The Tamil Merchants by Kanakalatha Mukund, Gurcharan Das

A fascinating story of the adventure of commercial intercourse in the ancient and early medieval period

Sangam poetry dating back 2,000 years gives us a vivid description of ports and cities bustling with traders and markets which leaves us wondering at the vigorous trade that evidently flourished between the Tamil region and Rome and the Mediterranean world to the west, and South-East Asia to the east.

The early medieval period takes us to a more complex polity dominated by the rise of powerful Tamil empires under the Pallava and Chola dynasties. The strengthening of the state apparatus was accompanied by the emergence of many administrative and representative institutions. In this larger landscape, merchants were key agents of growth and change. Towering over the region, both literally and figuratively, the temple emerged as the central, definitive institution dominating social and economic life in the region known as Tamilakam. The interface between the temple, state, society and merchants is the major theme of this study.

About The Author :

Kanakalatha Mukund has a PhD in Economics. She was on the faculty of the University of Bombay, Bhopal University and the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad. An economist with a keen interest in history and a passion for textiles, she is the author of The Trading World of the Tamil Merchant, The View from Below and Traditional Industry in the New Market Economy. She lives in Coonoor in the Nilgiris.

Gurcharan Das is a world-renowned author, commentator and public intellectual. His bestselling books include India Unbound and The Difficulty of Being Good.