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Book No. – 8 (Medieval History of India)
Book Name – Political Structure and State Formation in Early Medieval India
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. Position of Merchants
2. Organisation of Traders
3. Guilds: Definition And Functions
3.1. Organisation of Trading Guilds in South India
4. Relationship Between Merchants and Craftsman
5. Conclusion
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Merchant Guilds of South India in Early Medieval India
Chapter – 12
Position of Merchants
The expansion of agriculture and availability of surplus from the 8th/9th century onwards led to an increase in commercial exchanges in South India.
This resulted in the emergence of a full-time trading community managing local exchanges.
The trading community also participated in wider inter-regional and inter-oceanic trade.
South Indian merchants specialized in specific commodities such as textiles, oil or ghee, betel leaves, and hones.
Local and regional markets called nagaram served as centres of exchange, situated in clusters of agrarian settlements.
These markets integrated collection from hinterlands and commercial traffic from other areas.
The number of nagarams increased considerably during the Cola period in the 11th and 12th centuries.
The term nagarattar, meaning a member of the nagaram assembly, became a generic term for all Tamil merchants.
Organisation of Traders
Merchants derived their power and prestige not only from wealth but also from the guilds or associations formed to protect their interests.
In the first phase, the decline of trade weakened the corporate activity of merchants, and many guilds were reduced to mere regional or occupational sub-castes.
As trade revived in the second phase, merchant guilds reappeared as an important feature of contemporary economic life.