, it would be adequate to examine the trade

situation in three centuries as representative of the entire period,

namely the trade situation prevalent during 6th, 10th and the 14th

century.

The 6th century was a period of political instability in Northern

India. Later Guptas and Sasankas were ruling with considerable

disorder in Central India due to the rise of Kalabhairavas. In South India

the Vakatakas and the Kalachuris of Deccan and Pallavas of the South

rose to power. Trade flourished on the east coast directly with the

countries of S. Asia. Chinese pilgrims were visiting Kanchipuram which

was the capital of the Pallavas and the trading ports of the period in

the South other ports were mainly Vayalur and Mahabalipuram. The

earlier ports of Kerala having declined, new ports had risen, like

Vanchikulam, Ponnani, Quilandi, and Kannur. Pearls and gemstones

from Srilanka were being traded through the ports of Kayal and Mantai

near Talaimannar.

Further north on the west coast, Mangalapuram, Kollam,

Sandabar (Goa) and Chaul were the active traders with Persia in

particular, and East African coast. Egyptian trade with Berenice in the

Red Sea was also active. Tamralipti on the coast of Bengal, Charitra in

Orissa were the trading ports of the late Guptas and Palas. While

timber, textiles and spices continued to be prominent in the Arabian

Sea export trade the imports were mainly Persian horses,

frankincense, and other resins from around Socotra, Aden and

Ethiopian coast.

No port can sustain by its own self however advantageous its

site. A port needs a hinterland backing it for providing it with

exportable products and consumer population to make use of the

imports. The capital of the ruler of the territory gets connected with

the ports to facilitate the flow of the trade in and out. When the ruling

power shifts in position, the port hinterland linkages promoting trade

also undergoes shifts in the routes followed.

Around the sixth Century A.D., the trade routes connecting the

port with the hinterland broadly followed the earlier route ways of the

times when Roman trade flourished. Thus moving from the South

northwards many trade routes can be recognized however with some

deviations.

The Malaimandalam route from Tekkukollam (Quilon) across the

passes of the Southern Ghats carrying Persian horses to Pandyanadu

was still active, bringing in return from waning Korkai to West coast

pearls and Srilankan spices. Further north, trade route from Muziris

eastwards across the Palghat to the the Cera capital Karur continued to

thrive, though with a shift. Muziris got replaced by Ponnani and

Quilandi that were on the direct path to Palghat. Beyond Karur the

route ran further east to Madurai, the Pandya capital, Uraiyur, the Cola

capital on the apex of the Kaveri delta and Kanchi the Pallava capital.

An itinerant trade flow followed a route from Korkai across the Vaigai

valley towards Uraiyur and Madurai. A major export trade emanated

from Kodumanal near the Cera capital carrying beryl and other semi-

precious gemstones, apart from textiles. Further north, Kannur and

Honavar functioned as ports, for the hinterland across the Sahyadri to

Mysore plateau. Goa was rising as Kadamba port leading to

Tungabhadra Krishna valleys. The ancient port of Cheul was still active

connecting with Yadava territory across the many passes in the Ghats.

Sopara was a waning port connected with north Deccan hinterland of

the Satavahanas, Yadavas and Chalukyas, the trade route running

through Lonad, Kalyan, Naneghat, Junnar, to Pratisthan and Ter and

another along the Tansa valley to Tryambak and Nasik. Dahanu was

also a lesser port connecting with Nasik. Further north, Khambhat was

emerging, connecting with Patan, (Anhilvad), Ujjain and Mathura as

well as Central India. On the east coast the main trade routes ran along

the Kaveri, Krishna, Godavari and Mahanadi Valleys. The Ganges valley

was the main trade route of the Late Gupta period, reaching up to

Mathura and connecting with Tamralipti that was in its last days of

prosperity.

By about 10th century A.D., a number of new ruling powers had

stabilized and sea trade became very significant. Itinerant traders

originating in many inland centers exchanged the export products of

the hinterland with the imported goods arriving from across the Bay of

Bengal. Trade activity received a major impetus and forward thrust in

volume, variety and value during this period mainly through a large

number of merchant guilds functioning at different hierarchic levels.

Local organizations like the Jews Manigramam indulged in trade with

the Jews of Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon coasts as evident from the

Geniza papyrus documents and Cochin Kodungallur old Tamil records.

At a higher level multi national corporations like Nankunattar,

Nanadesis were active at mid-hierarchic level, whereas Ainuruvar (500

people) and Padinen Vishayam (18 countries) at the highest level were

dynamic. Trading merchants of different cities collaborating were

exceptionally active in sea trade across the Bay of Bengal, Karnataka,

southern Andhra and Tamil Nadu had many centers of such trading

organizations apart from the ruler’s own ports. The Vaigai valley route

connecting Madurai, the Pandya capital through Ramnathapuram,

Mandapam connected Mantai in N.W. Srilanka. Mantai was the main

port of exchange of Chinese goods with Arab and Persian products.

Known to Tamils as Perundurai, this port was the largest importer of

horses needed by the Pandyas and the Cholas.

On the east coast Palayakayal. Nagapattinam, and Motupalli.

Manikapattinam (Konarak), Baleshwar, Pipili and Gaur were engaged In

the Kalinga and Gangetic delta trade (Palas). On the northern part of

west coast of India the trading ports were mainly Chaul, Thane and

Valsad engaged in trade of Deccan hinterland, mainly the domains of

Rashtrakutas. Khambhat at the head of Gulf of Cambay was the most

active port of the Solankis, Gurjaras and Pratiharas. The Chandelas,

Ujjain and Rajasthan rulers were also trading mainly through

Khambhat. By the 10th century, Persian trade was on a decline but

trade with Persian Gulf ports like Hormuz; Omani and Arab ports

gained importance at the cost of Egyptian trade. The Arabs and

Omanis had ventured into the Bay of Bengal with trading settlements

along the south east coast of Tamil Nadu and were steadily marching

ahead into the southern Bay of Bengal to capture the trade of Sumatra,

Java and Malaya.

The Tang and the Sung period in China was one of ups and

downs with the Chinese ports being closed at one time and open at the

other for foreign trade. It is the keen competition that the Arabs and

Omani were offering that led the Chola kings like Rajendra Chola and

Kulotunga take massive naval expeditions to Srivijaya and Sailendra

kingdoms of S. E. Asia. This search was not for territorial conquest but

essentially to protect Tamil trade through corporate organizations

which almost held monopoly in Bay of Bengal trade till this time. On

the west coast Kollam, Mahodayapuram, Ponnani, Mangalapuram,

Honavar, and Goa, were ports of southern parts.

The tenth century marks the period of the sea trade at its zenith

with China by the Cholas. Port trade converging at Mahabalipuram and

Nakapattinam flowed through the itinerant trade routes connecting

with Tanjavur and Gangakondacholapuram of the Cholas, Kanchi of the

Pallavas, Madurai of te Pandyas and the Cera ports like

Mahodayapuram, Ponnani across the Palghat. Further south, Kollam on

the west coast continued to be linked with Palayakayal along the

Tambraparani valley. The Kanarese ports linked the Hoysala inland

trade centers across a number of passes along the valleys. The

Kadamba port was Goa, connecting through the Kali river valley, the

upper Panchganga valley and central Deccan trade centers.

Mahim and Thane were leading ports of Konkan connecting

through Naneghat route the interior Deccan of upper Godavari, Bhima

valleys, serving the Silaharas and the Yadavas. Khambhat was the

outstanding port serving the Solankis and the Gurjaris reaching up to

Ujjain and Mathura. On the Ganges delta, the Palas had a number of

small ports on the Ganga distributaries, Tamralipti having already

declined.

The 14th century marks the dominance of Arab- Omani trade on

the west coast under the active support of Malabar Zamorins, the

Vijayanagara rulers and Bahamani Sultanates.

West coast ports like Kollam, Kochi, Kozikode were acting as

transit points for the Arabian Sea trade with China. It is during this

period that ports like Devgad, Boria (Dabhol), Chaul, Sanjan, and

Khambhat came to position of their own. Surat was just on rise and

Khambhat was on its decline. Kharepatan served the interior Deccan

Sultanate across the Ghat passes. Porbandar- Miani, Mangrol and

Madwad near Diu were the newer ports serving Kathiawad and North

Gujarat, Champaner in South Gujarat was connected with Khambhat as

well as minor ports of Narmada, Tapi mouths. In northern India slave

kings, Khiljis, Tughlaks and Lodis successively ruled and the trade

outlets on west coast were Veraval, Khambhat on decline and Surat.

The Krishna Godavari valley ports were connected along the valleys to

the interior. On the Kalinga and Bengal coasts there were no major

significant ports. Periapatinam on the lower Vaigai valley and Kilakarai

replaced Mantai and Kayal that had declined in the Arabi-Tamilnad

trade. During this period Haj pilgrimage was gaining importance while

the Persian trade had totally collapsed. East African products like live

animals, cloves were being traded. It was in 14th century that the

Chinese trade once again revived under the Sung and Ming dynasties

and for the first time significant volume of Chinese trade essentially

silk, camphor, and horses entered directly into the Bay of Bengal and

for the first time under the leadership of Admiral Cheng Ho

established direct trade with Hormuz and Omani ports.

During the entire mediaeval period, sea trade flows were partly

through coasting and partly overseas. Coasting was beneficial from the

view-point of trade, as coastal vessels touched a number of ports

enroute. Possible, over the centuries overseas trade gained importance

over coasting as bulk or wholesaling became more significant.

In conclusion, it may be added that the late mediaeval trade

routes converging on the ports facilitated the colonial traders of post

15th century in their penetration into interior, locating the hinterlands

of origin of various Indian export products like textiles. When the rival

colonial trading companies like the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French

and lastly the British chose their port sites for further development,

often at proximity to each other, it is the areas of production of

exportable surpluses of Indian goods that decided their decisions. The

obtaining trade route situation is well exemplified in the travel

accounts of Varthema, Nicolo Conti, Abdul Razak, Nikitin, Ibn Batuta

and later still F.Laval.

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