Trade war could have triggered India’s first naval expedition by Cholas, says expert

CHENNAI: Around 1,000 years ago, the blockade of trade voyages of south Indian merchants to China by Sri Vijaya kings (present-day Sumatra) could have triggered the Cholas to conduct India's first major naval expedition to South East Asia, says archaeologist V Selvakumar from the Department of Maritime History and Marine Archaeology of Tamil University in Thanjavur.

"The Chola involvement was perhaps encouraged by the forces that were against the Sri Vijayas (Khambojas), the merchant guilds of South Asia and West Asia, and their own political ambitions. The Chola naval expedition helped the South Indian merchant guilds to establish their settlements in Southeast Asia and trade with China," he told TOI.


Selvkumar presented a paper on ‘Merchants, merchant guilds and trade activities in medieval Tamil Nadu' at the international conference on Tamil epigraphy in the city, organised by Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology on Saturday.

The Chola territories exported pearls, pepper and textiles, and they needed camphor for rituals, and copper and tin for bronze images, coins and ritual vessels, apart from other commodities. "The specialised maritime merchant guilds of Anjuvannam, Manigramattar and Tisaiayirattu Ainurruvar (The Five Hundred) were well established in Sri Lanka, South East Asia and East Asia," Selvakumar added.

"Trade seems to be the main reason for the Cholas' naval expedition. Before and after the war, the Cholas maintained friendly relations with the Sri Vijaya kingdom by allowing them to establish a Buddhist Vihar at the Cholas' port city, Nagapattinam," said Archaeological Survey of India's former epigraphist S Rajavelu.

Y Subbarayalu, a senior epigraphist and an expert in Chola history, said the Cholas conducted multiple naval expeditions to South East Asia in the 11th century CE. "Rajendra Chola I and Kulottunga Chola I conducted naval expeditions to South East Asian countries. The inscriptions also mention the places they conquered," he said.

However, the understanding of the naval organisation of the Cholas remains obscure due to a paucity of sources. "We do not have direct and detailed references to the Chola Navy. There is one reference to Karaipataiyilar (the army of the shore) in an inscription from Sirkazhi dated to 1187 CE, which perhaps refers to the army of the coastal region or navy," Subbarayalu said.

"It is possible that some of the warriors and sailors of the Chola navy came from the fishing communities of the east coast, and from Sri Lanka and Kerala, besides Arab mercenaries, merchant sailors and navigators from mercantile guilds," Selvakumar said.

It is indeed interesting that today the world sees a bitter tariff war, and international and diplomatic relations across space and time have some similarities, he added.

During the medieval period, besides general merchants, there were separate merchants for textiles, oil, gold and gems, the research paper said. "Tisaiyarirattu Ainurruvar were the major groups of merchants, and they were variously known as Pathinen Vishayattar, Ainurruvar, Valanjiyar and Ayyavole. It seems that several independent merchant guilds became a large conglomerate, and it appears that they also maintained their individual existence. This large group disintegrated from the 13th century, as we do not hear much about their activities. After this period, Islamic merchants might have dominated maritime trade," the researchers said.

The accounts of Chola conquests are recorded in inscriptions and copper plates, and Chinese records document the diplomatic missions of the Cholas. The ‘meikirti' of Rajendra Chola I records the naval achievements of the Cholas.