Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia 9789812309389

Table of contents :
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
MESSAGE
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
THE CONTRIBUTORS
1 THE NAVAL EXPEDITIONS OF THE CHOLAS IN THE CONTEXT OF ASIAN HISTORY
2 MEDIEVAL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AS REVEALED FROM CHINESE CERAMIC-SHERDS AND SOUTH INDIAN AND SRI LANKAN INSCRIPTIONS
3 THE MILITARY CAMPAIGNS OF RAJENDRA CHOLA AND THE CHOLA-SRIVIJAYA-CHINA TRIANGLE
4 RAJENDRA CHOLA I’S NAVAL EXPEDITION TO SOUTHEAST ASIA: A Nautical Perspective
5 A NOTE ON THE NAVY OF THE CHOLA STATE
6 EXCAVATION AT GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM, THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL OF RAJENDRA CHOLA, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
7 NEW PERSPECTIVES ON NAGAPATTINAM: The Medieval Port City in the Context of Political, Religious, and Commercial Exchanges between South India, Southeast Asia, and China
8 SOUTH INDIAN MERCHANT GUILDS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
9 ANJUVANNAM: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times
10 RAJENDRA CHOLA’S NAVAL EXPEDITION AND THE CHOLA TRADE WITH SOUTHEAST AND EAST ASIA
11 CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHOLA MARITIME FABRIC TRADE WITH SOUTHEAST ASIA
12 SRI LANKA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA DURING THE PERIOD OF THE POLONNARUVA KINGDOM
13 INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia
14 RAJENDRA CHOLA’S INVASION AND THE RISE OF AIRLANGGA
15 RETHINKING COMMUNITY: The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou
APPENDIX I. Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions Relating to Southeast Asia and China
APPENDIX II Chinese Texts Describing or Referring to the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian
INDEX

Citation preview

Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa

rb_090753_iseas_naga_half_title_page.indd 1

11/16/09 3:58:09 PM

Nalanda-Sriwijaya Series General Editors: Tansen Sen and Geoff Wade The Nalanda-Sriwijaya Series, established under the publications programme of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, has been created as a publications avenue for the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre. The Centre focuses on the ways in which Asian polities and societies have interacted over time. To this end, the series invites submissions which engage with Asian historical connectivities. Such works might examine political relations between states, the trading, financial and other networks which connected regions, cultural, linguistic and intellectual interactions between societies, or religious links across and between large parts of Asia.

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies (RES, including ASEAN and APEC), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued almost 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

2

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia

E d i t o r s

Hermann Kulke  •  K. Kesavapany  •  Vijay Sakhuja

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Singapore

rb_090753_iseas_naga_title_page.indd 1

11/16/09 3:59:16 PM

First published in Singapore in 2009 by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang Singapore 119614 E-mail: [email protected] Website: for distribution in all countries except India All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. © 2009 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the publishers or their supporters.

ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa : reflections on the Chola naval expeditions to Southeast Asia / edited by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany, Vijay Sakhuja. 1. Chola dynasty, 850–1279—Congresses. 2. India—Relations—Southeast Asia—Congresses. 3. Southeast Asia—Relations—India—Congresses. 4. Asia—Commerce—History—Congresses. I. Kulke, Hermann. II. Kesavapany, K. III. Sakhuja, Vijay. IV. Conference on Early Indian Influences in Southeast Asia : Reflections on CrossCultural Movements (2007 : Singapore) DS523.2 N14 2009 ISBN 978-981-230-936-5 (soft cover) ISBN 978-981-230-937-2 (hard cover) ISBN 978-981-230-938-9 (E-book PDF) This book is meant for educational and learning purposes. The authors of the book have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the contents of the book do not violate any existing copyright or other intellectual property rights of any person in any manner whatsoever. In the event the authors have been unable to track any source and if any copyright has been inadvertently infringed, please notify the publisher in writing for corrective action.

Cover photo: Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, Tamil Nadu. Courtesy of Risha Lee. The map appearing on the endpapers is based on an original map in K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-l. as (Madras: University of Madras, 1955), p. 212. Typeset by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Chung Printing

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

4

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

CONTENTS

Foreword by Shashi Tharoor

vii

Message by M. V. Subbiah

ix

Preface by K. Kesavapany

xi

Introduction by Hermann Kulke

xiii

The Contributors

xxi

1. The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas in the Context of Asian History Hermann Kulke 2. Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean as Revealed from Chinese Ceramic-sherds and South Indian and Sri Lankan Inscriptions Noboru Karashima

1

20

3. The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola and the Chola-Srivijaya-China Triangle Tansen Sen

61

4. Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia: A Nautical Perspective Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

76

5. A Note on the Navy of the Chola State Y. Subbarayalu

91

6. Excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram, The Imperial Capital of Rajendra Chola, and Its Significance S. Vasanthi

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

5

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

96

vi

Contents

7. New Perspectives on Nagapattinam: The Medieval Port City in the Context of Political, Religious, and Commercial Exchanges between South India, Southeast Asia and China Gokul Seshadri 8. South Indian Merchant Guilds in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia Noboru Karashima 9. Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times Y. Subbarayalu

102

135 158

10. Rajendra Chola’s Naval Expedition and the Chola Trade with Southeast and East Asia A. Meenakshisundararajan

168

11. Cultural Implications of the Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia Hema Devare

178

12. Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia during the Period of the Polonnaruva Kingdom Anura Manatunga

193

13. India and Southeast Asia: South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia P. Shanmugam

208

14. Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga Ninie Susanti

227

15. Rethinking Community: The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou Risha Lee

240

Appendix I Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions Relating to Southeast Asia and China Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu II

Chinese Texts Describing or Referring to the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

Index

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

271

292 317

6

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

FOREWORD

I am delighted to welcome a valuable addition to the limited canon of books on India’s interaction with Southeast Asia. Indian Ocean studies still remain unexplored, though the Indian Ocean and its “Maritime Silk Road” have been the main focus of global and in particular Asian history in recent decades. The book titled Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia deals with several fascinating subjects, amongst them: • •

•

the naval expeditions of the Cholas in the context of Asian history and Indian Ocean trade system; South Indian merchant guilds, whose fame is strongly associated with the Cholas and which are often regarded as a driving force behind the naval expeditions of the Cholas; developments in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, which were most directly affected by Chola expansionism.

India has been following a conscious “Look East Policy” since the early 1990s and India’s present accentuated level of interaction with ASEAN is integral to this approach. There has been steady progress in the India-ASEAN relationship since this policy was initiated. India-ASEAN functional cooperation is diverse and includes cooperation in several sectors. As regards political and security issues, ASEAN also has expressed its desire to work with India to fight terrorism, transnational crimes and similar problems. Recently, India concluded a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN, which will ensure lower duties and a freer flow of trade in goods. In the cultural, educational and religious fields, India’s efforts aim to promote people to people contacts, religious tourism and linkages among institutions of higher learning. This volume fits well within these objectives.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

7

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

viii

Foreword

The present book Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia, about the naval expeditions of the South Indian Chola Dynasty in the eleventh century, is a welcome contribution to Indian Ocean studies. I hope it will enhance its readers’ awareness of a vital and sadly-neglected aspect of India’s involvement with its broader neighbourhood. Dr Shashi Tharoor Minister of State for External Affairs India 10 October 2009

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

8

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

MESSAGE

At a time when the Indian psyche is slowly losing touch with its glorious traditions and legacies of the past, ISEAS efforts to put together a conference and publish this book, Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa, is of great significance. This particular volume throws light on the naval expeditions during the Chola Dynasty to Southeast Asia and its cultural impact on that part of the globe. I am sure the informative deliberations in this volume will be of great interest to researchers, academics, scholars and students of history alike and inspire them to undertake further research in this domain. We the members of the Murugappa family in Chennai, India, through our AMM Foundation are proud to be associated with this project, though in a small way. M. V. Subbiah Managing Trustee AMM Foundation of the Murugappa Group Chennai, India

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

9

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

PREFACE

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) hosted an international conference on “Early Indian Influences in Southeast Asia: Reflections on Cross-cultural Movements” from 21 to 23 November 2007 in Singapore. We acknowledge the generous funding provided by the AMM Foundation of the Murugappa Group, Chennai, India, who co-sponsored the conference. Two volumes have emerged from the proceedings of the above conference: the current volume Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia, and one on the main theme of the conference, that is, Early Indian Influence in Southeast Asia. The South Indian Chola kings had developed a sophisticated maritime enterprise centred on sea-based commerce with trading contacts in Malaya, Sumatra, and China. This had produced an ocean-going fleet that was dispatched by the Chola King Rajendra Chola I against the Srivijaya Kingdom. The essays in this volume reflect on the naval expedition, which is also mentioned in the inscription dated 1030–31 of the big temple of Tanjavur in South India. The volume contains seminal contributions by eminent historians and scholars of Asian history who have meticulously presented their findings in these essays. Perhaps the most significant contribution of this volume to Asian maritime history are the translations of ancient and medieval Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions relating to Southeast Asia and China, and of the Chinese texts describing or referring to the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian. I am thankful to the contributors of this volume for sharing valuable insights into their understanding and interpretation of the Chola naval expedition to Southeast Asia. ISEAS is particularly indebted to Professor Hermann Kulke for the intellectual leadership he provided for the project. It is hoped that this volume will provide greater understanding of early Indian influences in Southeast Asia and generate further research on the subject.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

11

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xii

Preface

My sincere thanks to Professor P. Ramasamy and other ISEAS colleagues who worked tirelessly towards the preparation and organization of this major three-day conference that attracted over a hundred synopses, and in which fifty-two short-listed papers were presented. I am also thankful to Betty Kwan from ISEAS who worked very efficiently to take care of the finer details of the conference; Y.L. Lee, Head of Administration, for the administrative support and cooperation in the organization of the conference; and Triena Ong, Managing Editor of the Publications Unit, for the successful production of the current volume. Ambassador K. Kesavapany Director Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

12

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

INTRODUCTION

Next to the study of the continental Silk Road, the Indian Ocean and its “Maritime Silk Road” have been the main focus of global, and in particular, Asian history in recent decades. But strangely enough, Indian Ocean studies still remain oddly bipartite. They emphasize predominantly the “classical” period, with its strong Mediterranean connections on the one hand, and the “early modern” period, with its rise of European dominance in the Indian Ocean on the other. The long millennium from the fifth to the sixteenth centuries, when the Indian Ocean finally emerged as an Asian Mediterranean Sea, still remains underrepresented in international studies. The present volume about the naval expeditions of the South Indian Chola dynasty to Southeast Asia in the eleventh century is meant as a modest contribution to fill this historiographical gap. The great naval expedition of the Chola king, Rajendra I, who claimed in his inscriptions to have “despatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea” and conquered more than a dozen harbour cities altogether of the famous Southeast Asian kingdom of Srivijaya in Sumatra, and on the Malay Peninsula in about AD 1025, was a unique event in the otherwise peaceful and culturally exceedingly fruitful relation of India with its neighbours in Southeast Asia. Already the last centuries of the first millennium BC witnessed increasingly extending trade activities between India and Southeast Asia, and the peacefulness of the spread of India’s culture across the Bay of Bengal throughout the first millennium AD is unparalleled in world history. Buddhism and Hinduism alike left their deep and lasting imprint on the emerging cultures of mainland and maritime Southeast Asia. The first distinct South Indian influences are usually linked with the famous Buddhist art of Amaravati, and the Pallava Grantha of present-day Indonesia’s earliest inscriptions in the fifth century AD, followed by the strong impact of Pallava and Chola art and architecture in Southeast Asia.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

13

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xiv

Introduction

In view of these lasting peaceful relations of India, and of South India in particular, with Southeast Asia, the great Chola invasions of Srivijaya in 1025, followed by another smaller naval expedition in c. 1070, are an issue that still remains a conundrum for historians. In 1955, Nilakanta Sastri, the late doyen of South Indian historians, rightly asked in his magnum opus on the Cholas, “why was this expedition against the king of Kada-ram [Srivijaya] undertaken and what were its effects?”1 and he concluded his detailed analysis of the sources: “We have to assume either some attempt on part of Srivijaya to throw obstacles in the way of the Co-l.a trade with the East, or more probably, a simple desire on the part of Ra-jendra to extend his digvijaya [“world conquest”] to the countries across the sea so well-known to his subjects at home, and thereby add lustre to his crown.”2 The American historian G.W. Spencer, on the other hand, in 1983 speaks, in the only existing monograph on the Chola conquests of Sri Lanka and Srivijaya so far, of “politics of expansion”,3 and in a previous paper (1976), even of “politics of plunder”.4 More recent studies instead emphasize trade as the major incentive of Rajendra’s unique naval expedition. In her study of the medieval merchant guilds of South India, Meera Abraham concluded that “the raid was undertaken partly at least to establish trading rights for Tamil-speaking merchants in those areas, a trade from which the ruler, the merchant and the Co-l.a bureaucracy could expect sizable profit”.5 In the most recent substantial contribution to India’s medieval relation with Southeast Asia and China, Tansen Sen concludes that the examination of hitherto unexplored Chinese sources and reinterpretation of others “strengthens the commercial-motive theory shared by a majority of scholars”.6 However, he also refers to the often quoted passage of the Song work Zhufan zhi that those ships which tried to avoid the payment of taxes at the ports of Srivijaya were attacked and destroyed. “If true, then, both the Srivijayan diplomatic and military attempts to block direct maritime links between Indian ports and the Song markets may have been the principal factors for the Chola naval raids in 1025 and the 1070s.”7 Other scholars interpret Rajendra Chola’s raid on Srivijaya’s harbours in the wider context of the Indian Ocean trade system as the culmination of increasing tensions,8 caused by the rise of new imperial Asian powers since the late tenth century and their struggle for their share in the lucrative maritime trade. An important result of the Singapore conference at which these papers were presented was the confirmation of the cognition that the conundrum of the naval expedition of the Cholas has been and is still caused primarily by the scarcity of archaeological and literary sources. In fact, details of the expedition are known only from a single source, viz. the often quoted and, in

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

14

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xv

Introduction

this volume, also frequently referred to Tamil pras´asti (eulogy) of Rajendra’s inscriptions.9 And what is perhaps even more surprising, Chinese sources are completely silent about Rajendra’s naval raid on Srivijaya. However, we do possess a considerably large number of contemporary Sanskrit, Tamil, and especially Chinese sources10 about direct relations of the Cholas with Southeast Asian countries and China that allow us to “contextualize” their naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean trade system, and to draw relevant, though often still hypothetical, conclusions about their causes. But several of these sources are either difficult to access, or are not even translated yet. Scholars of Indian history and Indian Ocean studies, and in particular the editors of this volume, are, therefore, grateful to Professors Noboru Karashima, Y. Subbarayalu, and Tansen Sen for agreeing after the conference to prepare for the first time in two appendices to this volume a critical edition of the texts as well as (partly new) translations of all relevant Indian and Chinese sources of Chola activities in the Indian Ocean. Moreover, the editors are obliged to Professor Karashima and Professor Subbarayalu to have also contributed additional papers about the famous South Indian merchant guilds. Together with these and the appendices, the proceedings of the conference provide not only a state-of-the-art picture of the maritime activities of the Cholas but also sufficient critically re-evaluated source material and stimulating theories for future research on one of the most fascinating periods in the history of South India and the Indian Ocean. The first three chapters locate the naval expeditions of the Cholas in the context of contemporary Asian history and the Indian Ocean trade system. H. Kulke’s introductory chapter interprets Rajendra’s raid on Srivijaya’s harbour cities as the culmination of the systematic quest of Rajaraja and his son Rajendra for domination of maritime South India and its surrounding islands in order to control the trade between the new emerging maritime powers of the Fatimids in Egypt and the Song dynasty of China. The emerging dominating position of the “Imperial Cholas” in the central portion of the Indian Ocean trade system was bound to clash with Srivijaya’s hegemony over the Strait of Malacca, the gate to the Chinese market. Another salient point of the chapter is Srivijaya’s finally futile “ritual policy” to establish friendly relations with the Cholas through temple donations at Nagapattinam. Whereas Kulke focuses his deliberations on the rivalry and competition in the Bay of Bengal, Tansen Sen extends in his paper on the “Chola-Srivijaya-China triangle” the range of view further to the East by a detailed introductory description of China’s rise to hegemony in the Indian Ocean trade system under the Song dynasty from the late tenth century. Contrary to most scholars working on the Cholas’ naval expeditions, he bases his analysis

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

15

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xvi

Introduction

primarily on Chinese sources and argues that even initially the relations between Srivijaya and the Cholas were not as friendly as suggested by, for example, K.A.N. Sastri. On the contrary, the Srivijayans, as the main informants of Song scribes about the “barbarians of the Southern Sea”, seem to have been systematically passing wrong information about the Chola kingdom to them. This may be the reason Chinese annals failed to mention the Chola raids, and later, even depict the Cholas as a tributary state of Srivijaya. Another important contribution is that Sen revitalizes R.C. Majumdar’s theory (which had been rejected by Sastri) that Rajendra attacked Srivijaya for the first time by a minor invasion already in 1017. He concludes that the invasions were a “retaliation for Srivijayan interference in direct trade between southern India and Song China”. Karashima’s detailed summary of the results of his recent survey of Chinese ceramics on South Indian and Sri Lankan coasts sheds new light on Chinese trade with South India from the ninth century and its tremendous increase from the thirteenth century. The different discovery spots of Chinese ceramics which he surveyed on the Coromandel and Malabar Coasts (for example, Periyapattinam and Kayal; Kollama/Quilon, and Pandalayini-Kollam) are identified with toponyms mentioned in Chinese sources which are quoted. Of particular interest for this volume is his discovery of the yingqing-type porcelain sherds of the eleventh/twelfth centuries at Gangaikondacholapuram, Rajendra’s capital, “which might have been pieces brought from China by the envoys sent by Rajendra.” The paper moreover contains important information about merchant guilds that will be referred to below. The following two chapters deal with nautical perspectives and the navy, two subjects of central importance in examining the naval expeditions of the Cholas. In their deliberations about the nautical aspects of Rajendra’s great expedition in 1025, V. & S. Sakhuja are taking up an essential subject which, however, requires a lot of “professional imagination” to rectify the deplorable lack of historical source material. But they rightly point out that in 1025 the Cholas were not only endowed with the accumulated nautical knowledge of the seafaring Tamils of at least a millennium, but also with their own experience of having already successfully organized naval expeditions to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and to the Andaman Islands at least, if not up to the Malay Peninsula. They refer to the sophisticated knowledge of the Chola seafarers of nautically relevant celestial bodies and important navigational marks, and discuss moreover questions of logistics and provisioning, possible shipbuilding centres, ports of departure, and the route followed. As for the “Chola armada”, they rightly point out that it might largely have consisted of ships taken from trade. Y. Subbarayalu’s paper on the Chola navy also brings

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

16

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xvii

Introduction

us back to the reason for the conundrum of the naval expeditions of the Cholas. As an epigraphist, he rightly reminds us that due to the predominantly donative character of the inscriptions, we get only very fragmentary pieces of information about the actual mode of land-based warfare — and even less about the navy of the Cholas. The only known epigraphical reference to it so far comes from an inscription of the year 1187 which mentions a commander of “the army of the seashore” which was certainly the navy. In Rajendra’s inscriptions, only the term kalam occurs, which is the usual word for “ship”. The famous 1088 inscription of the Tamil merchant inscription at Barus/ Sumatra refers to marakkalam or “ship made of timber”. The next two chapters deal with Rajendra’s political and maritime centres at Gangaikondacholapuram and Nagapattinam. According to S. Vasanthi, Gangaikondacholapuram was founded by Rajendra probably after his sixth regnal year and remained the imperial capital of the Cholas until it was razed by the Pandyas in late thirteenth century. Apart from Rajendra’s still existing monumental Brihadisvara temple, the fate of the architectural remains of the once flourishing capital, as known from contemporary Tamil poems, was sealed by the nearby villagers who even today take bricks from them for the construction of their houses. Excavations by the Archaeological Survey of Tamil Nadu, however, revealed important antiquities, decorative objects, and Chinese ceramics. G. Seshadri’s article contains a comprehensive survey of the literary sources of the history of Nagapattinam. His critical re-evaluation of pre-sixth century sources (e.g. of the Sangam Age, Ptolemy, Pali literature, etc.) dismisses all previous attempts to trace Nagapattinam in these early sources. The earliest definite reference to it is provided by Saint Appar in the early seventh century. Particular emphasis is given to Narasimhavarman II’s embassies to China and his construction of the “Chinese Pagoda” of which Seshadri publishes for the first time an eighteenth-century drawing held in the British Library when most of the building was still extant. The article concludes with the heyday of Nagapattinam under the Cholas, when it became the focal point of Srivijaya’s attempt to establish friendly diplomatic relations with the Cholas through temple donations. The following two papers are devoted to South Indian merchant guilds, whose fame is strongly associated with the Cholas and which are often regarded as a driving force behind the naval expeditions of the Cholas against Srivijaya. N. Karashima’s article, to which the second part of his already introduced first article has to be added, is based on his research project on the South Indian merchant guilds. Together with his colleagues Y. Subbarayalu and P. Shanmugam, both of whom are also featured in this volume, he collected more than three hundred inscriptions relating to these guilds, thus

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

17

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xviii

Introduction

doubling the number of known inscriptions. The article focuses on the most important guild, the Ainurruva, also known as Ayyavole, which became active in Tamil Nadu from the middle of the tenth century. The detailed depiction of its organization and unique eulogies is followed by an analysis of the crucial question of its relation with the Cholas. Karashima explains the puzzling decrease in guild inscriptions in Tamil Nadu during the heyday of the Chola state in the eleventh and twelfth centuries (in contrast to their increase in Karnataka) not as an indication of a decline in the guilds’ trade, but of their strong control by the Cholas, which restricted their own cultural activities that are the major theme of their inscriptions. The Añjuvan.n.am guild is a smaller, but in the context of the Indian Ocean trade system, perhaps even more significant guild which Y. Subbarayalu defines in his paper as “a body of West Asian traders”, consisting variously of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traders and operating in the ports of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts and Java. Thus a Syrian Christian grant at Kottayam of c. AD 1220 bears signatures in Arabic, Hebrew, and Pahlavi scripts and a twelfth-century Tamil text refers to a group of Muslim Anjuvannam traders in Nagapattinam. Subbarayalu’s deliberations about the various modes of local cooperation of “maritime” Anjuvannam traders with other South Indian guilds, particularly the Manigramam, which were more directly linked with India’s “sub-continental” trade, are very informative with respect to the organization of South India’s international trade. These detailed studies of South Indian merchant guilds are followed by two more general chapters which also add new aspects to the debate. A. Meenakshisundararajan, too, concedes to the merchant guilds a great share in the trade policy of the Cholas. But he links their expansionism to a remarkable change in the Asian maritime trade system around AD 1000. Partly influenced by the rise of the Cholas, situated right in the centre of the Indian Ocean trade, the transoceanic pre-emporia trade from the Near East to China changed to a sectorial emporia trade, focusing on the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the South China Sea, together with the Java Sea. This development enhanced the importance of the harbour emporia in South and Southeast Asia and the need to control them and, at the same time, to ensure unrestricted access to them. H. Devare’s paper contains an overview of various aspects of Indian influences on the cultures of Southeast Asia. Special emphasis is given to India’s trade in textiles with Southeast Asia which Devare regards as “the binding factor in the cultural history of these two regions”, particularly during the Chola period when weaving and dyeing industries saw great development. The next three papers pertain to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, the two countries which were most directly affected by Chola expansionism.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

18

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xix

Introduction

A. Manatunga’s article on Sri Lanka is an important complementary contribution to the study of early Indian influences in Southeast Asia, the grand theme of the conference, as it gives a comprehensive account of Sri Lanka’s close cultural relations with Southeast Asia during the Polonnaruva period. Polonnaruva is relevant to this volume too, as it was the chief administrative centre of the Cholas after their conquest of Sri Lanka by Rajaraja. Situated near its eastern coast with the important harbour of Trincomalee, it played, as pointed out by Manatunga, an important role in Rajendra’s naval policy against Srivijaya. P. Shanmugam begins his article with a short survey of the few clear literary and archaeological evidences of maritime trade relations between Tamil Nadu and Southeast Asia during the Sangam Age in the first centuries AD. He emphasizes that these friendly relations were only temporarily interrupted by Rajendra’s naval expeditions. Then follows a report on his survey of Chola influence on architecture, sculpture, and iconography in Indonesia, particularly at Jambi, the Dieng Plateau, and Prambanan. Despite obvious similarities, he is careful to speak in all these cases only of “traces” and suggested “influence” as he rightly admits that “it is very difficult to identify the Chola idiom”. N. Susanti traces the rise and rule of Airlangga in the age of increasing competition between Srivijaya and Java to control the lucrative spice trade with the new maritime powers of the Cholas and Song China. Rajendra’s defeat of Srivijaya allowed Airlangga to reunite East Java and establish a flourishing kingdom, and to posthumously become early East Java’s most famous king. It is one of the ironies of the history of Indo-China relations that the extant Tamil inscriptions in China date only from 1281, two years after the final fall of the Cholas. They were the Indian dynasty that had not only been most actively involved in maritime trade with China, but were also the most productive one in issuing thousands of marvellous inscriptions in South India and a few in Southeast Asia too (see appendix I). In her article on the Indic carvings of Quanzhou, R. Lee links the foundation of a Shiva temple, about whose consecration the Tamil-Chinese bilingual inscription reports, with yet another important event of the year 1279 — Kublai Khan’s final conquest of Southern China. Under the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty, who were themselves foreigners in China, the community of foreign traders in Quanzhou, which had actively supported them, gained greater privileges. Apart from a stylistic analysis of the nearly three hundred still existing fragments of the destroyed temple, the salient points of her deliberations are considerations about their authorship. Although many of the carvings are strikingly South Indian in style, they reveal according to Lee “conceptual and craft influences from multiple communities”. Particularly the columns, in which “Indian and Chinese subject

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

19

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xx

Introduction

matters are nearly interchangeable”, might have been built by “collaborating Chinese and Tamil artisans” and the temple as a whole might be the outcome of “reliance on a shared community of local Quanzhou artisans”. The already mentioned appendices of Indian and Chinese sources of this volume by N. Karashima, Y. Subbarayalu and T. Sen speak for themselves. They are a most appropriate documentation of South Indian maritime activities in the age of the Cholas even beyond Nagapattinam and Suvarnadwipa, from Cochin to Quanzhou. It is a pleasure for me to record my thanks to the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, its Director Ambassador K. Kesavapany, its staff and in particular to Professor Tansen Sen, Dr Geoffrey Wade and Ms Rahilah Yusuf for their unfailing help in the production of this volume. Professor Hermann Kulke (emeritus) Chair of Asian History Kiel University Germany

Notes 1. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.las, 2nd revised ed. (Madras, 1955), p. 218. 2. Ibid., p. 220. 3. G. W. Spencer, The Politics of Expansion: The Chola Conquest of Sri Lanka and Sri Vijaya (Madras, 1983). 4. Idem, “The Politics of Plunder: The Cholas in Eleventh Century Ceylon”, in Journal of Asian Studies 35 (1976): 405–20. 5. M. Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India (New Delhi, 1988), p. 142. 6. Tansen Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 (Honolulu, 2003), p. 223; see also K. R. Hall, Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia (Honolulu, 1985); R. Champakalakshmi, Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300 (Delhi, 1996). 7. Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade, p. 225. 8. For example, K. R. Hall, “International Trade and Foreign Diplomacy in Early Medieval South India”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 21 (1978) 75–98; Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade; and H. Kulke, “Rivalry and Competition in the Bay of Bengal in the Eleventh Century and Its Bearing on Indian Ocean Studies”, in Commerce and Culture in the Bay of Bengal, 1500–1800, edited by Om Prakash and Denys Lombard (New Delhi, 1999), pp. 17–36. 9. See Appendix I, No. 6. 10. See Appendix II.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

20

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

THE CONTRIBUTORS

Hema Devare has pursued varied cultural and literary interests, writing fiction and non-fiction in English, Hindi, and Marathi. For the past several years she has focused on Indian textiles, their history, and cultural traditions. She has researched and written extensively on the journey of Indian textiles to Southeast Asia. She has written a dance-drama “Baliyatra”, an interlude on the ancient connection between Bali and Orissa, India. In 2005 she presented a paper, “Textile connection between India and Southeast Asia”, at an international conference on cultural interaction between India and Southeast Asia in Hyderabad, India. She produced a documentary film “Threads that Bind”, tracing the long-standing cultural links between India and Indonesia. It has been shown in India, Indonesia, and Singapore. In Indonesia, she edited a book Saree Sutra that illuminates the connection between Indian and Indonesian silk textiles. Hema Devare is currently working on a book highlighting the journey of culture from India to Southeast Asia through textiles. Noboru Karashima is Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo and has a D.Litt. from University of Tokyo. He has been President, Epigraphical Society of India (1985); President, Historical Society of Japan (1993); President, International Association of Tamil Research (1995); President, Japanese Association for South Asian Studies (1996–2000); and was awarded the Academic Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prize (1995) and the Japan Academy Prize (2003). His publications include History and Society in South India: The Cholas to Vijayanagar (2001), A Concordance of Nayakas: The Vijayanagar Inscriptions in South India (2002), In Search of Chinese Ceramicsherds in South India and Sri Lanka (ed.) (2004). K. Kesavapany began his term as Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore, from 1 November 2002. Prior to his appointment

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

21

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xxii

Contributors

to ISEAS, Ambassador Kesavapany was Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia from March 1997. In his thirty-year career in the Foreign Service, he served as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva (December 1991–March 1997) and held key staff appointments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director of ASEAN, Director of Directorate II (North America and Europe) and Director of Directorate IV (International Organizations and Third World). Ambassador Kesavapany was an active participant in the final phase of the Uruguay Round negotiations. He was unanimously chosen as the first Chairman of the WTO’s General Council in 1995. Subsequently, he played a key role in securing Singapore as the venue for the first WTO Ministerial Meeting in 1996. Hermann Kulke is Professor Emeritus of Asian History, Kiel University, Germany. He did his Ph.D. in Indology on the temple city of Chidambaram in 1967 and D.Litt. (Habilitation) in Indian History on the Gajapati kingship of Orissa at the South Asia Institute in Heidelberg in 1975. He was Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in 1987 and of the Asia Research Institute, Singapore University, in 2007. His fields of specialization are early and early medieval history of India and Southeast Asia, early state formation, Indian Ocean Studies, and historiography. Major publications include The Devaraja Cult (1978); The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa (1978); Kings and Cults: State Formation and Legitimation in India and Southeast Asia (1993); The State in India 1000–1700 (1995); (and with D. Rothermund) A History of India (4th ed., 2004). Risha Lee is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University in New York. Her research interests include premodern South Indian architecture and sculpture, epigraphy, merchant guild networks, as well as artistic, religious, and political exchange between India and China. This year she is conducting fieldwork for her dissertation, which is tentatively entitled, “Tamil Merchant Temples in India and Abroad”. She received her B.A. from Harvard College. Anura Manatunga is Professor at the Department of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. He is also the Director, Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya; Director, Polonnaruva World Heritage Site Project, Central Cultural Fund; Honorary Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka; and the Vice-President, Sri Lanka Council of Archaeologists. A. Meenakshisundararajan is Reader in Economics at the S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil. He has undertaken several research projects and has been Principal

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

22

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xxiii

Contributors

Investigator for “Social Security Measures in Plantations”, “Tourist Van Operations in the Kanyakumari District”, “WTO’s labour standards, Environmental Standards and their impact on India’s Foreign Trade”, and “Environment-Labour Linkages of WTO — A Threat to India’s International Trade”. He has presented several papers at national and international seminars and conferences. At present he is Principal, S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil. Sangeeta Sakhuja is an educationist at the Indian Navy’s school in New Delhi. She holds a Masters degree in Indian History from Delhi University, New Delhi, India. Vijay Sakhuja is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. A former Indian Navy officer, Vijay Sakhuja received his Doctorate from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, and Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, and at the United Service Institution of India, New Delhi. Tansen Sen is Associate Professor of Asian history and religions at the City University of New York. He is the author of Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 (2003). He coedited China at the Crossroads: A Festschrift in Honor of Professor Victor H. Mair (special volume of Asia Major, vol. 19, issues 1-2, 2006) and guest edited a special issue of China Report (vol. 43, issue 4, 2007) entitled “Kolkata and China”. His recent articles include: “The Yuan Khanate and India: Cross-Cultural Diplomacy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries” in Asia Major (2006), “The Formation of Chinese Maritime Networks to Southern Asia, 1200–1450” in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (2006), and “The Travel Records of Chinese Pilgrims Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing: Sources for Cross-Cultural Encounters between Ancient China and Ancient India” in Education About Asia (2006). He is currently at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, on a visiting research fellowship. Gokul Seshadri is one of the founders and a contributing editor of varalaaru.com, a monthly magazine dedicated to South Indian historic research. He specializes in South Indian temple architecture, iconology, and epigraphy and has published several articles in related areas. Gokul also pioneered a digital reconstruction effort to visualize the original grandeur of ancient Chola mural paintings at the Brihadeswara temple, Thanjavur. He works as a Software Architect in New York.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

23

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xxiv

Contributors

P. Shanmugam, formerly Professor and Head, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, is the Director, Institute of Traditional Cultures of South and Southeast Asia, University of Madras, Chennai, from 2004. He has completed several research projects, one of which was a project on the Ports of the Tamil country. He has contributed numerous articles on South Indian Economic History, Epigraphy, and Coinage in several professional journals. His publications are Revenue System under the Cholas (1987) and a book on coinage of the Sangam period (2004). The work, Recent Advances in Vijayanagara Studies (2005), was edited by him. He has participated in several excavations in Tamil Nadu, including at Korkai, Kodumanal, Uraiyur, and Kanchipuram. For an integrated study of the cultural links of Southeast Asia with South India, he has participated in several archaeological field visits in South India and also in the countries in Southeast Asia. Y. Subbarayalu is former Professor of Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University of Thanjavur (1983–2001) and specializes in South Indian epigraphy and archaeology, historical geography, and history of South India. He was Research Associate in the Madras University project, “A Topographical List of Inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and Kerala” (1966–70) and Lecturer in Ancient History at Madurai Kamaraj University (1976–83). He has been the Chief Investigator for the Historical Atlas of Tamilnadu, Tamil University (2001–04) and Coordinator for the Historical Atlas of South India, French Institute of Pondicherry (2005–08). He has a number of publications to his credit, including Political Geography of the Chola Country (1973); A Concordance of the Names in the Chola Inscriptions (1978) (as Co-author); Palm-leaf Documents of Tiruchirappalli District (1989); Studies in Chola History (2001); and A Glossary of Tamil Inscriptions (2002–03). Ninie Susanti is Professor at the Archaeology Department, Faculty of Humanities University of Indonesia. She is affiliated with the IAAI (Ikatan Ahli Arkeologi Indonesia — Archaeologist Association) and AAEI (Asosiasi Ahli Epigrafi Indonesia — Epigraphist Association) and specializes in epigraphy. S. Vasanthi pursued her studies in Chennai. She obtained her M.A. Degree in Ancient History & Archaeology, Master of Philosophy in Ancient History & Archaeology, and her Doctoral Degree from Madras University, Chennai. She joined the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology in 1982 as Archaeological Officer, and worked for three years in Chennai. She was then posted as Curator to the Pre-Historic Site Museum at Poondi (where the

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

24

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

xxv

Contributors

world famous pre-historic sites in India are located), where she served for more than five years. She is currently working as an excavation cum exploration archaeologist. She has participated in the excavations by the Department at Alagankulam, Tirukoilur, Poompuhar, Maligaimedu, Andippatti, Marakkanam, Tranquebar, and Sembiyankandiyur. Vasanthi received the Best Student award from Madras University; won Second Prize for the Best Student award from Jawaharlal Nehru foundations, India; and was awarded a small grant by the Nehru Trust for Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

00 Nagapattinam_Prelims

25

11/10/09, 9:12 AM

1

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

1 THE NAVAL EXPEDITIONS OF THE CHOLAS IN THE CONTEXT OF ASIAN HISTORY1 Hermann Kulke

In one of his inscriptions at the monumental temple at Tanjavur, King Rajendra Chola is praised for having dispatched in 1025 “many ships in the midst of the rolling sea and having caught Sangrama-vijayottunga-varman, the king of Kadaram, together with the elephants in his glorious army, (took) the large heap of treasures, which (that king) had rightfully accumulated; (captured) with noise the (arch called) Vidhyadhara-torana at the ‘war gate’ of his extensive city, Srivijaya with the ‘jeweled wicket-gate’ adorned with great splendour and the ‘gate of large jewels’ ”.2 The inscription enumerates likewise twelve other port cities on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and the Nicobar Islands, which had been raided by the South Indian navy. Rajendra’s mighty overseas expedition against Srivijaya was a unique event in India’s history and its otherwise peaceful relations with the states of Southeast Asia which had come under India’s strong cultural influence for about a millennium. The reasons of this naval expedition are still a moot point as the sources are silent about its exact causes. Nilakanta Sastri concluded in his monumental work on the Cholas that “we have to assume either some attempt on the part of Srivijaya to throw obstacles in the way of the Cola trade with the East, or more probably, a simple desire on the part of Rajendra to extend his digvijaya to the countries across the sea so well known to his subjects at home, and thereby add luster to his crown”.3 The American 1

1

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

1

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

2

Hermann Kulke

historian G.W. Spencer interprets the naval expedition of the Cholas as the culmination of their “politics of plunder” and expansionism which the Cholas had been employing for decades already in wars in South India and Sri Lanka.4 In 1995 Tansen Sen pointed out that “the possibility of a ‘trade war’ cannot be completely ruled out because the Zhufan zhi [Description of the Barbarous People by Chau Ju-kua, AD 1225] records of Srivijayans forcing foreign ships to stop at their sea ports, and if the ships failed to do so, then, they would be attacked by the powerful Srivijayan navy and destroyed. Therefore, the Cola raid on Srivijaya can be concluded as an ambitious maneuver with a pretext to remove hindrance from the trade route.”5 In his more recent monograph of the year 2003, Sen went even a step further and suggested that “the Srivijayan diplomatic and military attempts to block direct maritime links between Indian and the Song markets may have been both the principal factors for the Chola naval raids”.6 Recently K.V. Ramesh, too, emphasized the unhindered and unthreatened trade between South and Southeast Asia as the primary purpose of the naval expedition, but also, as its second, the booty, as claimed in Rajendra’s own inscription.7 Another possible factor, particularly emphasized by Meera Abraham in her monograph on South Indian merchant guilds, is a direct influence of the famous Manigramam and Ayyavole merchant guilds on the politics of the Cholas.8 All these explanations have their own truth value. But there are reasons to assume that Rajendra’s naval expeditions against Srivijaya also have to be seen in the much wider context of Asian history and the contemporary political and economic developments in the Indian Ocean. The late tenth century witnessed the synchronous rise of three new and powerful dynasties, the Fatimids in Egypt (AD 969), the Song in China (AD 960) and the Cholas (AD 985), which soon began to interfere in the Indian Ocean trade system. The decline of the Abbasids of Baghdad and the rise of the Fatimids in Egypt were major events in the Muslim world. Already in 985/86 al-Maqdisi wrote “Baghdad was once a magnificent city, but is now fast falling to ruin and decay, and has lost all its splendor… Al-Fustat of Misr (Cairo) in the present day is like Bagdhad of old; I know no city in Islam superior to it.”9 The rise of the Fatimids as the dominating power of the Muslim World not only caused the shift of Muslim trading activities from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea,10 but also increased considerably the importance of the Malabar coast in the hinterland of the emerging Chola power. Whereas the Persian Gulf trade with India followed mainly the coastal line to the great harbours of Gujarat, ships from the Red Sea and Aden, particularly during the summer monsoon, easily crossed the Arabian Sea directly to the Malabar coast of South India. This development is well documented by the famous 2

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

2

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

3

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

Geniza documents of Jewish traders of Cairo/Al-Fustat and Aden with the Malabar coast.11 In the Far East the Song dynasty from the outset began to promote and control maritime trade more successfully than any other Chinese dynasty.12 But India and Southeast Asia, too, emerged during these decades as active participants in the international power struggle and maritime trade between the Near East and China, the terminals of the Indian Ocean trade. The spectacular attack of the Cholas on Srivijaya has to be seen in this broader context of the rise of new powers, the shift of trade routes, and, as a consequence of these processes, a struggle for market share. The rise of the Cholas from 985 to 1025 took place with breathtaking swiftness. From their dynastic core region in the Kaveri delta, King Rajaraja subdued all kingdoms of South India with their coastal regions, penetrated into central India, and conquered the offshore islands of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. In the twenties of the eleventh century, his son Rajendra undertook, as a culmination of this Chola expansionism, his two unique expeditions to Bengal and Southeast Asia. The Cholas appear to have followed a systematic plan, even though it might have evolved only stepwise. After the conquest of the whole of South India and its flourishing ports on the Coromandel and Malabar coasts, they occupied Sri Lanka and the Maldives as important maritime trading centres in the Indian Ocean, and then subdued all possible Indian opponents on the eastern coast up to Bengal (for example, the Somavamsa of Orissa) and finally attacked Srivijaya, which dominated Southeast Asia’s trade routes through the Straits of Malacca and the Sunda Straits. During the last centuries of the first millennium AD, India and Southeast Asia went through similar processes of state formation, which elsewhere have been subsumed under the term “from early to imperial kingdom”.13 The result of this development was an increased capacity of the state to extract socially produced surplus, and to mobilize men and means. Suffice it to mention here the rise of the Rashtrakutas in Central India in 752 and the state of Angkor in AD 802. More or less simultaneously with the expansionism of the Cholas under Rajaraja and Rajendra, the kingdom of Angkor for the first time extended its frontiers far beyond its dynastic homelands, and subjugated parts of Laos, central Thailand, and the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. It soon became the dominating power in the Gulf of Siam and Mainland Southeast Asia and was, therefore, bound to get into conflict with Dai-Viet and Champa who were competing for the control of the important maritime trade routes on the eastern coast of Mainland Southeast Asia.14 And, most important in our context, Angkor penetrated very directly into the sphere of interest of Srivijaya on the 3

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

3

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

4

Hermann Kulke

northern Malay Peninsula.15 For centuries, Srivijaya had controlled the southern part of the Malay Peninsula up to Ligor and Chaiya and temporarily even the Isthmus of Kra. In this northern outpost of Srivijaya’s influence on the Malay Peninsula, one of its most important inscriptions records the construction of a sanctuary in Ligor, dedicated to Buddha, Padmapani, and Vajrapani by a king of Srivijaya in the year 775.16 From the middle of the eleventh century, another “imperial kingdom” and important competitor arose in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. The kingdom of Pagan united central and coastal Burma with parts of the northwestern coast of the Malay Peninsula. Pagan was thus, perhaps for the first time in the history of Southeast Asia, able to link maritime trade in the northern Bay of Bengal directly with China, through its access to the land route to Yunnan. During this period Burma’s relations with countries on the opposite side of the Bay of Bengal and with Sri Lanka appear to have been very strong as can be seen, for example, from the influence of Orissan architecture in early Pagan. The Malay world of present Malaysia and Indonesia was divided between Srivijaya in the west and the kingdom of Mataram in Java. In the early tenth century Mataram had shifted its capital from near Yogyakarta in southern central Java to northeastern Java near Surabaya. The causes of the abandonment of one of Asia’s most impressive sacred spaces around the Borobudur and Prambanan are still unknown.17 But there are good reasons to assume that this shift aimed at the control of the fertile rice-growing plains southwest of Surabaya, and at a more direct access to, and perhaps even control over, the spice trade route from the Moluccas which passed along the northern coast of Java. The west of the archipelago and its important trade routes were, since the late seventh century, under the control of Srivijaya. Sometimes termed as a thalassocracy or “Ocean State”, Srivijaya appears to have been a confederation of harbours and their respective hinterlands rather than a centrally administered agrarian state,18 but its richness was proverbial. In the year 956, on the eve of the above mentioned rise of the new great powers of the Indian Ocean, the Arab geographer Ma’sudi reported that even the fastest ship would not have been able to visit in two years all the islands of this kingdom whose Maharaja extracts more profit from his own country than any other rulers of the world.19 Srivijaya, however, was also known for its military strength and piracy-like activities. An early twelfth-century Chinese account reports “They [the Srivijayans] are skilled at fighting on land or water. When they are about to make war on another state they assemble and send forth such a force as the occasion demands. They appoint chiefs and leaders, and all provide their own 4

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

4

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

5

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

military equipment and the necessary provisions. In facing their enemy and braving death they have not their equal among other nations…. If a merchant ship passes by without entering [their harbour], their boats go forth to make a combined attack, and all are ready to die [in the attempt]. This is the reason why this country is a great shipping centre.”20 The relations of the Southeast Asian states with their great neighbours, India and China, were intensive, but of very different natures. India was for Southeast Asian countries the holy land of Buddhism and Hinduism and certainly an important trading place. But politically and increasingly, economically too, China was the undisputed “Middle Kingdom”. All kingdoms of Southeast Asia and particularly those that were small and harassed by their neighbours sent tributary missions to the imperial court of China.21 For Southeast Asian historiography and, of course, for the historiography of the Indian Ocean trade system, it is of the greatest importance that Chinese officials reported meticulously about these missions, their gifts, requests, etc. China’s own interest in the “southern barbarians” of Kunlun, the countries of Southeast Asia, increased considerably under the Tang dynasty (618–907).22 Their rule coincided with the early heyday of transoceanic trade of Arab and Near Eastern merchants in China.23 The reunification of China under the Song. dynasty and the rise of the Fatimids and the Cholas in the second half of the tenth century initiated a new era in the maritime history of Asia. Shortly after his accession to the throne, the first Song emperor issued orders for the regulation of maritime trade and revenues. About two decades later, a “Bureau of Licensed Trade” was established for buying up foreign goods which were then sold as a state monopoly. In 987 the Chinese government gave an instruction which appears to have been one of the major causes of the struggles in the Bay of Bengal during the eleventh century. In this year, China dispatched four missions vested with imperial authority and gifts to foreign countries to induce “foreign traders of the South Sea and those who went to foreign lands beyond the sea” to come more frequently to the Chinese ports on the promise of special facilities and import licences.24 Srivijaya was the first country to react to the Chinese offer and sent a tribute mission already the following year. But during its stay in China the mission was informed that its country had been attacked by the east Javanese kingdom of Mataram. During a stopover in Champa the mission received the news that Mataram was still continuing its war against Srivijaya. The mission, therefore, returned to China and Srivijaya was placed under imperial protection. But a Javanese embassy to China in 992 confirmed that the war was still going on.25 The reasons for this conflict are unknown. But in this case too, we 5

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

5

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

6

Hermann Kulke

may assume that it was caused by competition between these two states which were most directly involved in the spice trade with China. We are informed that during these years of increasing tensions, a number of peculiar “rituo-political” donations of Southeast Asian rulers to China and India. The annals of the Song dynasty report that in 1003 the king of Srivijaya “sent two envoys to bring tribute. They told that in their country a Buddhist temple had been erected in order to pray for the long life of the emperor and that they wanted a name and bells for it by which the emperor would show that he appreciated their good intentions. An edict was issued by which the temple got the name of Ch’eng-t’en-wan-shou (‘ten thousand years of receiving [blessings] from heaven [that is, China]’) and bells were cast to be given to them.”26 The next year Srivijaya again sent envoys to China who were followed up by four embassies until 1018. Obviously Srivijaya was most eager to win China’s favour. In exactly the period when Srivijaya’s king had a temple constructed for the welfare of the Chinese emperor, Srivijaya also entered into the same type of diplomatic relations with the Chola state in South India. The famous larger Leiden grant of the year 1005 records the Chola king Rajaraja donating the revenue of a village for the maintenance of the Buddhist shrine Cudamani Vihara, which Sri Maravijayottungavarman, the Sailendra king of Srivijaya, had constructed in the name of his father at Nagapattinam, the major port of the Chola state.27 The foundation stone of this shrine in the South Indian harbour might have already been laid about two years earlier in 1003, the year when the king of Srivijaya informed the Chinese emperor about the construction of a Buddhist shrine for his welfare. It is tempting to assume a direct connection between these two unusual and more or less synchronous deeds of Srivijaya’s king whose name is clearly mentioned both in Chinese and Indian sources. Srivijaya obviously tried to establish friendly relations with the two big powers of East and South Asia in order to maintain and strengthen its privileged position in the maritime trade in eastern Asia. Previously China might have been more important for Srivijaya than South India. But after their conquest of South India’s ports, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, the Cholas controlled the central section of the Indian Ocean trade routes in a way very similar to how Srivijaya dominated its southeastern section. During this period of incipient trade rivalry in the Bay of Bengal, both states obviously still tried to maintain their friendly relations.28 After his accession to the Chola throne in 1014, Rajendra continued this policy. In 1015 he confirmed his father’s donation to Srivijaya’s temple at Nagapattinam by a new inscription. That same year and in 1018, he received large gifts of “China gold” (Cina-kanakam) from Srivijaya for a Hindu temple and its Brahmins in the Chola harbour.29

6

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

6

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

7

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

During these years, Angkor, Mainland Southeast Asia’s major power, also entered into this kind of ritual diplomacy with the Cholas. Shortly after 1012 King Suryavarman I under whom, as already mentioned, Angkor became the dominating power in the Gulf of Siam, chose a very unusual gift for the Chola king. For the protection of his own royalty (atma-laksmi) he presented to Rajendra a war chariot with which he had defeated his own enemies.30 In this case too, it is left to us to speculate on the reasons for the truly royal gift by the king of Angkor to his colleague on the Chola throne. It is likely that Angkor had entered troubled waters with its penetration into Srivijaya’s sphere of influence on the Malay Peninsula. The Isthmus of Kra had always offered an alternative to the long and often dangerous maritime trade route to the Gulf of Siam through the Straits of Malacca, particularly for those merchants who wished to avoid the rather restrictive staple rights of Srivijaya about which we are informed by a Chinese account of the early twelfth century: “In recent years San-fo-ch’i [Srivijaya] has established monopoly in sandalwood. The ruler orders merchants to sell it to him. The market value of the product therefore increases several times. The subjects of that country do not dare to sell it privately. This is an effective way of governance. The country is exactly [at the center of ] the southern sea. The Ta-shih [Arab] countries are far away to its west. Chinese going to Ta-shih reach San-fo-ch’i, repair their ships, and exchange goods. Merchants from distant places congregate there. This country is therefore considered to be the most prosperous one.”31 It is quite possible that in the early eleventh century, Angkor tried to reactivate the land route at the Isthmus of Kra in order to divert the maritime trade between the Bay of Bengal and China directly through the Isthmus of Kra and the Gulf of Siam which now had come under its control. Our sources are silent about a direct conflict between Srivijaya and Angkor in the eleventh century. But in the late eighth century, several inscriptions in Champa reported that people from Java and other islands, “men living on food more horrible than cadavers, frightful, came in ships” and desecrated temples and idols.32 In the mid-eleventh century, Sadasiva, Suryavarman’s purohita (royal chaplain) and brother-in-law, claims in his famous Sdok Kak Thom inscription that his forefather Sivakaivalya had consecrated Angkor’s “state cult”, the Devaraja cult, in AD 802 in order “to prevent his land of Kambuja from ever being [again] dependent (ayatta) on Java”.33 This reference in an inscription of the year 1052 shows that in eleventh-century Angkor there still existed an awareness of a possible threat from Java, which in the eleventh-century context, certainly also referred to Srivijaya. It might have been this wish never to become “dependent on Java” again which induced the king of Angkor to present to the ruler of South India his own war chariot for the sake of his atma-laksmi. Obviously 7

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

7

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

8

Hermann Kulke

the Cholas, too, meanwhile had become rivals of Srivijaya and thus potential allies of Angkor.34 It is not surprising that in this period of hectic diplomatic activities of the various states of the Bay of Bengal, the Cholas sent their first embassy to the Chinese court. It had a stopover in Srivijaya for several months and reached China in 1015. As this happened only ten years before the swift attack of the Chola navy on the ports of Srivijaya, one may assume that the South Indian envoys had done excellent intelligence work in view of a possible future conflict with Srivijaya. As for the reception of the mission at the imperial court of China we have a detailed report in the Chinese encyclopedia Wenxian tong kao of the year 1319: “The kingdom [Chu-lien] which in antiquity never had communications with the Empire, sent ambassadors for the first time under the dynasty of the Song.” In a letter handed over by the chief of the mission, Rajaraja, who meanwhile had passed away, informed the Emperor: “My age, the stretch of the seas which separate us, and the great difficulties on the route to traverse, do not permit me to go, in order to carry myself the tribute that I wish to offer you. … [This will therefore be done by] my envoys, to the number of fifty-two, arriving at the foot of your throne. I have ordered them to offer you a robe and cap decorated with pearls, pearls of different sizes weighing about 21,000 liang, sixty pieces of ivory and sixty pounds of incense.”35 The mission to China was a great success. The large number of its members seems to have prompted the Chinese prefect of Guangzhou to request the Song court, as early as by the following year, to limit the members of embassies from these “Big Four”, the Cholas, Arabs, Srivijaya, and Java, to not more than twenty people,36 a plea which, however, went unheard. As emphasized by Tansen Sen,37 throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries it remained Srivijaya’s major diplomatic aim to lower the Cholas in China’s esteem. As already mentioned, Rajendra Chola initially seems to have continued his father’s policy of friendly relations with Srivijaya as he reconfirmed his father’s grant to Srivijaya’s Buddhist temple at Nagapattinam, and in turn received valuable presents from the king of Srivijaya. But there are reasons to assume that during these years the competition between the major powers of the Bay of Bengal and the Javanese Sea had increased considerably. In 1016 the east Javanese kingdom of Mataram was attacked and its capital ransacked by west Javanese troops with the obvious approval or even support of Srivijaya.38 For more than a decade Mataram ceased to be Srivijaya’s rival in the spice trade of the eastern islands. As if aware of its precarious position after having become the sole big power of maritime Southeast Asia, Srivijaya sent envoys regularly to China in 1016, 1017, and 1018. 8

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

8

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

9

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

The Cholas did not remain mere spectators of Srivijaya’s rise to an unchallenged regional power with control over the vital maritime trade routes in Southeast Asia. They, too, started a new round of eliminating possible rivals in the offshore islands of South Asia. In 1017 the last remnants of the ancient kingdom of Sri Lanka were destroyed. Polonnaruva, with its easy access to the eastern coast and its ports, became the new Chola capital of Sri Lanka. In the same year, a first small naval expedition of the Cholas might have reached Kadaram, Srivijaya’s major outpost on the Malay Peninsula. In case it really occurred, Srivijaya’s mission to the Cholas in 1018 might have been intended to calm down the Chola’s increasing suspicion against Srivijaya’s intentions.39 In the same year Kerala with its important Malabar ports was finally subjugated, and the “many ancient islands”, the Maldives, were again attacked. In 1020, only five years after their first embassy had reached China, the Cholas again sent envoys to the Imperial Court.40 A few years later, in 1022/23 the Cholas accomplished their grand design by their victorious march through Kalinga up to the Ganges, eliminating all possible rivals on the eastern coast of the subcontinent and finally undertaking their great naval expedition against Srivijaya in 1025. It appears as if the Cholas had initially been trying to copy the Srivijayan model, that is, to gain undisputed control over ports and the maritime routes which passed through their sphere of influence. The exact reasons for abandoning their quest for regional hegemony and extending their expansionism across the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia are still unknown. But apparently their competition with Srivijaya had reached a level where traditional means of settling conflicts were no longer valid. In the year 1023, the competition between the Cholas and Srivijaya might have even further increased when the Chinese Emperor urged Arab envoys to shift their trade from the Central Asian Silk Road to the Silk Road of the Sea.41 In this situation, the immensity of the stake in the maritime trade might have induced the famous South India merchant guilds of the Ayyavole and Manigramam to play a more active role in this maritime big power game.42 They might have tried to influence the Chola court in a way similar to how the (British) Rangoon Chamber of Commerce exerted pressure on the British Government on the eve of the annexation of Upper Burma in 1885. But, of course, this is mere conjecture as our sources are totally silent on this point. The Chola raid of fourteen flourishing port cities on the Malay Peninsula and in Sumatra appears to have shocked the countries of Southeast Asia as none of them sent envoys to China for three years. In 1028 the Song Emperor, therefore, complained that “in recent years foreign shipping rarely came to Canton”. He sent instructions to the fiscal superintendent of Canton 9

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

9

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

10

Hermann Kulke

to invite the merchants to return to Canton.43 Already a few weeks later, a mission from Srivijaya arrived and was treated with great honour. O.W. Wolters, therefore, rightly remarks that “Srivijaya was still in business”44 and J. Wisseman Christie even came to the conclusion that “the effects of the Chola raids appear, for the most part, to have been minimal and transitory: Srivijaya sent a well-received mission to China in 1028”.45 Although hampered by internal struggles between several port cities — most likely a result of the Chola raid — Srivijaya regained its dominant position in the western Malay world with its important Straits. It returned to its traditional means of diplomacy in order to improve its position at the Chinese court. In 1079 it donated the unbelievable amount of 600,000 gold pieces for the repair and maintenance of a Taoist shrine in Canton.46 From a Chinese report of the twelfth century we know that Srivijaya had again become “the most important port-of-call on the sea-routes of the foreigners, from the country of Java (She-p’o) on the east and from the countries of the Arabs (T’a-shi) and Quilon (Ku-lin) in the west; they all pass through it on their way to China”.47 After their naval expedition the Cholas seem to have confined themselves to only one other mission to China in the year 1033. Obviously they were reluctant to convert their military success into more permanent political dominion, by, for instance, the establishment of a fortified settlement of Tamil merchants in the Straits of Malacca. In fact, such a fortified settlement of Manigramam merchants seems to have already existed at Takuapa in the Isthmus of Kra during Pallava rule in the late ninth century.48 But as a result of Rajendra’s naval expedition, the Cholas became equated with South Indian foreigners in Javanese inscriptions. Until the rise of the “Imperial Cholas”, only Klings or “Kalingas” were mentioned in Javanese inscriptions as foreign visitors from the eastern coast of India. In 1021, when South India had already emerged as a maritime power, an inscription added Drawidas to this list and they were then replaced by the Colikas in an inscription of the year 1053.49 The trade of South Indian merchants continued to flourish also in the realm of Srivijaya. This is well documented by the famous inscription of the Ayyavole guild of the year 1088, discovered in Barus in West Sumatra. Only recently completely edited by Y. Subbarayalu,50 it reports a grant of “Captain of the town, the merchant of the locality” (nakara-senapati nattu chettiyar) and depicts an obviously flourishing social life of an autonomous quarter of the Tamil community in Barus. From the eleventh century the impact of South Indian trade in Southeast Asia was accompanied by a new wave of cultural influence from South India. It emanated primarily from the realm of the Cholas and replaced the strong influence of Pallava art and architecture of previous centuries. But it 10

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

10

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

11

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

soon underwent the interesting process of “localization”, particularly in Sumatra. This is well depicted by a bronze sculpture from Gunung Tua and stone sculptures from Kota Cina in North Sumatra. Whereas the locally made bronze sculpture of Lokanatha and Tara with its dated Old Malay inscription of the year 1039 still depicts an excellent classical Chola style,51 the later stone sculptures of Kota Cina reveal a thoroughly localized Chola style of northern Sumatra.52 Towards the end of the eleventh century, particularly under the reign of Kulottunga I (1070–1118), the Cholas renewed their activities in the Bay of Bengal.53 In 1067–68 they interfered again in Srivijaya with a naval expedition on behalf of a pretender to the throne of Kadaram, Srivijaya’s second capital on the Malay Peninsula. At the Chinese court, however, this assistance to a prince of Srivijaya did not enhance the reputation of the Cholas. For several years the Chola state was wrongly termed in official Chinese annals as a tributary or “vassal” state of Srivijaya. This obviously false estimation might have been deliberately caused by Srivijaya’s envoys at the Chinese court. The “misunderstanding” was corrected only by a new mission of the Cholas to China under Kulottunga in 1077. It consisted of seventy-two persons, most of whom were traders. They were accorded two exceptionally high privileges of protocol. Srivijaya had to send two missions in 1079 and 1088 in order to receive the same honours.54 However, about twenty years later, the “anti-Chola faction” of Srivijaya seems to have regained the upper hand again at the imperial court of China. As pointed out by Tansen Sen, the President of the Council of Rites in 1106 objected to the imperial intention of receiving envoys from Pagan in accordance to the status given to envoys of the Cholas by saying: “The Chola [Kingdom] is subject to Srivijaya, this is why during the Xining reign period (1068–1077), we wrote to its ruler on a coarse paper with an envelope of plain stuff. Pagan, on the other hand, is a great kingdom and should not be perceived as a small tributary state. It deserves a comparable status [as given to] Arab, Jiaozhi (present-day Vietnam), and other [similar] states.”55 The involvement of the Cholas, and in particular, of Kulottunga, in Srivijayan affairs during these years is a controversial matter. It is most likely that Kulottunga’s name (Di-hua-jia-luo) occurs as the name of the ruler of Srivijaya in a Chinese transliteration in the above mentioned Cantonese inscription of the year 1079, since the same name occurs in the Song annals as the name of the Chola king who sent the mission in the year 1077.56 From this evidence, the renewed naval activities of the Cholas in 1067–68, and other scattered evidence, one may infer that the Cholas supported one faction of the Srivijayan court or one port city of its 11

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

11

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

12

Hermann Kulke

confederation. Another faction might then have spread the news that the Chola kingdom had become a “vassal state” of Srivijaya. After all, this was a period of intensive power struggle in Srivijaya. Only a few decades later Srivijaya-Palembang lost its dominating position among the port-cities of Srivijaya to Jambi. Tan Yeok Seong, the editor of the Srivijayan inscription of Canton, even came to the conclusion that Kulottunga might have stayed in Kadaram after the naval expedition of 1067, and reinstalled its king before he returned to South India to occupy the Chola throne in 1070.57 In about 1090, Kulottunga, at the request of the king of Srivijaya renewed, via his famous smaller Leiden grant, the donation of the villages, which Rajaraja had granted in 1005 for the maintenance of the vihara at Nagapattinam, built by the then ruler of Srivijaya.58 Kulottunga also maintained friendly relations with the two great kingdoms of Mainland Southeast Asia. In 1114, soon after his enthronement, King Suryavarman II, the famous builder of Angkor Wat, sent a mission to the Chola court, which presented a precious stone to Kulottunga. And in an inscription at Pagan, the Burmese King Kyanzittha (1077–1112) even claims to have converted the “Choli prince” to the teachings of the Buddha by a personal letter written on gold leaves in which he praised the greatness of the Buddhist triratna.59 These rituo-political missions and donations also appear to have been connected with the promotion of trade as Kulottunga is praised for abolishing tolls (sungam)60 and he is the only Chola king whose name is associated with a harbour. The renaming of Vishakhapattanam in Andhra Pradesh as Kulottungacolapattanam indicates Kulottunga’s interest in trade with countries on the opposite side of the Bay of Bengal, that is, with Burma and Cambodia via the Isthmus of Kra.61 The decline of the Chola power from the late twelfth century by no means caused a decrease in South Indian trade in the Bay of Bengal and China. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a period of the greatest activities of the two South Indian guilds of the Ayyavole and Manigramam merchants, mainly in South India itself of course, and in Sri Lanka.62 But Burma and the southern Thai peninsula too remained regions where South Indian merchant guilds were active during this period. An inscription of the thirteenth century at the only Hindu temple at Pagan, which was most likely built for Indian merchants, reports a donation by a member of the South Indian nanadesi merchants.63 The Tamil stone inscription of Nakhon Si Thammarat in the Wat Boromadhatu reports a Brahmadeya grant by Danma Senapati, most likely a merchant from Cholamandala.64 The weakening of the Chola state from the mid-thirteenth century allowed other kingdoms in the Bay of Bengal and their harbours to participate more actively in the Indian Ocean trade. This can be inferred from the famous Motupalli

12

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

12

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

13

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

inscription of King Ganapati of the Kakatiya Kingdom in northern Andhra Pradesh who offered in the year 1244 “safety to traders by sea starting for and arriving from all continents, islands, foreign countries and cities”.65 Recent excavations at Manikapatnam, an ancient maritime harbour in the Chilka Lake in Orissa, corroborate the increase in Chinese trade in this region of the Bay of Bengal during this period. Particularly impressive is the thirteenth-century evidence of the presence of a large South Indian merchant community in China and of Chinese traders in South India. More recent discoveries in Quanzhou (which under the Southern Song dynasty had gradually surpassed Canton as China’s main port and as a place of large colonies of foreign merchants) have brought to light a well-preserved lower portion of a Hindu temple and about 300 sculptures, all in purely late but localized Chola style.66 This temple and the large number of Hindu sculptures are the earliest known infallible evidence of the existence of a large South Indian colony in China.67 A bilingual TamilChinese inscription of the year AD 1281 reports the dedication of a Saiva statue in yet another Hindu temple in Quanzhou. Its author might have been the son of the last Chola king, Rajaraja III, who would have sought the help of the Chinese emperor two years after the eclipse of his dynastic fortune.68 Two months before this dedication, a Mongol envoy, Yang Tingbi, had already been dispatched to India — most likely to South India, “underscoring the reciprocal nature of this relationship”.69 The evidence for the presence of a Chinese merchant community in South India during these years is equally impressive. Until 1867 the ruins of a three-storeyed Chinese pagoda existed in Nagapattinam. From Chinese sources we know that it was constructed in AD 1267. China thus seems to have followed the example of Srivijaya and its Buddhist monastery at Nagapattinam. Moreover, altogether 1,838 Chinese coins have been discovered in the neighbourhood of Nagapattinam, most probably belonging to a coin hoard. They are dated from the second to the thirteenth centuries. The most recent among these belong to a time bracket of 1265 to 1275, which corresponds exactly with the date of the construction of the Chinese pagoda. If we add to this evidence the findings of Chinese ceramics in South India, the greatest amount of which belong to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,70 it becomes obvious that these centuries were a period of intensive and mostly direct trade relations between South and Eastern India and China.71 The establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206, its temporary extension to Central and South India in the early fourteenth century, the subsequent establishment of the Deccan and Madurai Sultanates, and the spread of Islam in India’s ports and along the maritime trading routes in Southeast Asia,

13

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

13

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

14

Hermann Kulke

further increased India’s importance in the Indian Ocean trade system. Through its Indian and foreign Muslim trading communities, India’s ports became more directly linked with the “international” Muslim trade in the Indian Ocean. South Indian Muslim merchants such as the Telugu Klings and Tamil Chulias were particularly active in the Malay world.72 Moreover, the conquest of Bengal by Muslim armies around AD 1200 seems to have considerably enhanced the maritime activities of Bengal. It drew its harbours into the orbit of the Delhi Sultanate and transoceanic trade of Muslim merchants which connected the Near East and South India with Southeast Asia and China. An indication of these increased activities of Bengal trade with China are the envoys which the Sultanate of Bengal sent regularly to China during the early fifteenth century.73 In the early fifteenth century, two events were of the greatest importance and significance for the last century of the Indian Ocean trade system before the coming of the Europeans: the founding of Malacca and the maritime expeditions of the Ming dynasty under the imperial eunuch Zheng He. His seven expeditions between 1405 and 1433 firmly established a temporal hegemony of China over in the “Southern Sea”, viz. Southeast Asia, and extended temporarily China’s dominant maritime position stepwise up to Sri Lanka, South India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and East Africa.74 Whereas during these years, and initially under the direct influence of Zheng He’s expeditions, Malacca rose to become a major trade centre of the Indian Ocean,75 the Mings broke off their systematic and successful maritime expansionism as suddenly as it had begun. Both events, the founding of Malacca and Zheng He’s expeditions, were the climax of a bundle of interrelated all-Asian processes. In this chapter these processes have been exemplified by an analysis of the naval expedition of the Cholas and their quest for political and economic domination of the Bay of Bengal in the eleventh century. The result of these processes and their dynamics was the emergence of a close-matched maritime network of intensive political, economic, and cultural relations, interlinking its regional networks in the Near East, South, Southeast, and East Asia. The geographical and cultural centre of this maritime network was South India.

Notes 1. Earlier versions of this paper were published in Om Prakash and Dennis Lombard, eds., Commerce and Culture in the Bay of Bengal, 1500–1800 (New Delhi, 1999), pp. 17–36 and in P. Borschberg and M. Krieger, eds., Water and State in Europe and Asia (New Delhi, 2008), pp. 19–34. 2. South Indian Inscriptions, vol. II, p. 109, quoted after K. A. N. Sastri, The Co-.l as 14 (Madras, 1955), p. 211.

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

14

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

15

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

3. Sastri, The Co-.las, p. 220. 4. G. W. Spencer, “The Politics of Plunder: The Cholas in Eleventh Century Ceylon”, Journal of Asian Studies 35 (1976): 405–420; idem, The Politics of Expansion: The Chola Conquest of Sri Lanka and Srivijaya (Madras, 1983). 5. Tansen Sen, “Maritime Contacts between China and the Cola Kingdom of South India: 850–1279”, in Mariners, Merchants and Oceans: Studies in Maritime History, by K. S. Mathew (New Delhi, 1995), pp. 25–42. 6. Tansen Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 (Honolulu, 2003), p. 225. 7. K. V. Ramesh, “Reconsidering Cultural Intercourse between India and Southeast Asia: An Epigraphical Report”, in Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds. Report of the Taisho University Research Project 1997–2000, edited by N. Karashima (Tokyo, 2002 [printed in Chennai]), pp. 147–59. 8. “Our belief is that the raid was undertaken partly at least to establish trading rights for Tamil-speaking merchants in those areas, a trade from which the ruler, the merchant and the Chola bureaucracy could expect sizable profits”, M. Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India (New Delhi, 1988), p. 142. 9. G. F. Hourani, Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times (Beirut, 1963), p. 79; for a comprehensive overview, see K. N. Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise of Islam to 1750 (Cambridge, 1985). 10. “Fatimid ships moved aggressively throughout the Mediterranean and into the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. It was at this time that the centre of Islam in the Indian Ocean shifted from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.” (J. AbuLughod, Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250–1350 (Oxford, 1989), p. 226.) A major factor of this development was the unification of the Red Sea (including Yemen) under the political authority of the Fatimids, see U. Haarmann and B. Zantana, “Zwischen Suez und Aden: Pilger und Fernhaendler im Roten Meer vom zehnten bis zum sechzehnten Jahrhundert”, in Der Indische Ozean in historischer Perspektive, edited by S. Conermann (Hamburg, 1998), pp. 109–42. 11. S. D. Goitein, “From the Mediterranean to India. Documents on the Trade to India, South Arabia, and East Africa from the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries”, Speculum 29 (1954): 181–97; idem, “From Aden to India. Specimens of the Correspondence of India Traders of the Twelfth Century”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 23 (1980): 43–66. 12. Wang Gungwu, “The Nanhai Trade: A Study of the Early History of Chinese Trade in the South Sea”, Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 31 (1958): 1–135. 13. Hermann Kulke, “The Early and the Imperial Kingdom. A Processural Model of Integrative State Formation in Early Medieval India”, in The State in India 1000–1700, edited by H. Kulke (New Delhi, 1995), pp. 233–77; idem, “The Early and the Imperial Kingdom in Southeast Asian History”, in Southeast Asia 15

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

15

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

16

14.

15. 16. 17.

18.

19. 20.

21.

22.

Hermann Kulke

in the 9th to 14th Centuries, edited by D. G. Marr and A. C. Milner (Singapore, 1986), pp. 1–22. K. R. Hall, “International Trade and Foreign Diplomacy in Early Medieval South India”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 21 (1978): 75–98; idem, “Eleventh-Century Commercial Developments in Angkor and Champa”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 10 (1979): 420–34. O. W. Wolters, “Tambralinga”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 21 (1958): 587–607. B. Ch. Chhabra, Expansion of Indo-Aryan Culture During Pallava Period (Delhi, 1965) pp. 26–34. Boechari, Some Considerations of the Problem of the Shift of Mataram’s Center of Government from Central to East Java in the 10th Century A.D., Bulletin of the Research Centre of Archaeology of Indonesia. No. 10 (Jakarta, 1976). O. W. Wolters, Early Indonesian Commerce. A Study of the Origins of Srivijaya (Ithaca and London, 1967); H. Kulke, “‘Kadatuan Srivijaya’: Empire or Kraton of Srivijaya? A Reassessment of the Epigraphical Evidence”, Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême Orient 80 (1993): 159–80; P. Y. Manguin, “The Amorphous Nature of Coastal Polities in Insular Southeast Asia: Restricted Centres, Extended Peripheries”, Moussons 5 (2002): 73–99. G. R. Tibbetts, A Study of the Arabic Texts Containing Material on South-East Asia (Leiden, 1979), p. 38. H. Hirth and W. W. Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, entitled Chu-fan-chih (St Petersburg, 1911), p. 64, quoted from So Kee-Long, “Dissolving Hegemony or Changing Trade Pattern? Images of Srivijaya in the Chinese Sources of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 29 (1998): 295–308, see p. 301. The report of a rather early mission from He-luo-dan on Java in the year AD 430 is very informative for this type of East Asian diplomacy. “My country once had a large population and was prosperous [and] never bullied by other countries. But now the situation is different and we have become weak. My neighbours vie with each other in attacking me. I beg Your Majesty to extend Your protection from far. I also hope that there will be no trading restrictions which will affect the coming and going [of our merchants]. If you pity me I hope that you will send missions ordering these countries not to maltreat us so that Your Majesty’s repudiation as the protector of the weak will be known everywhere. I hope that you will instruct the Canton officials to send back my ship and not permit them to rob and hurt [my traders]. I wish hereafter to send missions every year.” Liu Song shu, 5, 33b, quoted by O. W. Wolters, Early Indonesian Commerce. A Study of the Origins of Srivijaya (Ithaca, 1967), p. 151. Wang Gungwu, “The Nanhai Trade”; see also P. Wheatley, “Geographical Notes on Some Commodities Involved in Sung Maritime Trade”, Journal of the Malay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 32, no. 2 (1959): 5–140 (21); Jung-Pang Lo,

16

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

16

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

17

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

28.

29. 30. 31. 32. 33.

34.

35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46.

“Maritime Commerce and its Relation to the Sung Navy”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 12 (1969): 57–101 and see particularly Tansen Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade. K. N. Chaudhury, Trade ands Civilisation in the Indian Ocean. P. Wheatley, “Geographical Notes on Some Commodities”, p. 24ff. G. Coedès, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia (Honolulu, 1968), p. 132. W. P. Groeneveldt, Historical Notes on Indonesia and Malaya. Compiled from Chinese Sources (Reprint)(Jakarta 1960), p. 65. Epigraphia Indica, XXII, p. 257. Already in ca. AD 860, Balaputra, the first Sailendra king of Srivijaya, established a Buddhist monastery at Nalanda, which was endowed by the Pala King Devapala with land grants; see F. D. K. Bosch, “Een oorkonde van het Groote Klooster te Nalanda”, Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde 65 (1925): 509–88. For a comprehensive study of the involvement of the Cholas in this struggle for hegemony in the eastern section of the Indian Ocean, see also Sen, “Maritime Contacts” and Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade; K. A. N. Sastri, The Co-.l as; G.W. Spencer, The Politics of Expansion; and K. R. Hall, Trade and Statecraft in the Age of the Colas (New Delhi, 1980). K. R. Hall, “International Trade and Foreign Diplomacy”, p. 88. K. A. N. Sastri, The Co-.l as, p. 220. Canton Stories (Pingzhou daida), quoted from So Kee-Long, see note 20. G. Coedès, The Indianized States, p. 91. H. Kulke, The Devaraja Cult (Ithaca, 1978), p. 75; reprinted in Kings and Cults. State Formation and Legitimation in India and Southeast Asia (New Delhi, 1993), p. 344. K. R. Hall, “Khmer Commercial Development and Foreign Contacts under Suryavarman I”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 18 (1975): 318–36; idem, “International Trade and Foreign Diplomacy”. Quoted from Sen, “Maritime Contacts”. Song hui yao, quoted by Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade, p. 319, note 95. Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade, pp. 220–27. G. Coedès, The Indianized State, p. 144. For a more detailed discussion of the disputed naval expedition of the year 1017 see the chapter by Tansen Sen in this volume. N. Karashima, “Relations between South India and China in Chola Times”, in Professor K. A. Nilakanta Sastri Felicitation Volume (Madras 1971), p. 69f. K. N. Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean, p. 56. M. Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India (Delhi, 1988). P. Wheatley, “Geographical Notes on Some Commodities”, p. 25. O. W. Wolters, “Tambralinga”, p. 251. J. Wisseman Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 29 (1998): 254. Tan Yeok Seong, “The Sri Vijayan Inscription of Canton (AD 1079)”, Journal of Southeast Asian History 5 (1964): 17–26. 17

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

17

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

18

Hermann Kulke

47. Chou K’u-fei (AD 1178) quoted by F. Hirth and W. W. Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, p. 23. 48. K. A. N. Sastri, “Takuapa and its Tamil Inscription”, Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 22 (1949): 25–30; J. Wisseman Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions”, p. 251. 49. J. Wisseman Christie, “Asian Sea Trade between the Tenth and Thirteenth Centuries and Its Impact on the States of Java and Bali”, in Archaeology of Seafaring: The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period, by H. P. Ray (Delhi, 1999), pp. 221–70. 50. Y. Subbarayalu, “The Tamil Merchant-Guild Inscription at Barus, Indonesia: A Rediscovery”, in Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities, edited by Karashima, pp. 19–26; see also K. A. N. Sastri, “A Tamil Merchant Guild in Sumatra”, Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 72 (1932): 314– 27. For the other Tamil inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China, see N. Karashima, “Tamil Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”, in Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities, edited by Karashima, pp. 11–17; J. Wisseman Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions”, and now particularly N. Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu in Appendix I of the present volume. 51. R. Mulia, “The Ancient Kingdom of Panai and the Ruins of Padang Lawas (North Sumatra)”, Bulletin of the Research Centre of Archaeology of Indonesia, No. 14 (Jakarta, 1980), p. 27 and plates 21–23. 52. E. McKinnon, A. C. Milner, and Tengku Luckman Sinair, “A Note on Aru and Kota Cina”, Indonesia 26 (1978): 1–42. 53. For a thorough analysis of these peculiar “misunderstandings” see Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade, pp. 23–27; see also K. R. Hall, “International Trade and Foreign Diplomacy”, and K. A. N. Sastri, The Co-.l as, p. 316f. 54. O. W. Wolters, The Fall of Srivijaya in Malay History (London 1970), p. 93. 55. Quotation from the song shi, see Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade, p. 224. 56. For details, see Tan Yeok Seong, “The Sri Vijayan Inscription”; see also Sen, “Maritime Contacts”, and Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade. 57. Tan Yeok Seong, “The Srivijayan Inscription”, p. 21 and K. A. N. Sastri, The Co-.las, pp. 316–18. 58. K. A. N. Sastri, The Co-.l as, p. 318. 59. J. Stargardt, “Burma’s Economic and Diplomatic Relations with India and China from Early Medieval Sources”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 14 (1971): 38–62; K. R. Hall, “International Trade and Foreign Diplomacy”, p. 94. 60. K. A. N. Sastri, The Co-.l as, p. 331. Kulottunga’s “generosity” might have had quite concrete reasons as Chau Ju-Kua reports in 1225: “As the taxes and imposts of the [Chu-lien] kingdom are numerous and heavy, traders rarely go there”; see F. Hirth and W. W. Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, p. 95. 61. Ranabir Chakravarti, “Kulottunga and the Port of Visakhapattanam”, Indian

18

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

18

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

19

The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas

62.

63.

64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70.

71.

72.

73.

74. 75.

History Congress Proceedings 42 (1981): 142–45; idem, “Rulers and Ports: Visakhapattanam and Mottupalli in Early Medieval Andhra”, in Mariners, Merchants and Oceans. Studies in Maritime History, edited by K. S. Mathew (Delhi, 1995), pp. 57–78. M. Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds, pp. 127–81; Burton Stein, “Coromandel Trade in Medieval India”, in Merchants and Scholars: Essay in the History of Exploration and Trade, edited by J. Parker (Minneapolis, 1965), pp. 47–62. Epigraphia Indica, VII, pp. 197–98; see also J. Wisseman Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions”, pp. 265–66, and N. Karashima, Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities, p. 15. N. Karasima, Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities, p. 13. Epigraphia Indica, XII, p. 196; see particularly M. Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds, p. 147, and R. Chakravarti, “Kulottunga”, pp. 66–71. John Guy, “The Lost Temples of Nagappattinam and Quanzhou: A Study of Sino-Indian Relations” in Silk Road Art & Archaeology 3 (1993/94): 291–310. Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade, p. 228. T. N. Subrahmaniam, “A Tamil Colony in Medieval China”, South Indian Studies (1978): 1–52 (quoted by J. Guy, p. 298). J. Guy, “The Lost Temples”, p. 300; see also J. Wisseman Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions”, pp. 267–68. Y. Subbarayalu, “Chinese Ceramics of Tamil Nadu and Kerala Coasts”, in Tradition and Archaeology. Early Maritime Contacts in the Indian Ocean, edited by H. P. Ray, J.-F. Salles (New Delhi, 1996), pp. 109–14. Haraprasad Ray, “Trade between South India and China 1368–1644”, in Commerce and Culture in the Bay of Bengal, 1500–1800, edited by Om Prakash, D. Lombard, pp. 37–46; idem, Trade and Diplomacy in India-China Relations: A Study of Bengal during the Fifteenth Century (New Delhi, 1993); for Orissa see D. Pradhan, P. Mohanty, J. Misra, “Manikapatana: An Ancient and Medieval Port on the Coast of Orissa”, in Archaeology of Orissa, edited by K. K. Basa and P. Mohanty (Delhi, 2000), pp. 473–94. S. Arasaratnam, “The Chulia Muslim Merchants in Southeast Asia 1650– 1800”, paper presented at the 10th Conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia, Singapore, 1986. T. Yamamoto, “International Relations between China and the Countries along the Ganges in the Early Ming Period”, Indian Historical Review 4 (1977/78): 13–19. R. Ptak, ed., China and the Asian Seas. Trade, Travel and Visions of the Other (1400–1700) (Aldershot, 1998). Wang Gungwu, “The Opening of Relations between China and Malacca, 1403–5”, in Malayan and Indonesian Studies. Essays Presented to Sir Richard Winstedt, edited by J. Bastin and R. Rollvink (Oxford, 1964), pp. 87–104.

19

01 Nagapattinam_Ch 1

19

11/4/09, 12:51 PM

20

Noboru Karashima

2 MEDIEVAL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AS REVEALED FROM CHINESE CERAMIC-SHERDS AND SOUTH INDIAN AND SRI LANKAN INSCRIPTIONS Noboru Karashima

It gives me great pleasure to present a paper at this plenary session of the Conference on Early Indian Influences in Southeast Asia, since I have been working for a long time on the early historical relations between Southeast Asia and India as one of my important research topics. In the 1990s I organized a project on this topic and took Indian scholars to Southeast Asian countries to study early Indian influences on Southeast Asia, exactly the same topic as that of this Conference. If you are interested in this project, please see my publications on that — (1) “Indian Commercial Activities in Ancient and Medieval Southeast Asia”, in Contributions of Tamil Culture to the Twenty First Century: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference-Seminar of Tamil Studies, Thanjavur, 1995, edited by Karashima, Annamalai, and Rajaram. Chennai, IATR, 2005 (yet to be released1), and (2) Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean, published by Taisho University in 2002 as a combined report of three projects, namely the one mentioned above, a second on Chinese ceramic-sherds in India and Sri Lanka, and a 20

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

20

20

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

21

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean

third on merchant-guild inscriptions in South India and Sri Lanka. The topic of my paper today, however, concerns mostly the latter two projects. In China they started to make trade ceramics in the ninth century and their export overseas greatly increased from the thirteenth century. Reflecting such development of ceramic trade is the great number of Chinese ceramic sherds that have been discovered in Southeast and West Asian countries, not to mention Korea and Japan in the East. However, in South Asia, particularly in India, their discovery had been reported only sporadically until the discovery by chance of a good number of high quality Chinese ceramic-sherds in 1985 in Periyapattinam near Ramesvaram in South India. (Figures 2.1, 2.2) Encouraged by this discovery I organized a research project for surveying the South Indian and Sri Lankan coasts to search for Chinese ceramic sherds, through which we have been able to obtain a great number of them in many medieval port sites and dynastic capitals.2 I will now show you the Chinese ceramic sherds discovered in Periyapattinam, which I identified as Da-ba-dan (
 ) in Daoyi Zhilue (
 !), a fourteenth-century Chinese work on Southern Sea countries. Southern Sea countries in the Chinese text refer to countries (mostly coastal towns) in Southeast, Southern, and Western Asia, approachable by navigation towards the South from China. A Chinese scholar identified Da-ba-dan

FIGURE 2.1
 !" Longquan Celadon

21

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

21

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

22

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.2

with Dharmadam in northern Kerala because of their phonetic similarity. The main reason for my identifying it as Periyapattinam on the Coromandel Coast is the correspondence in sound and meaning between Periyapattinam and Da-ba-dan. Periya in Tamil means “big”, and so does Da in Chinese, thus the first component of these two names correspond with each other in meaning. Pattinam or pattanam in Tamil indicates commercial town or port and there are many commercial towns which have this term as its suffix, for example, Naga-pattinam, Kulashekara-pattinam, etc. Chinese texts describing these commercial towns usually employ the suffix “ba-dan” taking its sound. Therefore, the second components of Periya-pattinam and Da-badan correspond in sound. Thus, Periya-pattinam in Tamil is identical to Da-ba-dan in Chinese. Besides this meaning-cum-sound correspondence of the two names, an ecological feature described in the Chinese text suggests Da-ba-dan’s location on the Coromandel Coast, supporting its identification as Periyapattinam. Part of the text on Da-ba-dan in Daoyi Zhilue includes the following sentences. The place commands a view extending several hundred li.3 The paddy fields are flat and give rich harvest. Seasonal rains water the fields. … The sea water is boiled to make salt. 22

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

22

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

23

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean

The scenery of Periyapattinam is illustrated in Figures 2.3 and 2.4 and better fits the textual description of Da-ba-dan than does that of Kerala. This is especially so of the Dharmadam area, where the Western Ghats come closer to the seashore (Figure 2.5), thus hindering a long-distance perspective. The test pits we dug at Periyapattinam are illustrated in Figures 2.6 and 2.7. The sherds we obtained through excavation and surface exploration numbered roughly 1,500 and they are classified as shown in Table 2.1. The sherds themselves are depicted in Figures 2.8–2.12. They are mostly datable back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, particularly the latter. During the thirteenth century, however, before the rise of Periyapattinam, Kayal to the south of Periyapattinam flourished as a state port of the Pandyas. It was described by Marco Polo in his travels as an important port for the horse trade with the Persian Gulf and Arabia. The text says:4 Cail is a great and noble city, and belongs to Ashar (Kulasekhara), the eldest of the five brother Kings. It is at this city that all the ships touch that come from the west, as from Hormos and from Kis (both in the Persian Gulf ) and from Aden, and all Arabia, laden with horses and with other things for sale. And this brings a great concourse of people from the country round about, and so there is great business done in this city of Cail. FIGURE 2.3

23

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

23

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

24

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.4

FIGURE 2.5 Landscape near Thalassery (Malabar)

24

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

24

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

25

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.6

FIGURE 2.7

25

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

25

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

26

Noboru Karashima TABLE 2.1

Ceramic Type

Percentage

Kiln

Percentage

Celadon

60

Longquan

Fujian


35 25

White porcelain

15

Dehua
 Jingdezhen


10 5

Blue-and-white

10

Jingdezhen


10

Brown glaze

10

Guangdong


10

Others

5

?

5

FIGURE 2.8 Periyapattinam Ceramic-sherds

26

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

26

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

27

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.9

FIGURE 2.10

27

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

27

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

28

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.11

FIGURE 2.12 Yuan Blue-and-White Sherds Discovered near the Bottom of a Test-pit

28

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

28

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

29

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean

We were able to pick up in Palaiya-Kayal, the old Kayal, a tremendous number of Longquan celadon and other porcelain sherds of the thirteenth century. Products of Fujian and Guangdong kilns were also included 5 (Figures 2.13–2.24). Figure 2.18 shows a Fujian piece and the marks were made by the insertion of small stones in between two plates while firing them in pile in a kiln. The stones were inserted so that the two plates would not be stuck together by glaze during the firing. Some other examples are illustrated in Figure 2.25. These are celadon bottles and others discovered in 1990 in Kunnattur, a village in the Madurai District. A farmer who cultivated the land discovered them accidentally. These are datable to the fourteenth century and now preserved in the Madurai Government Museum. On the Malabar Coast facing the Arabian Sea is Kollama (Quilon) which appears in Lingwai Daida (
 !), a twelfth-century Chinese work on Southern Sea countries, as a port named Gu-lin (
), where Chinese merchants disembarked from big junks to small boats to go to Arabia. The text says:

FIGURE 2.13 Kayal :
 ! 13 cent. (Longquan)

29

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

29

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

30

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.14

FIGURE 2.15
 ! 14 cent. (Longquan)

30

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

30

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

31

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.16

FIGURE 2.17
 ! 14 cent. (Fujian)

31

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

31

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

32

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.18

FIGURE 2.19
 !"#! 14 cent. (Fujian)

32

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

32

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

33

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.20

FIGURE 2.21
 !" 12/13 cent. (Southern kiln Yingqing)

33

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

33

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

34

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.22


 ! !==


FIGURE 2.23 13/14 cent. (Dehua White /Yingqing)

34

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

34

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

35

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.24

FIGURE 2.25 Kunnattur Discovery 14 cent.

35

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

35

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

36

Noboru Karashima

When Chinese ship-merchants want to go to Arabia, they change the ship necessarily to a small one at Gu-lin (
) and go. … When Arabs come, they navigate towards [the] South by a small ship and reach Gulin country. [From there] they go [by a big ship] towards [the] East to reach San-fo-qi (
 ) (Sumatra and the Malay peninsula).

This place yields a good number of Chinese ceramic sherds. By extracting them from the section of the ground exposed by wave erosion on the seashore of Tangasseri (Figures 2.26, 2.27), we were able to obtain many pieces of celadon including a fine specimen of the fourteenth century, produced for export to Western countries (Figures 2.28, 2.29). There were also many sherds of later-century pieces, including a good furong (
) type blue-andwhite dish from a Jingdezhen kiln ascribable to the seventeenth or eighteenth century. Chinese characters on the bottom of a small sherd read da-ming-wan (
 ), meaning that this piece was produced during the Wan-li (
) period of the Great Ming (da-ming) dynasty. The character li is missing. The Wan-li period was from 1573 to 1620. FIGURE 2.26 Tangasseri (Kollam)

36

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

36

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

37

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.27

FIGURE 2.28 Tangasseri (Kollam)

37

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

37

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

38

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.29

Pandalayini (
 !)-Kollam (

), located to the north of Kazhikode and mentioned in Daoyi Zhilue and by Ibn Battuta as a port where Chinese ships pass the winter (Figure 2.30), has also yielded a good number of Chinese ceramic sherds of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries6 (Figure 2.31). The Daoyi Zhilüe’s (
 !) description of PandalayiniKollam (Shao-ju-nan
 ) is as follows:7 Sometimes through stress of weather [Chinese ships] arrive late after the departure of the horse ships, and without a full cargo; the wind blows too violently or contrarily for them to pass through the Sea of Lambri (northern Sumatra) and to escape the danger from the ragged rocks in the bay of Kao-lan-fu [Colombo], and they pass the winter in this place, remaining until the summer of the following year; when in the eighth or

38

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

38

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

39

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.30 Pandalayini Bay

FIGURE 2.31 Pandalayini-Kollam Sherds

39

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

39

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

40

Noboru Karashima

ninth moon ships come again, then they go on to Gu-li-fo [
 Kollam] to trade.

The reason for the winter stay of Chinese ships in the bay is explained by their late arrival due to stressful weather conditions, after the departure of the horse ships from Arabia. They would have had to wait more than half a year for the next arrival of horse ships. Mantai in Sri Lanka is almost the only site where we could get a great number of Chinese ceramic sherds belonging to the early centuries, namely from the ninth to twelfth centuries (Figure 2.32–2.40). They included sherds of Gongxian (
) green glazed ware, Ding (
) and Xiang (
) white porcelain, and also Yuezhou (
) and Changsha (
) wares.8 Back in South India again, the excavation of Gangaikondacholapuram, a capital of the Chola dynasty (Figures 2.41, 2.42), yielded yingqing type porcelain sherds of the Jingdezhen kiln ascribable to the eleventh and twelfth centuries9 (Figures 2.43, 2.44). These might have been brought from China by the envoys sent by Rajendra I in the eleventh century. The

FIGURE 2.32 Mantai (Double Moat Area)

40

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

40

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

41

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.33
 ! 9/10 cent. (Gongxian Green glazed)

FIGURE 2.34

41

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

41

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

42

Noboru Karashima




FIGURE 2.35 9/10 cent. (Ding/Xing White)

FIGURE 2.36

42

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

42

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

43

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.37
 9/10 cent. (Yuezhou Celadon)

FIGURE 2.38

43

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

43

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

44

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.39
 9/10 cent. (Changsha Celadon)

FIGURE 2.40

44

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

44

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

45

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.41 Siva Temple at Gangaikondacholapuram

FIGURE 2.42 Gangaikondacholapuram Palace Site Excavation

45

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

45

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

46

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.43

FIGURE 2.44

46

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

46

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

47

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean

earliest piece so far discovered in South India is a stray Yue celadon pot found in Settur in the Madurai District in 1992 (Figures 2.45, 2.46). This is datable back to the latter half of the tenth century or the first half of the eleventh century and is now preserved in the Government Museum in Madurai. I will now explain the inscriptional evidence for merchant activities carried out in the Indian Ocean and in Southeast Asia. In Motupalli, a port of the Kakatiyas located in the northern part of the Coromandel Coast near Guntur and visited by Marco Polo, we discovered many good-quality Chinese ceramic sherds of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (Figures 2.47, 2.48). There remain in this town, now a small village, two medieval Hindu temples, and one of them has two pillar inscriptions referring to merchant activities. One of them (in Telugu), a royal order of a Kakatiya king (Ganapatideva) of the thirteenth century,10 (Figure 2.49) first gives his assurance to foreign merchants of fair treatment and afterwards stipulates the customs charges. The first part reads as follows: By this glorious Maharaja Ganapatideva the following edict [assuring] safety has been granted to traders by sea starting for and arriving from all continents, islands, foreign countries, and cities.

FIGURE 2.45 Yue Celadon Pot found at Settur

47

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

47

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

48

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.46

FIGURE 2.47 Motupalli Ceramic-sherds

48

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

48

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

49

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.48

FIGURE 2.49 Motupalli Virabhadraswamin Temple Telugu Inscription

49

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

49

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

50

Noboru Karashima

Formerly kings used to take away by force the whole cargo, viz. gold, elephants, horses, gems, etc. carried by ships and vessels which, after they had started from one country for another, were attacked by storms, wrecked, and thrown on shore. But we, out of mercy, for the sake of glory and merit, are granting everything besides the fixed [duty] to those who have incurred the great risk of a sea voyage with the thought that wealth is more valuable than even life.

The other inscription (a fourteenth-century Tamil inscription)11 (Figure 2.50) also records the assurance of fair treatment granted by a local chief called Annapota Reddi12 to merchants who were variously grouped including a group called nanadesi. It states: This is the record of the order issued by Annapota Reddi to merchants of far off islands [that is, foreign countries], merchants and nanadesi merchants of coastal towns: Anybody who comes to live in Motuppalli will be given required facilities and be given right to their former kani [hereditary right] and gardens and the right to migrate to wherever they like. There would be no fine for the foreign merchants [paradesi] who FIGURE 2.50 Examining Virabhadraswamin Temple Tamil Inscription

50

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

50

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

51

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean

have no heirs [that is, no confiscation of property of those dying without heirs]. We exempt tax (ayam) on gold and silver. Regarding sungam [duty], for sandal, one-third of the previous rate is exempted.

Kottapatnam, to the south of Motupalli, near Nellore, has yielded a large number of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese ceramic sherds belonging to the period from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries (Figures 2.51–2.54) though the place has no reference in inscriptions or other literary sources. The nanadesi (various countries) mentioned in the Reddi chief inscription above is synonymous with padinen-bhumi, meaning eighteen countries and both words qualify the merchants organized as a guild called ayyavoleainurruvar or simply ainurruvar (meaning 500 people). There appeared in South India in the ninth century two merchant guilds called manigramam and anjuvannam, but after the twelfth century or so, they seem to have been incorporated into the ainurruvar.13 Through our project, which I organized for the study of merchant guild inscriptions, apart from the one for ceramic studies, we were able to collect some 314 South Indian and Sri Lankan inscriptions that refer to these merchant guilds and their chronological and topographical distribution as is shown in Table 2.2.14 From this distribution chart we can say that the regions where these merchant activities were most vigorously pursued were Karnataka and Tamil FIGURE 2.51 Kottapatnam Longquan Celadon-sherds 14 cent.

51

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

51

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

52

Noboru Karashima FIGURE 2.52

FIGURE 2.53 Kottapatnam: Vietnam 14–16 cent. Green-glazed and Thai 15/16 cent. Celadon

52

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

52

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

53

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.54

TABLE 2.2 Chronological and Topographical Distribution of Merchant Guild Inscriptions Year 801–900 901–1000 1001–1100 1101–1200 1201–1300 1301–1400 1401–1600 ? Total

AP

KL

KN

MH

TN

SL

SEA

Total

5 6 9 6 9 0

1 2 3 0 2 0 0 0

2 1 25 56 33 8 6 2

0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0

1 24 18 12 46 11 5 1

0 0 1 11 1 2 0 0

1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0

5 27 53 87 92 27 20 3

35

8

133

2

118

15

3

314

Note: AP = Andhra Pradesh, KL = Kerala, KN = Karnataka, MH = Maharashtra, TN = Tamil Nadu, SL = Sri Lanka, SEA = Southeast Asia

53

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

53

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

54

Noboru Karashima

Nadu, though a certain number of inscriptions remain in Andhra Pradesh, Sri Lanka and Kerala also. Chronologically the merchants seem to have been most active from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, though their organizational activities started in the ninth century and continued till the sixteenth century. The presence of manigramam was more conspicuous in the early centuries in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and anjuvannam was an organization of foreign merchants such as Jews, Christians, and Muslims, who migrated to the Malabar Coast from the West in earlier centuries. The ainurruvar seems to have started its activity first in Tamil Nadu in the tenth century, though its eulogy claims Aihole in Karnataka as its chief or ancestral place.15 In Kerala there are three famous inscriptions, which refer to anjuvannam and/or manigramam. They are (1) the Kollam plates of Sthanu Ravi (late ninth century) recording the grant of land and labourers to a Christian church (palli) in Kollam and the entrustment of its maintenance to anjuvannam and manigramam, (2) the Kochi plates of Bhaskara Ravivarman (early eleventh century) recording the grant of the title anjuvannam and privileges in trade to Joseph Rabban, a Jew in Muyirikkodu (Mujiri, now identified as Pattanam), and (3) the Kottayam plates of Vira-Raghava (thirteenth century) recording the grant of the title manigramam and privileges to Ravikkorran, a merchant in Magodaiyapattinam (Kodungallur). Though the number of inscriptions referring to merchant guilds is rather small in Kerala itself, references to merchants coming from Kerala are seen in a number of inscriptions outside Kerala, including a Pagan inscription in Myanmar (Figure 2.55), which records the construction of a mandapam in a Vishnu temple by a Kerala merchant, with the temple being called “nanadesi vinnagar”.16 According to our study, the ainurruvar seems to have been an overarching organization of merchants comprising various groups of merchants and even people of other professions. The Viharehinna inscription (twelfth century)17 in Sri Lanka, recording the decision of ainurruvar in relation to the brave deeds of the soldiers who guarded merchants, enumerates the following groups which assembled to make the decision: Tavalattuccetti (merchants of the place), cetti-puttiran (merchants), kavarai (merchants), katriban (betel leaf merchants), gamunda-svami (headman among landholders), ottan (messengers), ulpasumbai-karan (merchants with sack), angakkaran (fighters), avanakkaran (shopkeepers), …viran (soldiers?), pavadai-viran (honoured soldiers), and two other groups, which may be translated as “those conversant in Sanskrit and Tamil” (priests?), and “those who ride on donkeys” (transporters?) 54

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

54

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

55

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.55 Pagan Tamil Inscription

The assembled groups included not only merchant groups, but also those of landholders, soldiers, and others. From other inscriptions it is clear that artisan groups such as goldsmiths and potters were also included in this organization. The formation of this big merchant guild, ainurruvar, reflects not only the development of entrepot trade dealing in spices and precious goods, but also the economic growth in the Indian subcontinent accelerated by the rise of new industries such as cotton-weaving and oil-pressing. The cotton industry greatly increased in importance in South India from the thirteenth century.18 A large number of commodities are enumerated in inscriptions and the longest list of the commodities traded is found in the Piranmalai inscription, and a fairly long list can be seen in the Kovilpatti inscription. The list of commodities in the latter is as follows: agil (aloe), arisi (rice), avarai (beans), erudu (bulls), erumai (buffaloes), kadugu (mustard), kampi (iron), kana malai (garlands ?), karpuram (camphor), karu alai malai (garlands ?), kasturi (musk), kida (cattle), kudirai (horses), mayir (hair), milaku (pepper), nel (paddy), ottai (camels), pacu (cows), pakku (areca nuts), pudavai (saree/long cloth), pul (grass), puli (tamarind), samai (bajra), sandanam (sandal), sangu (conches), tantam (ivory), tuvarai (dhal), ulandu-putavai (woollen cloth), uppu (salt), and varagu (millet).

The commodities appearing in more than ten inscriptions are: areca nuts, betel leaf, oil, paddy, rice, grains, salt, sandals, cotton thread, and cloth.19 55

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

55

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

56

Noboru Karashima

The Chola dynasty, which extended its hegemony over South India from the Thanjavur area for more than four hundred years from the ninth to thirteenth centuries, made two naval expeditions to the Malay Peninsula and sent envoys three times to the Song court in China during the eleventh century.20 In the same century the ainurruvar organization had its activities engraved on a stone pillar in Barus in Sumatra (Figure 2.56) revealing the existence of a Tamil merchant colony in Sumatra. The discovery of this stone was first reported in 1892 and its importance was discussed by Nilakanta Sastri in 1932, but the text has never been published and the stone has been missing for a long time. However, when we, my project

FIGURE 2.56 Barus Tamil Stone Inscription in Jakarta National Museum

56

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

56

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

57

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean

team, visited the Jakarta National Museum in 1993, the stone was rediscovered there and the text has been published for the first time by Professor Subbarayalu, a team member.21 The close contact between China and South India continued during the Yuan period (1271–1368) and an examination of Yuan Shi (
), the annals of the Yuan dynasty, reveals that from 1283 to 1291 China (Yuan dynasty) and Maabar (the Pandyan country in South India) exchanged envoys every year. In Quanzhou (
), a famous port in southern China, there exists a Tamil inscription (Figure 2.57) recording the establishment of a Siva temple in that town in 1281. There must have been a large Indian population in Quanzhou at that time.22 All the above attest to the fact that before the coming of Europeans at the end of the fifteenth century there were vigorous commercial activities in the Indian Ocean based on the networks of local merchant organizations connecting East and West. In South India those networks seem to have started in the ninth century and increased their importance century by century till the fourteenth century. The famous Chinese maritime expeditions conducted by Zheng He (
) in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of the fifteenth century (Figures 2.58, 2.59) can be taken as showing the culmination

FIGURE 2.57 Quanzhou Tamil Inscription

57

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

57

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

58

Noboru Karashima

of this outburst of trade made possible through the network of local merchants organized in guilds, though Zheng He’s state-organized expeditions might have exercised destructive power in respect of the activities of merchant guilds in the Indian Ocean. In any case the activities of the merchant guilds seem to have declined in and after the fifteenth century. The reason for this decline and the historical relation between these merchant guilds and the European merchants who started their activities in the Indian Ocean in the sixteenth century should be the next target of study.23 FIGURE 2.58
 !" Zheng He Navigation Chart depicting Northern Part of South India

58

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

58

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

59

Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean FIGURE 2.59 (Zheng He Inscription) Galle, Sri Lanka




Notes 1. Though the volumes are printed and ready for distribution, it seems that the Tamil University which keeps those volumes has not yet been permitted by the State Government to release them for sale and distribution to the contributors. However, the paper is available in a booklet, Plenary Session Papers, distributed on the occasion of the Conference. 2. N. Karashima, ed., In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds in South India and Sri Lanka (Tokyo: Taisho University Press, 2004). 59

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

59

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

60

Noboru Karashima

3. One li was equal to 552.96 metres during the Yuan period. 4. A.C. Moule and P. Pelliot, Marco Polo: The Description of the World, Vol. I (London), p. 412. 5. Karashima, ed., In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds, pp. 24–26. 6. On the discovery in the Malabar Coast, see ibid, pp. 44–54. 7. W.W. Rockhill, “Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the coast of the Indian Ocean during the Fourteenth Century: Part II”, T’oung Pao, XVI (1915), p. 446. 8. Karashima, ed., In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds, pp. 56–63. 9. Ibid., pp. 36–37. 10. Epigraphia Indica, XII, 22, pp. 188–97. See also N. Karashima, ed., In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds, pp. 4–5. 11. South Indian Inscriptions, XXVI, 635. See also N. Karashima, ed., In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds, pp. 5-6. 12. Annapota Reddi was one of the Reddi chiefs who established their power in the Kondavidu area, including Motupalli, after the decline of the Kakatiyas in the fourteenth century. 13. For these merchant guilds, see N. Karashima, ed., Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramicsherds (Tokyo: Taisho University, 2002). 14. Ibid., p. 5. 15. Ibid., pp. 72–76. 16. Ibid., p. 15. 17. Ibid., pp. 27–35. 18. References to tariyirai (tax on weaving) began to appear in Chola inscriptions from the eleventh century. N. Karashima, South Indian History and Society: Studies from Inscriptions AD 850–1800 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1984), p. 92. 19. N. Karashima, “Ainnurruvar: A Medieval Merchant Guild Engaged in Trade in the Indian Ocean” (in Japanese), Tohogaku, No. 105 (Tokyo, 2003), p. 6. 20. N. Karashima, “Indian Commercial Activities in Ancient and Medieval Southeast Asia”, in Contributions of Tamil Culture to the Twenty First Century: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference-Seminar of Tamil Studies, Thanjavur, 1995, edited by N. Karashima, E. Annamalai, and S. Rajaram (Chennai, 2005 [yet to be released]). 21. Y. Subbarayalu, “Tamil Merchant-guild Inscription at Barus, Indonesia: A Rediscovery”, in Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities, edited by N. Karashima, pp. 19–26. 22. N. Karashima, ed., Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities, pp. 15–16. 23. A general discussion on this decline was made by J.L. Abu-Lughod in her book, Before European Hegemony: The World System AD 1250–1350 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), but the particular reason for merchant guild decline in South Asia is yet to be studied. 60

02 Nagapattinam_Ch 2

60

11/4/09, 1:00 PM

61

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

3 THE MILITARY CAMPAIGNS OF RAJENDRA CHOLA AND THE CHOLA-SRIVIJAYA-CHINA TRIANGLE Tansen Sen

The Chola king Rajendra (1012–44) is known to have launched several military expeditions against kingdoms in the Indian Ocean. This paper focuses on his raids on the Srivijayan ports in the context of growing commercial activity between southern Asia and Song China (960–1279). It argues that Rajendra Chola launched two attacks on the Srivijayan ports, one in 1017, and then a more extensive raid in 1025, in retaliation for Srivijayan interference in the direct trade between southern India and Song China. Scholars such as K.A. Nilakanta Sastri and O.W. Wolters have already proposed this motive for the Chola military campaigns against Srivijaya. However, the details about the Srivijayan interference that resulted in these raids by Rajendra Chola’s navy have not been fully explained. By analysing relevant Chinese sources, this paper will provide some specific examples of ways in which the Srivijayans might have attempted to prevent direct commercial (and perhaps diplomatic) links between the Cholas and the Song court.

THE ALLURE OF CHINESE MARKETS In the early eleventh century, the markets and ports in China emerged as some of the most lucrative places for international commerce. Traders from 61

61

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

61

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

62

Tansen Sen

almost every region of Asia gathered at these places to procure Chinese commodities such as porcelain and silk, and sell foreign goods ranging from spices to horses. In fact, trading activity in China during the tenth and eleventh centuries had begun to affect the local economies of several Indian Ocean kingdoms and shaped the lives of merchant communities as far away as the Mediterranean Sea. Rajendra Chola’s military raids on the Srivijayan ports must be understood in this context of an international trading system that linked markets in China to the economies and societies elsewhere in the world. Although foreign traders had been frequenting Chinese markets as early as the Han dynasty (see, for example, Yu 1967), significant expansion in their numbers took place after the middle of the eighth century. This increased interest in Chinese markets and the upsurge in foreign trade during the eighth century were intimately liked to the abolition of an extremely rigid economic system that had previously existed in China. The An Lushan rebellion of 755 against the reigning Tang dynasty, although unsuccessful, had significant impact on the existing political and social structure. The rebellion also gave rise to changes in fiscal policies that had previously rarely considered revenue from internal and external trade. Perhaps the most important of these changes was the institution of monetary taxation under the Liangshui fa (twice-yearly tax) system. The increased use of money in the late Tang economy encouraged the growth and diversification of private commerce and overhauled the market and credit structures in China (Sen 2003). The late Tang and the subsequent Five Dynasties periods witnessed a number of other significant economic developments. New varieties of crops were introduced into China from Southeast Asia, improved irrigation machines and techniques spread rapidly, and the Chinese population started migrating towards the fertile southern region of the country. Because of these developments, the Chinese population grew almost fourfold from 32 million in 961 to about 121 million in 1109 (Chao 1986, p. 35), and cities expanded in numbers and density. Urban growth prompted further changes in the legal structure of markets and the patterns of mercantile activities throughout China. Restrictions limiting the markets to designated areas, which were regularly enforced during the Tang period, were lifted (Twitchett 1968). This dismantling of the rigid marketing system contributed to the emergence of active private entrepreneurs, stimulated commercial exchanges within China, and eventually led to the incorporation of international trade into Chinese fiscal policy (Sen 2003). As part of this transformed fiscal policy, the long neglected maritime trade was brought under government administration and local officials given 62

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

62

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

63

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

autonomy to control and tax maritime commerce. Known as Shibosi (Bureau of Maritime Commerce), the office in charge of administrating maritime commerce was initially established in Guangzhou in 714. The decision to establish the Bureau in Guangzhou indicates that maritime commerce was already flourishing in that city during the early eighth century. Indeed, Chinese sources indicate that there were large numbers of foreign traders from the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia, and southern Asia who resided in the foreigners’ quarter of the city. According to one eyewitness account, there were also three Brahmanical temples in Guangzhou in the middle of the eighth century (Sen 2003, p. 163; Schafer 1963, pp. 14–15). The number of foreign traders seemed to have swelled to over 100,000 before a rebellion by a person named Huang Chao in 879 led to the massacre of many of them and the disruption of maritime trade in Guangzhou. After a brief hiatus, foreign merchants returned to Guangzhou and overseas trading activity in the town flourished again during the Song dynasty. The Song court took an active role in promoting maritime trade and even lobbied seafaring merchants to bring tribute to China by giving them special incentives. The fact that the overland trading routes were occupied by the semi-nomadic Khitans, Tanguts, and Jurchens forced the Song court to explore maritime trade as a source for fiscal revenue. Seafaring traders could now conduct trading activities at several Chinese ports, including the increasingly popular Quanzhou in present-day Fujian province. By the late eleventh century, as Robert Hartwell (1989, pp. 453–54) points out, the total volume of international commerce at Chinese ports amounted to 1.7 per cent of GNP, “and therefore, ten to twenty percent of income derived from nonagricultural activities”. Hartwell (1989, p. 453) also notes that urban and demographic changes in China, especially the growing densities of populations in the coastal regions, created “an ever-increasing demand for foreign products for defense, medicine, liturgy, home and garden, office, clothing, cosmetics, transportation and cuisine”. Hartwell argues that from the late tenth century to the middle of the twelfth century, Song China’s foreign trade was dependent on nonluxury, “staple goods” such as frankincense, sandalwood, black pepper, and cloves. “The nature of these goods,” he writes (1989, p. 454), “played an important role in determining the character of government control, the organization of economic activity, and the scale and persistence of the flow of trade between the different parts of China and each of her trading partners”. To meet the increasing demand for foreign goods, the Song court revamped the traditional tribute system and turned it into a major source of income. Through this revamped system, the government not only obtained foreign commodities without payment, but also derived substantial revenue by levying 63

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

63

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

64

Tansen Sen

taxes on items sold in Chinese markets by the tribute carriers. In fact, the revenue collected from taxing foreign tribute and by selling products acquired through the tribute system amounted to about 9.29 per cent of the total Privy Purse income (Hartwell 1988). This revamped tribute system was also profitable to foreign merchants in many ways. They are known to have received preferential tax rates for appearing as tribute carriers, in addition to return gifts and honorific titles from the Song court. Often these return gifts and honorific titles made commercial dealings with the Chinese government more lucrative than the usual market trade. In 1028, for example, the Song court decreed to give 4,000 strings of cash in return for tribute valued at 3,600 strings of cash from an embassy from Vietnam. And in 1077, a delegation representing the Cholas was given 81,800 strings of cash and 52,000 taels of silver. Similarly, imperial titles, such as the title of Jiangjun (General), received by a Arab merchant named Pu Ma-wu-tuo-po-li (Abu Muhammad Dawal?) in 1073, seems to have elevated the status of tribute carriers among the foreign community trading with China. Such titles, at times, could have also made it easier for merchants to pass through Chinese custom houses. The growth of foreign trade during the Song dynasty thus served the needs of the Song government, foreign traders, and tribute carriers. The encouragement of maritime trade under the Song government and the increasing demand for foreign commodities in China were major factors in the development of a vast Indian Ocean trading system in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that stretched from eastern Asia to the Mediterranean Sea (Abu-Lughod 1989). Indeed, these developments are also credited with ushering in a global economy in the mid-thirteenth century. George Modelski and William R. Thompson (1996, p. 149), for example, write that the “Sung (Song) realm was the part of the world where demand and supply conditions strongly conducive to the emergence of a world market existed, and were capable of exercising a pull of attraction on the whole of the world economy”. Traders from Srivijaya, Chola, and the Arab kingdoms were all attracted to this “pull” of Song markets and the revamped tributary system. The number of foreign merchants and settlements at Song ports reached unprecedented levels and the competition among the seafaring traders for a share of the profits intensified. The Song court’s decision to link market trade to the tributary system was one of the key reasons for the increased competition among foreign traders. They vied to bring large amounts of tribute and represent as many kingdoms as possible when they arrived at the Song court. The aim was to gain recognition from the Song court in addition to making handsome profit from tax rebates. Many of these tribute carriers were Muslim 64

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

64

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

65

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

traders, who either resided at the Song ports, or came from their diasporas in Southeast and Southern Asia. The fact that some of these tribute carriers are identified as “ship masters” (bozhu) in Chinese sources indicates that the Song court was aware that they were traders rather than officials from foreign kingdoms. Similarly, memorials from coastal officials suggest that the court also knew that foreign residents from ports such as Guangzhou and Quanzhou often appeared at the Song court as foreign envoys (see Chaffee 2006). However, the Song court, more concerned about the threat from the north and its fiscal needs, rarely attempted to curtail foreign merchants from profiting from the tributary trade. The practice of tribute carriers representing multiple foreign kingdoms and the uncertainty of their places of residence make the Song notices of foreign diplomatic missions extremely complicated. In some cases, such as the embassy representing the Chola kingdom that arrived at the Song court in 1077, it is very difficult to establish the actual role of foreign rulers in instigating the tributary missions. In other words, the records of tribute missions to the Song court must be used with caution, especially when reconstructing the diplomatic relations between Song China and foreign kingdoms.

THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF SRIVIJAYA In the last quarter of the seventh century, Srivijaya emerged as one of the leading transit points for ships sailing from the Chinese coast to southern Asia. This is evident from the journey of the Chinese monk Yijing to the eastern coast of India. Yijing embarked on his trip in 671 and lived in Srivijaya for about six months before boarding a ship for India. On his return voyage to China, Yijing again stopped at Srivijaya, this time for about six years, from 687 to 693 (Wang 1996, pp. 12–14; see also Wolters 1986 and Spencer 1983, pp. 107–11). Similarly, the Indian monk Vajrabodhi, on his trip from southern India to China, is reported to have passed through Srivijaya on a Persian ship. Before arriving in Guangzhou in 719, the mercantile ship carrying Vajrabodhi anchored at Southeast Asian ports to trade commodities that ranged from precious jewels to local products. Soon after the death of Vajrabodhi, his disciple Amoghavajra embarked on a journey to Sri Lanka and India from Guangzhou on a Southeast Asian (“Kunlun”), possibly Srivijayan, ship (Sen 2003, p. 214). These records of Buddhist monks travelling between India and China not only indicate the prevalence of Buddhism in Srivijaya, but also the strategic location, both commercial and cultural, which Srivijaya occupied on 65

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

65

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

66

Tansen Sen

the maritime routes between coastal China and southern Asia. The commercial role of the kingdom is highlighted, for example, in the works of Arab traders such as Ibn Khurdadhbih and Abu Zaid (Reinaud 1845). The rulers and traders from Srivijaya used this vital position to advance their economic and diplomatic relations with the courts in China as well as the kingdoms in southern Asia. Already in 683, the Tang court, perhaps in recognition of the importance of the Southeast Asian kingdom, had sent a diplomatic mission to Srivijaya (Wolters 1961, p. 418). The first embassy from Srivijaya to the Tang court arrived in 702. Four other embassies from Srivijaya are reported to have reached the Tang court in the eighth century. These embassies usually presented local goods or exotic items such as five-coloured parrots and pygmies. In return, the Srivijayan rulers received titular titles from the Tang court (Bielenstein 2005, pp. 58–59). During the Song dynasty, embassies from Srivijaya became more frequent. Between 960 and 1017, about sixteen missions from Srivijaya reached the Song court (Hartwell 1983, pp. 172–75; Bielenstein 2005, pp. 59–60). Many of these missions were led by Muslims, such as Pu-Tuo-han (Abu Dahan?) in 976, Pu-Ya-tuo-luo (Abu Abdullah?) in 983, Pu-Ya-tuo-li (Abu Abdullah?) in 988, and Pu Mou-xi (Abu Musa?) in 1017. In 985, the Srivijayan mission to the Song court was led by a ship master named Jin-hua. In addition to local goods and religious items, many of these missions presented commodities that Hartwell calls the “staples” of maritime trade. He notes, for example, that the Srivijayan missions to the Song court “seldom carried less than fifty tons” of frankincense (Hartwell 1989, p. 456). In fact, Hartwell argues that Srivijaya “attempted, with high degree of success, to use its apparently formidable navy to control the straits of Sunda and Malacca and thereby the Indonesian and Near Eastern trade with China. The Palembang regime developed sophisticated techniques — markedly similar to Chinese models — to administer their monopolies. The total output of the sandalwood produced in eastern Java and the Lesser Sundas was sold to the Sumatran king. The commodity was then resold to Canton-bound traders at severalfold profit. Arabian frankincense seems to have been handled in the same way. It was divided into thirteen grades by the Palembang customs administration and then re-exported to China in large quantities” (Hartwell 1989, p. 456). Tribute from Srivijaya also included large quantities of black pepper, rosewater, gharuwood, and aromatics and medicines, all in high demand in Chinese markets. Clearly, many of these missions from Srivijaya, similar to the tributary missions from other kingdoms, were sent with commercial motives. As noted above, caution must be taken to explain these tributary missions in the context of political and diplomatic relations between the 66

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

66

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

67

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

rulers of Srivijaya and Song China. It is also not clear the extent to which the Srivijayan rulers, even though they are frequently mentioned as the instigators of the tributary missions, were involved in organizing and dispatching these missions. This issue is especially significant when examining the Srivijayan mission of 1077, as discussed below, the personnel of which seem to have also represented the Chola ruler Kulottunga I (r. 1070–18). Exchanges between the Srivijayan rulers and kingdoms in southern Asia are frequently reported in Indian sources. Inscriptions from Nalanda reveal intimate relations between the Srivijayan kings and Buddhist monks and Pala kings in Bengal. The Srivijayan ruler Dharanindravarman, for example, is mentioned as a pupil of a monk from Bengal called Kumaraghosa. Another inscription from Nalanda records that the Srivijayan king Balaputradeva, who reigned in the middle of the ninth century, sent an envoy to the court of the Pala ruler Devapala requesting permission to endow a Buddhist monastery at Nalanda. Balaputradeva also petitioned for “a grant of five villages for its upkeep and maintenance”. The Pala king is reported to have granted these requests of the Srivijayan king (Niyogi 1980, p. 23). The Srivijayan rulers also donated gifts to religious institutions located in the territories belonging to the Chola kingdom. In 1005, for example, the Srivijayan ruler Chudamanivarman financed the construction of a Buddhist vihara at Nagapattinam, a leading Chola port. Almost ten years later, a representative of the Srivijayan king presented precious stones to an idol in a temple in Nagapattinam. This was followed by a gift of lamps by a trader from Srivijaya. Sometime around 1018, a Srivijayan ruler mentioned as “the king of Kadram” offered gifts, including “Chinese gold” (cinakkanakam), to a temple in Nagapattinam (Hall 1978, pp. 87–88; Abraham 1988, p. 138). Several scholars have pointed out that through the presentation of these gifts, the Srivijayan rulers wanted to foster commercial relations with the powerful Chola kingdom. Scholars have also used these records as evidence of “friendly” and “cordial” relations between Srivijaya and the Chola kingdom. As the section below will argue, the latter interpretation may not be very accurate.

THE CHINA-SRIVIJAYA-CHOLA TRIANGLE By the early eleventh century, commercial activity in the Indian Ocean had become increasingly complex and contentious not only due to the Song court’s revamped tributary system, but also because of the attempts by Srivijayans to dominate commercial exchanges through the Straits of Malacca, and the Chola court’s interest in expanding its commercial and political spheres in the Indian Ocean. Inheriting, and building upon, many of the 67

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

67

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

68

Tansen Sen

political and economic structures of the previous Rashtrakuta and Pallava dynasties, the Cholas emerged as one of the most dominant powers in peninsular India from the tenth through the thirteenth centuries. Under the leadership of Rajaraja I (r. 985–1014), Rajendra I (r. 1014–), and Rajadhiraja I (r. 1018–54), the Chola forces invaded Sri Lanka, sacked a number of neighbouring kingdoms, undertook punitive attacks on the states in the Bay of Bengal region, and even raided the ports of Southeast Asia. The reign of these three rulers, and, indeed, almost the entire four centuries of Chola administration, was marked by internal stability, flourishing Brahmanical institutions and art, increased occupational specializations, and the expansion of domestic and international trade (see, for example, Hall 1980; Abraham 1988; Champakalakshmi 1996; Heitzman 1997). Similar to the Srivijayans, the rulers and traders from the Chola kingdom had keen interest in developing commercial relations with China. Like the ports in Srivijaya, the coastal regions controlled by the Cholas had also emerged as important centres of trans-shipment trade. These two kingdoms profited from taxing and supplying goods meant for markets in the Persian Gulf or Song China. The common interest in controlling this lucrative maritime trade seems to have been a source of tension between the Cholas and Srivijayans, despite the fact that the representatives from the latter kingdom presented gifts to temples in the Chola ports. The first military confrontation between the Cholas and Srivijayans may have taken place some time in 1017, to be followed by a more extensive raid on the Srivijayan ports in 1025. A third Chola offensive reportedly took place in the 1070s. Based on the Tiruvalangadu plates dated in the sixth year of Rajendra Chola (that is, 1017–18), R.C. Majumdar (1937, pp. 171–72) was the first to suggest the possibility of a Chola raid on Srivijayan ports sometime in 1017. The Tiruvalangadu inscription mentions that the Chola king had successfully conquered “Kataha”, identified as Kedah in the Malay Peninsula. Dismissing Majumdar’s suggestion, Nilakanta Sastri (1949; 1984) argues that a military confrontation at this “early stage” could not have taken place because Rajendra and the reigning Srivijayan king were on “friendly terms”. Nilakanta Sastri also maintained that the section of the Tiruvalangadu plate that mentions Rajendra’s conquest of Kataha was added at a later date. In a response to Nilakanta Sastri’s objections, Majumdar (1961) points to inscriptions on copper plates from the village of Puttur, dated in the eighth year of Rajendra Chola (that is, 1019–20), that also suggest a Chola raid before the more famous offensive of 1025. A careful analysis of Chinese records indicates that the relations between Chola and Srivijaya prior to 1025 were not as friendly as Nilakanta Sastri 68

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

68

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

69

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

claims. Indeed, the Chinese sources suggest that representatives from Srivijaya may have been passing inaccurate information about the Chola kingdom to the Song court before 1015, when the first diplomatic mission from the southern Indian kingdom arrived in China. This is revealed from the status assigned to the Cholas by the Song court and in a memorial presented to the Song Emperor Huizong (r. 1101–25) in 1106. In response to Huizong’s order to receive the envoys from Pagan (in present-day Myanmar) in accordance with the status given to the Chola embassies, the president of the Council of Rites objected by saying: The Chola [kingdom] is subject to Srivijaya, this is why during the Xining reign period (1068–1077), we wrote to its ruler on coarse paper with an envelope of plain stuff. Pagan, on the other hand, is a great kingdom and should not be perceived as a small tributary state. [It] deserves a comparable status [given to] the Arabs, Jiaozhi (present-day Vietnam), and other similar states. (Song shi, p. 489: 14087; Sen 2003, p. 224)

The inaccurate information regarding a Srivijayan subjugation of the Cholas, noted in the above memorial, seems to have been supplied to the Song court before the first Chola mission reached China. Upon its arrival at the Song court, the Cholas were accorded a status similar to that of Kucha, a tributary state of the Song in Central Asia. The status of a specific foreign kingdom was usually fixed on the basis of its military strength, which then determined the type of reception embassies received when they arrived at the Song court. Commercially, the bestowal of higher status helped merchants representing these kingdoms obtain favourable trading rights at the Song ports. The designation of Chola as a tributary kingdom meant that the Song court not only perceived the Cholas as a militarily weak state that was subjugated by the Srivijayan ruler, but also that traders from southern India may have received limited access to the Song markets and trading rights in China compared with their Southeast Asian counterparts. It is possible that traders and officials from Srivijaya were responsible for misinforming the Chinese about the military strength of the Cholas. In fact, even Sri Lanka, regions of which were occupied by the Cholas in the eleventh century, is also incorrectly listed in Chinese sources as one of the dependencies of Srivijaya. It seems that the Srivijayans were the main informants about the southern Asia region for Song scribes. This might explain why Chinese works fail to mention the Chola raids on the Srivijayan ports, and the Song officials, until at least the early twelfth century, insisted that the Chola kingdom was a vassal state of the Srivijayans. 69

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

69

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

70

Tansen Sen

This intrusive role of the Srivijayans may have been known to Tamil traders and could have become evident to Chola officials after the visit of their representatives to the Song court. Tamil traders and the Chola court, which had launched several military raids in southern Asia to advance its commercial reach (Hall 1980; Spencer 1983), most likely wanted to have direct access to the lucrative Chinese markets. However, a direct commercial relationship between the Cholas and the Chinese would have affected the commercial interests of the Srivijayans. Because of their geographical location, the Tamil merchant guilds were in a position to monopolize the supply of black pepper and commodities from the Middle East destined for Song markets. Similarly, the supply of Chinese commodities to the Jewish and Arab merchants residing in Chola territories by Tamil traders would also have endangered Srivijayan profits. In other words, the Srivijayans may have perceived the entry of Cholas into the South China Sea as a major threat to their participation in trans-shipment trade. Consequently, the Southeast Asian kingdom seems to have taken prudent steps to prevent the establishment of direct Chola-Chinese trading relations, or, at least, disrupted the conditions that would have provided favourable trading terms to merchant guilds from the south Indian coast. Thus, a Chola raid on Srivijaya in 1017, shortly after the return of the first Chola mission to China, is not inconceivable. Although the event is not mentioned in Chinese sources, it should be noted that there is also no record of Srivijayan missions to the Song court for about a decade from 1018 to 1028. Instead, in 1020, a Chola mission is reported to have arrived at the Song court. The lead envoy, Pa-lan-de-ma-lie-di, suddenly became sick and died shortly after he reached Guangzhou. Five years later, in 1025, Rajendra Chola launched a massive raid on Srivijayan ports. There is no evidence to indicate that the Srivijayans had any role in the death of the Chola envoy, but it is clear that the first raid, perhaps a brief offensive, had failed to accomplish its goal. Even the 1025 raid seems to have been unsuccessful in preventing Srivijayan from interfering in Chola-Song exchanges. This can be discerned from an embassy that arrived in China in 1077. Song sources confusingly attribute the mission of 1077 to both the Cholas and Srivijayans. The section on the Chola kingdom in the Song shi (Dynastic History of the Song) reports that the Chola ruler Di-hua-jia-luo (Divakara?) sent this embassy. The chief envoy Qi-luo-luo, vice-envoy Nanbei-pa-da, and staff member Ma-tu-hua-luo led the embassy and had an imperial audience on 26 June 1077. The same source, in fact, in the same chapter but under the sub-section on Srivijaya, had previously noted that Di-hua-jia-luo was a “Great Chieftain” of the Southeast Asian kingdom. 70

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

70

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

71

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

Fortunately, a contemporary inscription found at a Daoist temple in Guangzhou has helped decipher the identity of Di-hua-jia-luo and the envoys who visited the Song court as representatives of both the Srivijaya and Chola kingdoms. The inscription, written in Chinese, and translated into English by Tan Yeok Seong (1964), reads: During the reign of Chih Ping (Zhiping) (1064–67), the Lord of the Land of San Fo Tsi (San-fo-qi, that is, Srivijaya), the Paramount Chief Ti Hao Ka lo (Di-hua-jia-luo), ordered one of his clansmen Chih Lo Lo (Zhi-luo-luo) to this city (that is, Guangzhou). Chih Lo Lo saw the temple in ruins, its foundation being buried in wilderness. He then returned home and reported the matter to the Lord. Since then Ti Hua Ka lo began to have inclinations for Tao (Dao)… Presently, a Judge by the name of Ma Tu Hua Lo (Ma-tu-hua-luo), a man of moral virtue, came to pay tribute to the Court. Permission was asked to accept his donations to construct the Hall of San Ching (Sanjing) in the Imperial Library.

Tan suggests that Di-hua-jia-luo in this inscription and in the Song shi refers to the Chola king Kulottunga, who, according to him, ruled both the Chola and Srivijayan kingdoms. Di-hua-jia-luo, Tan (1964 p. 20) writes, “was holding a very high position in the conquered country. Sri Vijaya, which was overrun by King Virarajendra (that is, Rajendra Deva Kullottunga) before AD 1067. He went home and ascended the Cola throne in 1077 A.D. He had a long and prosperous reign until AD 1119.” George Spencer (1983) rejects Tan’s conclusion and instead offers the possibility of a marriage alliance between the Cholas and Srivijayans in order to explain the confusing Chinese records. He writes (1983, pp. 146–47), “It was after all, very common for the Cholas to establish such alliances with both defeated adversaries and potential rivals, so a marriage alliance with the kings of Srivijaya, as a result of Rajendra’s conquest [in 1025] or even under other circumstances, would not have been out of character.” To prove his point, Spencer refers to records on the genealogy of fifteenth-century Malayan rulers preserved in the Malay annals, Sejarah Melayu. The record states that the Indian conqueror Raja Shulan (Rajendra I, according to Spencer), after the successful naval raid of 1025, married Onang Kiu, the daughter of the defeated King Chulin. The daughter of Onang Kiu and Shulan later married Raja Iskandar, the ancestor of the Malacca sultans. Their son, Raja Chulan, according to the Malay annals, succeeded to the Chola throne in India. After narrating this story from Sejarah Melayu, however, even Spencer appears reluctant to accept the marriage-alliance theory. He concludes by saying (1983, p. 148), “But since [in] the Sejarah Melayu’s version of events 71

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

71

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

72

Tansen Sen

too few generations are allowed between the time of Raja Shulan (Rajendra) in the eleventh century, and the founding of Singapore by Sri Tri Buana in the fourteenth, that account must be highly condensed at best. Perhaps the Chola connection was merely an inspired fiction.” Both these analyses about the puzzling Song records concerning the 1077 mission and the Guangzhou inscription prove inadequate. An alternative, and much simpler, explanation seems to lie in the interests of Srivijayan traders in preserving their commercial status with the Chinese after a series of raids by the Cholas had weakened their sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean. Di-hua-jia-luo was probably no more than a local landlord (as the Chinese inscription suggests [Ch. dizhu = “landlord”]) trying to maintain commercial relations with the Chinese after the Chola raids on Southeast Asian ports. Hermann Kulke (1999, p. 29) suggests that after the sacking of the Southeast Asian ports, the Cholas under Kulottunga may have supported “one faction of the Srivijayan court or one port-city of its confederation”, while, “another faction could have spread the news that the Chola kingdom had become a vassal of Srivijaya”. It is possible that the 1077 mission to the Song court attributed to the Chola kingdom came from the faction opposed to Kulottunga. The goal of this mission was not to present the Chola kingdom as a leading maritime state in the Indian Ocean, but to reinforce the Chinese view that Srivijaya was a militarily powerful state that subjugated the Cholas and, as a result, deserved to maintain its trading privileges at the Chinese ports. Indeed, the statement by the Chinese official in 1106 regarding the subjugation of the Chola state by Srivijaya and the continued tributary missions from the Southeast Asian kingdom seem to indicate that Di-hua-jialuo and his envoys succeeded in preserving this false perception and helped retain the privileges it had received from the Song court (see another interpretation of this confusion in Professor Karashima’s translation of the Song shi record).

CONCLUSION Changes in Chinese fiscal and commercial policies and the revamped tributary system under the Song government attracted an unprecedented number of foreign traders to the coastal regions of China. Maritime trading networks that linked China all the way to the Red Sea became vital to the movement of people and goods. These developments transformed the structure of diplomatic exchanges among Indian Ocean states and led to the formation of several new emporia across the Indian Ocean. For many Indian Ocean kingdoms, the Cholas and Srivijayans in particular, the profit from international commerce became a key component of the local economy and regional 72

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

72

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

73

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

politics. Indeed, the participation in international commerce not only contributed to economic activities within the kingdoms, but also enhanced the political status of local rulers. Consequently, commercial and diplomatic exchanges among Indian Ocean kingdoms became interlinked and the relationship between rulers and traders turned more intimate than at any time before in Asian history. Together, these developments led to the integration of major markets in the Indian Ocean through multi-ethnic, well structured, and extremely complex trading networks that stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Chinese coast. The confrontation between the Cholas and Srivijayans, as discussed in this paper, resulted from the intense competition to access markets in Song China. Indeed, the demand for foreign staples in China that mostly came from the Persian Gulf region, and the export of Chinese porcelain and other goods to the Middle East, made trade with China extremely lucrative to traders and rulers in both the Srivijayan and Chola kingdoms. Because of their geographical locations and powerful naval forces, the two kingdoms already maintained significant control over key segments of Indian Ocean commerce during the eleventh century. The unprecedented naval conflicts between kingdoms in southern and Southeastern Asia seem to have been a consequence of attempts by Chola traders and rulers to extend their sphere of influence into the coastal regions of China. While Tamil sources indicate that the Cholas were able to defeat the Srivijayans and sack many of their port cities, Chinese records suggest that traders and rulers from Srivijaya continued to enjoy their privileged position in Song China until the twelfth century. In fact, it is not clear if Rajendra Chola’s triumph in Srivijaya had any immediate impact on Chola’s trading relations with Song China. It seems that traders from the Chola kingdom were able to establish their diaspora in China only in the twelfth century (Clark 1995; Sen 2006). For the Song officials, as evident from the 1106 memorial, the Cholas were perceived as a vassal state of Srivijaya. The memorial suggests that the Cholas failed to gain access to the Chinese markets despite their touted victories in Southeast Asia. The triangular relationship between Song China, the Cholas, and the Srivijayans illustrates a dramatically changed nature of the cross-cultural interactions in Asian history. Previously, the land routes were the main conduits of diplomatic and commercial interactions between eastern and southern Asia. The expansion of territories and spheres of influence usually also took place through the overland routes. The emergence of the Cholas in southern India, Srivijaya in Southeast Asia, and the Song court’s decision to promote maritime trade, shifted the focus of cross-cultural interactions from the overland roads across Central Asia to the sea routes passing through 73

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

73

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

74

Tansen Sen

Southeast Asia. This shift resulted in intense commercial, diplomatic, and religious exchanges between the coastal kingdoms of India and southern regions of China that continued even after the European commercial enterprises occupied the maritime trading networks in Asia. The relationship between Song China, the Cholas, and the Srivijayans also shows that the exchanges through the maritime routes were not always peaceful. In fact, during the subsequent period, the Yuan and Ming dynasties of China tried to use their naval might to dictate the nature of commercial and diplomatic exchanges in the Indian Ocean. But the Chola raids on Srivijaya are unique because of the commercial motives involved in instigating the strikes. The exchanges between southern Asia and China had been previously defined by the transmission of Buddhist ideas. The triangular relationship between Song China, the Cholas, and the Srivijayans demonstrates the heightened role of commerce in India-China interactions and cross-cultural exchanges in Asia.

References Abraham, Meera. Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India. New Delhi: Manohar, 1988. Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250– 1350. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Bielenstein, Hans. Diplomacy and Trade in the Chinese World, 589–1276. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Chaffee, John. “Diasporic Identities in the Historical Development of the Maritime Muslim Communities of Song-Yuan China”. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 49, no. 4 (2006): 395–420. Champakalakshmi, R. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996. Chao, Kang. Man and Land in Chinese History: An Economic Analysis. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1986. Clark, Hugh R. “Muslims and Hindus in the Culture and Morphology of Quanzhou from the Tenth to the Thirteenth Century”. Journal of World History 6, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 49–74. Hall, Kenneth R. “International Trade and Foreign Diplomacy in Early Medieval South India”. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 21, no. 1 (1978): 75–98. ———. Trade and Statecraft in the Age of Colas. New Delhi: Abinav Publications, 1980. Hartwell, Robert. Tribute Missions to China, 960–1126. Philadelphia: n.p., 1983. ———. “The Imperial Treasuries: Finance and Power in Sung China”. The Bulletin of Sung-Yuan Studies 20 (1988): 18–89. 74

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

74

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

75

The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola

———. “Foreign Trade, Monetary Policy and Chinese ‘Mercantilism’ ”. In Collected Studies on Sung History Dedicated to James T.C. Liu in Celebration of his Seventieth Birthday, edited by Kinugawa Tsuyoshi. Kyoto: Do-ho-sha, 1989: 453–88. Heitzman, James. Gifts of Power: Lordship in an Early Indian State. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997. Kulke, Hermann. “Rivalry and Competition in the Bay of Bengal in the Eleventh Century and its Bearing on Indian Ocean Studies”. In Commerce and Culture in the Bay of Bengal, edited by Om Prakash, pp. 17–35. New Delhi: Manohar, 1999. Majumdar, R.C. Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East: Vol. 2, Suvarnadvipa. Dacca: Dacca University Press, 1937. ———. “The Overseas Expeditions of King Rajendra Cola”. Artibus Asiae 24, no. 3–4 (1961): 338–42. Modelski, George and William R. Thompson. Leading Sectors and World Powers: The Coevolution of Global Politics and Economics. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996. Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. History of Sri Vijaya. Madras: Madras University Press, 1949. ———. The Colas. Madras: Madras University Press, 1955 (reprint 1984). Niyogi, Puspa. Buddhism in Ancient Bengal. Calcutta: Jijnasa, 1980. Reinaud, J.T. Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans l’Inde et à la Chine dans le IXe siècle de l’ère chrétienne. 2 vols. Paris: l’Imprimerie Royale, 1845. Schafer, Edward H. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T’ang Exotics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963. Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003. ———. “The Yuan Khanate and India: Cross-Cultural Diplomacy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries”. Asia Major 19, no. 1–2 (2006): 299–326. Song shi (History of the Song Dynasty). Compiled by Tuo Tuo (1212–55) et al. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1995. Spencer, George. The Politics of Expansion: The Chola Conquest of Sri Lanka and Sri Vijaya. Madras: New Era, 1983. Twitchett, Denis C. “Merchant, Trade and Government in the Late T’ang”. Asia Major 14, no. 1 (1968): 82–95. Tan, Yeok Seong. “The Sri Vijayan Inscription of Canton (A.D. 1079)”. Journal of South East Asian History 5, no. 2 (1964): 17–24. Wang Bangwei. Tang gaoseng Yijing shengping ji qi zhuzuo lunkao (An Examination of the Life and Works of the Eminent Tang[-Dynasty] Monk Yijing). Chongqing: Chongqing chubanshe, 1996. Wolters, O.W. “Srivijayan Expansion in the Seventh Century”. Artibus Asiae 24, no. 3–4 (1961): 417–24. ———. “Restudying Some Chinese Writings on Sriwijaya”. Indonesia 2 (1989): 1–41. Yu, Ying-shih. Trade and Expansion in Han China: A Study in the Structure of SinoBarbarian Economic Relations. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967. 75

03 Nagapattinam_Ch 3

75

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

76

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

4 RAJENDRA CHOLA I’S NAVAL EXPEDITION TO SOUTHEAST ASIA A Nautical Perspective Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

In the civilizational history of India, the role of the Chola kings, particularly Rajaraja I and Rajendra Chola I in building a military maritime capability was unprecedented. The architecture of their pre-eminence was built through a series of expeditions in India — in the north, deep into the Indo-Gangetic plains through Odra-visaya (Orissa), Kosala, and Dandabhukti (Midnapur), in southern Radha near the mouth of Ganges; and from Venga (East Bengal),1 a westward expansion that saw the defeat of the Chera kingdoms on the Malabar coast; and well into the Deccan Plateau, with the defeat of the Chalukyas and the capture of their critical strongholds. In the west, the Cholas expanded towards the Arabian Sea, occupying the LakshwadeepMaldives archipelagos that sit astride the ancient Indian Ocean trade routes. They also made successive southward surges into Ceylon, attacking various Sinhala kingdoms. In its expeditionary context, the 1025 naval raid in Southeast Asia in Sumatra, Indonesia, and Malaysia was a singular display of the power of the Chola king, Rajendra Chola I, who possessed and wielded strong political and military power in India. Under Rajendra Chola I, the Chola empire was perhaps the most respected Hindu State that possessed, though only for a brief period, “inconsiderable dominion over the Malay peninsula and the 76

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

76

76

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

77

Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia

Eastern Archipelago”.2 The success of the grand foray in Southeast Asia was the result of a consistent and aggressive maritime mercantile policy of Chola kings, particularly Rajaraja I (AD 984–1014) and his son Rajendra Chola I (AD 1014–44). The Chola kings had encouraged overseas maritime trade through trade missions, sea-based commerce, and opening the Chola heartland to the overseas trading systems from the Mediterranean and Persia in the west, and Malaya, Sumatra, and China in the east. This resulted in a powerful maritime capability built around ships that were marshalled for the 1025 expeditionary naval raid in Southeast Asia. It should be pointed out that the Chola kings did not have a navy comprising warships exclusively for naval combat, but an armada was put together with ships taken up from trade (STUFT), the modern term for such activity. This essay attempts to examine the naval expedition ordered by Chola king Rajendra Chola I to Southeast Asia. Given the scant evidence on this obtained from the inscription dated 1030–31 of the big temple of Tanjavur in India, this is an impressionistic and a reconstructive essay that deals with several nautical aspects3 of the expedition. It explores the reasons for the attack, types of vessels comprising the armada, route followed, navigation skills of the Chola seafarers, and in its tactical construct, the elements of deception and surprise. As the voyage involved long distance over several days, the paper also looks into the provisioning of the ships that would have carried large volumes of food, water, and repair materials including rigging, weapons and transport (both mechanical and animal) to support thousands of soldiers, ancillary forces, and the ships’ crews.

INSCRIPTION AND ITS INTERPRETATION The naval expedition ordered by Chola king Rajendra Chola I to Southeast Asia is mentioned in the inscription dated 1030–31 of the big temple of Tanjavur which reads: “[who] having dispatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea and having caught Sangrama — Vijayottunga Varman, the king of Kadaram, together with the elephants in his glorious army, [took] the large heap of treasures, which [that king] had rightfully accumulated; [captured] with noise, the [arch] called Vidyadhara torana at the ‘war gate’ of his extensive city, Sri Vijaya with the ‘jeweled wicket gate’ adorned with great splendour and the ‘gate of large jewels’; Pannai with water in its bathing ghats; the

77

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

77

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

78

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

ancient Malaiyur with the strong mountain for its rampart; Mayirudingam surrounded by the deep sea [as] by a moat; Ilangasoka, undaunted [in] fierce battles; Mappappalam having abundant [deep] water as a defence; Mevilimbangam having fine wall as defence; Valaippanduru having Vilapandur; Talaittakkolam praised by great men [versed in the sciences]; Madamalingam, firm in fierce and great battles; Ilamuridesam whose fierce strength rose in war; Manakkavaram, in whose extensive flower gardens honey was collecting and Kadaram, of fierce strength, which was protected by the deep sea”.4

The inscription lists the names of places that were attacked by the invading Chola forces and these have been subjected to historical geography investigations; six can be found on the Malay Peninsula, four in Sumatra, Manakkavaram has been identified as the Nicobar Islands and two, that is, Valaippanduru and Mevilimbangam, are unknown.5 Historians and scholars have engaged in a meticulous study of these place names and the correctness of the places has been a subject of some debate.6 Some historians have even questioned if the raid actually took place. For instance, George W. Spencer has argued that the details of the raid are “tantalizingly brief, consisting entirely of a list of place-names woven into a descriptive eulogy (prasasti)”.7 He further notes that “the problem that has bedeviled the interpretation of South Asian and Southeast Asian history alike has been an excessive credulity towards the sources”.8 But Spencer quotes Paul Wheatley who has noted that the raid did take place and until such time as the correctness of the places attacked by raiding forces is correctly established, the “integrity of the prasasti is unimpeached”.9 B. Arunachalam has observed that “many inscriptions of Rajendra Chola I of the later days exist, and none of the prasastis elaborate any further on the details of the naval expedition. Unless new data reveals new facts, the naval campaign would remain an elusive mystery in terms of nautical aspects”.10 Arunachlam also points that Hultzsch, Venkiah, Coedès and Nilakanta Sastri have fairly well identified the places mentioned in the prasasti and the naval expedition is also mentioned in the meikriti details of the inscriptions at the Brihadisvaram of Tanjavur, and on the Esalam and Karandai Copper plates.11 According to Arunachalam, some more copper plates containing forty inscriptions were found near Tanjavur and have been translated. However, the sequence in which these places were attacked has also been a subject of debate and discussion. This is dealt with in greater detail later in the essay. 78

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

78

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

79

Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia

REASONS FOR THE ATTACK It is a well-known fact that the Srivijaya kingdom had social, cultural, religious, and trade relations with Indian kingdoms, particularly, the Chola. We are told that the Srivijaya and Chola courts had established diplomatic contacts too.12 Significantly, the Srivijaya kings had supported Buddhism in India and records tell us that a Buddhist Cudamani Vihara at Nagappattinam was built at the request of Sailendra King Srimara Vijayatunga Varman of Kadaram.13 The temple was built for pilgrims from Sumatra and the upkeep of the Vihara was supported from the revenue of nearby villages. But relations between the two kingdoms then began to deteriorate. It is indeed very interesting that most historians and scholars of South Indian history have commented on the naval raid to Southeast Asia by Rajendra Chola I, but there is no credible evidence to determine the cause of the deterioration in relations between Srivijaya and the Chola kings. We are told that there can be several plausible reasons that could have been instrumental in the ordering of the naval raid against Srivijaya territories. According to Spencer, it is a highly plausible explanation, but rather tenuous that the Srivijaya kings attempted to strangle Indian trade with China. But that Srivijaya enjoyed supremacy in the region and could control the maritime trade also remains unsubstantiated. Aja’ib al-Hind tells us that Srivijaya rulers had demanded a levy of 20,000 dinars, as right of passage, before they allowed a Jewish merchant ship to continue its voyage to China.14 Such high levies may have been imposed on Indian ships and upset the Chola rulers, forcing the invasion against the Srivijaya Kingdom in 1025. However, Nilakanta Sastri notes that “neither the merchants nor the state in South India had any idea of possibilities of economic imperialism”.15 For the Indians, the trade was an end in itself and Indian traders were willing to trade as along as it was profitable and “it never occurred to them that foreign lands may be compelled to buy and sell at the point of the bayonet”.16 Spencer also notes that the raid can also be interpreted as a natural and logical development of lateral military expansion of the Chola kings, particularly Rajaraja and Rajendra Chola I. Related to that is the issue of the political determination of these two Chola kings to exhibit their supremacy both in India and overseas. Yet another argument that finds favour is Rajendra Chola I’s need for additional resources through plunder as demonstrated by the Chola invasions of Simhalam (Ceylon). Thus it is reasonable to believe that the raid reflects the Chola pattern of expansion, a state policy inherited and practised since Chola king Rajaraja I. 79

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

79

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

80

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

Another view that merits attention is the fact that the maritime ascendancy of the Cholas in the waters of the Bay of Bengal was acknowledged in the entire littorals as demonstrated by the establishment of merchant guilds or “ainnuruvar” in several places in Southeast Asia. A flourishing maritime enterprise had turned the Bay of Bengal into a Chola lake. Though questionable, it is reasonable to believe that Rajendra Chola I had naval ambitions to control the seas beyond the Bay of Bengal into the waters of the Strait of Malacca, dominated by the rulers of the Srivijaya kingdom, and bypass any restrictions imposed by the regional rulers. Nilakanta Sastri notes that the 1025 naval raid to Southeast Asia against Srivijaya had “rendered communication with the ‘Southern Seas’ and the Empire of China more easy and regular than it was before”.17 Similarly, Arunachalam points out that the expedition (naval raid) reflects a clear dominance of the sea lanes in the Bay of Bengal in the eleventh century by the Chola rulers, based on their maritime supremacy, resulting in their dominance of the seas and direct trade between the Chola lands and China.

NAVIGATIONAL WISDOM OF THE CHOLAS A “passage plan” is vital for any sea voyage, particularly when ships sail across the high seas. In ancient times, the passage plan depended on wind conditions, weather patterns, and also on sea currents. Besides, the location of ports or places for a stopover enroute for replenishment, repair, and rest must have been a critical factor in any passage planning. In the absence of any direct evidence of charts available to Chola mariners, details of time taken by pilgrims, embassies, and ship narratives also helped to approximate the time taken by the ships to move across the seas. Tamil seafarers had developed a good understanding of the winds and currents prevalent in the Bay of Bengal, Southeast Asian waters, and also as far as China, and this knowledge must have facilitated long-distance trade. Part of this knowledge must have been homegrown and exchanged among the local seafarers, and also obtained from the foreign seafarers who had frequented the Coromandel ports. Jean Filliozat notes that the oldest inscription discovered in Southeast Asia at Vo-Canh on the east coast of Vietnam is of Tamilians from the Pandyan kingdom in the second and third centuries. He concludes that the oldest Tamil sea route across the Bay of Bengal to Vietnam was towards Sumatra island, sailing along its southern coast, passing through the Sunda Strait, and moving north directly towards the southern tip of Vietnam.18 G.E. Gerini in his research on Ptolemy’s Geography notes that for the route 80

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

80

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

81

Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia

from South India or Ceylon to the Sunda Archipelago (Palembang in Sumatra), ships would sail sighting en route Argyre, the Barusai, Sindai, Sabadeibei, and ending the journey at Iabadiu. The ships may have continued to China via the Satyron Islands. The modern names of these stations have been identified as Acheh Point — Pulo Nias (or coast of Sumatra at Barus), Si-Berut group (coast of Sumatra at Indra [Sinda] Pura), Si-pora and Poggy islands, Sunda Strait, and, at journey’s end, Sri-Bhoja (Palembang). The journey to China was made by passing the Siantan Islands (Great Anambas).19 It should be pointed out that the ships used by Tamil seafarers were not fitted with a rudder and magnetic compass and had to do either coasting or parallel/great circle sailings. As a result, the seafarers had mastered the prevailing wind conditions and currents in the Bay of Bengal. The western Bay experiences a generous mix of both the westerly monsoon winds and the retreating easterly monsoon. There are also two stormy periods: April to June followed by October to December. There are two most suitable seasons for an easterly voyage: July–August and late December–January because at that time the northeasterly winds and easterly currents are well set and facilitate a smooth and quick voyage east. Tamil seafarers had developed a sophisticated knowledge of heavenly bodies (stars, sun, and moon) and also mastered the art of reading and using these to undertake east-west passages. We are told that these seafarers had a good knowledge of at least fifty-six stars seen in the lower latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Ships sailing to Southeast Asia would first sail south with the southerly coastal drift along the Coromandel Coast towards Simhalam. Kalmunai or Tirukoil were the points of departure for the eastward voyage along the Seven Degrees North Latitude. This was so because ships used square or rectangular sails and could not be turned close to the wind. Also, the Orion constellation was in the most favourable position to provide an accurate east-west passage. Tamil seafarers must have mastered the art of Rumb line sailing and could then sail along fixed stellar bearings. Several itinerary records tell us about the of time taken by various ships to sail across the Bay of Bengal, pass through the Strait of Malacca, and from there to China or vice versa. According to Arunachalam, the Tamil navigators sailed on the west-east voyage for over five thousand nautical miles as far as Timor on the longitude 130 degrees,20 and these navigators had an intimate knowledge of the sea areas and location of ports in Malaya, Myanmar, the islands of Sumatra and Java, and Sunda Straits, and had circumnavigated the islands of Sumatra and Java. It is also noted that while transiting through the Bay of Bengal, the Chola navigators would have called at Nicobar Islands, which served as a port of call for replenishment, repair, and rest. 81

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

81

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

82

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

Port of Departure It is quite clear that Chola king Rajendra Chola I ordered a naval raid that devastated several cities in Southeast Asia. In its military context, the naval raid clearly showcases the naval capability and navigational mastery of the seafarers of the Chola Empire. Nagapattinam was the main trading port of the Cholas and also the seat of governance. The coast around Nagapattinam is generally flat, but is dotted with sand dunes. The depths along the coast are shallow, and a narrow underwater ridge along the coast is a navigational hazard. The sea breaks over the bar resulting in a strong surf and only catamarans can negotiate the surf. The port is unsafe for anchorage, particularly in November and December, due to receding monsoons. The Chola port of Nagapattinam was well south of the present-day harbour and the shift can be attributed to cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal resulting in shifting sands. A lighthouse of the Chola period, now in ruins, is also located south of the port city of Kodiakarai.21 Radha Kumud Mookerji tells us that Chola ports were well marked by lighthouses built of brick and mortar that were kept alight at night to guide ships to ports.22 It is plausible that the naval raid ordered by Rajendra Chola I in Southeast Asia may have been launched from the port city of Nagapattinam. B. Arunachalam tells us that the majority of the ships comprising the naval armada could not have been built in Nagapattinam. A large shipbuilding, construction, and preparation programme for the naval raid would certainly have come to the notice of the foreign traders who either lived in the port city, or frequented the port city and these traders, when returning to their country, would naturally tell the rulers of the Chola preparations. We are told that there could have been another port south of Nagapattinam around Vedaranyam or Topputorrai that could have been the alternate shipbuilding centre. However, Arunachalam notes that the flagship carrying the Commander of the armada would have departed from Nagapattinam and the rest of the ships of the armada would have made rendezvous with the flagship at sea. The above is a clear illustration of the stealth and deception in naval tactical formulations among Chola mariners.

Period of Departure Because of the seasonal winds and prevalent currents in the Bay of Bengal, the most appropriate voyage season from the Coromandel coast to the east towards Sumatra would have been late December. The voyage would generally commence after the sighting of the Migasiram, Ardra and the Ottraivelli in the southern horizon, and the Kootu nakshatram on the port bow of Ardra.23 82

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

82

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

83

Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia

Importantly, the voyage had to be started before the Ardra Darshan, that is, Poornima, when Ardra is sighted at dawn for the last time. In case the voyage was delayed beyond mid-January, then the guiding star would be Sravan (Alpha Aquila). The passage from the Simhalam to west Sumatra would be covered in about twelve to fifteen days. On reaching the Sumatra coast, the ships would then coast along the archipelago, through the Sunda Strait, into the Strait of Malacca.

Ships We are told that the Chola mercantile marine comprised at least three different types of vessels. These included the larger sangara and colandia24 and kattu-maran. Sangara, built with single logs of wood bound together, were coastal vessels and could carry large amounts of cargo, while the colandia were larger ocean-going vessels that were capable of distant voyages as far as Malaya, Sumatra, and the Ganges. The kattu-maran, the smaller craft, were most suitable for transporting goods from ships that were anchored in the harbour. We are told that the modern-day catamaran, a highly stable, motordriven fast craft, derives its name from the kattu-maran, meaning bound logs. Elsewhere it is noted that sangara and colandia mean “outriggers” and were probably of Malayan or Indonesian rather than Indian origin. The colandia was a large expeditionary vessel with cargo hold and capable of large volumes of cargo and sangara was a medium-sized ship that typically had many steel/iron shields attached to its sides for protection. The above description gives an idea of the types of vessels that the Chola merchant marine was built around. As noted earlier, it should be borne in mind that the Chola kings did not have a standing navy especially designed for warfare, and merchant vessels such as the sangara and colandia may have been assembled to carry troops to Southeast Asia, while the kattu-maran (modern day catamaran) was the basic floatation unit that constituted a mobile expeditionary platform for soldiers to be carried ashore. It can be concluded that the kattu-maran were the amphibious forces, launched from large ocean-going platforms that were capable of negotiating surf, negotiating shallow waters, and were supported from ships afloat.

A Brief Explanation on Navigation Instruments The Chola mariners used a variety of instruments and objects for navigation: 83

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

83

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

84

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

Ra-p-palagai: For sighting stars. Tappu palagai: For speed measurements. Human Hand: For measurement of the altitude of stars. Flat Bronze plates: For measurement of depth of water. Pigeons: For sighting land.

Chola Naval Ensign According to G.K. Rajasuriyar, Chinese annals show that in 1033, Rajendra Chola I dispatched an emissary to China and this move had strengthened trade ties between the two. Rajasuriyar also notes that the convoy of ships had carried Tamil officials and presents for the Emperor of China. Nilakanta Sastri tells us that the Chola banner included a tiger and so did the official seal.25 Balram Srivastava tells us that the Chola administration issued three types of gold coins.26 Among these, the first coin had a seated tiger facing right, a Chera bow behind the tiger, two vertical Pandyan fish to the right of the tiger, and the central design flanked by tall temple lamps. We are also told that the above-described banner was adopted by Uttam Chola (973–85). The seated tiger characterized the Chola homeland while the fish symbolized the Chola conquest of the Pandya Kings. Further clarification notes that the Pandyan coins had a horizontal fish, that is, one swimming, while the vertical fish on the Chola coin was representative of a dead fish, that is, the vanquished Pandya kingdom.27

Logistics Historians, archaeologists, scholars, and researchers have contributed immensely to the literature on social and cultural practices, art, religion, politics, and trade practices among ancient civilizations, communities, and peoples. There is also an enormous amount of narrative on the seafaring communities, items of trade including, trading patterns, shipbuilding and designs, navigation skills, use of instruments, and accounts of voyages undertaken by seafarers. However, there is paucity of information about the provisioning of ships, health care practices, logistics of ship stores, equipment, and repair materials. These issues gain greater significance particularly when kings sent expansive fleets to distant lands to fight battles either to conquer or simply to protect their interests overseas. Not surprising, the existing literature on the Chola naval expedition to Southeast Asia presents similar constraints and there is a near total absence of such narratives. 84

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

84

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

85

Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia

In order to have a better understanding of the logistics and provisioning of the Chola naval armada, it would be useful to draw on the dietary habits of the people in South India. The staple food among them was rice. Paddy was grown in abundance and rice was brought to the market where it was traded in barter and cash, that is, gold. Rice was accepted as a common measure of value in rural economy, and non-agrarian products/commodities could also be exchanged for rice. We learn that the common commodities/groceries traded in the market place included rice, dhals, gram, ghee, sugar, salt, tamarind, and spices such as cardamom seeds, pepper, mustard, cumin seeds, campaka buds, khas-khas roots, plantains, sugarcane areca nuts, and betel leaves. Furthermore, curds were a tradable commodity and formed an important part of nutrition. The above would give an impression that people of ancient South India were vegetarians, but we are informed that in the market place, hunters from the forest sold venison. Also, honey and roots could be exchanged for fish oil and toddy. We are also told that cooked “fish and flesh” were available in the shops in the port of Puhar and “high-class liquor” was also sold to customers.28 Under the tax system in the Chola administration, both salt and lemons were taxable commodities. Although there is no mention of coconuts being traded, the fruit formed an important part of the daily life of peoples of ancient India and was used in religious offerings, as a source of food, and also medicine. How do these relate to seafarers and, particularly, the Chola naval expedition? From the Tanjavur inscription, “having dispatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea”, it is possible to conclude that Chola King Rajendra I dispatched many ships to undertake raids in Southeast Asia, but there is no evidence or record to suggest the number of ships that set sail for the raid. Notwithstanding that, a large number of ships must have been provisioned before they undertook the long voyage to Southeast Asia. Keeping in mind the dietary habits of the peoples of ancient South India, we can deduce that massive quantities of rice, sugar, oil, spices, curds, coconuts, and possibly meat, would have been stored on board the logistic ships accompanying the ships carrying fighting soldiers. It is also a well-known fact that seawater cannot be consumed by human beings and such long distance voyages would require very large quantities of fresh water for normal drinking, cooking, and washing, the latter being critical to keep the crew and soldiers free of disease. On longdistance voyages, ships carried water in wooden casks.29 It is plausible that there may have been ships that carried casks and served as water tankers, 85

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

85

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

86

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

and also ships that may have carried large quantities of coconuts to serve several needs of the armada, such as an alternate for water, and as food, flavouring, and medicine. Similarly, fresh and fermented rice soups were part of the nutritive diet of ancient Indians. Sanskrit texts tell us that medicinal rice soup was prepared using parched rice, long pepper, dried ginger, and pomegranates, and the sour rice gruel called kanjika was popular among ancient seafarers of South India who served it with deep fried lentil cakes called vatakas. Perhaps the biggest challenge in provisioning was storing vegetables. It must be noted that vegetables were considered critical for the health and physical fitness of the ships’ crews, lest they suffered from Vitamin C deficiency resulting in scurvey, a threatening disease that ship surgeons had to deal with in ancient times. We are informed that before embarking on a voyage from Tawalisi, Ibn Battuta was provided with large jars called martabans containing salted ginger, pepper, lemons, and mangoes for the voyage. Besides, he also carried buffaloes and sheep, presumably to provide the crew with milk and meat. This information gives an idea that in ancient times, ships must have carried livestock to ensure a supply of milk and meat. As regards fish, it can be assumed that it was regularly caught at sea. We are informed that Chinese junks could grow vegetables on-board thus providing a constant supply of greens.

SEQUENCE OF ATTACK It is evident from the above that seafarers of India and Southeast Asia had developed sophisticated navigation skills and ship routing was decided after careful consideration of monsoon winds, sea currents and cyclones. During winter, ships sailing from the port of Tamralipti on their journey to “Suvarnabhumi” (island of gold, the Sanskrit name for Sumatra) transited the Andaman Sea through the Ten Degree Channel to arrive at ports along the west coast of Malaya. Ships from South Indian ports may have also followed the Ten Degree latitude and routed between Nicobar and the northern tip of Sumatra, with Manakkavaram in the Nicobar Islands serving as the ancient trans-shipment/layover port. It would be useful to mention that September southwest cyclones in the Strait of Malacca wrecked ships, including that of the Chinese pilgrim Faxian.30 However, in late December, when seasonal winds were favourable, ships sailed south of Sumatra entering through the Sunda Strait. This route also helped ships avoid doldrums and pirates, but had its own perils because of the hazards of open seas.31 86

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

86

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

87

Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia

Before the route through the Strait of Malacca became popular among mariners, ships originating in India, Sri Lanka, and Northern Sumatra, carrying goods bound for China, were unloaded at three ports, Takuapa, Trang, and Kedah, on the west coast of Malaya for trans-shipment across the peninsula to ports in Chaiya, Ligor, and Patani in the Bay of Bandon, from where ships would then set sail across the Gulf of Siam via the Funan port of Oc Eo to Canton in China. Interestingly, a “shuttle service” between India, through the Bay of Bengal to either side of the Malay Peninsula, onward to China, had come into operation. The ships and merchants patronized Kedah due to its strategic location facing the Bay of Bengal and also its natural safe anchorages. Kedah or Katak in Sanskrit, or Kadaram or Kidaram in the literary classic Kalingattupparani, had emerged as an entrepôt which witnessed the sale and purchase of merchandise, the layover of traders waiting for favourable winds before voyaging further, and the establishment of store houses. It was, in effect, a replenishment and repair point for ships and also a venue for the exchange of culture, religion, and social practices. Arunachalam has attempted to trace the routing of the naval armada with Nagapattinam as the point of departure. By way of arrows on a map, he has shown that the armada sailed south of Sumatra and attacked Barus, Palembang, the seat of the Srivijaya Kingdom, Jambi, Pannai, Medan, Kadaram, Ilamuridesam, and Manakkavaram before the armada set sail back to its home country. However, he notes that “the inscription clearly implies that all places named were taken from the King of Kadaram in the course of a single campaign”. It is fair to argue that the naval armada would have followed the established route to Southeast Asia. As noted earlier, the inscription cites “(who) having dispatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea and having caught Sangrama — Vijayottunga Varman, the king of Kadaram, together with the elephants in his glorious army”, a fierce battle may have ensued against the king of Kedah. It is pertinent to mention that Kedah Peak is a significant navigational landmark and can be seen from miles and may have facilitated ships making landfall in Kedah. For instance, on a clear day, Kedah Peak can be seen from Penang, which is sixty miles to its south. There are ruins of a Hindu temple atop Kedah Peak and the temple symbolizes the nine sacred planets of Hinduism, or Navagrahas. We are told that a fire was kept alight at the temple to facilitate night navigation by seafarers. At the base of Kedah Peak is the Bujang valley, astride the Merbok River that drains into the sea. On the banks of the river are several ancient Hindu temple sites providing ample evidence of the presence of Indians at Kedah. 87

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

87

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

88

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

The Chola Kings had a professional army and the King was the supreme commander of the military.32 The army was built around the cavalry (kudiraiccevagar), the elephant corps (anaiyatkl, kunjiramallar, etc.), and several divisions of infantry. There were also regiments of bowmen (villigal), and swordsmen (valperra kaikkolar), the latter being “the most permanent and dependable troops”, always ready to defend the king and his cause with their lives when called for. The army was deployed across the Chola territory and were stationed in kadagams, that is, garrisons or cantonments. An interesting description of the Chola military is provided by a Chinese author writing in 1178, who notes that the Chola kings had 60,000 war elephants and these carried “houses on their back” from where the soldiers shot arrows at long range, while for close combats they had spears.33 Arunachalam tells us that a Tamil inscription from Alur in Karnataka in India informs of a lifetime endowment made to Kadaram-konda Chola Brahmarayar by Rajendra Chola for his military service. Interestingly, he appears to be a general in the Kadaram invasion.34 As noted earlier, the Chola Kings did not have a regular navy but relied on merchant ships to transport the army for war against the Srivijaya Kingdom. Arunachalam tells us that the Anuradhapura inscription notes that those seamen had a “significant representation in corporate bodies and in the Chola administration. Military leaders included those who had successfully participated in battles, as well as those who had protected the interests of the merchants locally, abroad and during voyages”.35 It is plausible that Indian merchants located in the places that were attacked may have been aware of the impending attack and helped provide intelligence and facilitate landing, including conducting the attack.

CONCLUDING REMARKS The 1025 naval expedition ordered by Rajendra Chola I to Southeast Asia has been a subject of research, debate, and discussion among historians, archaeologists, scholars, and naval practitioners. It highlighted the Chola strategic thinking of overseas expeditions that established domains of trade, and radiated culture into Southeast Asia. Quintessentially, the Cholas were the rising power that challenged the dominant hegemonic power of Srivijaya. The naval power of the Cholas was from a “lateral pressure” of expansion of this rising power in South India, felt in all directions, including far into Southeast Asia. For the Cholas, it was targeted against a dominant challenger, the Srivijaya kings, who had adopted adversarial trade policies to the disadvantage of the Indian trade. 88

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

88

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

89

Rajendra Chola I’s Naval Expedition to Southeast Asia

In its tactical construct, the naval raid clearly showcased the Chola military maritime capability to undertake distant voyages and ability to build a colossal logistical supply chain to support such large and expansive naval operations, including transporting large forces across the sea. The maritimenaval expeditionary warfare capability was demonstrated by its littoral dominance based on access and basing, while the tactical acumen was illustrated by the deception and element of surprise during the raid. Finally, it is indeed noteworthy that the naval expedition resulted in the defeat of the enemy Srivijaya kingdom at several places in a single foray.

Notes 1. K. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.l as (Madras: University of Madras, 2000), pp. 207– 09. 2. Ibid., p. 165. 3. See B. Arunachalam, Chola Navigation Package (Mumbai: Maritime History Society, 2004), p. 42 and p. 28. Arunachalam notes that Chola navigation knowledge and expertise is a knotty and challenging poser that can best be answered only by speculation and scientific conjectures. Also, given the limited and sketchy database available on the nautical wisdom of Tamil seafarers, scholars of South Indian craft and technology have to probe deeper into written material and palm leaves providing narrative on the Chola nautical wisdom. 4. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.l as, pp. 211–13. 5. B. Arunachalam is of the opinion that these two places may have been in Malaysia, keeping in mind the sequence of places attacked 6. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.l as, pp. 213–21. 7. George W. Spencer, “Royal Leadership and Imperial Conquest in Medieval South India: The Naval Expedition of Rajendra Chola I, 1025 A.D.”, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation (University of California, Berkley, 1967), p. 191. 8. Ibid. p. 194. 9. Ibid. 10. B. Arunachalam, Chola Navigation Package, p. 28. 11. Ibid., pp. 24–25. 12. George W. Spencer, “Royal Leadership and Imperial Conquest”, p. 200. 13. B. Arunachalam, Chola Navigation Package, p. 21. 14. Kenneth Hall, Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia, p. 85, citing the “Aja’ib al-Hind” in G.R. Tibbetts, A Study of the Arabic Texts Containing Material on Southeast Asia (Leiden, 1979), p. 44. 15. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.l as, p. 598. 16. Ibid. 17. Ibid., p. 606. 18. Jean Filliozat, The Oldest Sea Routes of the Tamil Trade (Madras: Bull. Institute, 1976) cited in B. Arunachalam, p. 3. 89

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

89

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

90

Vijay Sakhuja and Sangeeta Sakhuja

19. G.E. Gerini, Researches on Ptolemy’s Geography of Eastern Asia (Further India and Indo-Malay Archipelago) (New Delhi: Oriental Books, 1974), Table XI. 20. B. Arunachalam, Chola Navigation Package, p. 78. 21. Ibid., p. 79. 22. Radha Kumud Mookerji, Indian Shipping: A History of the Sea-borne Trade and Maritime Activity of the Indians from the Earliest Times (Bombay: Longmans, Green and Co., 1912), p. 137. 23. For more details, see B. Arunachalam, Chola Navigation Package, pp. 81–82. 24. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.l as, pp. 85–86. 25. Ibid., p. 20. 26. Balram Srivastava, Rajendra Chola (New Delhi: National Book Trust of India, 1973), p. 57. 27. For more details see . 28. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.l as, p. 80. 29. B. Arunachalam, Chola Navigation Package, p. 23. 30. Ibid., p. 75. 31. For instance, Faxian, the Chinese pilgrim, had boarded a ship that transited south of Sumatra, through the Sunda Strait, and landed at Ye-po-ti or Taruma on West Java. 32. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.l as, p. 454. 33. Ibid., p. 459. 34. B. Arunachalam, Chola Navigation Package, p. 28. 35. Ibid., p. 17.

90

04 Nagapattinam_Ch 4

90

11/4/09, 12:52 PM

91

A Note on the Navy of the Chola State

5 A NOTE ON THE NAVY OF THE CHOLA STATE Y. Subbarayalu

The evidence for the naval expeditions of the Chola rulers comes from the brief references in the eulogistic introductions of their inscriptions, very rarely corroborated by some literary evidence. From the early tenth century, the Chola kings took some military expeditions into Sri Lanka, obviously by carrying their warriors in boats across the Palk Strait or Gulf of Mannar. Here, of course, the sea distance to cross is only about 50 to 150 kms. If the Twelve Thousand Ancient Islands conquered by Rajaraja I is identified as the Maldives — and there is some good circumstantial evidence to do so (Nilakanta Sastri 1955, p. 192; Indrapala 1985, p. 51)1 — then this sea expedition was made over a distance of about 800 to 1,000 km. Therefore when Rajendra I sent his naval forces to the Srivijaya kingdom about 1026, the Chola navy already had some experience in travelling over long distances. But apart from these informed guesses, we have practically little explicit information from any contemporary source to understand the organization of the Chola navy, the nature of their sea vessels, the numerical strength of the warriors involved in the expeditions, or the port towns used as their naval bases. It is a known fact that the history of medieval South India mainly depends on the contemporary inscriptions. True, there are several thousands of inscriptions in the south. The inscriptions, being mostly records of gifts of land, animals, gold, and other material to temples or other charitable institutions, give good information about the agrarian activities of the times, 91

91

05 Nagapattinam_Ch 5

91

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

92

Y. Subbarayalu

the temple rituals, and several aspects of religious culture. Some details about the society, economy, and the government of the day may also be gleaned from them. The nature of the inscriptions is such that we are not able to tell much about the science and technology of those times. The eulogistic preambles of the inscriptions give some information about the personal achievements of the king and his retinue, the military exploits, the enemy countries that were attacked, and so on. But when it comes to the actual mode of land warfare, the strength of the army, the weapons that were used, and the mode of transport of men and material over long distances, the available information is meagre and fragmentary. Such fragments of data have to be pieced together to get a meaningful picture of the military organization of the day. There was definitely a standing army, comprising many select (terinda) regiments of soldiers, from the early tenth century. Some designations are used to indicate the structural features of the different regiments. They are . kaikko-.la, ve-.laikka--ra, pariva-ram, kongava-.l, villigal., a-naiya-t.kal., kutirai-che-vagar, or--r ai-che vagar, and so on. The names suggest that there were archers, swordsmen, cavalry, elephantry, infantry. There were also regiments recruited from outside the Tamil area, namely from Malaya-l.am, Karuna-d.akam, and Vad.ugam. Beyond the names, we are not able to tell anything about their actual composition and functions. Even regarding the two prominent categories of the regiments, namely the kaikko-.la and the ve-.laikka--ra, there is very little information, thereby leading to various speculations and disputes among scholars about their nature and composition.2 Sometimes we hear about the cantonments (kad.agam, parigraham, pad.ai-vı-du) and outposts (nilai), while the captains of the regiments (pad.ai-na-yagam) and the commanders (Dan.d.ana-yagam, Se-na-pati, Mudali) figure in their official capacities as well as patrons of temples. In the eleventh century, which marks the zenith of the Chola state in its various aspects, the Chola army was really a huge body. A Kannada inscription of 1007 (EI, XVI, pp. 74–75) narrates, of course in an exaggerated tone, that the Chola army that invaded the Chalukya country and caused untold miseries and humiliation there was a huge one consisting of 900,000 troops. Very rarely is the Chola navy mentioned in inscriptions. An inscription at Sirkazhi in the Thanjavur District (SII, V, 990) dated 1187, mentions one Araiyan Kad.alkol.amitanta-n alias Amarako-n Pallavaraiyan, who was a Tan.d.alna-yagam of karaippad.aiyila-r, as one of the sureties for some landowners’ tax payment to the government. Four other persons who are mentioned along with this Tan.d.alna-yagam were holders of titles such as Vil-upparaiyan and Pallavaraiyan, usually a mark of status and ranking; it is possible that they also were related to the same army. The term karaippad.aiyila-r means “the army of 92

05 Nagapattinam_Ch 5

92

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

93

A Note on the Navy of the Chola State

the seashore”. That is, it could be considered to be the navy. Tan.d.alna-yagam, a variant of Dan.d.ana-yagam, denotes the commander of the army. His given name, Kad.alkol.amitanta-n, is interesting. It means “one who floated while the sea engulfed”. That shows his or his family’s traditional association with the sea. Thus here is a bit of information relating to the Chola naval personnel. It is possible that the pat.t.inavar, the fishing community of this coastal area, where this inscription comes from, played a large part in the Chola naval organization. Except for the kalam or ship mentioned in Rajendra I’s eulogy,3 no other information is available in the inscriptional record about the Chola fleet. The term kalam is used in Tamil literature from early centuries to denote ships. The Barus inscription of 1088 refers to marakkalam, or ship made of timber, which, of course, was being used by the merchant body. What was the size of this ship? How was it constructed and where? Such questions are difficult to answer. Recent investigations into traditional maritime technologies of the south Indian coast have given us some useful information. In fact, a scholar has even boldly tried to reconstruct a picture of the Chola navigation package (Arunachalam 2004). Even though some details of this picture are based on speculation and recent folklore, there is some concrete evidence on the possible locations of the boatbuilding yards, the nature of the boats, etc. It is suggested that the coast of Palk Bay has several convenient ports where even now the traditional kind of boatbuilding is carried out to some extent. The Cholas might have utilized these places for raising their naval fleet. Naturally on the opposite side, that is, on the eastern side of the Palk Bay, the Sri Lankan coast had several bases where the Singhalese kings used to station their navy and boatbuilding yards. A Tamil inscription of 1175 (Epigraphia Indica, XXII, p. 87) records that the Singhalese king Parakramabahu, while fighting a protracted war with the Chola king in 1170s, reinforced his army cantonments (padai-nilai) on the sea coast facing the Palk Bay, namely Ura-ttur-ai, Pulaichche-ri, Ma-to-t.t.am, Vallika-mam, and Mat.t.iva-l, and started building pad.avu or boats there. The nature and size of the vessels kalam and pad.avu in the foregoing records are not described in any contemporary records. We have some indirect evidence in this regard from a Tamil inscription of about 1200 (or 1256) CE from Krishnapattinam, south of Nellore, on the Andhra coast (Nellore Inscriptions, Gudur 39; ARE, 1963–64: no. 79). This is an inscription made by an assembly of itinerant merchants (paradesi) of the 18-Bhumi (same as the Aiyavol.e Ainu--r-ruvar) agreeing to contribute to the local temple some cess on the merchandise transacted by them in the local port-town called Kollittur-ai alias Gandago-pa-lan-pat.t.inam. This assembly also included the 93

05 Nagapattinam_Ch 5

93

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

94

Y. Subbarayalu

Añjuvan.n.am merchants of Malai-man.d.alam, that is, the Kerala coast. It is interesting to note that several seaborne vessels are mentioned in this inscription, and according to the category of the vessel, the money contribution was fixed.

VESSEL

MONEY (ma-d.ai)

Marakkalam

1

To-n.i

1

Kalavam

1/2

Ved.i

1/4

Pad.avu

1/4

Among these vessels, both coasting and deep-sea vessels should have been included. From the rates of contribution, it is possible to tell that the marakkalam and to-n.i were the larger vessels and since the marakkalam is mentioned first in the group, it may be the largest of all and larger than the to-n.i. It was seen above that the Singhalese king used pad.avu for carrying his forces to the Chola country. Compared with the pad.avu, the marakkalam was perhaps four times bigger in size as it was charged four times the charge on pad.avu. Toni, which is otherwise pronounced as “dhony” is described by Maclean (1893, p. 273) in the later part of nineteenth century as a large vessel plying the Coromandel coast between Madras (Chennai) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). It was 70 feet long, 20 feet broad and 12 feet deep; it had no decks, one mast with long sail, and was navigated in the fine season only. The dimensions of the marakkalam used both by the Tamil merchants or by the Chola navy on the high seas can only be guessed using the pad.avu and dhony as the yardsticks.

Notes 1.

2. 3.

Indrapala says, quoting Clarence Maloney (1980), that the Maldives are called Mahaladipa in Sinhala language, which is obviously the earlier form of Maldive. Mahaladipa in Sinhala actually means “Ancient Islands”, and corresponds to the Tamil designation Palantiu in Rajaraja I’s inscription. The latest position of these discussions is summarized in Y. Subbarayalu (1982). The relevant passage is alaikatal natuvut pa[la] kalam=chelutti, meaning “having dispatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea”.

94

05 Nagapattinam_Ch 5

94

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

95

A Note on the Navy of the Chola State

References Arunachalam, B. Chola Navigation Package. Mumbai: Maritime History Society, 2004. Champakalakshmi, R. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996. Hall, Kenneth R. Trade and Statecraft in the Age of the Co-.l as, New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1980. Indrapala, K. “The Overseas Campaigns of Rajaraja I”. Tamil Civilization 3, nos. 2–3 (1985): 48–58. Karashima, Noboru, ed. Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds. Chennai: Taisho University, 2002. Maclean, C. D. Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. III: Glossary. Madras, 1893. Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. The Co-.las. 2nd ed. Madras: University of Madras, 1955. Spencer, G. W. The Politics of Expansion: The Chola Conquest of Sri Lanka and Sri Vijaya. Madras, 1983. Stein, Burton. Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1980. Subbarayalu, Y. “The Co-.la State”. Studies in History IV, no. 2 (1982): 265–306. Revised version included in S. Rajagopal, ed., Kaveri: Studies in Epigraphy, Archaeology and History (Professor Y. Subbarayalu Felicitation Volume). Chennai: Panpattu Veliyiittakam, 2001. ———. “The Merchant-Guild Inscription at Barus, Sumatra, Indonesia — Rediscovery”. In Histoire de Barus: Le Site de Lobu Tua, edited by Claude Guillot, Vol. I (Cahiers d’Archipel 30), pp. 25–33.

95

05 Nagapattinam_Ch 5

95

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

96

S. Vasanthi

6 EXCAVATION AT GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM, THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL OF RAJENDRA CHOLA, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE S. Vasanthi

The emperor Rajendra Chola (1012–1044 CE) was the illustrious son of the great Chola King Rajaraja I (985–1014 CE), who shouldered the task of building, extending, and maintaining the Chola empire. The foundation laid by both Rajaraja I and Rajendra I paved the way for the existence of Chola power for about 250 years, making the Cholas the most powerful dynasty in Asia in the medieval period. Rajendra I was a great warrior and assisted his father in numerous expeditions to project the Cholas to supreme power. He conducted various expeditions: the Gangetic expedition, eastern/western Chalukyas, the wars against the Cheras, and Pandyas, the Ceylon expedition, and the Kadaram expedition, etc. Rajendra assumed the title of Gangaikonda Chola and the city Gangaikondacholapuram (which means the town of the Chola who captured the Ganges) was founded by him to commemorate his victorious march to the Ganges. He also constructed the Siva temple named after his title as Gangaikkondacholeswaram, and soon thereafter, the Chola capital was moved from Thanjavur to Gangaikondacholapuram. The city of Gangaikondacholapuram was probably founded by Rajendra I after his sixth regnal year, that is, c. 1020 CE. 96

06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6

96

96

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

97

Excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram

Gangaikondacholapuram, once the flourishing capital of the imperial Cholas, is now a small forgotten village devoid of its ancient glory in Udyarpalayam taluk of the Ariyalur district. This district is a centrally located inland district of Tamilnadu which was trifurcated from the erstwhile composite Tiruchirappalli district. The district is bounded by the Cuddalore district in the north, Tiruchirappalli district in the south, Thanjavur in the east, and Namakkal and Tiruchirappalli districts are in the west. South India has was always been noted for the art of building temples which were constructed with blocks of granite stones. The medieval period kings built permanent structures for the gods while their dwelling places were constructed with mud and bricks. Hence, only the ruined remains of their living quarters were exposed in the excavation. Rajendra I and his successors built a big palace at Utkottai, which is about 1.5 km away from the Brihadisvara Temple in Gangaikondacholapuram, where even now a mound is called Maalikai Medu (palace mound). The capital itself has disappeared, the place where the emperor dwelt does not exist, and the ruins are marked by brick debris, which the nearby villagers even today take for the construction of their houses. Most of the Chola kings who succeeded Rajendra were crowned and lived in the palace that was located here. Contemporary literary works such as Muvar Ula and Kalingattupparani, describe the city and palace complex. To some extent we can assume that the description of Ayothia by Kambar and the description of the cities by Sekilar in his Periyapuram can be attributed to the city of Gangaikondacholapuram. Muvar Ula gives an account of almost all the important places of Gangaikondacholapuram, namely the palace building, entrance towers, streets, pavilions, temples, windows, big halls, etc. From the remains it can be concluded that it was a large city, carefully planned and laid out in accordance with the architectural treatises to suit the needs of a capital.1

THE PALACE SITE The city appears to have had two fortifications: one inner and the other outer, and the latter was probably wider. The remains of the outer fortification can be seen as a mound running all around the palace. The outer fortification built of burnt bricks was about six to eight feet wide and the bricks were made of well burnt clay and fairly large in size. From the inscriptions it is understood that the outer fortification was known as Rajendra Chola Madil (named after the founder of the city, Rajendra I) and the inner fortification that was built around the royal palace, Utpadi Vittu madil. 97

06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6

97

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

98

S. Vasanthi

The strengthening of the fortification and additions to the city in the reign of Kulottunga I (1070–1120 CE) were probably necessary due to inland uprisings and frequent neighbouring wars. During the reign of Kulottunga Chola the fortifications were renewed and the city underwent some alteration and additions. An epigraph refers to the fort wall as Kulottunga Cholan Thirumadil after the name of Kulottunga Chola, who might have constructed the wall. Rajadhiraja I (1018–54 CE) came to the throne after Rajendra I. An inscription from Tiruvidandai (near Chennai) states that his consent was sought while he was seated in the hall at the Gangaikondacholapuram Palace.2 In the reign of Virarajendra, the third son of Rajendra, the palace at Gangaikondacholapuram was referred to as Chola-Keralan Thirumaligai (Chola Keralan palace), evidently after one of the titles of Rajendra I. The same inscription mentions a few parts of the palace as adibhumi (the ground floor), kilaisopana (the eastern portico), and a royal seat, mavali vanadhirajan. An epigraph of Kulottunga I in 1119 CE refers to Gangaikondacholamaligai, which shows that it is likely that there were more than one royal building, each having its own name.3 The Pandyas who defeated the Chola Empire late in the thirteenth century, avenging their earlier defeats, may have razed the city to the ground, a misfortune that befell capitals in early times. It would have remained a heap of brick debris, and the the inhabitants of the nearby villages have dug systematically deep into the ground and pilfered cartloads of ancient bricks for their constructions. During exploration of the site, a number of medieval period pot sherds, tiles, terracotta knobs, and some coins were collected. Consequently, the State Archaeology Department carried out excavations from 1980–85, and in 1987 and 1991. These periodic excavations revealed one portion of the palace which included several statues, terracotta moulds, and other artefacts.4 In all twenty trenches had been laid, covering an area of 320 sq.m. These excavations were conducted at Maligaimedu, Manmalai, Kuruvalappar koil, Cholagangam, and Kalkulam. The excavation revealed two to three layers of occupation. The first layer consists of red coloured hard soil mixed with clay and brick bats. The second layer was made of loose soil mixed with a large amount of brickbats and tile pieces. The other antiquities found in this layer include iron nails and Chinese potsherds. The third layer (20 cm in thickness) of thick clay with a yellow coloured band was noticed in all the trenches at a depth of 1.65 cm, which is very close to the lime mortar. 98

06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6

98

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

99

Excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram

The noteworthy finding of the excavation was that the brick structures occurred invariably at a depth of 1.65 m and the breadth of the walls is 1.10 m. These walls were built of burnt bricks in a header-stretcher method, that is, by placing the bricks in a criss-cross pattern. On the surface of these walls, thick lime mortar is noticed. The thickness of the mortar is about 4 cm. Fourteen courses of bricks were used up to one level and below it, twenty-three courses of bricks were used for the construction of the structure. From the fifteenth level the thickness of the walls extended to 9 cm breadth on each side. The measurement of the bricks is 24.5 × 13.5 × 6 cm. The binding material used for the construction of the wall was clay and lime mortar mixed with jaggery juice (extracts from sugarcane). On the foundation wall there are granite stones with a socket at equal intervals of 1.70 m. In all, twenty such stones measuring 65 cm × 30 cm × 30 cm were noticed and they might have been used for installing wooden pillars. It can be assumed that this hall might have been a pillared hall or these pillars might have been used as lamp posters.5 During the excavation two walls running side by side, leaving a gap of 55 cm between them filled with river sand, were discovered. These were noticed towards the east-west and north-south directions. This is a unique method of construction, because the centre space is left out intentionally to keep the building cool and also to give strength to the walls. This method of construction shows the architectural and technological skills of the architects of that period. The important antiquities found in the excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram were objects made up of iron. These include nails, and clamp nails, and clamp plates with holes.6 Long iron nails measuring 3 cm to 50 cm in length were an interesting find. These might have been used for fixing the tiles on the ceiling with wooden planks. A good numbers of tiles were also collected from the site, including those with a hexagonal shape. The medieval period flat tiles with or without collar were also collected from the trenches. A knob made of copper was also found suggesting that it might have been used on a wooden door. The occurrence of plaster with green and blue colour painting in the trenches suggests that the walls of the palace had been painted in different colours. As it was the palace site, a number of decorative objects made of ivory, bone, and stone were found during the excavations. The ivory and bone carvings, such as the figures of the yali (mythical animal), lion, and elephant were the most significant finds of this site. These might have been embedded in wooden objects such as the throne, cots, chairs, etc., for decoration. A 99

06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6

99

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

100

S. Vasanthi

considerable number of decorated red stone objects have also been unearthed. They include lotus flower design, birds, ducks, human heads, etc., and might have been used for decorating the ceilings and walls of the palace. These red coloured, stone decorative objects might have been brought from the Kalinga (modern Orissa) and Bengal regions. Chinese porcelain potsherds of the fine Yingqing type, and white porcelain from Jingdezhen kilns ascribable to the eleventh or twelfth century, were found in the excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram.7 According to Karashima, these ceramics might have been brought back from China by the mission sent by Rajendra I in 1033 CE.8 The potsherds include sherds of a Yingqing bowl, Guangdong jar, and a green glazed bowl. To some extent we can presume that apart from the direct Chinese contact by the Chola Empire under Rajendra I, his naval expedition and contact with Southeast Asian countries were also a reason for the occurrence of Chinese potsherds at Gangaikondacholapuram. Glass bangle pieces in black, yellow and blue were also collected. Beads of clay, crystal, paste and shell were also found in the excavation. The coarse red ware found included shouldered pots with decorations, spouted, and knobbed potteries.

CONCLUSION From the excavations carried out at Gangaikondacholapuram, it is noticed that there were three structures belonging to different periods. The royal palace was built of burnt brick. The ceilings were covered with flat tiles of a small size, laid in a number of courses, in fine lime mortar. The pillars were probably made of polished wood, supported on granite bases; a few pillar bases have survived to this day. Iron nails and clamps have been recovered from this palace site. To conclude, the excavation has brought to light the ruined and buried palace of the Chola period.

Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Ottakkuttar, Muvar Ula, U.V. Swaminathan Ayyar Library, Adyar, 1957. ARE 275/1910. R. Nagaswamy, Gangaikondacholapuram (Chennai: Department of Archaeology, 1979), p. 14. N. Kasinathan, Metropolis of Medieval Cholas (Chennai: State Department of Archaeology, 1998). S. Selvaraj, Tamil Civilization 5, nos. 1&2, p. 124.

100

06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6

100

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

101

Excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram

6. 7. 8.

Ibid., p. 125. Noboru Karashima, In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds in South India and Sri Lanka (Tokyo: Taisho University Press, 2002), p. 37. Ibid., p. 37.

101

06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6

101

11/4/09, 12:53 PM

102

Gokul Seshadri

7 NEW PERSPECTIVES ON NAGAPATTINAM The Medieval Port City in the Context of Political, Religious, and Commercial Exchanges between South India, Southeast Asia, and China Gokul Seshadri

Nagapattinam (10°79'06" N, 79°84'28" E) is a seaside port town located along the east coast of South India. It is the headquarters of the Nagapattinam district. This paper is an attempt to trace the emergence of Nagapattinam as a port of commercial and religious importance in the context of political, social, cultural, and commercial exchanges between South India, and Southeast Asia, and China that characterize the medieval period.

THIRD CENTURY BC — THIRD CENTURY AD: REVIEW OF EARLY REFERENCES Before focusing on the developments that occurred during the medieval period, it becomes imperative to analyse, review, and understand all earlier references to the port city, as quoted by various scholars over the last century 102

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

102

102

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

103

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

or so. This will help us to understand the nature of forces that contributed to the development of the city in the later period. The period between the third century BC and third century AD is commonly referred to as the Sangam period in the annals of South Indian history (Zvelebil 1997, p. 12). An extensive collection of literary material, a small number of inscriptions, a few sites with isolated structures, coins, and indigenous and imported pottery, are the important evidence categories available for this period. No direct reference, either to the port or the town of Nagai, is forthcoming from the Sangam period assets. No coins belonging to the Sangam Age have been recovered in the Nagapattinam area.1 But urn burials have been found in the surroundings of Nagapattinam at Vanjoor and Kilvelur. Some level of human habitation should have existed at the site, but the town did not attain any religious, commercial, or political prominence. On a comparative note, we see Kavirippompattinam ( — today’s Poompuhar) — located 50 km north of Nagapattinam — prospering as the mighty capital of the Sangam Age Chola kings. Pattinappalai ( ) — one of the Sangam group of literature classified as the “Ten Idylls” sung by Kadiyalur Uruthirangkannanar in praise of the Chola king Karikala goes at great lengths to describe the busy commercial, political, and religious nature of the port city. Astronomer Klaudios Ptolemaios’ (Ptolemy — first and second century AD) reference to a metropolis called Nikama in the country of Batoi was identified as Nagapattinam by Colonel Henry Yule (1873, p. 332). He also identified the nearby towns Thelkheir as Nagore, and Kouroula as Karaikkal. Overall, this identification is doubtful as there are no other contemporary evidences to prove the existence of Nagapattinam as a metropolis — under the name of “Nikama” or “Nikam”. But the word Nikama, in Brahmi characters, is found on the pottery from excavations. The doubt gets compounded, after consulting the Pali Buddhist work Milinda Panho TABLE 7.1 Cities in the Country of Batoi, referred to by Ptolemy Country of Batoi Nikama, the metropolis

126°

16°

Thelkheir

127°

16°10'

Kouroula, a town

128°

16° 103

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

103

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

104

Gokul Seshadri

(Questions of King Milinda) — which is roughly attributed to the first century BC (Davids 1890, p. xxiii). This classic from the Pali canon records a series of interesting dialogues between the Greek king Meander and the Buddhist monk Nagasena, organized into four volumes. Milinda Panho provides references to roughly thirty-four cities and countries which were famous then. There is one specific passage in this literature, in which mention is made about six ports along the sea coast to which merchant ships could sail (Trenckner 1928, p. 359). Nagapattinam finds no mention in the list. Yatha- maha-ra-ja sadhano na-viko pat,t,ane sut,t,u katasunko ma-hasamuddam pavasitva- Vangam Takkolam Cînam Sovîram Surattham Alasandam Kolappattanam Suvannabhumim gacchati annam pi yam kinci na-va-sanearanam…

The scholar who translated Milinda Panho (Davids 1890, p. xiii) attempted to identify all the ports and cities referenced in the text. He suggests that Kolappattanam should have been located along the coast of South India. It is highly likely that Kolappattanam is none other than Kavirippompattinam.

PRIOR TO THE SIXTH CENTURY AD: REVIEW OF EARLY BUDDHIST LINKS Even during the Sangam Age, the religion of Gautama Buddha had already taken a foothold in the south and Kavirippompattinam and Madurai distinguished themselves as important Buddhist centres — followed by Kanchipuram.2 But it was during the regime of the Kalabhra kings, that Buddhism took deeper root in the south Indian soil and Sri Lanka, so much so that during the later part of this period, some of the most luminous stars of Theravada Buddhism emanated from South India. In the context of Nagapattinam, it is useful to focus attention on the famous trinity, namely, Thera Buddhadutta, Thera Buddhaghosa, and Acharya Dhammapala. Buddhadutta, a native of Uragapura3 (Uraiyur, Tamil Nadu) lived during the fifth century AD and was patronized by the Kalabhra king Achyudha Vikrantha (Achyutha Narayana). He wrote four books, according to Gandha Vamsa, a seventeenth-century Burmese work on the history of Buddhist works (Bode 1894–96, p. 69). Some of his works were composed in Kavirippompattinam, at a monastery (vihara) built by one Vishnudasa or Krishnadasa. He refers to Urgapura, Kaveripattana, the Mahavihara at Anuradhapura, Buddhamangalam, and Kanchipuram. Buddhaghosa, a contemporary of Buddhadutta, was patronized by the Gupta king Kumara Gupta-I (AD 414–55). In the epilogue (nigamana) to 104

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

104

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

105

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

his work Manorathapurani, he refers to Kanchipuram. Papanchasudani, another work of his, was written during his stay at Matura sutta pattana (Madurai).4 Neither Buddhadutta nor Buddhaghosa nor any other Buddhist scholar of this period makes any mention of Nagapattinam. Thus, it is clear that the port city did not have any Buddhist association towards the end of the fifth century and the beginning of the sixth century AD. On a side note, this period also witnessed the departure of the celebrated Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, originally a South Indian (Pallava?) prince from Kanchipuram, to Chinese soil during the period of Liang Wudi in AD 520. Acharya Dhammapala (AD 528–60), was a highly respected South Indian Buddhist monk who rose to become the head of Nalanda — the international Buddhist university. He spent considerable time in the Raja Vihara at Anuradhapura before going back to India. His contributions to Theravada Buddhism are well known and need no further elaboration. Gandha Vamsa attributes fourteen books and commentaries to his credit (Bode 1894–96, p. 64). His commentary (attakatha) to Netti-pakarana, supposed to be the works of monk Kachchayana, a direct disciple of Thadagatha (Buddha), is called Netti-pakarana attakatha5 and is an important work in the Pali Buddhist canon. The nigamana which the Acharya provides to Netti-pakarana attakatha gandha towards the very end of his commentary has been quoted by different authors6 to contain direct references to Buddhist viharas at Nagapattinam. Hence, it calls for closer examination. In the first publication of Netti-pakarana attakatha (Hardy 1902), Professor Hardy deals in great detail with the authenticity of the work, that of its author, the commonality of the name Dhammapala in the Buddhist world, and the problem of attributing the present work to Acharya Dhammapala.7 The last paragraph which contains the nigamana, as written by Acharya himself, is reproduced on the next page. Line no (3) is of great importance as it provides the name of the place as well as the vihara in which Dhammapala composed the work. This vihara is referred to as “Dhammasoka Maharaja Vihara” and the place as “Pattane Nagasavhaye”. The word “pattinam”8 was attached to Nagapattinam only when it became a major seaport during the Chola times from all evidences available so far. Before that, it was referred to only as “Nagai”, both in inscriptions and in literature, as we shall see shortly. Hence, there is some difficulty in associating the pattana referred to by Dhammapala with Nagapattinam directly. The difficulties get compounded as we try to identify a “Dhammasoka Maharaja Vihara” in the city. Obviously, the name of the vihara alone cannot help us to associate the structure with the Buddhist king Ashokavardhana9 or 105

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

105

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

106

Gokul Seshadri

Ha-rena ye ca pat.t.ha-ne su-vidunam. vinicchayam. . vibhajanto navangassa sa-sanass’ atthavan.n.anam. Nettipakaran.am. dhı-ro gambhı-ram. nipun.añ ca yam. adesayi maha-thero Maha-kacca-yano vasi Saddhamma-vatarat.t.ha-ne pat.t.aneI Na-gasavhayeI Dhamma-sokamaha-ra-ja-viha-re vasata- maya-. Cirat.t.hitattham ya-tassa a-raddha- atthavan.n.anauda-haran.asutta-nam. lakkhan.a-nañ ca sabbaso Attham. paka-sayantı- sa- ana-kulavinicchayasamatta- sattavı-sa-ya pa-liya- bha-n.ava-rato. Iti tam. sankharontena an tam. adhigatam. mayapuññam. tassa-nubha-vena lokana-thassa sa-sanam. Oga-hetva- visuddha-ya sı-la-dipatipattiyasabbe pi dehino hontu vimuttirasabha-gino. Ciram. tit.t.hatu lokasmim. samma-sambuddha-sasanam. tasmim. saga-rava- niccam. hontu sabbe pi pa-n.ino. Samma- vassatu ka-lena devo pi jagatippati saddhammanirato lokam. dhammen’ eva pasa-satu- ti.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

his period directly. We need other contemporary or later references which are not forthcoming. Neither of the Chinese pilgrims, Xuanzang (Hsuen Tsang) nor Yijing, provided any references to this vihara although both of them mention Nagapattinam in passing, which we shall discuss shortly. It is difficult to believe that Xuanzang, who provided an interesting early episode from the Acharya’s life,10 did not bother to visit or even mention the vihara in which the Acharya had stayed. The term “Dhammasoka” shows affinity towards Sri Lanka rather than South India. King Ashokavardhana is not usually referred to as “Dhammasoka” on Indian soil, whereas many native Sri Lankan texts refer to him by this name.11 As regards “Maharaja Vihara”, several Raja viharas12 existed in the ancient times. In the present context, the raja viharas of Kanchipuram and Anuradhapura are worth mentioning. Of the many ancient cavern viharas of Dambulla, Sri Lanka, one is called “Maharaja vihara” even today. Acharya Dhammapala’s association with Sri Lanka is well known and hence searching for references to the vihara in Sri Lankan soil will be a worthwhile pursuit. Apart from the nigamana, we also find a colophon towards the very end of the commentary, which is reproduced below: Badaratitthaviha-re va-sina- a-cariya-Dhammapa-lena kataNettipakaran.assa attjasam. van.n.ana- samatta- ti. 106

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

106

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

107

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

This colophon prefixes Acharya Dhammapala as a resident of Badarathitta Vihara. In all probability, this was added by a later author as the acharya had already identified the place and the vihara from which he wrote the work in the nigamana. This colophon, though, seems to have been carried through the ages and it reappears in Sasanavamsa, a Burmese Buddhist work of the seventeenth/eighteenth century. The text says that Padarathitta existed in Damilaratthe or the Tamil region (Bode 1897, p. 33). Gandha Vamsa provides a list of acharyas from Jambudvipa (Peninsular India) and the places where they resided13 (Minayeff 1886, pp. 66, 67). Nagapattinam finds no mention in this list either. Thus, none of the texts consulted so far associates Badarathitta or Padarathitta with Nagapattinam. It could have existed anywhere in the ancient Tamil land. Thus, the association of Badarathitta vihara with Nagapattinam and its identification with present day “Avurith-thidal” ( ) locality in the town is baseless.

EARLY SEVENTH CENTURY AD: EMERGENCE OF NAGAI AS A PORT CITY Acharya Dhammapala does not make any mention about the viharas in Kavirippompattinam in any of his works. It is difficult to believe that he did not visit the ancient city had it existed during his time. So, it is safe to assume that a major portion of Kavirippompattinam was lost during the middle of the sixth century AD. It was this irreparable loss of the Kavirippompattinam port and the city that should have played a key role in the definitive emergence of Nagapattinam during the same period or a little later. The small coastal village slowly started to receive more and more commercial/transit traffic and began to transform. In the early seventh century AD, we come across a vibrant city, fortified with walls and a port with significant traffic, as described in the thirty-one devotional couplets of Saint Thirunavukkarasar (Appar)14 who provided the earliest definitive references to Nagapattinam. He was a contemporary of Pallava king Mahendravarman Pallava (604–30 A.D). Appar repeatedly stressed the black sea that engulfed the city while capturing other details such as the existence of kazhis and small waterways near the sea-shore (odhams). Verse number 4.108 of Thevaram provides a very important piece of information: that large ships of a type called vangam 15 abounded in Nagapattinam ( ). Following Appar, Saint Thirugnana Sambandar also sings of the lord of Nagapattinam Karonam. He reconfirmed the observation of Appar regarding vangams and said that vangam ships moved like mountains (Verse 1.84.7 — 107

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

107

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

108

Gokul Seshadri

). What is evident from Appar and Sambandar is that Nagapattinam is a well-developed city with fortified walls, buildings, major roads, and a busy port that was hosting large ships. Obviously, such an establishment must have developed over a period of time — probably throughout the sixth century AD or even earlier. It is important to note that neither of them referred to any Buddhist presence in the region. Both saints, especially Thirugnana Sambandar, took Buddhism head on and were involved in many debates with Buddhist monks. Sambandar’s stress is clearly felt in those places where indigenous Buddhist influence was present. In this context, it is important to mention the Nagai Karonam temple which had been sung about not only by the duo, but also by the later Saint Sundarar. N. Sethuraman, in his collection of research articles, observes that Karona was a corruption of Kaya-rohana (Kayam: Body + Arohana: Raising) and that the Nagapattinam temple was the twin of the Kayarohana temple in Gujarat maintained by the monks of a specific Saivite (Pasupata) sect. While the present temple legend does support this and postulates that the lord of the temple helped a saint to reach the heavens in his mortal body, there is no direct or indirect references to the pasupata movement at all in the Nagapattinam temple, either in the seventh century AD or later. Karonam might also have been derived from other origins such as “Kar Onam” and Lord Vishnu has been referred to as “Onathan”. The temple seems to have been subsequently rebuilt during Pallava and Chola times. During these early periods of the seventh century AD, Mamallapuram near present-day Chennai, distinguished itself as the famous seaport and harbour of Pallava kings. Most commercial activities were centred around that area and Nagapattinam had to wait for almost half a century before attaining commercial importance of a sizable proportion.

MID-SEVENTH CENTURY AD: NAGAI, THE TRANSIT PORT Nagapattinam seems to have become a convenient transit port for travellers and pilgrims bound for Sri Lanka and Southeast Asian countries in the postKavirippompattinam period, as evinced from Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang’s references. It is not very clear if even a proportion of the Buddhist populace of Kaviripattana (as it is referred to in some Buddhist works) migrated to the Nagai region after a natural disaster, but it is quite certain that a considerable number of transit passengers to and from the aforesaid countries must have been Buddhists. This should have certainly provided some religious flavour to the upcoming port city. Xuanzang visited South India during the period of Emperor Narasimhavarman Pallava I (630–68 AD) and hence his observations can

108

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

108

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

109

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

be attributed to a period that immediately followed the saints. He provided an indirect reference to the existence of the city in his Xiyouji (Si-Yu-Ki), after an account of Mathura16 and the Potalaka mountains. His words are reproduced here:17 Going north east from this mountain (Po-ta-lo-kia), on the border of the sea, is a town; this is the place from which they start for the southern sea and the country of Sang-kia-lo (Ceylon). It is said commonly by the people that embarking from this port and going south-east, about 3000 li, we come to the country of Simhala.

This seaside town referred to by Xuanzang can be directly confirmed as Nagapattinam, based on a reference to it in the work of his disciple Yijing,18 A Record of The Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago (AD 671–95).19 Yijing’s reference is reconfirmed by smaller accounts of six other Buddhist pilgrims of his times, quoted here:20 Then [after his sojourn in Srivijaya] Ou-hing embarked on a royal boat; after fifteen days he landed in the isle of Mo-louo-yu;21 after another fifteen days, he arrived in the country of Kie-tcha.22 When it was the last month of winter, he changed his course and turned towards the west. After thirty days, he reached the country of Na-kia-po-tan-na [Nagapattinam]; leaving this place, he arrived, after two days on [sic] sea, in the island of Son of the lion (Ceylon); there he went and worshipped the tooth of Buddha. Leaving Ceylon, he resumed his voyage going north-east, and, at the end of one month he reached Ho-li-ki-louo (Harikela).

It is very important to note that neither Xuanzang nor Yijing referred to any Buddhist activity in Nagapattinam. As they were ardent Buddhists who braved all odds and undertook a perilous voyage, it can be assumed that at least one of them would have recorded some detail had there been any religious activity of interest. It is very doubtful if the city had an indigenous Buddhist flavour at this point of time.

LATE SEVENTH — EARLY EIGHTH CENTURY AD: CONSTRUCTION OF THE “CHINESE PAGODA” The period of Narasimhavarman Pallava II (AD 691–729), also known as Rajasimha, marks an important epoch in the history of South India and of Nagapattinam, in particular. “Sivachudamani” Rajasimha’s time is marked by events of varied interests. He was a great patron of art and his contributions have been preserved in the temples at Kanchipuram,23 Panaimalai,24 and

109

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

109

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

110

Gokul Seshadri

Mamallapuram.25 The Somaskanda panel seen behind the main deity of the Kayarohanaswamin temple in Nagapattinam is his characteristic watermark26 and is seen at all of the above-mentioned temples. The sanctum sanctorum structure has lost its Pallava origins, owing to the later constructions in the Chola period. The present structure is attributed to the period of great Chola king Rajaraja Chola I (AD 985–1014) (Figure 7.1). It seems that towards the later part of his reign, in AD 720, the emperor sent an embassy to China and this assumes a very significant importance in the context of Nagapattinam. This vital information is available only from Chinese sources and no inscription or literature from South India has captured this event. The Chinese sources of this information are: 1. Cefu Yuangui in 20 volumes:


/ (
)
 !"


— This Chinese encyclopedia compiled at about 1013 AD is the biggest collection of books compiled in the Song Dynasty. 2. Wenxian Tongkao or Antiquarian Researches by Ma Duanlin — published in 1321 by the Mongol emperor Yingzong, a nephew of Kublai Khan. This work contains 348 chapters (juan) under twenty-five headings. It seems Ma Duanlin was engaged in writing the book during the stay of Marco Polo in China (AD 1275–95).27 3. The Jiu Tang Shu as contained in the Siku Quanshu (Complete Collection of Four Literary Branches) 1,501 volumes:



 !" — This compilation is a mammoth effort compiled in AD 1773 under the orders of Emperor Qianlong. It has four sections, namely Classics (jing), History (shi), Philosophy (zi), Belles-lettres (ji), and these are further subdivided into forty-four categories. Traditionally, Chinese intellectuals believed that proper governance of the people could be learned from the classics. Hence, the royalties of individual dynasties attached great importance to the collection, compilation, and preservation of books to the extent that it became a rule to do so. The above mentioned books which provide a calendar of events from the past, were the results of such extensive labour. These records provide the following information (Sastri 1939, pp. 116–17): (a) In year 720 AD (in the 8th year of k’ai yuen), the king from the kingdom of South India, Che-li Na-lo-seng-kia[,] proposed to employ his war elephants and his cavalry to chastise the Ta-che (Arabs) as well as Tou-po (Tibetians) 110

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

110

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

111

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam FIGURE 7.1 Nagapattinam to Kavirippompattinam Coastal Line

and others. Moreover he asked that a name to be given to his army. The emperor praised it greatly and named his army: “The army which cherished virtue” (Source 1). (b) The 9th month, the king of South India Che-li-na-lo-seng-kia-to-pa constructed a temple on account of the empire (China); he addressed to the emperor a request asking from him an inscription giving the name to this temple; by decree, it was decided that the name should be ‘which causes return to virtue’ (Koei-hoa se) and it was presented to him (i.e. the emperor sent Narasimha a tablet with the inscription Koei-hoa se so that it might be placed on the front of the temple erected in India by Narasimha for the benefit of China)” (Source 3) 111

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

111

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

112

Gokul Seshadri FIGURE 7.2 Lord Shiva as Somaskanda, Pallava Painting, Kailasanatha Temple

112

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

112

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

This drawing, belonging to a much later century, faithfully records the variety of vessels that frequented the port.

FIGURE 7.3 Variety of Vessels at Nagapattinam New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

113

113

113

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

This watercolour painting captures the China pagoda, a Buddhist temple complex at Nagapattinam. Original picture has been digitally enhanced for clarity. Source: British Library, London.

FIGURE 7.4 China Pagoda at Nagapattinam 114

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

Gokul Seshadri

114

114

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

115

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam FIGURE 7.5 Ardhanariswara from Sri Kayarohanaswamin Temple, Nagapattinam

The image was set up by the official of the king of Kidaram (Kedah, Malaysia) stationed in South India. Source: Photograph by the author during field study.

115

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

115

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

Source: Indian Antiquary, Vol. II.

FIGURE 7.6 Towers at Nagapattinam — Drawings of Sir Walter Elliot

116

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

Gokul Seshadri

116

116

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

117

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

(c) In the 8th year of Kai Yuen (720), the 8th month, the day ting-tch’eou, a decree was addressed to tchong-chow-men-hia to inform him that the king of South India having sent from afar (an ambassador) to render homage and pay tribute and this ambassador being due to return he must look after him with greatest care till his departure and act in such a way that his desires might be fulfilled. This ambassador was therefore given a robe of flowered silk. a golden girdle, a purse with emblem in the form of a fish and the seven objects; then he was sent away. (d) In the years kae-yuen (AD 713–42), an ambassador from Central India proceeded three times as far as the extremity of southern india and came only once to offer birds of five colours that could talk. He applied for aid against Ta-she (Arabs) and Toofan (Tibetans) offering to take the command of the auxiliary troops. The emperor Heuen-tsung (who reigned from AD 713–56) conferred upon him the rank of general-in-chief. The Indian ambassadors said to him: ‘The fan barbarians are captivated only by the cloths and equipments [sic.]. Emperor ! I must have a long silk embroidered robe, a leather belt decorated with gold and a bag in the shape of a fish’. All these articles were ordered by the emperor (Source 2). (e) In the 11th month, an ambassador was sent to confer by brevet the title of the king of the kingdom of South India on the king of the kingdom of, Che-li-nalo-seng-kia pao-to-pa-mo (Sri Narasimha Potavarman) (Source 1). The sources also indicate that in AD 692, as many as five kingdoms of India were engaged with China. Thus, we see that by the end of the seventh century and the beginning of the eighth century, China had become a major force in the Southeast Asian sea trade and many empires from India wanted to maintain friendly relationships with it. The South Indian emperor, Rajasimha, went one level further by pledging his forces to control the common enemies (Arabs and Tibetans). Though the reason for Rajasimha’s commitment is unclear, we may hypothesize that these enemies were possibly disturbing the mutual trade between South India, China, and Southeast Asia. The Chinese sources mentioned above do not indicate the nature of this temple (that is, the Chinese pagoda) that was built for the welfare of China in the South Indian soil, nor its location. An account of the Chinese mission lead by Wang Xuance,28 who came to India three times in 643 (with Li Yibiao), 646, as well as in 657 AD not only reconfirms the above account, but also introduces the Buddhist Acharya Vajrabodhi (AD 661–740) into the picture. According to this account, Acharya Vajrabodhi helped King Rajasimha when the country was caught in 117

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

117

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

118

Gokul Seshadri

famine. At a later point in time, when the former wanted to go to China to meet and adore Manjusri, the king decided to send his emissaries along with a Sanskrit version of the holy scripture Mahaprajnaparamita. The Acharya sailed through Ceylon and Srivijaya and after a series of troubles, landed on Chinese soil at Canton in AD 720. Vajrabodhi later on became a famous Vajrayana29 Buddhist teacher in China and when he passed away in AD 741, a stupa30 was raised in his name on the same soil. We can take it that King Rajasimha’s mission to China was political as well as religious. Our focus in this paper is mainly on the Chinese pagoda which Rajasimha built, and its location. Though Rajasimha could have built the pagoda anywhere in his empire, it is more pertinent to assume that he chose a place that was frequented by the Chinese — merchants and pilgrims alike. The pagoda should certainly have to be Buddhist in nature as China was a Buddhist country and all visitors from that country were Buddhist. So far, in the annals of South Indian history, one and only one Chinese pagoda has come to light, and that was located in Nagapattinam. We shall discuss this evidence shortly. That the Pallava emperor chose Nagapattinam and not Mamallapuram for building his pagoda clearly bears out the following facts: (a) That Nagapattinam and its surrounding areas were under the control of Pallavas during the early eighth century AD. (b) That Nagapattinam was the seaport frequented by Chinese and possibly all other Southeast Asian maritime traffic. Pallava evidences offered by the Kayarohanaswamin temple and Naganatha temple in Nagapattinam have already been seen, and now, with the building of the Chinese pagoda, it can be said that the area was a Pallava stronghold and an active seaport.

LATE EIGHTH – NINTH CENTURY AD: TRANSITION FROM TRANSIT PORT TO MAJOR HARBOUR Vaishnavite saint Thirumangai Azhvar, considered to be a contemporary of Pallava king Nandhivarman II Pallavamalla, lived during the later part of the eighth century AD. He has sung of Lord Vishnu31 of Nagapattinam. While the azhvar’s verses themselves do not provide much information on the port city, a major event in his life associated with Nagapattinam is recorded in the Aarayirappadi Guruparampara Prabhava (Jeeyar 1880).32 This twelfth century religious work records that Saint Thirumangai, on requiring funds to renovate 118

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

118

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

119

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

the Sri Ranganatha Temple at Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, stole the golden Buddha statues in the vihara at Nagapattinam. While the authenticity of this story is questionable, it is an indicator of the riches associated with the vihara which was at Nagapattinam. From the previous discussions, we have to conclude that this vihara is none other than the “Chinese Pagoda”33 built by Rajasimha. King Pallavamalla himself seems to have been engaged with the region, as evinced from his copper plates of Pattadattal Mangalam. Saint Sundarar of the Thevaram Trio34 has been attributed to the period of the Pallava king Nandhivarman III (AD 840–65) and hence belongs to the first half of the ninth century AD (Rajamanickanar 2003, p. 101). Sundarar sings of the Lord of Kayarohanam in twenty-two verses and in doing so, provides ample and unique references to the state of affairs in Nagapattinam during this period. Verses 7.101.4, 5, 7 and 8 are of great historic value and hence deserve some focus. (a) Verse no 7.101.4 illustrates Nagapattinam as a city which was lit throughout the night, perhaps due to the heavy commercial/ maritime traffic plying the port. It also refers to the military forces that were guarding the city around the walls of the fortress (Sen thar purisai — Thar means forces, in this context). Thus, Sundarar provides the first direct evidence to a seaside city that was guarded by forces. That Nagapattinam was a fortified city was already mentioned earlier. (b) Verse no 7.101.5 is a direct reference to the trade and merchant activities. Mention is made about kanakam (Gold) and karpooram (Camphor) which were traded by the merchants of the city. Pagarnar means trading merchants and in this context pagarndha has to be taken as trading. Mention is made about papparavar — a term whose meaning is unclear for now. (c) Verse no 7.101.7 mentions Idhai soozh thennagai which means a city surrounded by ships with large masts or sea sails. (d) Verse no 7.101.8 contains a goldmine of information which is most pertinent to the present context. It provides direct evidence to the levies and taxation that were carried on along the shores of Nagapattinam. “Large ships of type vangam, which are carrying even elephants, insert themselves into the shores of Nagapattinam for Sungam (taxation and clearance)”. The term velai can also mean “to take rest”, instead of “shores”. Thus, we can also interpret Sundarar’s verse to mean that large ships inserted themselves for the purpose of taxation as well as for transit. 119

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

119

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

120

Gokul Seshadri

TABLE 7.2 References to Nagapattinam by Saint Sundarar

Thus, Saint Sundarar provides the much-required references on the harbour side activities of Nagapattinam in his eloquent observations. (e) Verse no. 7.101.9 records the attraction various kings had for Nagai. It is unclear why Sundarar chose to mention Nagai as “Then Nagai” or Southern Nagai. That this distinguishing epithet is applied only to the city and not the temple is borne out by the fact that all the qualities and features listed by him in the lines preceding the words “southern” are that of the city and not the temple. Was it just to indicate that it was located in the southern part of Tamilnadu? Mention can also be made of Athipatta Nayanar, one of the sixty-four celebrated saints of the Saivite world from Nagapattinam, 120

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

120

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

121

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

whom Sundarar mentions in his Thiruthondar Thogai. However, there is no inscriptional evidence for this period, notwithstanding the political and commercial importance of the city. However, there is only one Pallava inscription found on the premises of the Naganatha temple (Jayakumar 2001, p. 215). It names the city as Nagai.

TENTH – ELEVENTH CENTURY AD: HEYDAY OF NAGAPATTINAM UNDER THE CHOLAS During the tenth century, Nagapattinam came under the complete sway of the Cholas, who were the most powerful rulers of South India in this period. It is not clear when exactly Nagapattinam was annexed to the Chola empire. The earliest Chola inscription available in the port city is that of king Rajaraja Chola I (AD 985–1014), but there are enough reasons to believe that it should have been annexed much earlier. In Thiruvarur, which is twenty-four km away from Nagapattinam, an inscription of Madurai konda Parakesari belonging to the thirty-ninth regnal year of the king (ARE No. 573 of 1904) can be found. This is none other than Parantaka Chola I (AD 907–953), one of the powerful monarchs of the Vijayalaya line. It is reasonable to assume that this region was under the Chola sway since the times of Parantaka or a little later, though most inscriptions in this region are available only from the later part of the tenth century AD. Table 7.3 provides the chronological list of inscriptions retrieved from the Kayarohanaswamin temple by the epigraphists of the Archaeological Survey of India. Rajaraja’s inscription says that Nagapattinam was an Ur under Pattinak Kootram. Mandalam — valanadu35 — nadu and kootram were the various subdivisions of the country during the times of Rajaraja, comparable to the present day state-district-taluk divisions. The valanadu subdivision was a special introduction by Rajaraja for better land administration. We come to know from other sources 36 that Pattinak Kootram was under the Kshatriyasikamani Valanadu. Three inscriptions of Rajendra Chola provide vital information on the relationship between the Cholas and the Srivijaya empire of the Sailendras and hence warrant detailed discussions. The first was inscribed during the third regnal year of the king (ARE 1956–57, p. 164). It should be remembered that both father and son were co-ruling for two years before full powers and autonomy was provided to Rajendra37 in his third regnal year. The inscription records the details of an expensive jewel, set with a variety of precious stones 121

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

121

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

122

Gokul Seshadri

TABLE 7.3 Chronological list of inscriptions from Sri Kayarohanaswamin Temple, Nagapattinam Inscription Reference

Location

King & Regional year

Period

ARE 1956–57: 165

Below lingothbhava image/ central shrine of the Kayarohanaswamin temple

Rajaraja I / 25th

c. AD 1010

ARE 1956–57: 167

Base of south wall of central shrine

Rajaraja I / 29th

c. AD 1014

ARE 1956–57: 164

West wall below the lingothbhava image/ central shrine

Rajendra Chola I / 3rd c. AD 1015

ARE 1956–57: 162

Base tiers of the west wall/ central shrine

Rajendra Chola I / 3rd c. AD 1015

ARE 1956–57: 161

Base tiers of the west wall/ central shrine

Rajendra Chola I / lost c. AD 1015

ARE 1956–57: 157

North wall/central shrine

Rajendra Chola I / 4th

ARE 1956–57: 166

On the west and south walls/central shrine

Rajendra Chola I / 7th c. AD 1019

ARE 1956–57: 158

Base tiers of the North wall/ Rajendra Chola I / lost central shrine

ARE 1956–57: 159

West wall/central shrine

Rajadhi Raja I / lost

After 1018

ARE 1956–57: 160

West wall/central shrine

Rajendra II / lost

After 1052

c. AD 1016

122

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

122

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

123

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

Inscription Reference

Location

King & Regional year

Period

ARE 1956–57: 156

North wall above bikshatana Virarajendra / lost murthi in antarala/ central shrine

ARE 1956–57: 154

On the tiers of the north wall of Mahamandapa/ central shrine

Rajaraja II / 10th

c. AD 1156

ARE 1956–57: 153

On the tiers of the north wall of Mahamandapa/ central shrine

Rajadhiraja II / 5th

c. AD 1168

ARE 1956–57: 155

On the tiers of the north wall of Mahamandapa/ central shrine

Rajadhiraja II / 10th

c. AD 1173

ARE 1956–57: 168

On the north wall of Artha Mandapa/ Thiyagaraja shrine

Kulottunga III / 4th

c. AD 1182

ARE 1956–57: 169

On the west wall and tiers of Artha Mandapa/ Thiyagaraja shrine

Kulottunga III / 6th

c. AD 1184

ARE 1956–57: 150

North wall of Mahamandapa/ Thiyagaraja shrine

Kulottunga III / 14th

AD 1192

ARE 1956–57: 151

North wall of Mahamandapa/ Thiyagaraja shrine

Lost

Around 12th century

ARE 1956–57: 163

Base tiers on the west wall of central shrine

Lost / 2nd

ARE 1956–57: 152

North wall of Mahamandapa/ Thiyagaraja shrine

Lost / fragmentary

After 1063

123

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

123

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

124

Gokul Seshadri

such as emerald and ruby, donated to a silver image of Shiva called Nagai Azhagar by the official of the king of Srivijaya, who was a resident of Melthondrip Pattinam of Keezchembi Nadu. The name of the official — referred to as kanmi in the inscription — has been lost. One Eran Sadaiyan engraved the record. Keezhchembi Nadu is considered to be the present-day Ramanathapuram coastal area and Melthondrip Pattinam should have been a seaport (Jayakumar 2001, p. 66). This inscription seems to suggest that an official of the Srivijaya king was permanently stationed in South India to take care of the interests of the kingdom. It is unclear if this official was a native of India or Srivijaya. The second inscription (ARE 1956–57, p. 161) in which the regnal year of the king has been lost, records the gift of several types of lamps provided by Nimalan Agattiswaran, the agent of the king of Srivijaya. The lamps are said to have been fashioned by Eran Sadaiyan alias Devakanda Acariyan. It is likely that this inscription and the earlier one speak about the donations made by the same individual — the kanmi of Srivijaya king — Nimalan Agattiswaran. Eran Sadaiyan figures in both inscriptions. The third inscription (ARE 1956–57, p. 162) talks about a specific deity (Ardhanariswara) installed by the official of the king of Kidara (modern Kedah of Malaysia) on the premises of the temple. The name of the official is captured as Sri Kuruttan Kesuvan ana Akralekai. Unfortunately, no mention is made about the place in which he was stationed or his nationality. The official donated gold coins (kazhanju) of China (Cheenak Kanagam) for the provisioning of the following facilities: • • •

87 Kazhanjus: Avirbali archana of Sri Ardhanariswara 87 Kazhanjus: To provision 2000 MaaKalams (revenue term) and two Kalam (measure) 60 Kazhanjus as Undigaip Pon: Ghee and Yogurt provision to Brahmins and the Devars

The later part of the inscription is damaged and hence not many inferences can be made. It can be seen that Chinese gold coins were in good circulation and used in South India to provide facilities. This Ardhanariswara donated by the official is a beautiful creation of Chola sculptors and has survived to date, as a niche (koshta) image in the northern wall of the hall adjacent to the sanctum sanctorum Artha (Mandapa). The sculpture portrays the male (Shiva) portion as Rishabantika — flanked by his Bull — while the female (Uma) portion is holding a mirror. The facial features carry striking similarities to the famous Shiva sculpture of the 124

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

124

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

125

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

Chandeswara group in Gangai Konda Cholapuram, Tamilnadu. While the first and second inscriptions are from the official of the king of Srivijaya38 (present day Sumatra), the third is from the official of the king of Kidaram (Kedah in Malaysia). During the period under discussion, Srivijaya was under the Sailendra kings of Kidaram, but historically, both are different empires. These two inscriptions indicate a period when the ties between the Cholas and the Sailendras found their highest watermark in the Middle Ages. The Chola copper plates preserved in the Leiden University Museum of Holland, popularly known as the larger and smaller Leiden plates, turn another page in the maritime relationship of Chola/Srivijaya empires, in which Nagapattinam plays a critical role. The larger plates are twenty-one in number issued during the twenty-first regional year of Rajaraja I (AD 1006) and engraved during the period of Rajendra I. The smaller plates, three in number, were issued during the period of Kulottunga I. The script on these copper plates was not engraved. The text were first written on wax tablets and later cast in copper. A detailed treatment of these grants has been provided by K.V. Subrahmanya Iyer (Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 213) The larger plates contain a Sanskrit portion, consisting of 111 lines laid out in two sides of five plates, and a Tamil portion, consisting of 332 lines laid out on both sides of sixteen plates. The Tamil portion makes limited use of Grantha characters to denote words of Sanskrit origin. The essence of the Sanskrit portion is that in the twenty-first regnal year, the king gave the village of Annaimangalam to the lofty shrine of Buddha in the Chulamanivarma Vihara, which the ruler of Srivijaya and Kataha, Mara Vijayottungavarman of Sailendra family with the makara crest — who was the son of Chulamanivarman — had erected in the name of his father in the delightful city of Nagappattana. After Rajaraja had passed away, his son Madhurantaka caused a permanent edict to be made for the village granted by his father. It is mentioned that the height of the vihara towered above Kanaka Giri or Mount Meru (Kanakagiri samunnati vibhavam atiramaniyan Chulamanivarmma Viharam). It is interesting to note that Nagapattinam is mentioned as a delightful city. The essence of the Tamil portion is that on the ninety-second day of the twenty-first year of his reign, the king, while he was in the pavilion on the southern side of his palace called Rajasrayan, erected in the suburbs of Tanjavur, declared that the income of 8,943 kalam, 2 tuni, 1 kuruni, and 1 nali of paddy accruing from the payment of the assessment on 97 veli, 2 ma, 1.5 kani, 1 mundirigai Kil of three ma, three kani and one mundirigai and Kil of half and two ma of land comprising the village of Aanaimangalam — including such as have ceased to be pallichandas and omitting such as had 125

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

125

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

126

Gokul Seshadri

been excluded in survey — to be given as tax-free pallichandas to meet the requirements of the palli, that is, the shrine of Buddha in Chulamanivarma Vihara being constructed by Chulamanivarman, king of Kataha at Nagapattinam in Pattinak Kootram, Kshatriyasikamani Valanadu. The oral order was committed in writing by Thiruvai Kelvi (the official, responsible for writing down royal orders) and attested (signed) by four signatories (Thirumandira olai nayagam). In accordance with it, it was ordered to be entered into the accounts by the officials Karumamarayans and Naduvirukkum. With four officials of the tax dept (Puravuvari) and three others styled varippottagam (tax registrars) present, the entry into the tax registry was made. Arrangements were made for drawing up the deed of the gift (present plate) and effecting necessary changes in divisional or village accounts. For the ceremony of walking along the boundaries and fixing the end points, one official called Kankani Naduvirukkam, four Bhattas, and one Puravuvari officer were nominated. As royal order was issued to Nattar members of the assembly to be present during the ceremony to show the land boundaries, draw up, and give the deed of assignment to those who were receiving the donation. Assemblies of no less than twenty-six villages of Pattinak kutram took part in the ceremony of fixing the boundaries (ellaikkal naduthal). The key points regarding these grants are: (a) R.C. Majumdar (Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 283) compares the present grant with that of a vihara at Nalanda39 and suggests that in the present case, the Sailendra king, Chulamanivarman, should have specifically requested King Rajaraja to provide a grant to his vihara. He discusses the Sanskrit portion of the grant and its indirect references to this effect. In this context, the following Tamil portion of the grant is interesting: Kidarattaraiyan Chulamainpanman Kshatriyasigamani valanattu Pattinak Kootrathu Nagappattinatu eduppikkindra Chulamanipanma viharattup palliku vendum nivandatukku… (c) The term “viharattup palliku vendum nivandatukku” should be interpreted as “a grant, as required for the vihara”. There is no direct implication here to any specific request made by Chulamanivarman to Rajaraja I to support the vihara with a grant. (d) “Viharattup palliku” can be interpreted as a “Vihara, which is a palli” or more appropriately, a palli or a shrine within the vihara complex. This observation is of paramount importance, which we shall discuss shortly. (e) “eduppikkindra” indicates “currently under construction” — a present tense usage. 126

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

126

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

127

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

(f) While the Tamil portion is accurate in distinguishing the palli from the vihara complex, the Sanskrit portion doesn’t. Nor does it bother to record the fact that the complex construction was begun by the father of King Mara Vijayottungavarman. (g) The height of the vihara exclaimed in Sanskrit portion should be kept in mind as it will be referred later. (h) The accuracy with which the area of land provided by the grant has been expressed is worth mentioning. The projection on the yield per year from the land provides a temptation to suggest that the government might have maintained a table on the approximate yield capacity of various types of soil across the dominions. (i) The execution period of the royal order, during the times of Rajaraja I seems to have been quick (two years and seventy-two days) as compared with a long wait of ten years in the case of Rajendra I (Esalam copper plate grants). Smaller Leiden grants consist of the Tamil portion only and were issued during the twentieth year of Kulottunga Chola I. The essence of these three smaller plates is below: (a) While the king was resting in a seat called Kalingarayan in the bathing hall (Thirumanjana Salai) at the palace in Ayirattali 40 alias Ahavamallakulakalapuram, two messengers of the king of Kadaram, named Rajavidyadara Sri Samantha, and Abhimannottunga Sri Samantha petitioned to him that the village granted free from payment of taxes as pallichanda for meeting the requirements of the shrines of Rajendrasolapperumpalli and Rajarajapperumpalli, which were constructed by the king of Kadaram at Solakulavallippattinam in Pattinak kutram, a subdivision of Keyamanicka valanadu, may be entered in a copper plate document and issued in favour of the Sangattar of the Palli. (b) The messengers also prayed that the kanialar of the pallichanda lands may be removed and the lands be left entirely in charge of palli and that this fact may also be noted in the same copper plate deed. (c) Boundaries of the monastery and its surroundings (palli nilai and palli vilagam) is 313/4 veli, 2 ma and 1 mundirigai. Key points regarding these grants are: (a) Possibly due to the hostility of the relationship between the Cholas and Sailendras, the land cultivators seemed to have enjoyed the lands belonging 127

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

127

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

128

(b)

(c) (d)

(e)

(f)

Gokul Seshadri

to the palli. The grants had to be issued as kudi neekiya devadana (“Kudi neeki ippalli changattarke kaniyaga kuduttom” — line 38) or a grant where the present cultivators shall be removed. Line 39 — Rajarajapperumpalli, which must have been a shrine in the vihara, figures as a surname of Sailendra’s Chulamanivarma vihara itself ! The Rajendrasolapperumpalli, referred to in the inscription, should also be considered as a subshrine in a major complex. When listing the pallichanda lands, the grant omits rajendrasolap perumpalli, which was mentioned earlier, and lists only those villages belonging to Rajarajasolapperumpalli. “The sangattar of palli seem to have been the administrative body of the vihara, comparable to the pan maheswara of Shiva temples” — observes Subramanya Iyer. A Pandiyan inscriptional reference (ARE 1963–64, p. 290/Jayakumar 2001, p. 70) to Rajarajapperumpalli as ThiruMaheswarap Perumpalli can be viewed in this background. The palli vilagam41 should be taken as the ambulatory wall of the complex. Palli nilai could have meant the core structure of the temple.

LATER PERIOD REFERENCES AND FINDINGS The China pagoda, built by Pallava king Rajasimha, finds repeated references in Marco Polo, The Kalyani inscription of Dhammacheti issued in AD 1476, Valentyn (AD 1725), and Sir Walter Elliot (AD 1867). An extremely important piece of evidence regarding the China pagoda is being publicized in the present paper for the first time.42 This watercolour sketch is currently in the possession of the British Library in London. The name of the painter is lost, but the wording inscribed on the front in ink identifies beyond all conceivable doubts what it represents: “Sketch of an ancient structure Nagapatam43 commonly called the Chinese pagoda but supposed to be the remains of a Jaina44 temple”

The exact year of this painting is not known but it can be assumed that this should have been drawn in the early or middle part of the eighteenth century, when most portions of the complex were intact. It is needless to emphasize the importance of this painting in the present context. The painting shows the tower which was later referred to as Puduveli gopuram and carefully recorded by Sir Walter Elliot in two drawings. Interpolating 128

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

128

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

129

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

the size of the structures from the height of the tower, we can see that it was a massive complex. The height of trees pales in comparison to that of the main structures. The sanctum sanctorum of the main palli is comparable to a South Indian Vesara (circular) vimana. A smaller vimana is seen behind the main shrine, and it could have been a subshrine or an additional shrine in the complex. It is a common Buddhist custom to build many small temples in one complex. The China pagoda complex could have housed many smaller pallis or shrines and this alone explains why only one structure, that is, the China pagoda, has been referred to in later annals and no mention is made of an independent Rajarajapperumpalli, Rajendracholapperumpalli, 45 or Padarikarama46 monastery. The Kalyani inscription’s reference to the cave in which the image of Buddha was kept — in the light of present evidence — makes one wonder if the main shrines were built along the grounds of South Indian garba grihas because Nagapattinam has no mountains or caves in its vicinity. The same inscription also provides another piece of information regarding the sanctity of this place, which is that this place marks the exact holy spot where Buddha’s tooth relic was kept before its transit to Sri Lanka. The structure between the tower and inner shrine, as well as the small rooms shown in front of main shrine, could have been the dwellings of Buddhist monks. The whole complex should have faced east, judging from the remarks of Jesuits,47 who pulled down the remains of the tower in 1867. The ambulatory wall, which extends through the backside of the complex, reminds us of the “vilagam” reference in the smaller Leiden grants. The complex should have housed hundreds of bronze Buddha images, some48 of which were excavated in the last two centuries. In the light of the evidence offered in the present paper, it seems more appropriate to assume that the donors of these bronzes were merchants and transit passengers — rather than the local populace. A quote from “A Personal Narrative of a Mission to Madras Mysore and South of India” (Hoole 1844, 111) is important. “It [Negapatam] contains some remains of the former prevailing system of Buddhu: In one of the streets is a well executed sculpture of Buddhu, full size and seated as though in meditation. Outside the town is a high tower usually called Tzina or “Silver Pagoda” concerning which the traditions are many and contradictory. That which attributes its erection to the Chinese, appears to favor the notion of its having

129

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

129

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

130

Gokul Seshadri

formed part of a Buddhist temple. It is constructed of red bricks, quite smooth and of a small size; with so little cement, that it has been disputed whether any at all had been used. An intelligent native who was with me when I examined the building said that a cement had been used, constituting entirely of the earth thrown up by the white ants in forming their mounds and cells. That this earth had been ground into a fine paste and used as a cement between each brick. The tower is so lofty as to be the first object visible at sea and was used by the Dutch for their flagstaff. I have been concerned to hear a report, which I hope is untrue, that preparations were making to take it down…”

Sadly, Hoole’s fears were proven to be true.

CONCLUSIONS Early Buddhist links of Nagapattinam are questionable. The city probably existed only as a centre of Saivism/Vaishnavism until the trade and merchant contacts from the seventh century AD onwards gave it a Buddhist association. The evolution of Nagapattinam as a medieval port was greatly triggered by the loss of Kavirippompattinam on the same coast. The commercial activities should have started as early as the eighth century. Rajarajapperumpalli, Rajendracholapperumpalli, and other pallis could have been smaller shrines in a large complex. Other than the Buddhist bronzes, not many stone statues of Buddha have been recovered in the Nagapattinam region — which is strange, because we get them even in much smaller pockets and hamlets. One wonders if there was any native Buddhist population at all in the city or whether all the vihara activities were mainly for inland and foreign transit merchants. This requires further analysis.

Notes 1. So far, no author appears to have provided any direct evidence of this. Natana Kasinathan provides a generic reference to the coin finds in Nagapattinam district, but is not specific about the locations (Kasinathan 1994). 2. It is interesting to note that these centres were capital cities of various empires. 3. As quoted by Gandha Vamsa. For references, see the later discussions on Gandha Vamsa in the present article. 4. This has been misinterpreted as Mayurapattana by some authors and got to be associated with present day Mayavaram, near Kumbakonam. 5. Dhammapala wrote two books on Netti — Nettipakaran(a)-attha-katha and Nettiatthakatha-thika according to Gandha Vamsa (Bode 1894–96, pp. 64–66). 130

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

130

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

131

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

6. Hikasaka (1989), p. 26, who, in turn, quotes Mylai Seeni Venkatasami and Anand Kausalyayana. 7. It is of interest to note that even the then Buddhist world was well aware of this problem and called the second Dhammapala, who came some time later and authored a book or two, “Chulla-Dhammapala”. 8. We see that many seaside ports were appended with the term “pattinam” since the Sangam ages –– Kavirippom-pattinam being a very good example. But not all ports were distinguished by this name, as evident from names such as Thondi, Korkai, and Musiri (Muziris). 9. In present day Indonesia, there exists a vihara by name of “Dhammasoka vihara”. 10. According to this account provided by Xuanzang, Dhammapala was born to a high official in Kanchipuram and was all set to marry the daughter of the king. Just the night before the marriage, he renounced the world and became a monk in a monastery that was located on the farther outskirts of Kanchipuram. 11. Refer to Dipavamsa, for examples. 12. Does the term refer to Buddhist monasteries patronized by kings? 13. Ramachandran’s pioneering work incorrectly refers to Jambudvipacharya of Gandha Vamsa as Acharyas of Kanchi (T.N. Ramachandran 1992, p. 6). 14. Thevaram, Fourth Thirumurai 4.71-1 to 4.71-10: ten verses (Nerisai Venpa), Fifth Thirumurai 5.83-1 to 5.83-10: ten verses (kurunthogai meter), Sixth Thirumurai 6.22-1 to 6.22-11: eleven verses (Thandaka Hymns). 15. For a treatment on Vangam, refer to Jayakumar (2001), p. 58. 16. In Mathura, Xuanzang saw a Buddhist sangharama erected by King Ashoka’s brother Mahindra and a vihara to its east, believed to have been erected by Ashoka himself — both of which were in a state of dilapidation, when he saw them. 17. Beal (1906), p. 233. 18. Sastri (1939), p. 108. 19. Yijing came to India some twenty-eight years after Xuanzang. 20. Religieux Eminents, pp. 144–45, as quoted by Sastri (1939), p. 115. 21. Malayu in Sumatra. 22. Kedah in Malaysia. 23. The Kailasanatha Shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva. 24. The Thalagiriswara Temple. Panaimalai is located near Vizhuppuram. 25. Several temples, including the three famous shore temples. 26. Rajasimha equates himself with Guha (Kartikeya), son of Lord Shiva, in the Kailasanatha Temple Inscription. It will be interesting to analyse his emphasis on Somaskanda, in the light of this inscription. 27. For details, see Journal of American Oriental Society Vol. 11, p. 12. Article by Wells Williams. 28. For the original French translation by Sylvain Levi, refer Journal Asiatique 1900. For an English translation of Sylvain Levi’s account, refer Chatterjee, 1987. 131

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

131

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

132

Gokul Seshadri

29. Also known as Tantrayana. 30. Shunjo Nogami and others, Outline of Buddhist History in China as quoted by Hikasaka, 1989. 31. The temple is called the Sri Sundararaja Perumal Temple. 32. The version of the book to which I referred was printed in 1880 and was an interesting historic specimen on its own. 33. The Chinese Pagoda, as per the Chinese sources, is a Buddhist temple and not a vihara. 34. Popularly known as “Thevaara Movar” in Tamil traditions. 35. The Valanadu subdivision was introduced by Rajaraja I while the rest were in existence even earlier. 36. Refer to later discussions on the Larger Leiden Grant of Rajaraja I in the present paper. 37. It was a customary practice of the Cholas to provide apprenticeship to a wouldbe king by allowing him to co-rule with the present king. The inscriptions will mention the names of both kings on certain occasions. For a treatment on the subject, please refer to Kudanthai N. Sethuraman (1980). 38. A recently discovered inscription, in the precincts of Agasthiswara Temple at Kolappakkam near Chennai, Tamilnadu, talks about the donation made by the king of Srivijaya to the temple. On palaeographic grounds, this inscription is assignable to the period of Rajaraja Chola I. Refer to The Hindu newspaper, 12 February 2006. 39. About the middle of the ninth century AD, the Sailendra king established a vihara at Nalanda and at the request of the Sailendra king, Devapala of Bengal granted five villages. 40. The location of this Ayirattali has been identified with the present-day Veerasingam Pettai area, near Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu by Kudavoil Balasubramaniyan in his book titled Nandhipuram. 41. Refer to an article titled, “Vilagam” (M. Nalini 2001). 42. To the best of the author’s knowledge, the presence of this colour drawing is not known to any scholar who has worked on all related areas and we find no mention about it in any of the published works. The museum experts who wrote explanatory notes on the painting seem to be aware of its significance. 43. Patam is a corruption of Pattinam. We find many such pattinams getting corrupted under Western observations. 44. The China Pagoda was possibly misunderstood as Jaina Pagoda. 45. The term “Akkasalai Perumpalli” associated with this palli in a Buddha bronze inscription could be related to the name of the street in which the status was found: Nanayakkara Street. Akkasalai indicates coin minting factory, and Nanayam also means coin. But this proposition requires further evidence. 46. This is referred to in the Kalyani inscription of Dhammachetti. 47. The remark was that the tower was obstructing the passage of sunlight to the prayer hall. 132

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

132

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

133

New Perspectives on Nagapattinam

48. About 350 bronzes have been recovered. For a detailed treatment, refer to T.N. Ramachandran, 1990.

References Beal, Samuel. Si-yu-ki, the Buddhist Records of Western Countries — Vol. II. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906. Bode, Mabel. Index to Gandhavamsa. London: Pali Text Society, 1894–96. ———. Sasanavamsa. London: Pali Text Society, 1897. Chatterjee, S.P. The Mission of Wang Hiuen Tse in India. Calcutta: Sri Satguru, 1987. Davids, Rhys T.W. Milinda Panha — Questions of King Milinda (Translation) Oxford, 1890. Hardy, Prof. E. The Netti-Pakarana with Extracts from Dhammapala’s Commentary. London: Pali Text Society, 1902. Hikasaka, Shu. Buddhism in Tamilnadu, a New Perspective. Chennai: Institute of Asian Studies, 1989. Hoole, Elijah. Madras Mysore and the South of India. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844. Iyengar, Raghava. R. Nallisai Pulamai Mellialargal. Thamizh Kadal, 1933. Jayakumar. P. Tamizhaga Turaimugangal-Medieval Period (Tamil). Thanjavur: Anbu Veliyeetagam, 2001. Jeeyar, Pinbazhagiya Perumal. Guruparampara Prabhava. R. Ramakrishna Pillai, 1880. Kasinathan, Natana. Collected Papers. Tamil Nadu: State Department of Archaeology, 1994. Mahalingam T.V. Kanchipuram in Early South Indian History. Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1969. McCrindle, J.W. Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy. Reprinted from the Indian Antiquary, 1884. Minayeff, Professor. Gandhavamsa. London: Pali Text Society, 1886. Nalini, M. “Vilagam”. In Kaveri: Studies in Epigraphy, Archaeology and History (Professor Y. Subbarayalu Felicitation volume), edited by S. Rajagopal. Chennai: Panpattu Veliyiittakam, 2001. Rajamanickanar, M. Kaala Araichi (Tamil) (Reprint). Chennai: Alamu Pathippagam, 2003. Ramachandran, T.N. Nagappatinam and Other Buddhist Bronzes in the Madras Museum. (Reprint). Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum, 1990. Sastri, Nilakanta K.A. Foreign Notices of South India. Chennai: University of Madras, 1989. Sethuraman, N. Early Cholas, Mathematics Reconstructs the Chronology. Sethuraman, 1980. 133

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

133

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

134

Gokul Seshadri

Trenckner, V. The Milindapanho. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1928. Venkatasami, Mylai Seeni. Bauttamum Tamizhum (Tamil) (Reprint). Chennai: Vasantha Pathippagam, 2004. Yule, Col. Henry. Indian Antiquary, Vol. XIII. Bombay, 1873. Zvelebil, Kamil V. Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature. Leiden: Brill, 1997.

134

07 Nagapattinam_Ch 7(new)

134

11/4/09, 1:01 PM

135

South Indian Merchant Guilds

8 SOUTH INDIAN MERCHANT GUILDS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AND SOUTHEAST ASIA Noboru Karashima INTRODUCTION Since the 1980s more attention has been paid to the merchant activities in the Indian Ocean than before. However, the works published so far deal mostly with the period after the coming of Europeans, and there are comparatively far fewer number of works which study the period prior to it, except, of course, the works dealing with the Roman trade period (first to third century). Those small number of works which study the period after the Roman trade and before the coming of Europeans include Kenneth R. Hall, Trade and Statecraft in the Age of the Colas; Meera Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India; and R. Champakalakshmi, Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300. All these give much attention to the vigorous commercial activities of the merchant guilds from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, coinciding with the period of rule by the Cholas in Tamil Nadu and the Chalukyas in Karnataka. K.V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, K.R. Venkatarama Ayyar, G.S. Dikshit, and K. Indrapala were the pioneers who studied these guilds, and Abraham, based on the studies of those pioneers, concentrated her study on the two important guilds called man.igra-mam and ainu-r-r-uvar. For her study she collected nearly 150 inscriptions which refer to those guilds and advanced past studies to a 135

135

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

135

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

136

Noboru Karashima

great extent. However, in addition to the inaccuracy, in several cases, of her (or past scholars’) reading of those inscriptions, there are still many more inscriptions referring to the guilds, if we search for them. Moreover there have been discoveries of several important inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka after the publication of her book. In order to make up for such deficiency in past studies, I organized a project for the study of merchant-guild inscriptions in collaboration with Y. Subbarayalu, P. Shanmugam, S. Pathmanathan, and others, and collected some three hundred inscriptions1 which refer to the terms relating to merchant guilds such as man.igra-mam, añjuvan.n.am, ainu-r-r-uvar,2 na-na-de-si, padinen.vishayam, and padinen.-bu-mi, though the last three are to be regarded as synonymous with ainu-r-r-uvar, which is the most prominent of them. For the purpose of collecting these inscriptions, we visited many places, including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia, and took estampages of the inscriptions which were newly discovered, as well as already known. Even in the case of already known inscriptions, we were able to improve the reading of previous scholars on the basis of our new estampages. The añjuvan.n.am was an organization of foreign merchants such as Jews, Christians, and Muslims who migrated to the Malabar Coast from the West in earlier centuries.3 The man.igra-mam, which was a descendant group of traders from Van. ika-gra- ma in Kaverippumpattinam according to Champakalakshmi, appeared in Kerala and Tamil Nadu inscriptions in the ninth century and after. The appearance of ainu-r-r-uvar as the merchant guild in the ninth-century Aihole inscriptions is doubtful, and many inscriptions referring to it are found from the tenth-century in Tamil Nadu. This guild increased its power gradually with the advance of time, and from the twelfth century both añjuvan.n.am and man.igra-mam seem to have become incorporated into the organization of ainu-r-r-uvar. If we take the chronological and topographical distributions of the inscriptions referring to these guilds, including their synonymous names, we see the following: The first thing we notice from the topographical distribution shown in this table is the fact that we have a good number of inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka compared with other areas, although we have a certain number in Andhra Pradesh in the areas other than Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The four inscriptions in Southeast Asia come from Indonesia (Sumatra), Thailand, and Myanmar. As for the chronological distribution, we notice that there is concentration in the period from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, the largest number belonging to the thirteenth century. The chronological tendency seen in Karnataka is rather parallel to the tendency 136

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

136

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

137

South Indian Merchant Guilds

TABLE 8.1 Chronological and Topographical Distribution of Merchant Guild Inscriptions Year

AP*

800–900 901–1000 1001–1100 1101–1200 1201–1300 1301–1400 1401–1600 Undated

5 6 9 6 9

Total

35

KL*

KN* MH*

1 2 3 0 2 0 0 0

2 1 24 56 33 8 6 2

8

132

0 2

2

TN*

SL* SEA*

Total

1 24 18 12 46 11 5 1

1 11 1 2

1 0 1

5 27 52 87 93 27 20 3

118

15

2

4

314

Note: AP = Andhra Pradesh, KL = Kerala, KN = Karnataka, MH = Maharashtra, TN = Tamil Nadu, SL = Sri Lanka, SEA = Southeast Asia Source: AMCAIO, p. 5.

found for all the inscriptions, but the tendency in Tamil Nadu is somewhat different, showing a decrease in number in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This point will be discussed later. We shall now examine the inscriptions which refer to these merchant guilds in order to know their organization and activities. However, as the ainu-r-r-uvar was the most important guild among them, as stated above, and as it had the largest number of inscriptions which afford information on structure, activity, and history of the guild, the inscriptions we are going to examine in the following section will be mostly those of the ainu-r-r-uvar.

CONTENTS OF THE MERCHANT GUILD INSCRIPTIONS As for the contents of the inscriptions, the majority records the donation to the temple by some individual merchant belonging to these guilds. For example, a Konerirajapuram inscription (SII, xix, 280: Tj, TN) records that Venkadan Singam alias Disai-ayirattu-ainurruvan granted land to a temple for burning a perpetual lamp. However, some inscriptions record the protection of tank, temple, etc. to be ensured by the members of these merchant guilds. The Takua Pa inscription in the Malay Peninsula (AMCAIO, p. 11) records that man.igra-mam and se-na-mugam4 were asked to protect the tank named Sri-(avani)naranam. Some other inscriptions refer to the temple or tank which were constructed and named after a merchant guild. For example, 137

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

137

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

138

Noboru Karashima

the Pagan inscription in Myanmar (AMCAIO, p. 15) refers to a temple na-na-de-si-vin.n.agar, and a Munisandai inscription (IPS, 61: Pd, TN) refers to the tank called aiññu-r-r-va-pe-re-ri. However, the inscriptions important for our understanding of the organization of merchant guilds are the ainu-r-r-uvar inscriptions recording some decisions made by a large number of the guild members at their assembly meeting. We can distinguish between two types in these assembly meeting inscriptions. One type can be called er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam inscriptions which record the decision of merchants to confer the name of er-ivı-rapat..tinam, meaning “the town of the brave soldiers”, on the town in which the merchants as well as the soldiers live. The other is the type called pat..tana-pagudi inscriptions, which record the merchants’ decision to share the contribution to the temple for its festival, repairing, etc. from the profit of their trade. We shall now see the contents of these two types of inscriptions. Er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam has been interpreted variously by different scholars in past studies, for example as “mercantile town” by T.N. Subramanian; “fortified mart” by Venkatarama Ayyar; or “market-towns protected by er-ivı-rar (warriors)” by K. Indrapala. Hall takes it as an emporium established in some remote area assuming a commercial stance between the nagarams and the pat..tinams. Champakalakshmi regards it as a privileged town which has protected warehouses for itinerant merchants. Though these interpretations, especially that by Indrapala, cannot be rejected categorically, a somewhat different idea is obtainable from a comparative study of inscriptions of Tamil Nadu and of Sri Lanka, including the recently discovered inscriptions of Samuttirapatti, Viharehinna, and Budumuttawa. The new interpretation to be proposed here is also applicable to many other inscriptions referring to er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam in Tamil Nadu and even those in Karnataka. The Samuttirapatti inscription (Avanam 2-2, 3: Md, TN, 1050) tells us that the merchants of ainu-r-r-uvar conferred the name of er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam on the town where they (together with vı-rakkod.iyar, brave soldiers) live, granting some privileges to vı-rakkod.iyar in appreciation of the brave deed they had done for them. Vı-rakkod.iyar, who were thus honoured seemed to have won in the fighting against other merchants who were antagonistic to the ainu-r-r-uvar merchants of this town and rescued three important ainu-r-r-uvar members. The Viharehinna inscription (AMCAIO, pp. 32–34: SL, c.1150), based on the estampage taken afresh, records that vı-rar (soldiers) together with na-.t.tu-chet..tiya-r reciprocated the honour given to them by the merchants of the town by relinquishing some income which they were entitled to take from the people of the town. The honour is stated to have been the conferment of the name of er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam on the town where they lived and the indemnity

138

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

138

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

139

South Indian Merchant Guilds

money that the merchants paid to release a vı-rar who had been put into jail by the local ruler. The new interpretation, therefore, is that er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam was the name of the town conferred by the merchants of ainu-r-r-uvar on it in appreciation of the brave deed done for them by soldiers such as vı-rar and vı-rakkod.iyar, whom the ainu-r-r-uvar merchants usually affectionately called “our sons” (nam makkal. ). It is not necessary to take it as a town restricted to some remote area, or as the town which had the protected warehouse, though further studies will be desired on these points. All the er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam inscriptions come from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, suggesting some circumstances in which the importance of the soldiers who guarded the merchants increased greatly. Further studies will be necessary on this point too. The inscriptions which record pat..tana-pagudi grant in Tamil Nadu are found mostly in the thirteenth century, though we find the inscriptions of this type in Karnataka for all the centuries after the eleventh century. Pat..tanapagudi in Tamil means “share” or “part” (pagudi) of the town (pat..tanam) and sometimes the share was called magamai in inscriptions. In Kannada inscriptions the term dharma-yam is used for this shared contribution. This type of inscriptions is more in number than the Er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam type inscriptions, and good examples of the inscriptions in Tamil Nadu are those of Sarkar Periyapalaiyam, Piranmalai, and Kovilpatti. The Kovilpatti inscription (AMCAIO, pp. 281–82: Tp, TN, 1305) states, after the ainu-r-r-uvar eulogy given in the beginning, that the Ainu-r-r-uvar members (the two groups of ) na-.t.tuchchet..tigal. and tal. achchet..tigal. , and (another two groups of ) mun-ai and mun-aivı-rakkod.iyar, who were called “our sons” (nammakkal. ), and the members of chitrame--li-periyana-d.u, who were righteous and kind, assembled at the grove named Achchakkandaka in a Siva temple in Vadadaliyur and decided unanimously the following charity (money contribution in the form of pat..tana-pagudi) for the deity. After this, it further states that the charity thus agreed will actually be made by the members of the four specified nagarams in the area and stipulates the way of sharing the contribution. As chet..ti was a title given to merchants, na-.t.tu-chet..tigal. and tal. a-chet..tigal. are supposed to have been groups of merchants, but actually they seem to have been soldiers who guarded the ainu-r-r-uvar merchants. Mun-ai and mun-ai-vı-rakkod.iyar were definitely groups of soldiers who were regarded lower than merchants, as indicated by the words “our sons”. However, these four groups also composed the ainu-r-r-uvar organization, and we shall examine later the groups which composed the ainu-r-r-uvar in more detail later. Chitrame-l. i-periyanad.u is the organization composed of peasant groups, often

139

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

139

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

140

Noboru Karashima

together with some groups of artisans and servicing-castes.5 They were not the regular component groups of the ainu-r-r-uvar organization, but joined in this assembly. This inscription is remarkable in revealing the fact that this charity to a Siva temple, which was decided by the ainu-r-r-uvar, was actually to be made by the members of the nagaram of the four towns in the same val. ana-d.u where the temple existed. Though we do not know whether the members of the ainu-r-r-uvar and those of the nagaram were the same or not, the decision made by the ainu-r-r-uvar was to be carried out by the members of the nagaram, which were the more locality-oriented organizations. The Sarkar Periyapalaiyam inscription (Avanam 6-12: Cb, TN, 1289) records that the members of ainu-r-r-uvar and padin-en.-vishayam, including . chet..ti, chet..ti-vı-raputtirargal. , malaiman.d.alattu-pala- nagarangal. , who met in the precincts of a Siva temple as the assembly of the ainu- r-r-uvar (ainu-r-r-uvan--peruniravi) and also as the assembly of the padin-en.-vishayam (padin-en.-vishayam-peruniravi), decided the charity together with the groups called na-.t.tu-chet..ti, tal. am-chet..tigal. , arupattuna-n-gu-mun-ai, and mun-aivı-rakkod.iyar. The charity (pat..tana-pagudi contribution) is stated for the purpose of conducting a festival in a Siva temple in a village in Virachola-valanadu. Chet..ti is one of the most important merchant groups. Chet..ti-vı-raputtirargal. coming in the second position is often represented by chet..ti-puttiraI in other inscriptions and seems to be another merchant group. Na-.t.tu-chet..ti, tal. amchet..tigal. , arupattuna-n-gu-mun.ai and mun.ai-vı-rakod.iyar were all soldiers’ groups. . Malaiman.d.alattu-pala-nagarangal. were the nagarams in the Malai-mandalam (Kerala) and not specified as the nagaram of some town, unlike the Kovilpatti inscription seen above. But in this locality (Virachola-valanadu), which is close to Kerala, there must have been many Kerala merchants carrying on trade in horses and others. In this case, therefore, the actual contribution must have been made by all the merchants who lived in this locality. The way of sharing the contribution is usually stipulated on the basis of the traded commodity and that of the Kovilpatti inscription is as shown in Table 8.2. There are some inscriptions which enumerate more commodities than on this list, such as the Belur inscription (EC (n.s.) ix, Bl-171; Hs, KN, 1382), which gives sixty-two names, and the commodities appearing in more than ten inscriptions are the following eleven items: pepper, areca nuts, betel leaf, oil, paddy, rice, grains, salt, sandal, cotton threads, and cloth. Among these commodities, in addition to the precious commodities such as spices and big animals, there are a variety of products required for daily consumption such as salt, rice and areca nuts, reflecting the participation in the big assembly by many local merchants organized as nagaram. The appearance of 140

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

140

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

141

South Indian Merchant Guilds

TABLE 8.2 Pat.t.ana-pagudi Sharing in Terms of Commodities Contribution in pan. am

Commodities 1 big bag of pepper 1 big bag of areca nuts 1 bale of cloth … 1 horse 1 camel 1 bag of medicine 1 head pack of incense, yak hair, sandal paste, camphor and other imported goods 1 domestic quadruped like cow, bull, calf and buffalo 1 big bag of silk cloth, rhinoceros horn, peruku, musk, iron bar and other big goods 1 big bag of paddy 1 big bag of grains, straw, dry grains like wheat, beans, half beans, mustard, and ve… 1 big bag of tamarind 1 head pack of herb, cinnamon, garland, conch, ivory, … 1 big bag of rice 1 cart load of salt, tamarind, paddy, and others brought by a bullock cart The other commodities

3/20 2/20 6/20 — 1 1/2 1 + 1/2 1 1 + 1/40 1 + 1/40 1/40 1/20 1/20 1 + 1/40 1/20 1/8 Decision on spot

Source: Kovilpatti Inscription.

cloth, oil, and iron-bar in the list of commodities and frequent reference to them indicate the development of those industries, namely weaving, oilpressing, and iron-smithy in South India during the period from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, which is also attested to by an analysis of tax terms appearing in inscriptions of the period.6 In the chronological distribution of pat..tana-pagudi inscriptions there is again a difference between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. While the thirty-five pat..tana-pagudi inscriptions of Tamil Nadu are concentrated in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the fifty-three Karnataka inscriptions appear in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Though the number is lower, pat..tana-pagudi inscriptions in Andhra Pradesh are distributed rather evenly over the period in and after the twelfth century. In the case of Kerala and Sri Lanka, such inscriptions are rarely encountered.7 141

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

141

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

142

Noboru Karashima

– EULOGY OF AINUR –R –UVAR

We shall now examine the origin of the ainu-r-r-uvar merchant guild. Most of the ainu-r-r-uvar inscriptions, both of the er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam and pat..tana-pagudi types, that record the decision made by a number of groups of merchants in an assembly, have the eulogy (prasasti) of Ainu-r-r-uvar in the initial part, such as the king’s eulogy which is usually given in the beginning. The earliest eulogy of ainu-r-r-uvar so far discovered in Tamil Nadu is recorded in the Kamudi inscription (AMCAIO, pp. 228–29; Rm, TN, middle of the tenth century) and that in Karnataka is in the Bedkihal inscription (AMCAIO, pp. 229–30; Bj, KN, c.1000). Strangely, however, they already show a somewhat mature stage of eulogy formation, being long enough to accommodate mythological explanations too. The eulogy of the Kamudi inscription — which is surely the eulogy to the ainu-r-r-uvar though this damaged inscription does not mention the name of ainu-r-r-uvar — states that they possessed 500 charters called vı-ra sa-sanam, they had Lakshmi on their chest, they were descendants of Vasudeva, Kandali and Mulabhadra,8 and sons of Paramesvari,9 and transacted in eighteen pat..tanam, thirty-two ve-.lapuram, 64 kad.igaita-val.am (these three places will be explained later). After this, it enumerates the groups which actually formed together the ainu-r-r-uvar organization, starting from chet..ti and ending with vı-rar, including ga-mud.asva-mi in between. The eulogy of the Bedkihal inscription states that they possessed 500 charters called vı-ra sa-sana, were brave, observed the dharma of the viravalam.ja, were descendants of Vasudeva, Kandali and Mulabhadra, possessed boons granted by Bhagavati, were lords (Paramesvarar) of Aiyavole, they transact in eighteen pat.t.anam, thirty-two ve-lavula and sixty-four ghat.ika-stha-nam (that is, kadigaita-val.am). After this the groups which composed the ainu- r-r-uvar are enumerated starting from set..tigutta, ga-mun.d.asa-mi, bı-ran-, amkaka-ran and ba-rikan (same as va-riyan). Through the examination of eulogies of ainu-r-r-uvar inscriptions, starting from Kamudi and Bedkihal ones, we may be able to summarize the important matters given in the eulogy as follows: (1) the charter they had, in which their rights and duties were supposed to have been described, (2) the dharma they practised as merchants (val.añjayar) such as honesty and bravery, (3) their lineage from the three gods, Vasudeva, Kandali and Mulabhadra, (4) their close relation with Aihole through its deity Parames´vari (Durga), (5) the wide area represented by eighteen pat..tanam, thirty-two ve-.la-puram, and sixty-four kad.igai-ta-val.am, where their activities were conducted, and (6) their hill banner.

142

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

142

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

143

South Indian Merchant Guilds

From the summary of the ainu-r-r-uvar eulogy above, and also from the regulation of charity contributions to be made by its members stipulated in pat..tana-pagudi inscriptions, we may regard the ainu-r-r-uvar as a merchant guild, though it seems to have functioned as an organization overarching various merchant groups under its banner. Its activities were stated to cover a wide area, and of the “18 pat..tanam, 32 ve-.la-puram, and 64 kad.igai-ta-val.am”, pat.t.anam is a port or commercial town such as Nagapattinam and Krishnapattinam. Ve-.lapuram seems to have meant the harbour area of the port, and kad.igai-ta-val.am seems to have been a market in the citadel of the town (pat..tanam), and the numbers, 18, 32, and 64, are all fictitious, just meaning, many. The Barus inscription discovered in northwest of Sumatra, Indonesia, supports this statement in the ainu-r-r-uvar eulogy, as the . ainu-r-r-uvar merchants met at ve-.la-puram in Va-ro-su (Barus) alias Ma-tangarivallava-de-si-uyyakkon.d.a-pat.t.minam.10 According to the eulogy, the origin of the Ainu-r-r-uvar is linked to Aiyavole, the present Aihole in Karnataka, but it is strange that the activities of this merchant guild become conspicuous in Tamil Nadu earlier than in Karnataka, namely in the tenth century. The earliest eulogy also comes from Tamil Nadu, notwithstanding their obvious Karnataka connection as suggested in the eulogy. Though the eulogy of the Kamudi inscription does not mention Aihole, the inclusion of ga-mun.d.asva-mi among the associated groups clearly indicates its relation with Karnataka. Another puzzle is found in Aihole itself. An inscription of the Gaudaragudi temple and another in the Lad Khan temple, both in Aihole and ascribable to the end of the eighth century, are the first inscriptions which refer to the term ainu--ru (five hundred), but it is associated only with Brahmins (maha-janas or chaturve-dins) and not with merchants. In Aihole there remain a few more inscriptions of the twelfth century which mention ainu--ru, but in them also the term refers only to the five-hundred Brahmin organization. The eulogy of ainu-r-r-uvar began to appear in Tamil Nadu from the middle of the tenth century, and in Karnataka probably a little later, showing somewhat maturity in their development as eulogy. The people who claimed their association with it were definitely merchants who were composed of various communities of the locality. Though Brahmins in Aiyavole might have initiated the forming of a merchant guild and taken leadership in commercial activities, their actual relation with the later ainu-r-r-uvar organization composed of various communities remains enigmatic at present.

143

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

143

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

144

Noboru Karashima

– COMPONENT GROUPS OF AINUR –R –UVAR

We shall examine here the groups which composed the ainu-r-r-uvar organization. As already seen, the eulogy often refers to, besides ainu-r-r-uvar, various groups of merchants and people of other professions as the component groups of the guild. Even if those groups are not included in the eulogy, they appear in the subsequent part of the inscription and in some cases they are the people who convened the assembly. Unlike the king’s eulogy, however, it is rather difficult to separate the ainu-r-r-uvar eulogy from the part in which the convening groups appeared often together with some other groups which joined in the assembly. Some examples are as follows: The Viharehinna inscription in Sri Lanka, which records the conferment of the name er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam, gives the following groups in the eulogy. taval.attu-chet..ti (merchants in the locality) chet..ti-puttiran- (merchants) kavar-ai (merchants) ka-triban- (betel leaf dealers) ka-mun.d.a-sva-mi (chief landlords) o-.t.tan- (messenger) ul.pasumbaikka--r an- (merchants carrying bag) . angaka--ran- (soldiers) -avanaka-ran (shop keepers) . - pa-va-d.ai-vı-ran- (soldiers with honour) After this, it gives the names of the following two groups. padin-en.bu-mi-vı-rar (soldiers) na-.t.tu-chet..ti (merchants/soldiers) Actually the last but one group (padin-en.bu-mi-vı-rar) was the chief figure who convened the assembly and spoke in this inscription in the first person plural. What they decided in the assembly is as follows. In appreciation of the honour which the merchant organization (vı-raval.añjeyar, that is, ainu-r-r-uvar) gave them, namely, the conferment of the name of er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam on the town, they decided to reciprocate it by relinquishing some dues they are entitled to take in the town, together with the na-.t.tu-cet..ti, whom they regard as their brothers. In this inscription the word ainu-r-r-uvar does not appear as a group. Instead, the word vı-raval.añjeyar appears in the portion where ainu-r-r-uvar is usually found in the eulogy of ainu-r-r-uvar, which indicates that vı-ravalañjeyar was synonymous with ainu-r-r-uvar. 144

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

144

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

145

South Indian Merchant Guilds

The Sarkar Periyapalaiyam inscription, which is an example of Pat..tanapagudi inscriptions, gives the name of the following groups. chet..ti (merchants) chet..ti-vı-raputtirargal. (merchants) malaiman.d.alattu pala nagarangal. (several nagarams of Malaiman.d.alam or Kerala) They are summed up at the end of this enumeration as ainu-r-r-uvar who met as the assembly (peruniravi) of padin-en.-vishayatta-r and also as that of ainu-r-r-uvar. Following this, however, four more groups are enumerated as having joined that assembly. They are: na-.t.tu-chet..ti (merchants/soldiers) tal.am-chet..tigal. (merchants/soldiers in the locality) ar-upattuna-gu-mun-ai (soldiers called 64) mun-ai-vı-rakkod.iyar (soldiers) The latter two are grouped as nammakkal. (our sons) indicating clearly their subordinate status, though all the four seemed to have been lower in their status than those enumerated before them. As an example of the Karnataka inscriptions, the Bedkihal inscription, which records the honour given by merchants to a warrior who killed the enemies of the merchants,11 enumerates the groups as follows. emt.una-d.a padinar- uvar (the sixteen of the eight na-d.us) ainu-r-bba sva-migal.u (the five hundred leaders) set..tiguttaru (merchants) ga-vun.d.a sa-mi (headman among landholders) bı-ran (the brave man) amkagaka-r-ar (fighters) ba-rikan (writers) This enumeration is given at the end of the inscription and makes emt.una-.ta padinar-uvar representative of the groups which follow it by inserting a word a-giya (as) in between emt.una-.ta padinar-uvar and other groups. From the examination of the groups appearing in er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam- and pat..tana-pagudi-type inscriptions of various regions, we may be able to classify the groups into eight categories. With some examples for each category, they are as follows. 145

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

145

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

146

Noboru Karashima

(1) Organizations or groups of big merchants gavar-e (merchant) nakhara/nagara (townsmen) set..ti (chet..ti) (merchant) set..ti-guttaru (merchant) bal.añja/ban.añjika/val.añjiya (merchant) emt.una-.ta padinar- uvaru (the sixteen of the eight na-d.us) (2) Local organizations of leading landholders ga-mun.d.a-sva-mi (headman among landholders) chitrame--li-periyana-d.u (the big assembly of peasants) (3) Groups of merchants dealing with specific merchandise or running a shop ga-ttrigaru (betel-leaf merchants) a-van.akka-r- ar (shopkeeper) (4) Merchants-cum-soldiers na-.t.tu-chet..ti (the set..ti of the locality) bı-ra-van.igaru (soldier merchants) (5) Soldiers who guard merchants vı-rar (the brave men) vı-rakkod.iya-r (those of the victorious banner) mun-ai/mun-ai-vı-rar (the brave men of the battlefield) (6) Organization of foreign merchants añjuvan.n.am (the guild of foreign/Muslim merchants) parade-si (foreign merchant) (7) Some other professional groups akkasa-le- (goldsmith) ba-rika (va-riyan-) (writer) (8) Servant groups pan.iche(cha)y-makkal. (servant groups) kalan-ai (servant groups) From the above, it is clear that in the assembly of the ainu-r-r-uvar, often called peruniravi or samayam (big assembly), various groups other than merchant 146

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

146

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

147

South Indian Merchant Guilds

groups joined in, including those of landholders, artisans, and other professions. This tendency is conspicuous in the assembly held for the purpose of contributing to a temple, reflecting all the people’s concern about temple affairs of the locality. For that, the cooperation of chitrame--l i-periyana-.t.tar or ga-mun.d.a-sva-migal. would have been very important. In some inscriptions the . . participation valangai and id.angai groups is also recorded. They were the organizations of low-caste groups composed of artisans and servicing-castes . and arranged horizontally in the two groups of the right hand (valangai) and . the left hand (id.angai).12 Another group which was important for the ainu-r-r-uvar organization were the groups of soldiers. As wealthy itinerant merchants, members of the ainu-r-r-uvar had to carry their precious merchandise to various countries, even across the ocean, and therefore, needed soldiers to guard them and their merchandise. Even among the soldiers there were different groups and the frequently referred-to groups are na-.t.tu-chet..ti (cet..ti of the locality), vı-rar (the brave men), vı-ra-kod.iyar (those of the victorious banner), or mun-ai (fighters?). The last three groups often appear under the name nammakkal. (our sons) after the enumeration of merchant groups, reflecting their lower position than merchants. However, the position of na-.t.tu-chet..ti (and also tal.a-chet..ti) seems to have been ambivalent, as they appear sometimes among merchant groups and at some other times among nammakkal. groups. Er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam inscriptions describe the brave fights of these soldiers to protect their merchants who were supposed to be their “fathers”. Thus, the ainu-r-r-uvar organization includes various groups, but the most important group were certainly the merchant groups. The frequently appearing groups among them were chet..ti (set..ti), chet..ti-puttiran- (set..ti-guttaru), kavarai (gavare), nagaram (nagara), and en..tuna-d.u-padinaruvaru. Chet..ti (set..ti) was the title given to important merchants in those days and the people having this title seemed to have taken leadership in the activity of the merchant guilds. The last group, en..tuna-d.u-padinaruvaru, meaning “the sixteen of the eight na-du” is seen only in Karnataka, but it is not clear what sort of organization it was. In the case of a nagaram associated with some locality, it was an organization composed in itself of various merchant groups, though there were also other nagarams, each of which was composed of dealers in some specific merchandise.13 Usually some of these particular merchant groups were responsible for convening the pat..tana-pagudi assembly in the name of the ainu-r-r-uvar, but the er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam assembly seems to have often been convened by some of the soldier groups who were honoured by the ainu-r-r-uvar merchants. The name er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam conferred on the town must have been more important for 147

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

147

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

148

Noboru Karashima

the soldiers and merchants, although other groups also joined in the assembly as known from the Viharehinna inscription. Merchant organizations other than ainu-r-r-uvar, such as man.igra-mam, añjuvan.n.am and parade-si, were also seen in inscriptions often joining in pat..tan.a-pagudi assembly; they seem to have been incorporated into the ainu-r-r-uvar organization since the twelfth century. Añjuvan.n.am and parade-si were the organizations of foreign merchants, as stated earlier. The Tittandatanapuram inscription (AMCAIO, p. 269: Rm, TN, 1269), which mentions both añjuvan.n.am-man.igra-mam and padin-en.-vishayam in the first person plural in the beginning, refers later only to añjuvan.n.am-man.igra-mam in the first person plural as the body that made the resolution in the assembly. This case seems to indicate that the añjuvan.n.am-man.igra-mam, which were two independent merchant guilds earlier, had already been incorporated into the padin-en.-vishayam (the ainu-r-r-uvar) organization, though they took the initiative in the local ainu-r-r-uvar assembly. The names of padin-en.-vishayam, padinen.-bu-mi and na-na-de-si are also often referred to in inscriptions in relation to the assembly together with the name of ainu-r-r-uvar or sometimes independently. However, they seem to have been used synonymously with ainu-r-r-uvar. First of all, these terms appear in the ainu-r-r-uvar eulogy itself as an adjective qualifying ainu-r-r-uvar, indicating that the activities of ainu-r-r-uvar were carried out in a wide area such as the eighteen countries (padin-en.-vishayam or padin-en.-bu-mi) or various regions (nana-de-si). Therefore, the usage of these terms (in the form of “we the people of such and such, for an example, padin-en.-vishayam) as a synonym of ainu-r-r-uvar is quite natural and understandable. They are often used either together with ainu-r-r-uvar to augment the meaning, or independently instead of ainu-r-r-uvar, showing the people’s preference for it. In the case of the Piranmalai inscription (SII, viii, 442: Rm, TN, c.1300), after the eulogy of ainu-r-r-uvar and enumeration of a certain number of groups, the names of padin-en.-vishayam and ainu-r-r-uvar are given together in the first person plural, and at the end of the inscription it is stated that a temple accountant wrote this document by the order of padin-en.-vishayam. There is no reason in this inscription for us to regard them as two different organizations. The Sarkar Periyapalayam inscription also describes the big assembly as those of padin-en.-vishayam and ainu-r-r-uvar using the first person plural for both, and it is difficult to regard these two as two independent organizations. In the signatory section of this inscription, only the expression “we of the padin-en.-vishayam big assembly” appears, omitting “the ainu-r-r-uvar big assembly”. 148

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

148

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

149

South Indian Merchant Guilds

In the Baligami inscription na-na-de-si-byavaha-rigal. (merchants of na na- de- si) appears in the beginning together with mummur- i-dan.d. a (the convening group of the assembly), but in the following portion only ainu-r-r-uvar appears as the prominent figure. Since the real initiative seems to have been taken by mummur-i-dan.d.a in the transaction in this inscription, we have to say that na-na-de-si-byavaha-ri in the beginning is the same as ainu-r-r-uvar. In the Terdal inscription, ainu-r-r-uvar appearing in the beginning of the eulogy is replaced afterwards by na-na-de-si just before the enumeration of the groups starting with gavar-e, which clearly indicates these two are synonymous in this inscription. From a Kurugodu (Bellary District) inscription which mentions merchants belonging to the na-na-de-si of la-t.a (Gujarat), . cho--l a (Tamil Nadu), maleya-.la (Kerala), telunga (Andhra) and karna-.ta (Karnataka), it may be understood that na-na-de-si usually denoted a wide area and not a local organization. We may say that ainu-r-r-uvar, padin-en.-vishayattar, padinen.-bu-mi and na-na-de-si are all synonymous, and the choice of the term seems to have been left to the people concerned. People often preferred the word na-na-de-si or padin-en.-vishayam to indicate the wider area of their activity, though they retained and gave the first place to the term ainu-r-r-uvar in the eulogy.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS We shall now discuss the relations between the merchant guilds and the state and by doing so try to give a historical perspective to the merchant activities organized in guilds in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia during the period from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. The activity of añjuvan.n.am and man.igra-mam is conspicuous in the Kerala inscriptions, though their numbers are small. The Kollam copper plate inscription of Sthanu Ravi (late ninth century) records the grant of land and labourers to a Christian church (pal..li) in Kollam and the entrustment of its maintenance to añjuvan.n.am and man.igra-mam. The Kochi copper plates of Bhaskara Ravivarman (early eleventh century) record the grant of the title añjuvan.n.am and privileges in trade to Joseph Rabban, a Jew in Muyirikkodu,14 and the Kottayam plates of Vira-Raghava (thirteenth century) record the grant of the title man.igra-mam and privileges to Ravikkorran, a merchant in Magodaiyapattinam (modern Kodungallur). A noteworthy point of these Kerala inscriptions is the close relation which these guilds, añjuvan.n.am and man.igra-mam, had with the king or local chiefs. Though a similar relationship is also seen in the inscriptions of Andhra 149

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

149

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

150

Noboru Karashima

Pradesh recording the king’s or chief ’s assurance of fair treatment of merchants who come to the port,15 merchant guilds in Tamil Nadu in and after the twelfth century, in contrast, seem to have kept their independence from the political power to a certain extent. Most of the later ainu-r-r-uvar inscriptions in Tamil Nadu do not mention any reigning king, while most other inscriptions do. This difference deserves further study. In Vishakapatnam we have three inscriptions which refer to members of añjuvan.n.am. Two of them in duplicate, one in Telugu (SII, x, 651) and another in Tamil (SII, xxvi, 103), dated in 1090, refer to a member of añjuvan.n.am who, coming from Matottam (Mantai) in Sri Lanka, was given by the nagaram of Vishakapattanam and the ruling king some tax concession for the maintenance of a pal..li (most probably mosque). The pal..li has the name of ainu-r-r-uvar as its component.16 The second inscription (SII, x, 211) in Telugu and datable between 1200 and 1207 mentions a similar tax concession by the local chief to another member of añjuvan.n.am from Pa-s´ay (probably Pasai on northern coast of Sumatra) for the same pal..li. These inscriptions testify to the activity of the añjuvan.n.am in Andhra coast, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, in close relation with ainu-r-r-uvar. The definition of man.igra-mam is more difficult, but it seems to have been a specified or closed organization whose activities were carried out basically in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the ninth and tenth centuries, though in the later centuries, we have references to it in a few inscriptions, such as those of Kovilpatti (1305) and Piranmalai (c.1300). In the former, the accountant who signed the document of the assembly is stated to be the accountant of Kodumbalur man.igra-mam nagaram. This Kodumbalur man.igra-mam nagaram is included in the eleven nagarams enumerated in the Piranmalai inscription as the body which participated in the big assembly. Kodumbalur is supposed to have been the centre of this organization. Though it had already been incorporated in the ainu-r-r-uvar organization in the thirteenth century, as indicated by the Tittandatanapuram inscription examined above, the name man.igra-mam was retained by the Kodumbalur nagaram even in the fourteenth century. A remarkable point revealed in the chronological and topographical distribution table (Table 8.1) given at the beginning of this article is the decrease in the number of guild inscriptions in Tamil Nadu during the eleventh and twelfth centuries in contrast to their increase in Karnataka during the same period. The eleventh and twelfth centuries were the heyday of the Chola state in Tamil Nadu, when envoys were sent to China three times and maritime expeditions were conducted twice to the Malay Peninsula. The heyday of the Chalukyas in Karnataka also coincided with this, including 150

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

150

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

151

South Indian Merchant Guilds

the long and peaceful reign of Vikramaditya VI, which sets a question, why decrease in one place and increase in the other? Does it reflect the difference in state policies towards commerce? Although we may not be able to give a full answer to this question, we shall discuss this point to some extent here. If we examine the numbers in Table 8.1 in more detail17 we can see that while for the tenth-century Karnataka has only one ainu-r-r-uvar inscription, Tamil Nadu has twenty-four of them for the same century, which together with the earlier appearance of the ainu-r-r-uvar eulogy in Tamil Nadu indicates that the activity of ainu-r-r-uvar started earlier in Tamil Nadu. Though in the eleventh century, Karnataka shows a rapid increase in ainu-r-r-uvar inscriptions amounting to twenty-five, the first half of that century has only three ainu-r-r-uvar inscriptions. Moreover, all the three come from the Mysore area, which was invaded and occupied by the Chola army during that period and are dated by the regnal year of Rajendra I and Rajadhiraja I. Two of them were actually written in Tamil. Ainu-r-r-uvar’s Tamil Nadu connection is suggested by this also. However, another important point, more important for the present discussion, emerging from the above, is the close relation that ainu-r-r-uvar had with the Chola state. It seems that merchants followed the Chola army to southern Karnataka and established the bases of their activity in the area occupied by the army. We can detect the same tendency in Sri Lanka too. In Vakalkada and Padaviya, occupied by the Cholas in northern Sri Lanka in the first half of the eleventh century, there are ainu-r-r-uvar inscriptions,18 though they do not refer to the reigning Chola king. During the tenth century in Tamil Nadu, nagarams were placed under the strict vigilance of the state,19 and the Chola kings of the middle period tried to control the activity of merchants to gain more profit from trade, especially from foreign trade. The purpose of the expeditions to the Malay Peninsula conducted by Rajendra I and Virarajendra must have been to gain hegemony over the maritime trade between the West and East. According to Songshi, the annals of the Song dynasty in China, the mission sent to the Chinese court by Rajaraja I was composed of fifty-two members.20 Most of them, excluding some officers such as ambassadors and guards, must have been merchants organized in ainu-r-r-uvar guild. This close relation between the merchants and the state may explain the decreasing tendency of the merchant-guild inscriptions in Tamil Nadu during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. They had to conduct their activity under state control and seem to have had fewer opportunities for having their own assembly for charity and other purposes. Moreover, during the heyday of the Chola state, the state itself afforded generous aid to temples for their construction, worship 151

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

151

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

152

Noboru Karashima

service, and repair. The sudden increase of pat..tana-pagudi inscriptions in the thirteenth century in Tamil Nadu is explained by the loss of state support to temples when the state power waned during that century. Therefore, the powerful local organizations had to support the temples in their locality.21 The Chola state collapsed around 1279. The above conjecture, however, does not explain the reason for the concentration of the merchant-guild inscriptions in Karnataka in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, which urges us to make similar studies of Kannada inscriptions. Another point, namely the independent feature of ainu-r-r-uvar in Tamil Nadu seen in their later inscriptions, which made no reference to the reigning king, may be explained to some extent in the following way. Though the origin of ainu-r-r-uvar can be traced back to the tenth century or even earlier, ainu-r-r-uvar seems to have changed its character in the twelfth century and later when the Chola state power began to decline. The ainu-r-r-uvar began to hold its assembly from the twelfth century together with chitrame--li-periyana-d.u (the peasant organization often led by ex. . hill-tribes who became landlords) or valangai/iangai (low-caste groups composed of artisans and servicing-castes arranged horizontally in two groups of the right hand and the left hand).22 These two organizations gained power from the twelfth century and led the protest movement against the established social order which had been cultivated and protected by Brahmins and Vellalas who composed the upper stratum of the Chola state.23 The participation of ainu-r-r-uvar in this protest movement must have given it the characteristic of political independence from the state. As for the concentration of er-ivı-ra-pat..tinam inscriptions in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, we may relate it to the abandonment of the expansionist policy and the disassembly of the Chola army after its retreat from Sri Lanka in the middle of the eleventh century,24 but in other cases further studies are necessary to find the reason. The last, but not the least, important point is the fact that the activity of merchant guilds ceased practically in the fifteenth century, though a number of their inscriptions remain from the later centuries. It was the beginning of the fourteenth century that the armies of Delhi Sultans invaded South India, terminating the rules of the Sevunas, Kakatiyas, and Pandyas successively. Afterwards the Vijayanagar army advanced into Tamil Nadu from Karnataka where they had established a kingdom, and after a period of misery caused to the people by the exploitative nature of the invading armies, the Vijayanagar rule was well established in Tamil Nadu by the end of the fifteenth century. Na-yakas newly appointed by the kings for local administration about that time and afterwards encouraged commerce and industry in their territories.25 152

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

152

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

153

South Indian Merchant Guilds

In the beginning of the fifteenth century in the Indian Ocean, Zheng He, a Chinese naval general, conducted his maritime expeditions seven times, accompanying a large fleet of big Chinese junks laden with tremendous amount of precious goods and many soldiers. At the end of the fifteenth century, by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, Vasco da Gama arrived in Kozhikode (Kapad), heralding the coming of numerous European merchants in the next century and afterwards. At present, however, we are not able to say how these factors were related — if related at all — to the decline of the activity of merchant guilds in South India and Sri Lanka in and after the fifteenth century.26 We need further studies on this point too.

EXPLANATION FOR ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations for Publications AMCAIO = Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, by Noboru Karashima, ed. (Chennai: Taisho University, 2002). ARE = Annual Report on (South) Indian Epigraphy (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, since 1887). EC (n.s.) = Epigraphia Carnatica, New Series (Mysore: University of Mysore, since 1972). EI = Epigraphia Indica (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, since 1892). IPS = Inscriptions (Texts) of the Pudukkottai State Arranged According to the Dynasties, anon. (Pudukkottai, 1929). SII = South Indian Inscriptions (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 1890).

Abbreviations for Nations, States and Districts (Old) in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka SL AP KL KN MH TN

= = = = = =

Sri Lanka Andhra Pradesh Kerala Karnataka Maharashtra Tamil Nadu

Bl Cb Cg Ct Hs

= = = = =

Belur Coimbatore Chingleput Chittoor Hassan 153

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

153

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

154

NA Nl Pd Rm SA Sl Tj Tn Tp

Noboru Karashima

= = = = = = = = =

North Arcot Nellore Pudukkottai Ramanathapuram South Arcot Salem Thanjavur Tirunelveli Tiruchirapalli.

Notes 1. During the last five years a few more have been reported in some journals such as Avanam. 2. This term has a few variants: aiññu-r-r-uvar, aiññu-r-r-uvar, and aiññu-r-r-uvar in Tamil, ainu-rbbaru and ainu-rvaru in Kannada. 3. Subbarayalu, “Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild”. 4. Se-na-mugam seems to have been a group of merchants, not soldiers as interpreted earlier. We find this term in a few Javanese inscriptions too. 5. Karashima and Subbarayalu, “Ainnurruvar: A Supra-local Organization”. 6. Karashima, South Indian History and Society, pp. 91–92. 7. After the political trouble caused by the invasions of Maga from Orissa and Chandrabanu in the Malay Peninsula in the thirteenth century, the Sinhalese dynasty left Polonnaruwa and shifted its capital to the places in the south in the following centuries, which damaged trade in Sri Lanka. The social protest movement which occurred in Tamil Nadu during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries involving ainu-r-r-uvar was not seen in Kerala and Sri Lanka, which seems to have caused the difference. This point will be explained later. 8. Though these three deities are found in the Hindu pantheon, they seem to have had some specific relation to Jainism or to western Deccan. 9. Paramesvari is Durga as a consort of Siva. 10. Subbarayalu, “The Merchant-Guild Inscription at Barus”. 11. Though this inscription does not record the conferment of erivı-ra-pat.t.inam, it is classified as an erivı-ra-pat.t.inam inscription. 12. For these groups, see Karashima and Subbarayalu, “The Emergence of the Periyanadu Assembly” and Karashima, Towards a New Formation, pp. 141–58. 13. Karashima, Subbarayalu and Shanmugam, “Nagaram during the Chola and Pandyan Period”. 14. If this is the same as the old Muziris, it could be Pattanam near Parur, according to some recent excavations carried out there. 15. Motupalli inscriptions. See Karashima, ed., In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds. 16. The name is given in Telugu as anyu-t.t.uva-perumballi. 17. Figures in Table 8.1 include both ainu-r-r-uvar and man.igra-mam inscriptions. 18. Karashima, Ancient and Medieval, pp. 264–66. 154

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

154

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

155

South Indian Merchant Guilds

19. Karashima, Subbarayalu, and Shanmugam, “Nagarams during the Chola and Pandyan Period”, pp. 7–8. 20. Appendix to this volume. 21. Karashima, “Temple Land”. 22. For these two organizations, see Karashima and Subbarayalu, “The Emergence of the Periyanadu Assembly”. 23. For this protest movement, see Karashima, “New Imprecations”. 24. The famous Polonnaruwa inscription (EI, xviii, 38) records the Simhala king’s recruitment of ve-l.aikka-rar for guarding a Buddhist temple. They were probably disassembled Chola soldiers judging from the reference to various regiments . . such as valaangai and id.angai, though they are stated at the same time to have had val.añjeya merchants as their leaders (a-chchama-r). 25. Karashima, A Concordance of Nayakas, pp. 50–52. 26. General discussion on the decline of merchant activities of this period was made by Abu-Lughod in her book, Before European Hegemony, but the particular reason for that in South Asia is yet to be studied.

References Abraham, Meera. Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India. New Delhi: Manohar, 1988. Abu-Lughod, Janet. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250–1350. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Champakalakshmi, R. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India BC 300– AD 1300, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996. Chaudhuri, K. N. Asia Before Europe: Economy and Civilisation of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Dikshit, G.S. Local Self-Government in Medieval Karnataka. Dharwar: Karnatak University, 1964. Hall, Kenneth R. Trade and Statecraft in the Age of the Colas. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1980. Indrapala, K. “South Indian Mercantile Communities in Ceylon, circa 900–1250”. Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies, NS, 1-2: 101–13. Karashima, Noboru. South Indian History and Society: Studies from Inscriptions AD 850–1800. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1984. ———. “Trade Relations between South India and China During the 13th and 14th Centuries”. Journal of East-West Maritime Relations 1 (1989): 59–81. ———. Towards a New Formation: South Indian Society under Vijayanagar Rule. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992. ———. “South Indian and Sri Lankan Inscriptions Relating to the Merchant Guilds”. In Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, edited by N. Karashima, pp. 3–9. Chennai: Taisho University, 2002. 155

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

155

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

156

Noboru Karashima

———, ed. Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds. Chennai: Taisho University, 2002b. ———, ed. In Search of Chinese Ceramic-sherds in South India and Sri Lanka. Tokyo: Taisho University Press, 2004. ———. “The Emergence of Medieval State and Social Formation in South India”. International Journal of South Asian Studies 1. New Delhi: Manohar, 2008. ———. “Temple Land in Chola and Pandyan Inscriptions: The Legal Meaning and . Historical Implications of Kud.inı-nga--de-vada-na”. Indian Economic and Social History Review 45, no. 2 (2008). ———. “The Emergence of New Imprecations in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Tamil Inscriptions and Jati Formation”. In Conflict and Adjustment, edited by D.N. Jha and Eugenia Vanina. New Delhi: Tulika Books, 2008. Karashima, N., and Y. Subbarayalu. “Ainnurruvar: A Supra-local Organization of South Indian and Sri Lankan Merchants”. In Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, edited by N. Karashima, pp. 72–78. Chennai: Taisho University, 2002. ———. “The Emergence of the Periyanadu Assembly in South India during the Chola and Pandyan Periods”. International Journal of Asian Studies 1, no. 1 (2004): 87–103. ———. “Kaniyalar Old and New: Landholding Policy of the Chola State in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries”. Indian Economic and Social History Review 44, no. 1 (2007): 1–17. Karashima, N., Y. Subbarayalu, and P. Shanmugam. “Nagaram during the Chola and Pandyan Period: Commerce and Towns in the Tamil Country AD 850–1350”. Indian Historical Review 35, no. 1 (2008): 1–33. Mills, J.V.G. Ying-yai Sheng-lan (The Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores) by Ma Huan, translated and edited by J.V.G. Mills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970. Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. The Colas, 2 Vols., Madras: University of Madras, 1935 and 1937; 2nd ed. in one volume, 1955. ———. Foreign Notices of South India: From Megasthenes to Ma Huan. 1939. Rajagopal, S., ed. Kaveri: Studies in Epigraphy, Archaeology and History (Professor Y. Subbarayalu Felicitation Volume). Chennai: Panpattu Veliyiittakam, 2001. Rockhill, W.W. “Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and Coast of the Indian Ocean during the Fourteenth Century”, part I. T’oung-pao, vol. XV (1914): 431 ff. Shanmugam, P. “Pattadai and Industries in the Tamil Country Under the Vijayanagar Rule”. Journal of Asian and African Studies 37 (1989): 31–49. ———. “Pattanappagudi: A Voluntary Impost of the Trade Guilds”. In Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, edited by N. Karashima, pp. 72–78. Chennai: Taisho University, 2002. Sharma, R.S. Urban Decay in India: c.300–c.1000. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1987. 156

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

156

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

157

South Indian Merchant Guilds

Spencer, George W. The Politics of Expansion: The Chola Conquest of Sri Lanka and Sri Vijaya. Madras: New Era Publications, 1983. Stein, Burton. Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1980. Su Jiqing. Daoyi zhilue jiaoshi (Critical edition of Wang Dayuan’s Daoyi zhilue), Beijing, 1981. Subbarayalu, Y. “The Merchant-Guild Inscription at Barus, Sumatra, Indonesia — Rediscovery”. Histoire de Barus: Le Site de Lobu Tua, I, edited by Claude Guillot. Cahiers d’Archipel 30 (1998): 25–33. ———. “Social Change and the Valangai and Idangai Divisions”. In Kaveri: Studies in Epigraphy, Archaelogy and History (Professor Y. Subbarayalu Felicitation Volume), edited by S. Rajagopal. Chennai: Panpattu Veliyiittakam, 2001. ———. “Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times”, chapter 9 in this volume. Subbarayalu and Karashima. “A Trade Guild Inscription from Viharehinna in Sri Lanka”. In Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, pp. 27–35. Chennai: Taisho University, 2002. Subrahmanya Aiyer, K.V. “Largest Provincial Organizations in Ancient India”. Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society (Bangalore) (new series) 45: 29–47, 79–98, 270–86; 46: 8–22. Reprint (n.d.): 1–79. Subramanian, T.N. “A Tamil Colony in Medieval China”. In South Indian Studies, edited by R. Nagaswamy, pp. 1–52. Madras, 1978. Venkatarama Ayyar, K.R. “Medieval Trade, Craft and Merchant Guilds in South India”. Journal of Indian History XXV, Part 1 (1947): 269–80.

157

08 Nagapattinam_Ch 8

157

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

158

Y. Subbarayalu

9 ANJUVANNAM A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times Y. Subbarayalu The term añjuvan.n.am (or añchuvan.n.am) was first noticed in the Che-ra copper-plate grants edited by Gundert (1844, pp. 115–46). In one of them, this term occurs along with man.ikkira-mam (man.igra-mam). Gundert thought that these two names stood for the Jewish and Christian principalities or corporate bodies of those two communities. V. Venkayya and T.A. Gopinatha Rao, who re-edited these records, did not concur with Gundert’s view. Venkayya took the two bodies as just semi-independent trading corporations like the Val.añjiyar (EI, IV, pp. 293–94). Hultzsch translated the term as “five castes” by splitting it as añju (five) and van.n.am (caste) while re-editing the Jewish copper-plate grant: The object of the grant was Añjuvan.n.am. This word means “the five castes” and may have been the designation of that quarter of Cranganore in which the five classes of artisans — ainkamma-l.ar, as they are called in the smaller Kottayam grant resided (EI, III, pp. 67–68).

Hultzsch is cetainly mistaken in this regard, as in the said smaller Kottayam grant (EI, IV, pp. 290 ff ), the ainkamma-l.ar are given as servants (ad.ima) to a merchant leader who was honoured with the title of “man.igra-mam”. On the other hand the Añjuvan.n.am and Man.igra-mam are found in the Ce-ra copper 158

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

158

158

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

159

Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times

plates as two independent bodies of equal standing and enjoying a number of trading rights at Kollam and themselves employing (or purchasing) servile people too. A brief analysis of these copper plates may be in order here. Of the two earlier grants1 in the possession of the Syrian Christian church at Kottayam, the first one dated in the fifth regnal year of Stha-n.u Ravi (849 CE) records that the Ve-n.a-d.u chief Ayyanad.ikal. Tiruvad.i gave a charter assigning certain ı--l avar (toddy-tappers) and van.n.a-r (washermen) tenants or cultivators (kud.i) to Tarisa--pal.l.i, obviously the Christian church built at Kurakke-n.i-Kollam by the efforts of one Maruva-n Sapı-r Iso.2 These serfs were relieved of some tax encumbrances and permitted to enter the fort and market area for carrying out their duties. The pal.l.i (church) was given the right to enjoy all taxes and also the right to keep the measuring instruments, a right which had been the prerogative of the donor-chief until then. The grant was made in the assembly of some dignitaries, officials, and añjuvan.n.am. Perhaps man.igra-mam was also present then (the name is mutilated and illegible). The first portion of the second grant containing the name of the king and date is missing. From other details and the names of the donor and the donee, etc. this should be put close to the above one. Actually it purports to make some additional grant to the same Tarisa--pal.l.i. Some more tenants such as carpenters (taccar) and cultivators (vel.l.a-l.ar) were assigned to the church and some demarcated land was gifted for the supply of oil. The church was given the right to punish its erring tenants itself. The officials were warned not to interfere in those matters. The bodies called ar-unu--r-r uvar (“the six hundred”, a military body), añjuvan.n.am, and man.igra-mam were asked to protect the pal.l.i and its landed property as per the charter. The subsequent section records details of the “72 rights and privileges” (vı-d.upe-r-u) given to both the añjuvan.n.am, and man.igra-mam3 as follows: (1) Remission of one-sixtieth part of the customs duty (that they had been paying to the government). (2) No poll tax on the slaves (ad.ima) employed (or purchased?) by them. (3) They can collect 8 kasu on both incoming and outgoing merchandise transported by carts and 4 kasu on those transported by ships and boats. (4) Only in their presence should the fixing of the customs duty and the fixing of prices for the merchandise be done. (5) The two bodies shall do the accounts of the collection of the customs duty daily. (6) They can receive one-tenth part of the rent (pati-patava-ram) on the land let on lease within the four gates (of the town). 159

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

159

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

160

Y. Subbarayalu

(7) They are permitted to carry on elephants the purification water for their rituals. (8) If they feel wronged (by the officials) they can get it redressed by stopping the payment of the customs duty and the weighing fees (tula-kku-li). (9) They alone can enquire about the crimes committed by their members.

Thus the añjuvan.n.am, and man.igra-mam became the rightful occupants (ka-ra-l.ar) of the nagaram and they were to act together always. Sapı-r Iso, who is said to have established the nagaram or township by a king’s charter, was permitted to use the measuring instruments owned by the church and (instead) pay the measuring fees to the latter. The above details may show that añjuvan.n.am, and man.igra-mam were important trading bodies, responsible for collection and remission of customs duty and for fixing the sale prices of merchandise transacted in the port town of Kollam. They were granted the customary (seventy-two) rights and privileges by the ruler of the area. The relation between Sapı-r Iso and the two bodies should be a close one as the former is said to be the founder of the nagaram, and the latter, the occupants of the nagaram. The “seventy-two” rights and privileges are again mentioned in the Jewish copper plate of Bhaskara Ravi (1000 CE) found at Cochin (EI , III, pp. 67–68). In that record, one Issuppu Irappan, that is, Joseph Rabban, obviously a Jewish merchant, was granted (the title of ) añjuvan.n.am, the free use(?) of boats and vehicles, the añjuvan.n.am rights, the use of torch in the daytime, decorative cloth, palanquin, etc. He was exempted from payment of duties and weighing fees. Though brief, it is in the same vein as the Syrian Christian grant. We may not be wrong to say that Maruva-n Sapı-r Iso and Joseph Rabban were the chief merchants of the respective towns like the pat.t.an.asva-mi mentioned in ayyavol.e-500 inscriptions. All said, there is no direct evidence to recognize añjuvan.n.am and man.igra-mam respectively as Jewish and Christian bodies, as was proposed by Gundert. It is only the possession of the above copper plates by the present owners, a Jewish synagogue (at Cochin) and a Syrian Christian church (at Kottayam) respectively, that directly prompts the above identification. This fact was stressed by Venkayya while editing the Kottayam grant of Vı-ra Ra-ghava (c.1220) (EI, IV, pp. 290 ff ). At the same time the signatures in Arabic, Hebrew, and Pahlavi scripts given by several persons at the end of the second Syrian Christian grant cannot be ignored lightly. Those signatures would suggest that there was a mixed population of West Asian traders, consisting of Jews, Arab Muslims and Christians, and Persians at Kollam in 160

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

160

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

161

Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times

the ninth century. Coupled with this fact, the fact that in the Jewish copperplate grant, the donee who is a Jew was specifically honoured with the añjuvan.n.am rights, would support the proposition that the añjuvan.n.am was a body of West Asian traders. In the case of man.igra-mam, however, it could only be a body of indigenous merchants as it is found very much rooted in various interior places such as Ra-mantal.i and Tal-akka-d.u in Kerala; Kod.umba-l.u-r, Ur-aiyu-r, Srı-niva-sanallu-r, and others in Tamil Nadu. This aspect has been thoroughly discussed by Gopinatha Rao (EI, XVII, pp. 69–73). While editing some copper-plate grants of the Rashtrakuta kings and their subordinates of the tenth and eleventh centuries from Chinchani (north of Mumbai) in Thana District, D.C. Sircar observed the occurrence of the term hamyamana or its variant hañjamana in the inscriptions of Northern Konkan and conceded that it could have denoted the Parsee settlements. (EI, XXXII, p. 48). In this regard he agreed with J.J. Modi who traced hañjamana to the Avestic Hañjamana and Persian Añjuman (Indian Antiquary, XLI, pp. 173–76). A passage containing this term is as follows: hamyamaniya-mukhya- vallana-vyavaharaka- valkasma-vyavaharakaalliya- mahara- madhumat- a-dayah paura-mukhya- ´s re-sht.hi-ke-sar-i suvarn.n.a-Kakkala- van.ijo--uva- suvarn.n.a-so-maiy- a-dayah tatha- vishayı-Verthalaiyah … (Ibid, p. 66, II. 10–12).

Which in a free translation would mean the following:4 [While ruling over Samya-na, Cha-mun.d.a passed an order regarding a grant, to be made by him, to his subordinates and others] including the elders of hamyamana, namely Vallana-vyavaharaka, Valkasmavyavaharaka, Alliya, Mahara, Madhumati, and others; the elders of the paura, namely Sre-sht.hi-Ke-sari, Suvarn.n.a Kakkala, Vanijo--Uva, Suvarn.n.aSo-maiya, and others; the district officer Verthalaiya; …

The names Alliya and Madhumati, as D.C. Sircar has explained, are obviously the Indianized forms of the Arabic names Ali and Muhammad respectively. That means that at least some of the Hamyamana (Hañjamana) elders are Arabic Muslims. In the case of the paura elders they seem to be local merchants only, if we go by names such as Kesari, Kakkala, Uva, and Somaiya. And the prefixing segments such as sre-sht.hi, suvarn.n.a and van.ija denote their specialized trades. In the Kannada inscriptions of North and South Kannada Districts the name hañjamana is mentioned in several coastal places such as Basrur, Barakur, etc. even during Vijayanagara times (Ramesh 1970, pp. 252–53). It is found either separately or along with nakhara (same as nagara). Ummara-

161

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

161

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

162

Y. Subbarayalu

maraka-la, a hañjamana-mukhya (that is, a Hanjamana leader) mentioned in an inscription of De-vara-ya I (1427) from Kaikini is considered by K.V. Ramesh as a Parsee from the name Ummara (Umar), maraka- la being sailor in the Kannada language. D.C. Sircar, however, thought that hañjamana in Kannada inscriptions could not denote a Parsee settlement as there is no other evidence for the existence of Parsee settlements so far south. It is seemingly contradictory to his earlier interpretation of this word mentioned above; he further suggested that it may be a word of Kannada or South Indian origin and concluded that it may be related to Tamil añju-pañcha- l.atta-r through the Kannada pañcha-van.n.a and Tamil añjuvan.n.am (EI, XXXV, p. 292). This argument is based on so many assumptions without any valid evidence and it has rightly been criticized by K.V. Ramesh. Strictly speaking, hañjamana would not have denoted just the Parsee settlement. Like the term yavana/yo-na/so-naka, this term also seems to have denoted collectively the West Asian traders, Arabs, Jews, Christians, Parsees, etc., and from the above evidence, it may be inferred that Arab Muslims figured more prominently than others from the eleventh century onwards, if not earlier. The form añjuvan.n.am (or añjuvan.n.am) is found only in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Its derivation from hañjamana may be easily conceded; in Tamil the sound “ha” in the initial position is generally reduced to “a”. Though this derivation cannot be verified empirically, since both terms do not occur close to each other in the known records, it is far-fetched in point of time to equate añjuvan.n.am and anju-panchalattar (“the five artisans”) as was done by T.N. Subramanian (1957) and T.V. Mahalingam (1967, p. 394) and which was accepted by D.C. Sircar. This equation cannot be sustained on other circumstantial grounds either, for the artisans or kamma-l.as did not occupy a good social position in the early medieval centuries. They were treated only as servicing communities (kı--l-kalanai) to the merchant and landholding people (SII, IV, no. 223) until the fourteenth century. They got better recognition in society only during the Vijayanagara times and later when commodity production increased enormously (Karashima 1992, pp. 159–69). There is, however, some little noticed literary evidence, from a literary work of the twelfth century, called Palchandama-lai which supports unequivocally that the añjuvan.n.am group was made up of the Muslim community (Pandarattar 1971). This work refers to the members of the añjuvan.n.am, residing in Nagapattinam, both as Yavana and So-naka, and as followers of Kalupati (obviously Khalifa) and as the worshippers of Alla-h. 162

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

162

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

163

Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times

As mentioned above, unlike the man.igra-mam, añjuvan.n.am is confined to coastal towns only. It is found all along the west and east coasts in several port towns. The body’s presence in the Konkan coast was referred to above. It is encountered on the Kerala coast in Pandala-yini-Kollam (near Kozhikode) and Kurakke-n.i-Kollam (south Kollam) and on the Coromandel coast, from the south to the north in Tı-tta-n.d.ata-napuram (Ramnad coast), Mayila-ppu-r (Chennai), Krishn.apat.n.am (south of Nellore), and Visha-khapat.n.am. Of these, the evidence for the southern Kollam has already been noticed. This port town is the most important town known to medieval Chinese and Arab sources. For Pandala-yini-Kollam (which is Fandarina of Ibn Battuta) we get only the name in a fragmentary Ce-ra inscription (SII, VII, no. 162), datable to about 1000 CE in the reign of Bhaskara Ravi,5 found on three broken stones in a mosque called Jama-t-pal.l.i in the town. Though the inscription is fragmentary, it refers to the Val.añjiyar and some other merchants usually found in the assembly of ayyavol.e-500 (also simply called ainu--r-r u-var or the Five Hundred) trade guild. A high royal official (ko-yiladika-rikal.) is also referred to. Whether this inscription has anything to do with the mosque cannot be ascertained from the available portion. In any case, it may be inferred that the inscription concerns an important occasion when the Añjuvan.n.am people were present along with the Ayyavol.e merchants. In Tı-tta-n.d.ata-napuram, añjuvan.n.am is found, in the year 1269, in a big assembly consisting of several merchant groups and weavers, including . man.igra-mam, val.añjiyar of south Ilangai (that is, Sri Lanka), etc. (ARE, 1926–27, p. 93). From the fact that this body is mentioned first in the list of the assembled groups, we may infer that it had an influential position in this settlement. In Mayila-ppu- r the evidence is only from a fragmentary inscription, datable in the thirteenth century, referring to both añjuvan.n.am and Van.iga-gra-mam (man.igra-mam) (Nagaswamy 1970, no. 1967/20). In Krishnapat.nam, the añjuvan.n.am merchants (va-n.igar) of man.igra-mam (that is, Kerala) are found along with the na-d.u, nagara, and various itinerant merchants (samasta-parade-si) of the 18-bhu-mi (ARE, 1963–64, no. 78, and Nellore Inscriptions, I, Gudur 45), which decided in 1279 on some contribution to the local temple on the merchandise imported as well as exported in the local port. The evidence from Vishakhapatnam is interesting. There are three inscriptions, two in Telugu and one in Tamil, which is a duplicate of one of the Telugu records. Unfortunately the texts as published and the brief English summaries are not accurate enough. The first one (SII, X, no. 651) is dated in Saka 1012 and the thirteenth year of the Eastern Ganga king, 163

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

163

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

164

Y. Subbarayalu

Anantavarmadeva, equivalent to 21 September 1090, and purports to remit some taxes on house-sites within the demarcated precincts of the . Ainu-t.t.uva-perumballi in Visha-khapat.t.an.am alias Kulo-ttungacho--la-pat.t.an.am by the “Twelve” of the nagaram of the town. The grant was entrusted to a merchant (vya-pari) of the añjuvan.n.am of Ma-to-t.t.am alias [Ra-]makulavallipat.t.an.am. This merchant has a high-sounding name, that is, pattana-ditya . na-na--ra-javidya-dhara samangattu-ghan.t.i Asa-vu alias 18-bhu-mi-nagara-se-na-pati alias malaiman.d.ala-ma-ta-. Asa-vu may be his personal name and may be derived from the Arab name Asaf; the other preceding and following strings must be just titles. The title vidya-dhara is associated with a so-naka official found living in a bazar street called Ra-ja-vidya-dhara at Tañja-vur (SII, II, no. 66). Therefore, most probably Asa-vu is a Muslim merchant. Ma-to-t.t.am, the place from where the merchant hailed is obviously Maha-tittha (the present Ma-ntai), the famous seaport town on the north-western coast of Sri Lanka facing the Gulf of Mannar. From the second title malaiman.d.alama-ta-, it can be suggested that he had some links with the Kerala coast too. The Tamil version of the above inscription (SII, XXVI, 103) is much mutilated. But it is not difficult to recognize its exact correspondence to the Telugu version from the surviving passages. Actually both the inscriptions are written on different sides of the same stone. It may also be noted that the Telugu inscription has some Tamil features. Though there is no explicit evidence to identify the religious affiliation of the ainu-t.t.uva-perumballi (literally the Big Palli (pal.l.i) called the Five Hundred), it may be easily guessed that it was a mosque,6 from the cumulative evidence discussed so far. The second Telugu inscription (SII, X, 211) records a similar grant to the same ainnu-t.t.uva-perumballi by a chief, Mahaman.d.ale- ´svara KulottungaPrithvı-´svara. The date of this inscription has been read by the Epigraphist as Saka 112[.] with three probable equivalent dates: 1200, 1204 or 1207. The boundaries of the Palli and the wording of the taxes are identical in both cases. In this grant the receiver was another merchant belonging to the añjuvan.n.am of Pa-´say. The name Pa-say is strikingly similar to Pasai or SamuderaPasai on the north coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Their identity is quite possible.7 The name of the merchant again looks exotic: Sa- vasa- n.d.i[ba]lla, son . of Bo-yara-n.d.i[ba]lla. He had the title Ma-[va]ngari-vallabha-samaya-chakravartti. The attribute ma [va]ngari-vallabha is similar to, if not identical to, ma. dangari-vallabha, found in the Barus guild inscription as part of the second . name of Barus: Ma- dan gari-vallabha- de- si-uyyakon. d. a- pat. t. inam. . . The phrase ma- dangari-vallabha means “a favourite of Ma- dangari” (the deity Durga) and the second part of the title, samaya-chakravartti, is usually the title given to an active representative of the samaya or assembly. Here the title 164

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

164

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

165

Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times

must have been given to the añjuvan.n.am merchant by the ayyavol.e-500 after whom the mosque is also named. The above inscriptions would suggest that the añjuvan.n.am people were patronized by the ayyavol.e-500 guild and were even treated as members of that guild. Here it may be appropriate to consider some information from Indonesia relating to the añjuvan.n.am. There are several royal inscriptions of the ninth and early tenth centuries in central and eastern Java which contain references to the terms hunjeman, hunjaman, and hinjaman (Sarkar 1972, pp. 131, 140, 151, 236; Barrett Jones 1984, pp. 151, 186–87). In these inscriptions, hunjaman and its variants are found as the name of a group or body amidst several other bodies. These bodies are found to be put under certain restrictions to enter the newly created sima (villages whose royal revenue had been transferred to a religious institution). It can be understood from the contexts that these bodies were trading groups coming from several foreign countries, including South India. It is not difficult to understand that the term hunjeman (or hunjaman/ hinjaman) is a variant of hanjamana. The variants must be due to the peculiarities of Arabic orthography where vowel sounds are supplied according to the context. If the identity is accepted, we can say that the trade activities of the hanjamana/añjuvan.n.am group extended up to Indonesia in the ninth century and afterwards. The presence of man.igra-mam in Southeast Asia by this time is a well known fact. Therefore, it is no wonder that the other body should also be present there simultaneously. If we ignored the name huñjaman, etc. in Javanese records,8 it would be curious to note that the Arab and other West Asian traders are otherwise not mentioned in Southeast Asian records, in spite of the fact that the role of the Arabs in the maritime activities of the Indian Ocean is well attested to by contemporary Arab and Chinese sources. To sum up, the añjuvan.n.am of Tamil inscriptions in Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts is the same as the hañjamana found in the Konkan coast in the Marathi-Sanskrit and Kannada inscriptions and it was the name of a trading body composed of West Asian seagoing merchants. Originally it denoted all West Asian merchants, both Arabs and Persians, including Jews, Syrian Christians, Muslims, and Parsees. This body surfaces in the inscriptions from the middle of the ninth century, as traversing the whole of Indian Ocean from Arabia to Java. Initially it interacted with man.igra-mam, a south Indian merchant guild, which itself had been carrying on sea trade by the ninth century, besides being active in the interior towns and villages. When the ayyavole-500 emerged in the tenth century and developed as a big overarching trade guild in southern India, most of the existing indigenous and local trade guilds got associated with it. Añjuvan.n.am too interacted with the ayyavole 165

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

165

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

166

Y. Subbarayalu

guild and actively participated in big gatherings (samayam or peruniravi) led by the latter. In the eleventh century and after that, añjuvan.n.am seems to have been mostly composed of Muslim traders. There was a remarkable difference between añjuvan.n.am and other trade guilds. While all the others were found both on the coastal sites and in the interior, the former confined itself to coastal sites. That is, it was primarily a maritime guild. At the same time it became a permanent part of the local community in the coastal villages. Its presence as a trade guild was visible until the end of the thirteenth century after which it is not heard of and of course the Ayyavol.e-500 and other guilds too almost disappeared from the scene in the fourteenth century and afterwards.

Notes 1. 2. 3.

4.

5. 6.

7.

8.

Both the grants have been edited with elaborate notes by T.A. Gopinatha Rao in TAS, II, no. 9, pp. 60–85. A variant of this name is given as Es´o- of Tapir, perhaps in its Latin form to mean - - Es´o da Tapir, according to Gopinatha Rao, the editor of the inscription. The editor, Gopinatha Rao, by some oversight took these rights and privileges as being given to the church. Going on this interpretation, Meera Abraham (1988, pp. 28–29) gives a direct role to the church in the commercial activities of the town. Actually the church is only a beneficiary enjoying some specified income from the land etc., granted to it by the ruler and enjoying the benevolence of the traders. Thinking that the inscription is written in corrupt Sanskrit, D.C. Sircar has introduced several emendations, thereby obscuring the correct meaning. The above translation, by the present writer, is made without considering his emendations. From personal communication from Professor M. G. Narayanan, an authority on medieval Chera history. Pal.l.i in Tamil inscriptions denoted any non-orthodox place of worship: Jain temple, Buddhist vihara, Christian church, Jewish synagogue, and Muslim mosque. This naming practice still continues in Kerala in the case of the latter three institutions. Interestingly we find in 1204 another merchant from Pa-sai in Tiruva-ymu-r, a village about 20 km south of Nagapattinam (Nagapattinam District Inscriptions, Tamilnadu State Archaeology Department, 2007, p. 190). Jan Wisseman Christie, a prolific researcher of Javanese history, has simply put a question mark next to this name which appears in a record of 1021 in the reign of Airlangga in the following passage (in her own translation): “… As for the kilalan (non-resident tax group: Kalingas, Aryyas, Singhalese, Pan.d.ikiras, Dravidians, Chams, Khmers, Ramanyadesis, mambang(?), soldiers, sailors, huñjman(?), …”(Christie 1993, p. 204).

166

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

166

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

167

Anjuvannam: A Maritime Trade Guild of Medieval Times

References Abraham, Meera. Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India. New Delhi: Manohar 1988. ARE = Annual Report on Epigraphy. Barrett Jones, A.M. Early Tenth Century Java from the Inscriptions. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1984. Christie, Jan Wissemann. “Texts and Textiles in ‘Medieval’ Java”. Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient 80, no. 1 (1993): 181–214. EI = Epigraphia Indica. Gundert, H. “Translation and Analysis of the Ancient Documents Engraved on Copper in Possession of the Syrian Christians and Jews of Malabar”. Madras Journal of Literature and Science 13, no. 13, Pt. I (1844): 115–46. Karashima, Noboru. Towards a New Formation: South Indian Society Under Vijayanagar Rule. 1992, pp. 159–69. Nagaswamy, R. Chennaimanagar Kalvettugal (Inscriptions of Chennai District), edited by R. Nagaswamy. Madras: Tamilnadu State Archaeology Department, 1970. Pandarattar, T.V. Sadasiva. Historical Facts Gleaned from Inscriptions (in Tamil). Chidambaram: Manivasagar Publications, 1971. Ramesh, K.V. A History of South Kanara, Dharwar, 1970. Sarkar, H.B. Corpus of the Inscriptions of Java, vol. II. Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadyay, 1972. SII = South Indian Inscriptions. TAS = Travancore Archaeological Series.

167

09 Nagapattinam_Ch 9

167

11/4/09, 12:54 PM

168

A. Meenakshisundararajan

10 RAJENDRA CHOLA’S NAVAL EXPEDITION AND THE CHOLA TRADE WITH SOUTHEAST AND EAST ASIA A. Meenakshisundararajan

Since ancient times, India had active maritime trade relations with many countries around the Indian Ocean. In the medieval period, South Indian states were particularly involved in this trade. Kings used to get a good deal of their income from trade and could thus afford to maintain a large army and build a powerful navy without exhausting their land revenue base, which was mostly confined to the fertile core area of their dominion. Around AD 1000, there was a remarkable change in the structure of Asian maritime trade. The previous pattern of pre-emporia trade changed into a new pattern of emporia trade. Whereas in the phase of pre-emporia trade goods were shipped directly from the place of origin to that of final consumption, the rise of emporia, particularly along the Indian coasts, implied new practices of re-export, such as breaking bulk or assorting shipments according to the demands of various ports of call. This major change in the pattern of Asian maritime trade was related to the simultaneous rise of powerful corporate empires in several parts of Asia: the Chola empire of South India, the Khmer empire of Cambodia, the empire of Champa in Vietnam, and China under the Song dynasty emerged in the early eleventh century AD. Most of these witnessed a large-scale increase in local and 168

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

168

168

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

169

The Chola Trade with Southeast and East Asia

long-distance trade and the rapid extension of rice cultivation. The goods traded were not limited to luxury items and were diversified to include a wide variety of commodities such as processed iron, spices, sandalwood, camphor, pearls, textiles, as well as animals such as horses and elephants. Customs duties played a major role in the budgets of these corporate empires, which was different from the land-revenue-based agrarian states. The political order of these medieval corporate empires was not so much that of territorial sovereignty, but of a corporate network of rulers, merchants, temples, priests, and/or royal officers. A brief survey of the rise of the Chola empire and of China under the Song dynasty will illustrate this new development.1

RAJENDRA — “THE KADARAM KONDAN” Tamil Nadu was ruled by the early Cholas between the first and fourth centuries CE. Karikalan was the first and most famous king, who built the Kallanai (Kall — stone, Anai – bound), a dam across the Kaveri River, which is considered to be an engineering marvel of that time. The Cholas ruled the present day Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli districts and possessed significant military power. The Cholas rose as a major power in South India in the ninth century. Their empire temporarily extended to the central Indian states such as Orissa, and parts of West Bengal. Rajaraja Chola conquered the Chera and eastern Chalukya kingdoms and also occupied parts of Ceylon by defeating the Pandyas. He held his sway over the Maldives as well. Rajendra Chola went beyond, occupying the islands of Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Sumatra, and Malaya with his fleet of ships. He defeated Mahipala, the king of Bihar and Bengal, and to mark his victory, he built a new capital called Gangaikonda Cholapuram.2 Parakesari-Varman Rajendra-Chola I was declared heir apparent and formally associated with his father in the administration of the empire in the closing years of his father’s rule. Accordingly, he counts his regnal years from some date between 27 March and 7 July, AD 1012 and there is clear evidence of joint rule in his third year. This year was mentioned in Rajaraja’s Tanjore inscriptions of the twenty-ninth year: Rajaraja is also stated to have made a gift in the third year of his son’s rule.3 He had gained much valuable experience on the field and in the council chamber under the guidance of his illustrious father. He played a predominant part in the war in the “Western Hill Country” and against Satyasraya. By the time he became “Yuvaraja” he held the high position of Mahadandanayaka of the Vengi and Gangamandalas and bore the titles Pancavanmaraya and “Tusker of Mummudi Chola”.4 169

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

169

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

170

A. Meenakshisundararajan

Rajendra began his independent rule at about 1014 after the demise of his father. He inherited an extensive empire comprising the whole of modern Tamil Nadu, Andhra, the southern part of Kerala and parts of Karnataka, and Sri Lanka, besides the Maldives and perhaps some other islands in the Indian Ocean. Rajendra’s overseas expedition is narrated in the Tamil prasasti in the following words: (Who) having despatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea and having caught Sangrama-Vijayottunga-varman, the king of Kadaram, together with the elephants in his glorious army, (took) the large heap of treasures, which (that king) had rightfully accumulated: (captured) with noise the (arch called) Vidyadhara-torana at the “war-gate” of his extensive city, Srivijaya with “the jewelled wicket-gate” adorned with great splendour and the “gate of large jewels”; Pannai with water in bathing ghats; the ancient Malaiyur with the strong mountain for its rampart; Mayirudingan, surrounded by the deep sea (as) by a moat; Ilangasoka (that is, Lankasoka) undaunted (in) fierce battles; Mapappalam having abundant (deep) water as defence; Mevilimbangam having fine walls as defence; Valaippanduru having Vilappanduru(?); Talaittakkolam praised by great men (versed in) sciences; Madamalingam, firm in great and fierce battles; Ilamuridesam, whose fierce strength rose in war; Manakkavaram, in whose extensive flower gardens honey was collecting; and Kadaram of fierce strength, which was protected by the deep sea.5

The most notable activities carried out by Rajendra were his invasions of Malaya and Sumatra. Of these, Srivijaya was on Sumatra Island, and Pannai was in the eastern part of Sumatra; Malaiyur may have been situated between these two countries; Mairudingam was Johore, on the Malay Peninsula; Mapappalam may have been on the Malay peninsula; Madamalingam may have been on the Kra Isthmus; Ilamuridesam was North Sumatra. Manakkavaram was the Nicobar Islands; and Kadaram was situated on the Malay Peninsula near Penang. It is clear that Rajendra Chola simultaneously captured Sumatra Island and the Peninsula as well as the other surrounding islands. It is understandable that these places were then ruled by many rulers over small dominions which were captured by Rajendra Chola.6 The successful invasion of Rajendra of the Ganga Theeram (Banks of the Ganges) and Kadaram were applauded by many poets — Jayamkondan in his Kalingattupparani (verse 189) and Ottakkoothar in his Ula (lines 34–36, 49 & 90). He was named the Gangai Kondan — the Kadaram kondan — (He who took the Ganges — He who took Kadaram).7 Rajendra’s success was indeed stunning and the early historians did not suggest (or speculate) that 170

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

170

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

171

The Chola Trade with Southeast and East Asia

the countries which the South Indian monarch captured were overseas. For instance, Hultzsch, who recovered and published the text of Rajendra’s inscription in 1891, overlooked the fact that Rajendra’s expedition was a naval war, and identified Kadaram with the “headquarters of a taluque of the Ramnad Zamindari in Madurai district”.8 It was only in 1918 that Coedès discussed fully the identification of the places mentioned in connection with Rajendra’s campaign and laid the basis for an intelligent account of it.9 Persistent efforts have succeeded in identifying the places located on the Sumatran and Malayan coasts.

FACTORS THAT PROMPTED THE EXPEDITION Rajendra’s expedition to North India (Ganga Theeram) has been described as his performance of digvijaya (visiting other countries in all directions and gaining acknowledgement from them as the supreme Lord). In that context, his Kadaram expedition can also be understood as an extended digvijaya. That performing such imperialistic rituals is in the blood of the Cholas is substantiated by the very title of a Chola of the Sangam Age — Rajasooyam vetta Perunar (Purananuru 16, 125, 367, 377). Sastri gives vent to the opinion that Rajendra’s naval expedition can be taken as part of his digvijaya.10 It is certain that it was the glorious North Indian expedition and the experiences gained, that helped Rajendra to realize his military prowess, and this encouraged his desire for conquests. In many cases, conquests are characterized by naked plunders. G.W. Spencer (1976) interprets the eleventh century Chola invasion of Sri Lanka as “Politics of Plunder”. The prasasti that speaks about the Kadaram expedition, mentions large “heaps of treasure” accumulated by Rajendra in his war with Kadaram. Again, gold, in those days, was an important item of export from the east and the region came to be called Suvarnadvipa (Island of gold) and Suvarnabhumi (Land of gold). One of the reasons for others attempting to conquer countries such as Malaya or Sumatra was to get an assured and constant supply of the yellow metal. However, in the case of Rajendra (as well as his followers) there was no plan to annex the captured territories to form part of the Chola Empire or to extend the Chola rule to new areas. Sastri notes that “neither the merchants nor the state in South India had any idea of the possibilities of economic imperialism.”11 Furthermore, as the exclusive rulers of the fertile Kaveri delta, the Cholas were rest assured of sufficient internal resources, both real and financial. Another interesting factor about Rajendra’s expedition was the absence of any hostility between the Cholas and the rulers of Kadaram just prior to the war. Pattinappalai — the Sangam 171

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

171

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

172

A. Meenakshisundararajan

classic — speaks about the “product of Kazhagam” (Kadaram) piled up at the port of Pukar (line 191). Later, in the Middle Ages, the relations between the two countries were only cordial.

SRIVIJAYA/KADARAM/SAN-FO-QI PROBLEM Without referring to the Srivijaya/Kadaram /San-fo-qi problem, any account of the activities carried out by South Indian merchants in medieval Southeast Asia would not be complete. In this relation, Nagapattinam, the famous medieval port on the Coromandel Coast, played an important role. It is well known that Chulamanivarman, the king of Srivijaya/Kadaram, established a Buddhist temple (palli) in Nagapattinam. In his twenty-first regnal year (AD 1006) Rajaraja I entrusted a village for the maintenance of the temple. This fact is recorded in the so-called Larger Leiden copper plates.12 Although Chulamanivarman is mentioned only as the king of Kadaram (Kidaram) in the Tamil portion of the plates, his son Mara-Vijayottungavarman appearing in the Sanskrit portion — which was added later in the time of Rajendra I,13 son and successor of Rajaraja I — is said to have been born into the Sailendra family and to be the king of Srivijaya ruling in Kataha. There is no doubt that these three names, that is, Kadaram, Kidaram, and Kataha, refer to the same place, although their identification as Kedah in the Malay Peninsula is uncertain. Before we enter into the problem of the identification of Kadaram and also that of its relation with Srivijaya and San-fo-qi, it should be noted that the three Tamil stone inscriptions discovered in Nagapattinam in the 1950s and the Tamil inscription on the pedestal of a bronze Buddha statue, originally belonging to Nagapattinam. The texts of the first three inscriptions have not yet been published, but we were able to check their estampages and transcripts preserved in the office of the Director of Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India, Mysore.14 The first inscription (No. 161 of AR 1956/57) records that during the reign of Rajendra I (the year was lost due to damage to the stone), Sri Mulan Agattisuvaran, an Agent (kanmi) of the Srivijaya King, donated several lampstands to be installed at the door of a Siva temple in Nagapattinam. The second inscription (No. 164 of AR 1956/57) records that in the third year of Rajendra I (AD 1015), another agent (kanmi) of the Srivijaya king donated some ornaments to the same temple in Nagapattinam. A makara, which is the emblem of Mara-Vijayottungavarman, according to the Larger Leiden plates, seems to have been fixed in the centre of the ornament. The third inscription (No. 166 of AR 1956/57) records that in the seventh(?) year of Rajendra I (AD 1019?) Sri Kurundan Kesuvan alias Agralekai, 172

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

172

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

173

The Chola Trade with Southeast and East Asia

an agent (kanmi) of the Kidaram king donated two pieces of gold called Chinakanagam (Chinese gold) for worship and feeding in the same temple in Nagapattinam. He also donated some other gold pieces for offering food to the deity and to feed Brahmins. While the first two inscriptions refer to the Srivijaya king, the last one refers to the Kidaram king. However, the dates of these inscriptions are close to one another, and if we consider the synonymous usage of Srivijaya and Kidaram in the Larger Leiden plates, it may be safely inferred that Srivijaya and Kidaram are again synonymous in these inscriptions. The agent of the second inscription (name lost) seems to have been a Tamilian, as he is said to belong to a town in Kil-Chembinadu (in the Ramnad District) in Tamil Nadu. The names of the other two agents also sound like Tamilian or Keralite names. From the above four inscriptions, therefore, it becomes evident that friendly relations existed between Kadaram and the Chola country in the beginning of the eleventh century, continuing at least until AD 1015 or 1019.

RAJENDRA CHOLA IN TAMIL INSCRIPTIONS There is yet another Tamil inscription related to Nagappattinam. It is a short (two lines) inscription engraved on the pedestal of a bronze Buddha image from the Mr and Mrs John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of Asian Arts.15 The script of the inscription is similar to that of the inscriptions of Kulottunga I, that can be assigned its date around AD 1100. The text runs as follows: 1. irajendra — colap perumpalli akkasalaip perumpalli alvar-koyilukku tiruvutsavam eluntarula alvar ivvalvarai eluntaruluvittar cirutavur nalankunakarautaiyar. 2. svasti-sri patinen-vishayattukkum akkasalaikal nayakar. It is known from the first line that the image was for a festival procession of the Akkasalai temple belonging to Rajendrachola perumpalli. This Rajendrachola perumpalli is certainly the Buddhist temple in Nagapattinam which is referred to in the Smaller Leiden plates in relation to the request by the Kadaram king for confirmation of the previous grant. From the second line, the image called Akkasalai — nayakar (Buddha) was to be worshipped by all the padinen-vishayam. Akkasalai means mint or workshop of goldsmiths and the expression padinenvishayam (same as padinen-bhumi) indicates the merchant guild ainnurruvar. Therefore, the Akkasalai temple was constructed 173

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

173

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

174

A. Meenakshisundararajan

by the goldsmiths and the Buddha image was meant for all the members of Ainnurruvar, including goldsmiths. The fact that a Buddhist temple was established by goldsmiths and the Buddha image was worshipped by all the members of Ainnurruvar, most of whom must have been Hindus, shows the international and amicable character of the guild members of the day and also connects the Ainnurruvar with Nagapattinam as well as Kadaram. Incidentally these inscriptions bring out the crucial role played by the merchants and their guilds in fostering close relations between the Tamil land and Kadaram. This leads us to find out the dynamics of trade as a factor that prompted the Kadaram expedition. Another important change that occurred during the period was the development of an alternative silk route. The original global silk route that started from the Mediterranean, via the Middle East to China overland, became less serviceable with occasional breaches of peace in the Middle East. The alternative sea route that encircled the Indian Ocean and crossed the Southeast Asian waters to China was found to be both convenient and economical. The various ports on the South Indian coast (Muziris, Kayal, Periyapattinam, Nagapattinam, Kavirippoompattinam, Marakkanam, Mamallapuram) and the Malay Peninsula (Mapappalayam, Takkolam, Pannai, Kadaram, Malaiyur, Ilankasokam, Mayirudingan) coasts were convenient to carry on emporia trade. A judicious use of monsoon winds helped to reduce the costs of motive power. Actually, the Chinese emperor urged the Arab Mission to shift their trade from the land route to the sea route (in 1023). The role of merchant guilds in fostering international trade deserves special mention. The Chola empire experienced a sudden spurt of expansion under the powerful rulers, Rajaraja I and Rajendra I, in the early eleventh century AD. The power of these rulers was partly based on the control of the fertile rice basin of the Kaveri delta, and also on their intimate links with prosperous and influential merchant guilds, which controlled long-distance trade. In fact, the Chola imperial expansion was planned according to the advice of such merchants. It was a merchant who told Rajaraja about the weakness of Sri Lanka’s king and suggested a military intervention. The main thrust of the Chola expedition was then aimed at the Polonaruva-Trincomalee region, which was obviously of strategic importance for the Southeast Asian trade. At the same time, the complete control over the Gulf of Mannar gave the Cholas and their merchants a monopoly of the pearl trade, as this region was famous for its pearl fisheries. Nanadesi, ainurruvar, manigramam, anjuvannam, ayyavole, and valenjiyar were some of the guilds of the period. These maintained contact with as many countries as possible from the Red Sea to South China. Most 174

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

174

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

175

The Chola Trade with Southeast and East Asia

of them had mercenary armies. There is evidence that guild people established their own colonies on foreign soil (the manigramam had their colony at Takuapa). Naturally, the guilds had to garner their resources to sustain themselves in a severely competitive environment. Between the Indian border and the Chinese terminal, the only possible competitor would be Srivijaya. It is equally likely that Srivijaya was imposing heavy taxes and strict rules on ships that sailed through its waters. It is worth pinpointing, in this context, a reference in an Arab text that Srivijaya rulers had demanded a levy of 20,000 dinars as a right of passage for allowing a Jewish merchant ship to continue its voyage to China.16 The available circumstantial evidence suggests that the merchant guilds’ lobby understood the use of diplomacy that was backed by military intervention.

THE IMPACT OF THE EXPEDITION Capturing the Chinese market was one of the factors that triggered the Kadaram expedition of Rajendra. “The imports into China in trade”, says Rockhill, “consisted of two distinct categories of goods, the one manufactured textile fabrics (mostly of cotton), spices and drugs, and the other, and by far the most valuable intrinsically, jewels and semi-precious substances, such as ivory, rhinoceros’ horns, ebony, amber, coral and the like, and various aromatic products and perfumes, used either in the preparation of incense or for perfuming the body”.17 The high value of the second category of goods and the increasing demand for them led the Chinese government to declare their sale a government monopoly. Trade in these articles was open only to licensed vendors who bought their supplies at government warehouses in quantities and at prices fixed by the government. Trade in cotton fabrics, spices, and drugs were under no restrictions, and subject only to an import duty payable in kind and varying from one-tenth to two-tenths of the goods imported. Besides this import duty collected at the time of their entering the port, these goods had also to bear a fixed tonnage tax on the ship. This trade was felt to be beneficial to China on the whole and caused no anxiety to the government. In the course of time, however, grave abuses developed in connection with the trade in luxury items, and the drain of currency and precious metals resulting from its expansion, were a cause of serious concern to the government. These came to light in the twelfth century, and the Chinese government had to embark on legislation calculated to prohibit the exportation of precious metals and coined money, and to restrict the volume of trade with Malabar and Kollam (that is, the Coromandel Coast and Quilon). 175

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

175

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

176

A. Meenakshisundararajan

In the face of strong discouragement from the Chinese government, the commercial relations between China and South India appear to have been sustained, with more or less regularity, to the end of the thirteenth century. The Loboe Toewa (Sumatra) Tamil fragment of S´.1010 (AD 1088), which mentions the community of Tisai-Ayirattainnurruvar, shows that the merchants of South India had settlements outside India, and it is quite possible that small settlements of these traders were found in all important entrepots of the Persian Gulf and the China Sea. Hindu sculptures of decidedly South Indian origin have been discovered in a Chinese temple in the port town of Quanzhou, opposite to Formosa; these sculptures represent Puranic themes such as the Gajendra-moksa and Krsna tied to a mortar between trees and so on, and are best placed in the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. It seems possible, therefore, that a colony of South Indian merchants had settled in the port town of Quanzhou, which has been identified with the Zayton of the medieval travellers.18 It should also be recorded that the followers of Rajendra also maintained the supremacy of Chola Kingdom on foreign soil. The Chola navy seems to have crossed the Bengal Bay again, sometime around AD 1068, during the reign of Virarajendra, as inscriptions of his seventh regnal year (AD 1069/70) mention his expedition to Kadaram, though there is no vivid description of the battle in any of them. The purpose this time was to save a suppliant Kadaram king (name unknown) from some difficulty. Just more than twenty years after this second expedition, another Kadaram king (name unknown) sent a mission to the Chola court in 1090 and requested Kulottunga I, the then Chola king, to confirm the grant of villages made previously to the Buddhist temple constructed in Nagapattinam by Chulamani-varman. This is recorded in the so-called Smaller Leiden plates.19 All these events, together with the presence of agents (kanmi) of the Kadaram king in the Chola country, suggest the existence of very close relations between the two countries, even though the Chola navy once sacked the capital of the other country.

CONCLUSION The historical evidence, cited above, clearly proved that Rajendra Chola I continued his father’s tradition of connecting the Chola kingdom with South Asian countries through trade. After Rajendra I, only Kulottunga Chola had trade connections with Southeast Asian countries, but trade connections of the Cholas with other countries began to decline in later years. This commercial penetration brought with it the penetration of Indian culture, religion, sculptures, languages, arts, architecture, customs, and manners to the Far 176

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

176

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

177

The Chola Trade with Southeast and East Asia

East Asia to the extent that historians described the phenomenon as the development of a “Greater India”.

Notes 1. Dietmar Rothermund, An Economic History of India (New Delhi: Manohar, 1989), pp. 8–9. 2. Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, A History of India (New York: Dorset, 1990). 3. K.A.N. Sastri, The Co-.las (Madras: University of Madras, 1955), p. 194. 4. Ibid., p. 172. 5. Ibid., p. 211 and 213. See a new translation in this volume, pp. 279–80. 6. R.N. Samy Moovayiram, Aandukal Tamilanin Kadalvazhi Vanikam (2005), (Tamil). 7. P. Suryanarayana, Tamilnattu varalattru Ilakkia Atharangal 200 B.C. to 1350 A.D. (1998). 8. K.A.N. Sastri, The Co-.las, p. 213. 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid., p. 228. 11. Ibid., p. 220. 12. K.V. Aiyar Subrahmanya, “The Larger Leiden Plates (of Rajaraja I)”, Epigraphia Indica, XXII, 1934. 13. K.G. Krishnan, Studies in South Indian History and Epigraphy (1981), p. 160. 14. We are grateful to Dr. K.V. Ramesh, Ex-Joint Director General, and Dr M.N. Katti, Chief Ephigraphist, both of Archeological Survey India, for the permission. 15. Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu, “An Inscription on the Pedestal of the Bronze Buddha Image of Mr and Mrs John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of Asian Art — International character of Nagapattinam Merchants during the Chola Period”, Journal of East West Maritime Relations, Vol. 3, 1994. 16. Kenneth, R. Hall, Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985), p. 185. 17. T’oung Pao XV, p. 419. 18. Chau Ju-Kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Entitled Chu fan-chi, translated from Chinese and annotated by F. Hirth and W.W. Rockhill (Amsterdam: Oriental Press, 1966), pp. 19, 96 and 101. 19. K.V. Aiyar Subrahmanya, “The Large Leiden Plates”.

177

10 Nagapattinam_Ch 10

177

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

178

Hema Devare

11 CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHOLA MARITIME FABRIC TRADE WITH SOUTHEAST ASIA Hema Devare

Commerce and business prompted the Indians to cross the eastern seas. The economic contact with Southeast Asia was opened by South Indian people in pre-historic times. In bringing India and Southeast Asia closer an important part was played by the sea link. This connection was used most effectively by the Cholas who combined maritime and mercantile expertise. A glimpse of Rajaraja and Rajendra Chola’s world of foreign trade and their connection with Southeast Asia is a fascinating chapter in history. The Cholas, who were one of the most powerful kingdoms in South India, ruled in the first two hundred years of the first millennium. They were first mentioned in the Ashoka inscriptions 200 years BC as having friendly relations with Ashoka.1 They then were eclipsed for several centuries until the rise of Vijayalaya around AD 850 who established the imperial line of the Cholas, with Tanjavur as their capital, governing the entire Coromandel coast. (The name stems from Cholamandalam, the land of the Chola empire.)

THE BEGINNINGS OF TRADE Throughout this period, trade was the hallmark of the Cholas. Commerce from the Chola country is mentioned in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 178

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

178

178

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

179

The Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia

(a handbook written by an Alexandrian merchant between AD 81–96). Nearly half a century later, Ptolemy talks of the Chola country and its ports and inland cities.2 The Cholas controlled the most extensive shipping from the Coromandel coast across the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. They employed ships of various sizes. Colandia were large ships used on the voyage up the Ganges, light coasting boats were for local traffic, and big ocean-going vessels reached Malaya and Sumatra. Kaveripattinam and Nagapattinam were the two flourishing port towns of the Chola kingdom that became hubs of commerce. The reference to Kaveripattinam, the city par excellence on the Coromandel coast, figures in Buddhist literature. It is described as a great emporium of the Chola kingdom in early Tamil literature. Pattinapalai (an early Tamil poem from the second century) talks of Puhar (Kaveripattinam) having a big colony of foreign merchants and mentions the items of trade. A poet addressing the Chola king says, “big ships enter the port of Puhar without slacking sail and pour out on the beach precious merchandise brought from overseas”.3 One of the main articles that came from the Coromandel Coast was cotton cloth. The Mahabharata mentions Tanjavur muslins whereas Kautilya’s Arthashastra describes Madurai as a prominent centre of cotton weaving. Periplus mentions Argaru, which is the same as Uraiyur as a great source of trade in fine cotton stuff. Tanjore is the modern version of ancient Uraiyur. It rose as the Chola capital in the eleventh to twelfth centuries.4 The Chola princes were said to wear only cotton. Their robes were made with cotton and gold thread woven in. Chola soldiers also wore quilted cotton fabrics. Early Tamil literature gives abundant evidence of this rich produce from the Chola region. For example, Porunararuppadai, an early Tamil classic, mentions cotton cloths, thin like the slough of the snake with floral designs.5 Silapadikaram, another early Tamil poem, refers to Puhar (the capital of the Cholas at that time) where streets were lined with weavers dealing in fine fabrics of silk, fur, and cotton. The Chola traders and cotton from their country had played an important role in India’s trade with Rome before the beginning of the Christian era. By 200 BC the long distance access stretching from the Mediterranean to China was established. It was connected by the land and sea routes including the famous Silk Route. Southeast Asian mainland and the archipelago were fully integrated into this access via India and China. Several Jataka stories before the Christian era refer to the voyages between India and the Suvarnabhumi. There were a number of migrations from India to Indochina before and after the Christian era. A large number of traders and scholars resided along these trade routes which stretched from the Mediterranean to China. There is 179

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

179

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

180

Hema Devare

reference to Indian settlements in Takola (in coastal southern Thailand) and Yavadwipa in the second century BC.6 Trade between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra in the east and Malabar in the west was in the hands of Tamil merchants. Their main objective was to acquire forest and sea products and mineral wealth of the region for sale in China. Indian textiles were beginning to be used as a medium for exchange of wealth. Ships carrying cargo between India and China stopped at ports on the west coast of Southeast Asia to barter and exchange. This intense activity not only enhanced trade and commerce, but was also a conduit for the spread of religions, especially Buddhism and Brahmanism.7

TEXTILE TRADE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA China was one of the earliest eastern markets for the Indian cotton. During the later Han dynasty, AD 25–220, the Chinese came to know about xibu (fine cloth) through direct and indirect contact with Indian traders.8 The Chinese needed large quantities of white cotton cloth for the uniforms of their soldiers serving in dry, hot regions, and it remained a valuable import for a long time. White cloth was accepted as tax and used for payment to the imperial officers and soldiers. The same cloth later came to be known as kanipha in the Ming dynasty, bafta in Thailand and kain in Malaysia.9 Indians used to carry the cloth to Southeast Asia on the way to China, while Southeast Asian countries re-exported it along with other commodities. The Silappadikaram refers to this growing trade which included agil, silk, candy, sandal, salt, and camphor.10 In the early fifth century AD, the Chinese pilgrim Faxian mentions Indian merchants conducting trade with his country. He calls the cotton fabric trade of India po-tie which is connected with the Sanskrit word pota or patti in Dravidian language. The history of the Song dynasty in China refers to the arrival of envoys from He-luo-dan (a locality perhaps situated in Sumatra). Among other things that the envoys brought with them were Indian textiles. This is the first reference to the export of Indian textiles from India to Southeast Asia.11 Textiles were the binding factors in the cultural history of these two regions from ancient times. One of the early civilizations in Java was Taruma Nagara (fifth century AD). Taruma means indigo, and nagara comes from the Sanskrit word nagara, meaning city state. Indigo was the dominant colour in the dyed and printed trade cloths of India.12 The two coastal regions of the Bay of Bengal, particularly Kalinga, were an important source of cotton textiles to Southeast Asia at an early date. Because of this 180

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

180

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

181

The Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia

dominance, kling was widely used in the Indonesian archipelago as a common term for South Asians and kling cloths for textiles. This was because Java had settlers from Kalinga.

THE ROLE OF THE CHOLAS IN PROMOTING TRADE A number of trading centres came up as a result of the two-way commerce. By the time the Cholas came back to power, Palembang in the kingdom of Srivijaya was already a flourishing port. It remained an important commercial centre from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. By then, Arab traders had also entered the scene. Their settlements along the trade route had added to the boom of economic services. The Cholas developed extensive trade with Srivijaya. Trade of the Cholas with Sumatra and peninsular Malaysia got a real boost under Rajaraja. Traders from Kadaram and Srivijaya crossed the seas to the Chola country with their commodities such as iron ore and teak wood. Rajaraja encouraged foreign trade. Traders from the Chola kingdom flocked to the Southeast Asian countries and found settlements and trading guilds already existent there. Tamil merchants had remained in constant touch with the archipelago and China. South Indian merchant associations such as manigramam, nanadesi, and ainnaruvar (ayyavole in Kannada or aryarupa in Sanskrit) already existed. Ainnaruvar as a trade guild became more powerful under the Cholas. Manigramam and nanadesi joined this guild. Not all South Indian merchants present in Southeast Asian ports were associated with merchant groups. There are inscriptions in Java and Bali to suggest the existence of Banigrama (local version of vanigrama — merchant groups) which included both local and foreign merchants. They were working under licence from local rulers.13 Rajaraja Chola initiated a trade mission to China in AD 1015. Beginning with this, a series of trade missions were sent to China during the Chola dynasty. Up until then, the focus of these trade associations was the Middle East. But with trade volume increasing in the East, it shifted to Southeast Asia and China. The activity of these guilds shifted to the east coast of India, the cotton-producing regions stretching from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka to the south coast of Kalinga, and cotton textiles gained prominence in the list of exports.14 As the trade was growing, the Chola king Rajaraja encouraged the construction of Cudamani Vihara at Nagapattinam by the king of the Sailendra dynasty of Srivijaya. A decade later, the ruler of Srivijaya presented gifts of Chinese gold to a Hindu temple in the Chola state in India.15 This showed 181

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

181

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

182

Hema Devare

the extent of the growing friendly relations between the Cholas and the eastern archipelago.

TEXTILES AND SPICES Painted and block-printed textiles from Gujarat and Coromandel were closely knit with the spice trade. They consisted of plain woven cottons decorated either by mordant dyeing or mordant dyeing in combination with resist dyeing. During the Chola period, by the eleventh century, weaving and dyeing industries had further developed. The introduction of the draw loom in the eleventh century and the spinning wheel in the early thirteenth century added to the technological advance. Block-printed textiles, resist dyed with indigo or mordant dyed with madder or morinda, along with intricate patterns, were exported in large quantities to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.16 The Southeast Asians would barter their spices only in exchange for these textiles. This patterned cloth had a high circulation in Southeast Asia. Changes in textile patterns illustrated on the Angkor reliefs reflect the growing popularity of the Indian export cloths at that time. The Khmer kings Suryavarman I and II, had fostered active links with the Chola dynasty in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. From the repository of Angkor reliefs one can see the evolution of Indian textiles. Till the ninth century, plain or striped lengths were in vogue. By the tenth century, pleated cloths were available. Progressively, more exotic fabrics came from India. Patterns of geometric designs, four petal flowers, solar discs, star shapes of various kinds, and floral motifs in bands and squares, became popular. The changing patterns of the fabrics on the Javanese statuary around the same time reflect the growing popularity of Indian export cloths at that time. In 1225, the Chinese writer Zhao Rugua who was inspector of foreign trade in Fujian, described the export of cotton textiles from south India to Sumatra. According to his records, Indian patterned cloth entered China from various regions of Southeast Asia, thus linking Southeast Asia with China.17 Also in the thirteenth century, Marco Polo recorded the exports of Indian textiles to China and Southeast Asia from the Masulipattinam and Coromandel coasts in the “largest ships” known then.18 The rulers in Southeast Asia used to buy this cloth and send it as gifts to the Chinese emperors to enhance their status and to maintain control of international trade in their territory. In the fourteenth century, Chinese commentator Wang Dayuan states in his account that patterned cloth was imported from Nagapattinam, the Chola dynasty’s major port and centre for the export of 182

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

182

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

183

The Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia

cotton goods.19 In Java, between the ninth and fifteenth centuries, Indian textiles had high priority in the lists of items of purchase by rulers and nobility. Not only was Southeast Asia involved in this trade, but also the dominant language at that time was a mixture of Tamil, Persian, and Malay.

THE CHOLA CONNECTION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA There is enough inscriptional evidence to suggest the Chola connection with Southeast Asia. Recent underwater excavations in Pompuhar have unearthed evidence of early Chola contacts with Southeast Asia and the Roman world. The early Chola square copper coins with a rectangular stone bar with Tamil brahmi letters found at Khuan Luk Pat in Thailand point to the trade contacts with the Tamil population in Thailand. Rajaraja Chola’s mission and trade organizations such as ainnurruvar are some of the names which visited Southeast Asian ports on their way to China.20 The Chola envoy, Samanta (Sanwen), is reported to have visited many Southeast Asian ports on his way to China. An Indian mercantile guild, manigramam, was active at Takuapa, a port located on the west coast of the Isthmus during the ninth century. There are statues at Takuapa and Viengsra in Chola style and an inscription at Nakhon Si Thammarat indicating continuing contacts between the Isthmus and South India in Chola times.21 The Chinese annals of the Song dynasty record the mission to China from Zhu-nian (Chola) in AD 1015. They mention the name of Luo-cha-luo-zha (Rajaraja) as the king of their country. Another Chola embassy under Shi-li-luo-cha-yin-tuo-luo-zhu-luo (Shri Rajaindra Chola) reached China in AD 1033, and a third one from Kulottunga in AD 1077.22 Tamil inscriptions have been found between Burma and Sumatra written in Grantha script, a common script between Sanskrit and Tamil. Most of the Tamil inscriptions appear to belong to the Chola period of the eleventh to twelfth centuries, or the declining Chola period in the late thirteenth century. The inscription in Sumatra dated AD 1082 was discovered in the last century at Barus, an important coastal centre for camphor. It recorded the decision in Tamil by the Indian community resident there (members of the ainnurruvar guild) requiring to pay a charitable fee before engaging in the trade of cloth.23 According to a Tanjore copper plate evidence, the king of Kamboja sought Rajendra Chola’s friendship by sending him the victorious chariot for the protection of royalty, which indicates the Cholas’ overseas contact with Kamboja. Suryavarman I (AD 1002–50) was in power in Angkor at that time. The finds of Chinese ceramics at several sites in south India dating from 183

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

183

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

184

Hema Devare

the ninth to tenth centuries onwards are clear indicators of continuous maritime contacts during the Chola/Vijayanagara period.24

INFLUENCE OF CHOLA CULTURE The Chola traders were not only active as traders, but they also brought their brahmanical courtly culture along with them. They added a significant layer on a cultural base built by the Pallavas. Rajendra’s naval expedition to Southeast Asia further strengthened this cultural influence. The concept of devaraja, Shiva and Vishnu, and the generous use of the Sanskrit language was already being practised. The Cambodian monarchy as well as Javanese royalty thought of themselves as Vishnu and Shiva. The Thai kings regarded themselves as incarnations of Indra. In Champa, the spirit of Shiva was omnipresent. Cham sculptures in Vietnam were the expression of the Indian Brahmin pantheon as interpreted locally.25 Deification was further promoted under the mid-Cholas with the belief that the king increased his divine power by his identification with both the temple and the deity himself.26 The culture of the Cholas revolved around the temples. They were showpieces for fine arts, whether of architecture, stone sculpture, textiles, paintings, or bronze castings. Music and dance were intertwined with the religious activities of the Chola kingdom. Narrative stories in the form of wall paintings were an ancient tradition which was immortalized in the Ajanta Caves. The wall paintings in the Brihadisvara temple in Tanjavur of early eleventh century was a continuation of this narrative tradition.27 The walls of Rajaraja’s temple of Tanjore depict Shiva seated on a tiger skin watching the dance of the nymphs. Inland from the Coromandel coast, the town of Kalahasti had the tradition of creating resist dyed painted scrolls for use as temple hangings, which had the images of gods from Hindu mythology . The picturization was dramatic, in tune with the art of katha recital, which was a popular folk tradition in the villages.28 The art of Kalamkari from the Coromandel coast could have had its origins in these religious paintings, which were used as backdrop in the temples. The passion and the patronage of arts under the Cholas had their imprint on the Southeast Asian cultures. The brahmanical sculptures in peninsular Siam from the ninth to the eleventh centuries were dominated by the influence of Chola art, especially the stone sculptures on Pranarai Hill at Takuapa. Ramayana battle scenes against a plain white background, popular in Bali, can be traced to South Indian temple hangings. Burmese kalagas (elaborate hangings), portraying stories from well known Jataka legends, were decorative 184

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

184

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

185

The Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia

hangings meant for monasteries and courts of Southeast Asia. Rich and ornate appliqué materials were used by the Burmese elites to create them. They were donated to Buddhist temples to gain merit. Using painted scrolls as picture recitations was an ancient practice in India. Bana (the well-known Sanskrit author) refers to these scrolls as yamapattikas (conveying message of death) in Harshacharitra. Buddhist literature sources also refer to chalatchitra or mobile paintings which was an old tradition. These are portable galleries of pictures with songs. In Siamese Buddhist texts, Saratha Pakshini, these chitras are said to have been shown to people by wandering brahmins.29 Painting on cloth and the intricate process of resist dyeing on fabrics were going on simultaneously. Painted stripes, floral and bird pictures, sunflower and lilies, luxuriant foliage, were some of the popular motifs. The fabrics of the Chola traders were not merely trade objects, but carriers of culture. The textile patterns provided decoration for temple interiors and courts in Southeast Asia. The depiction on these textiles shows that they were Indian imports. The temples of Pagan in Myanmar provide some evidence for this. The painted motif on the ceiling of the Thetkyamuni temple is a standard Indian design in printed cotton cloths from the Coromandel coast.30 In the Lokahteikpan temple of Pagan, the king of Vaisali wears a robe with interlocking circles, a design similar to the ceiling pattern of the Kanchipuram temple in Tamilnadu in India. This seventeenth century temple has imitated the pattern of trade textiles popular from the first century AD in the Sunga period. These textiles were used as ceiling canopies to define sacred spaces.31 It showed the prestige Indian textiles carried among the rulers of Burma. The Angkorian reliefs show that patterned cloths were used to make blinds for windows, screens, curtains, parasols, and upholstery cloth — all essential indicators of social status in the lives of the elite. For example, Suryavarman II is seated on a patterned cloth with a four-petal flower (a pattern indicative of royalty). Parasols shown with patterned material proclaim the king’s sovereignty.32 In Wat Yai Suvannaram in the Phetchaburi province in Thailand, eleven pairs of columns are painted and gilded with patterns similar to those on Indian trade cloth. Buddha’s figure is always resting on imported trade textiles. These textiles became an integral part of temple décor as well as of royal regalia for princely courts. They assumed a prestigious position in local societies.

HINDU ICONOGRAPHY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA The influence of Hindu iconography on Southeast Asian minds was manifest through textiles. The upper world of deities was transformed into Mount 185

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

185

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

186

Hema Devare

Meru. In Indonesia, the Brahmin priest had introduced certain rituals to the court in which the mountain motif had a strong impact as the abode of gods. It was powerfully expressed in temple structures by erecting stupas. The pagoda is a popular image and is depicted on silk-weft ikat textiles such as pidan of Cambodia, which are used as ceremonial hangings.33 In Malaysia, the mountain symbol manifested in the motif of tumphal. In the batik of Indonesia, a sacred mountain appears as semen or alasan. These symbols were meant for the exclusive use of Javanese royalty. The concept of mandala (circle) was turned into the kawung pattern of Javanese batik. Vishnu Dharmottarapurana (the ancient Sanskrit treatise on painting) prescribes the worship of the sun god through an eight-petaled lotus flower drawn on the ground. The Southeast Asian sun motif was transformed under the Indian influence into eight-point rosettes or lotuses.34 The circle, the star, and the lozenge have been identified with the lotus, chakra (Vishnu’s weapon), and mandala motif. Naga symbolism prevalent in south India found ready acceptance in Southeast Asia where snakes and other reptiles were already important in ancient images. Naga is a familiar figure on the silk-weft ikat cloth of Khmer. Naga and Garuda, the mount of Vishnu, and a central figure in the Ramayana epic, became prominent symbols of court regalia. The giant Garuda, symbol of the ruler, appears on the textiles of Indonesia in stylized form as a single wing or a pair of wings. Celestial deities from Hindu mythology were favoured designs for court décor among Thai royalty. Designs incorporating devas, kinnaras, apsaras, gandharvas, garuda and naga were especially popular. Thepanon (deva) rising from a lotus with folded hands became one of the most popular motifs in Thai art. The Coromandel coast reproduced this cloth with such motifs.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND INDIAN TEXTILES The trade textiles, being ceremonial and royal, brought with them the inherent notion of hierarchy. They brought subtle changes in the social structures of Southeast Asian societies. They became symbols of rank and status. A more rigid distinction developed between the rulers and the ruled. They were adopted by the rich whereas the masses continued to wear textiles made with vegetable fibre. Gold was associated with royalty and gold’s glitter was considered to be a symbol of royal presence. Brocaded cloth, valuable silk, and gold became a signature of royalty and the elite in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, Sumatra, Java, and Bali, gold leaf was used to highlight the block-printed designs. 186

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

186

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

187

The Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia

Zhou Daguan, a member of Chinese diplomatic mission residing in Angkor in 1297, describes that clothes for royal use included Indian imports. They were valued in gold, an indication of their high status.35 Even in later centuries, during wedding ceremonies, the bride continued to be dressed in costume with silver and gold thread. Since metal was a purifying agent, it was supposed to protect the bride. In Java, the most distinctive Javanese noble dress known as dodot used Indian cloth which came from the Coromandel coast. It was specially designed for priyayi or nobility as ceremonial dress. There is a reference to dodot in the Javanese text of the late ninth century . Weavers are depicted in the fourteenth century reliefs showing courtly costumes of the Majapahit era.36 Evidence of royal cloths is available from the Chinese annals. According to Liangshu, King Bhagadatta in Langkasuka and his nobles wore above their robes red cloth which covered the top of their back between the shoulders. They wore golden belts and gold rings on their ears. Women wore scarves adorned with jewels.37 The colour red was considered auspicious in India. The red silk sari with gold brocade covering the entire surface was worn by brides in south India. They were offered to the temple before the solemnization of the marriage. Coromandel fabrics had a special relationship with Thailand. Finely painted textiles, known as kling cloths, were most popular with the Thai royalty. The Crown ordered his own designs through agents who used to go to India and ship cloths from the Coromandel coast.

INFLUENCE ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN COSTUMES From textiles, Indian influence spread to the realm of costumes. Simple loin cloth gave way to more elaborate forms of clothing for the lower body. According to sculptural evidence, the style of dress adopted by the rulers of the earliest kingdoms of Southeast Asia included long skirts, draped or folded in front and held with clasps, belts, and decorative sashes. Although the upper part of the body and head were left uncovered, they were adorned with jewellery. Indian costume forms themselves provided a major impetus for new styles. The chawang kabun of the Khmer equated with the dhoti. Khmer skirt cloths with a bundle of pleats tucked in at the waist resembled the Indian sari. The skirt cloth simply knotted at the waist imitated the Indian lungi. 187

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

187

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

188

Hema Devare

The shoulder sash, the salandang of the Malay world and the sabai of Thailand could have been derived from the sari. The chawang kabun was the most familiar form of Angkorian costumes. As early as the pre-Angkorian period, Indian merchants, brahmins, and priests were attired in unstitched cloth which was considered purer in the Hindu belief system. During the Angkorian period, Cambodian costumes did not include upper body garments except those worn by warriors. The chawang kabun continued to remain a royal costume in later centuries. Before the coronation of the king, the queen wore the chawang kabun of seven different colours for seven days. It was a mark of respect for the deity of the day. This custom dated back to Hindu origins.38 In the kingdom of Srivijaya, garments had largely remained untailored. People there wore clothes similar to Indian dhoti. Like the Khmers and Malays, they chose the textiles from India for royal use. In Champa, the stone-sculpted apsara of the pedestal of Tra Kieu (near Da Nang, central Vietnam), dated to the middle of the tenth century, wears richly decorated cloth which is skin tight and fits closely to the legs. This clothing was not known outside Champa in Southeast Asian art. This style, known as Chandataka, corresponds to the costumes of sculptures representing dancers and female deities from South India from the same period as can be seen from the bronze sculptures of the Cholas.39 In Thailand, the chong kraben (dhoti) became firmly established as a costume style for both men and women as can be seen in temple stone carvings from the Sukhothai period (fourteenth century AD).The floral and geometric patterns of the chong krabens and sarongs could be imports from the Coromandel coast. The carved depictions from this period show that over the centuries more exotic fabrics became available to the elite. One particular pattern of intersecting roundels enclosing a flower motif is carved in bas-relief at Angkor Wat and Bayon. Same textile is represented on the hip-wrapper of Javanese Ganesha. A fragment of export cotton cloth of the same mordant printed pattern has been recovered in Fustat in Egypt belonging to the thirteenth century. It has been proven to be of Indian origin, exported to the Middle East. These representations weave a common story. It supports the theory of overseas trade in woven cloth.40 As mentioned earlier, India not only initiated fashion styles for the elite in Southeast Asia, but also provided much of the cloth to create them. These textile depictions not only show the evidence of costume styles, but also of trade and textile economy in the region. 188

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

188

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

189

The Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia

CULTURAL LEGACY Although Coromandel textiles arrived as items of trade in Southeast Asia, these painted, printed mordant resist-dyed fabrics were absorbed in the hierarchies of Southeast Asian society and art because of their exotic nature and complexity of designs and association with royalty. Textiles which reflected Hindu traditions became a part of sacred heritage. They were not only absorbed in day-to-day usage, but became an important element in all rites of passage such as birth, marriage, and funerals. They also found an important place in mythology and customary practices. Coromandel painted fabrics and patolas from Gujarat were essential elements in royal ceremonies. The use of canopy of painted cottons became a universal practice. These painted and mordant dyed cotton fabrics came to be known as sarsa on Southeast Asian mainland and Sembagi in the archipelago, and later became well known as chints all over the world. They were used as gifts which helped to establish social relationships. In Malay weddings they were displayed on silver trays known as kain telepuk and became a widely accepted form of storing wealth in Southeast Asian societies. Ritual exchanges occurred at all levels — from the individual to the state — with the aim of obtaining loyalties and establishing political equations. In Thailand, the distribution of imported cloths had been used since the Ayuthya period as a method of expressing favour, privilege, and rank. In Sulawesi, Indonesia, these fabrics are known as ma’a. They were described as having come from the mythical sea in mythical times and hence became sacred treasures. They are associated with marriages and funerals. The Torajas in central Sulawesi build a huge staircase of bamboo to which hundreds of rolls of Indian textiles are attached. It towers above the proceedings and is a symbolic invitation to ancestors. Even in Indonesia under Islam these Coromandel textiles retained their magical status. Painted cloths decorated with flowering trees were prized as canopies on formal occasions. It was not merely a sun shade, but a public statement of authority.41 The trade textiles were ascribed protective powers and children with diseases were wrapped in them. Magical properties were also attributed to them. This is vividly demonstrated in the Javanese antakusuma, which is a talismanic patchwork jacket imbued with supernatural protective powers.42 It was made with fragments of old and auspicious Indian textiles, including patola (a double ikat silk textile which captured the fancy of Southeast Asia) and painted cottons. The rulers of Yogyakarta wore them. 189

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

189

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

190

Hema Devare

Batik tulis (hand-drawn batik), for which Java became famous, had close connection with Kalamkari from the Coromandel coast. Certain motifs associated with Indian royal textiles took root in Southeast Asia. For example, the four-petaled rosette, popular in Thai art since the Dvaravati period, was the most common motif of Indian textiles in painted cottons for the Thai market and Thai brocades. The eight-pointed lotus from the Hindu symbol for the worship of the sun was reproduced in Javanese batik as jalamprang. Among the Minangkabau, it is called “split peanut”. Indonesian batik was closely linked to Hindu mythology. The batik patterns kawung and sumer are not only symbols of power, but also refer to ancient links between the rulers of Java and Hindu gods, particularly Vishnu and Shiva. Kawung might have been inspired by the four-petal flower appearing on the cloth from the Coromandel coast. The symbol of the “tree of life” on Coromandel textiles was shared by Indonesia. Hindu traditions continued through textiles that were part of ceremonial rites. Ramayana and Mahabharata became the basis for most classical theatre performances in association with court and village rituals which required the use of rich costumes. The legacy of the fabric trade of the Cholas survived long after their empire declined. In Thailand and Cambodia, brahmanical practices are still followed for royal ceremonies. On such occasions Indian textiles are preferred. In Thailand, in the first ploughing ceremony known as nak na kwan, the Minister of Agriculture who takes the temporary place of the King, wears pha nung (dhoti) for the ceremony which is presided over by brahmin priests. His choice of length of cloth is supposed to usher the length of the rainy season.43 In Cambodia, even today, in traditional dances the performers wear hip wrappers over pants, providing the glimpses of the cultural past. Like the sculptural evidence, royal practices using ceremonial textiles are reminders of the early Indian influence in Southeast Asia from the Chola times.

Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.las (University of Madras, 1937), p. 10. Ibid., p. 22. Ibid., p. 80. Ibid., p. 22. Ibid., p. 88. H.B. Sarkar, Cultural Relations between India and Southeast Asia (New Delhi: Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Motilal Banarasidas, 1985).

190

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

190

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

191

The Chola Maritime Fabric Trade with Southeast Asia

7. Himanshu Prabha Ray, “Far Flung Fabrics: Indian Textiles in Ancient Maritime Trade”, in Textiles in Indian Ocean Societies, edited by Ruth Barnes, p. 21. 8. Haraprasad Ray, Trade and Trade Routes between India and China, c 140 BC– AD 1500 (Kolkata: Progressive Publishers, 2003), p. 161. 9. Ibid., p. 163. 10. Sarkar, Cultural Relations, p. 252. 11. Ibid., p. 250. 12. Jasleen Dhamija, Woven Magic: The Affinity Between Indian and Indonesian Textiles (Jakarta: Dian Rakyat, 2002), p. 9. 13. Himanshu Prabha Ray, “Far Flung Fabrics”, p. 23. 14. Jan Wisseman Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 29 (1998): 239–68. 15. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.las, p. 185. 16. Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions”, p. 3. 17. John Guy, Woven Cargoes (Thames and Hudson, 1998), p. 55. 18. South Asian History: History of Crafts, Manufacturing and Trade in Indian Sub-continent, . 19. Guy, Woven Cargoes, p. 154. 20. Harprasad Ray, Trade and Trade Routes, p. 164. 21. Brahmanical Gods in Peninsular Siam, p. 21. 22. Sastri, The Co-.las, p. 219. 23. Guy, Woven Cargoes, p. 55. 24. Ray, “Far Flung Fabrics”, p. 29. 25. Hubert Jean Francois, The Art of Champa (New York: Parkstone Press, 2005), p. 31. 26. Heather Elgood, Hinduism and Religious Arts (New York: Cassell, 1999), p. 183. 27. Ibid., p. 207. 28. Homage to Kalamkari (Mumbai: Marg Publications, 746-15H H 763). 29. J.F. Hubert, The Art of Champa. 30. Guy, Woven Cargoes, p. 56. 31. Ibid., p. 32. 32. Gillian Green, Traditional Textiles of Cambodia: Cultural Threads and Material Heritage (Thailand: River Books Co. Ltd.), p. 36. 33. Robyn Maxwell, Textiles of Southeast Asia (Hong Kong: Periplus Editions, 2003), p. 199. 34. Elgood, Hinduism and Religious Arts, p. 207. 35. Guy, Woven Cargoes, p. 58. 36. Ibid., p. 99. 37. P.M. Munoz, Early Kingdoms of Indonesian Archipelago and Malay Peninsula (Singapore, 2006), p. 101. 38. Gillian Green, Traditional Textiles of Cambodia, p. 191. 39. Jane Purananada, ed., Through the Thread of Time: Southeast Asian Textiles. The

191

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

191

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

192

Hema Devare

40. 41. 42. 43.

James H.W. Thomson Foundation Symposium Papers (Thailand: River Books, 2004), p. 138. Ibid., pp. 39–40. Guy, Woven Cargoes, p. 74. Ibid., p. 102. J. Purananada, ed., Through the Thread of Time, p. 111.

192

11 Nagapattinam_Ch 11

192

11/4/09, 12:55 PM

193

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

12 SRI LANKA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA DURING THE PERIOD OF THE POLONNARUVA KINGDOM Anura Manatunga

Polonnaruva was the capital city of Sri Lanka for about two and half centuries from the late tenth century AD to the mid-thirteenth century AD. It was the centre of the Chola administration of the governors of King Rajaraja I (AD 985–1014) and his successors for over seventy years after which it became the centre of the second Sinhalese kingdom under King Vijayabahu I (AD 1055–10). It was then ruled by seventeen kings and queens including the Great Parakramabahu (AD 1153–86) and Nissankamalla (AD 1187–96), until it was usurped by Magha of Kalinga in AD 1215 who ruled for twenty-one years. Though the city was restored and reoccupied for some time in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it was gradually abandoned and forgotten (pp. 54–90; UCHC 1959, pp. 392– 580). It was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century by a British military officer, and at that time, was only a ruined city in a forest area (Ievers 1899, p. 213; Forbes 1994, p. 391). Polonnaruva contains both Hindu and Buddhist monuments and they have been preserved in fairly good condition. The largest collection of inscriptions in Sinhala or Tamil from Sri Lanka was found in Polonnaruva. The history of Polonnaruva has been relatively well documented in the Mahavamsa, the Pali chronicle of the Island. The large-scale archaeological investigations of the site started at the beginning of the last century and 193

193

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

193

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

194

Anura Manatunga

systematic excavations with regular recordings have been carried out since 1980 (Burrows 1899; Bell 1903; Prematilleke 1982). The city has appeared in history since the seventh century AD as a regional centre of the Anuradhapura kingdom and developed gradually during the following centuries as an alternative city to Anuradhapura (UCHC 1959, pp. 333–38). Some kings of the late Anuradhapura period favoured Polonnaruva and periodically settled there for ruling the country, although Anuradhapura was still the capital city of the island. Unlike Anuradhapura, Polonnaruva was not a holy city for Buddhists; hence its selection to replace Anuradhapura would have been understood in a different paradigm (Manatunga 2007, pp. 1–5). Recent studies show that Polonnaruva would have been the Pana Nagara referred to in the Vansattappakasini in relation to the battles of Prince Pandukabhaya in the fourth century BC (Manatunga 2004, pp. 112–16). If we accept this identification, it could be surmised that Polonnaruva was a market town, as the name Pana Nagara has that meaning (Monier-Williams 2001, p. 615). The location of Polonnaruva reinforced this idea as it had been a nodule point in a trade network. Polonnaruva is relatively closer to the eastern coast of the island than Anuradhapura and it is approachable through the river Mahaveli, from the Gokanna port, the later Trincomalee that has the best natural harbour in the region. The eastern coast and the ports in eastern Sri Lanka would have prospered from the trade boom in the Malay Archipelago and the rise of the Srivijaya kingdom from about the seventh century AD onwards. Therefore, easy accessibility to the eastern coast would be one of the advantages offered by Polonnaruva for emerging as the capital city of the island. Apart from economic considerations, political and cultural conditions favoured the eastern coast during this period. With the decline of Buddhism on the Indian mainland, Sri Lanka emerged as the protector of Buddhism in the South Asian Region (Coedès 1968, p. 149). Therefore, cultural ties with other Buddhist countries across the Indian Ocean improved during this period. Ocean currents and monsoon winds also favoured direct contact between Sri Lanka and Myanmar as well as with the Malay Peninsula (Aung 1967, p. 23). The Chinese traveller monk, Hsuen Tsang, who was a pilgrim in India and Myanmar in the seventh century AD, has noted that lower Myanmar was also known as Kama Lanka which means “Love of Lanka” (Aung 1967, p. 23). The names of two Malay kingdoms, Lanka Suka and Srivijaya, might also testify to the cordial relationship with Sri Lanka as Lanka Suka means “Happiness of Lanka”, and Vijaya was the founder of the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka in the sixth century BC (Aung 1967, p. 23). 194

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

194

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

195

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

Politically, the rise of the imperial Cholas in South India was a danger to the existence of the Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura (UCHC 1959, pp. 333–38). As the Cholas subdued other South Indian kingdoms (Nilakanta Sastri 1955, p. 197) the Sinhalese could not seek the support of their old allies, Pandyas or Cheras. Only Southeast Asia could render support against the Cholas; hence Polonnaruva would have been seen as more convenient than Anuradhapura by the Sinhalese kings of Anuradhapura in the troubled period. By the end of the tenth century AD, Polonnaruva would possibly have developed as the chief administrative centre of the island, though Anuradhapura was still considered the capital. It has been recorded that Anuradhapura had become a home of unruly mobs of soldiers by the time of King Mahinda (AD 982–1012) who happened to be the last king of Anuradhapura (Mv. 54, pp. 1–2; Nilakanta Sastri 1955, p. 173). King Mahinda deserted Anuradhapura in AD 982 and sought asylum in a remote place in southern Rohana as he was unable to control the prevailing situation in Anuradhapura (Mv. 54, p. 7). Thus, in AD 993, when the powerful Cholas invaded Sri Lanka, they were able to capture both Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva easily (Mv. 54, pp. 13–22).They ransacked Anuradhapura and selected Polonnaruva as the chief administrative centre of the island (Nilakanta Sastri 1955, p. 199; UCHC 1959, p. 338). This brought an end to the kingdom of Anuradhapura which had lasted for about a thousand five hundred years from the fourth century BC to the end of the tenth century AD. King Mahinda was taken prisoner in 1012 or so, and deported to Tanjore as a prisoner, which resulted in Sri Lanka becoming a part of the Chola Empire (UCHC 1959, pp. 336–38). The Chola rule of Sri Lanka had been administered by a viceroy appointed by the emperor of Tanjore. Polonnaruva was known to the Cholas as Jananatha Mangalam or Jananatha Puram, while Sri Lanka was named Mummudi Sola Mundelam (UCHC 1959, pp. 393–96; Nilakanta Sastri 1955, p. 173). During this period, Buddhism had been suppressed and some monasteries were given to officers to settle in (Mv. 54, pp. 19–22). Buddhist monks had to seek asylum in southern Rohana or the countries of Southeast Asia where they were welcomed (UCHC 1959, p. 535). The selection of Polonnaruva as the capital of Sri Lanka made it easy for the Cholas to control the eastern coast of the island. This must have been an advantage for them in their expedition towards Srivijaya, from both the military and economic perspectives. The area around Trincomalee was full of activity during this period as testified by some construction work and inscriptions there (Nicholas 1963, pp. 44–46). It is interesting to note that 195

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

195

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

196

Anura Manatunga

the Cholas patronized a Buddhist monastery at Velgam Vehera near Trincomalee despite their antagonism towards Buddhism in other areas of the island. This temple was given some land and renamed Rajaraja Perum Palli in consecration of King Rajaraja, father of Rajendra Chola (UCHC 1959, p. 413). Sri Lanka was under Chola power for over seventy years. Though the Sinhalese were constantly in struggle against Cholas throughout this period, it was only King Vijayabahu I (AD 1055–1110), hailing from a royal family in exile in Rohana, who was successful in AD 1070 in defeating them (UCHC 1959, pp. 397–406; Nilakanta Sastri 1955, pp. 45–71). For this endeavour, Vijayabahu sought the help of the king of Ramanna country, and it marked the first recorded incident of Sri Lanka’s political alliance with any Southeast Asian country (Mv. 57, pp. 8–10). Rammanna or Aramana country is none other than Burma or present Myanmar which was under the Pagan Kingdom at that time. King Anawrahta (AD 1044–77), who is known in Sri Lankan sources as Anuruddha, was the king of Pagan (Aung 1967, p. 35; Mv. 60, p. 5). By that time Pagan was a powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia under Anawrahta, which had conquered Thaton and successfully expelled Khmer invaders and emerged as the rising power of that region (Aung 1967, p. 35)). According to the Mahavamsa, the chronical of the Sinhalese, King Vijayabahu, while staying at a place called Siptala with his large platoons, had sent a number of people and costly gifts to the king of Ramanna and (in return) received ships loaded with various gifts including fine costumes, camphor, and sandalwood (Mv. 57, pp. 8–9). The next line of the chronicle says that the soldiers were entertained by the king, who gave them various costly gifts, and had thereafter left for the village called Tammala (Mv. 57, p. 10). This description in the Mahavamsa does not refer to any military support given by king Anawrahta. As Nilakanta Sastri surmised, the mission sent by Vijayabahu got him no additional military strength and virtually resolved itself into a trade or courtesy enterprise (Nilakanta Sastri 1955, p. 49). However, the Glass Palace Chronicle of the Burmese kings refers to generals bringing some Tamil-Indian prisoners-of-war to the presence of King Kyanzittha (AD 1084–112) — the successor of Anuwrahta and contemporary to Vijayabahu — on the occasion of his anointing ceremony, and saying they had conquered the Indian country in places called Thandars and Ngathonpinle (Sirisena 1978, pp. 20–21). This reference shows that the Burmese were engaged in a war with the Tamils during this period, but it was not clear whether it is in Sri Lanka, India, or Burma itself. 196

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

196

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

197

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

After the victory over the Cholas, Vijayabahu too made his abode in Polonnaruva (Mv. 59, pp. 1–11). Before that he was anointed in Anuradhapura, the old city of the Sinhalese, possibly because of the emotional affiliation with the holy city. It is said that he spent three months in Anuradhapura worshipping sacred monuments and had entrusted a minister to look after the restoration work of the city before he left for Polonnaruva (Mv. 59, pp. 1–11). In Polonnaruva, Vijayabahu again turned to Burma appealing for Anawrahta’s support for restoring Buddha Sasana in Sri Lanka (Mv. 60, pp. 4–8). Due to the negligence and suppression during the period of the Chola occupation, not even five elderly monks were available to sit in, at the Upasampada ceremony, which was essential for ordaining monks from their novice state to monkshood (Pujavaliya 1930, p. 732). At Vijayabahu’s request, Anawrahta sent twenty learned monks who were well versed in the Buddhist Tripitaka (Pujavaliya 1930, pp. 732–33; Nikayasangrahaya 1997, p. 24). This helped Vijayabahu to perform the Upasampada ceremony and reform the Buddha Sasana to its former glory. It is believed that some of these monks would have been Sinhalese monks or their pupils who sought asylum in Burma during the Chola occupation of the island, or their Burmese students (UCHC 1959, p. 536). According to Burmese sources, it seems that Anawrahta was eager to have the Tooth Relic of Buddha, which was highly venerated in Sri Lanka (UCHC 1959, pp. 535–36). He sent envoys with a white elephant as a gift to Vijayabahu, but had to be satisfied with a replica of the Tooth relic (UCHC 1959, pp. 535–36). After having made some duplicates from this replica, it was enshrined in the Shwezigon Pagoda by Anauwratha in a great ceremony (Sirisena 1978, pp. 63–65). Anawrahta’s successor, Kyanzittha, who is also contemporary to Vijayabahu, received nine other relics from Sri Lanka to enshrine in the Minochant Pagoda, which was built by him (Sirisena 1978, pp. 63–65). After Vijayabahu, his brother Jayabahu (AD 1111) and son Vikramabahu I (AD 1111–32) ascended the throne in Polonnaruva successively (Mv. 61, pp. 1–53). A fragmentary inscription of Vikramabahu’s wife, Sundara Maha Devi, found at the Royal precinct of Polonnaruva, refers to Thambaratta and a great monk called Ananda who had been introduced as “a banner that rose over the land of Lanka” (Paranavitana 1943, pp. 67–72). Though the relationship with this monk and Thambaratta has not been clear due to the fragmentary nature of the inscription, it is interesting to note that Thambaratta is identified as Tambalinga, which is Ligor or Nakhon Si Thammarat in the Malay Peninsula where Theravada Buddhism flourished 197

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

197

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

198

Anura Manatunga

and was a centre for diffusion of the religion in the Southeast Asian region (Paranavitana 1943, pp. 67–7; Coedès 1968, p. 178). The next series of events in Sri Lanka — Southeast Asia relations — comes from the period when King Parakramabahu I (AD 1153–86) ruled in Polonnaruva, and King Alaungsithu (AD 1112–67) ruled in Pagan. Both these kings were considered great kings in their respective countries (Aung 1967, pp. 44–45; UCHC 1959, p. 438), but they were hostile to each other due to some misunderstanding on the political and trade activities between the two countries. The Mahavamsa (Mv. 76, pp. 16–35) gives a detailed account on how the hostilities grew between the two monarchs. First, King Alaungsithu broke the custom of giving an elephant to each Sri Lankan ship that sailed to Burma with gifts. Thereafter he stopped the selling of elephants in the open market and made it a king’s monopoly. Having done so, he increased the price of elephants, which could not be afforded by Sri Lankan traders. On another occasion, the king accepted items brought by Sri Lankans, promising to pay them the cost in silver, and give them fourteen elephants, but none was given to them. An Indian chief called Kasyapa, presumably a Parakramabahu envoy who brought a letter on a gold sheet to present to the king, was not allowed to enter the country, but was later received in an insulting manner. Some of the Sri Lankan envoys had to face bitter experiences as they were exiled to a palace in the remote mountains and asked to water flowering plants with a log bound to one of their legs. He then called the Sri Lankan envoys and informed them that he now prohibited Sri Lankan traders from entering his country and if someone ignored his order and entered the country, he would impose the death penalty on the culprits. He then made the envoys enter a written agreement stating that the king was not guilty, if he imposed the death penalty on those traders. Two Sri Lankan scholars, named Vageeshvara and Dharmakirti, were deported in a leaking vessel. Also, a princess being brought to Cambodia from Sri Lanka was kidnapped while travelling through the Burmese territory. The repercussion was the punitive raid sent to Burma by Parakramabahu in his eleventh or twelfth regal year, that is, 1164–65 (UCHC 1959, pp. 449– 51). A chief of accountants (ganaka-amachcha), Adiccha Damila Adikari by name, willingly undertook the raid, saying that it was not worthwhile for it to be led by seniors. A fleet of war ships set sail from Pallavavankka, a port north of Trincomalee, after five months of preparation, but most of the ships were driven off course by winds and landed on foreign shores. One ship reached an island called Kakadvepa (Crow’s Island) and it returned with captives of war of that island. Only six ships reached Burma, of which five 198

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

198

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

199

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

landed at Kussumi and one at Pappalama. Kusumi was raided by the solders led by Kitti Nagaragiri and it is said that they destroyed half the country, killing thousands of solders, breaking trees like drunken elephants, and burning villages. The soldiers under the command of Adiccha Damila Adikari fought a fierce battle at Pappalama and killed the enemy and captured a large number of people. Then they raided Ukkama and killed the lord (Himiya) of Aramana. While capturing the city, they moved it on a white elephant, declaring the sovereignty of the Sinhalese king by beating drums (Mv. 76, pp. 36–66). The Burmese approached Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka and through the mediation of all three chapters of Sangha, a settlement was reached with the Sri Lankan king who was promised elephants every year. Thus, friendly relations were restored (Mv. 76, pp. 69–75). The above is the Sinhala version of the episode; hence it would be highly biased. The Burmese chronicle is silent about any raid from Sri Lanka, but does say that the Indian envoy who was stationed in Sri Lanka had misled them by false reports (Aung 1967, p. 47). Though the Mahavamsa (Mv. 76, p. 66) says that the Sinhalese killed the lord of Aramana (Burma), it is clear from Burmese sources that Alaungsithu lived on for some years, and his death occurred in different circumstances (Aung 1967, p. 49). Therefore, the victim would have been a subordinate or a local chief, and the raid would have been limited to some localized stations. The Burmese source says that Alaungsithu had once visited Sri Lanka and had even married a Sri Lankan princess (Aung 1967, p. 45). It also says that he had brought back to Burma a statue of Kassyapa Maha Thera, which was highly venerated in Burma (Sirisena 1978, p. 23). Sri Lankan chronicles are silent about this event which would probably have taken place before Alaungsithu ascended to the throne. An inscription found at Devanagala, Sri Lanka, belonging to the twelfth year of Parakramabahu’s reign, refers to a land grant given to one Kit Nuvaragal in appreciation of his service in the successful Burmese raid (Paranavitana 1934, p. 312) This proves the authenticity of the event in general and helps to date it into a fairly reasonable time frame. The flow of Buddhist monks between two countries continued in the post-war period (Aung 1967, p. 48). The arrival of Sangaraja Panthagu while king Parakramabahu was still ruling the island was a landmark in this regard. Panthagu was distressed with King Narathu — who murdered his father, Alaungsithu, and brother Minshinsaw — ascending the throne and exiled himself to Sri Lanka, where he was welcomed (Aung 1967, p. 50). As Narathu had forced some monks to disrobe because they were not in support of him, some other monks also escaped to Sri Lanka to avoid this malice. 199

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

199

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

200

Anura Manatunga

Panthagu has returned home only after the end of Narathu’s reign, but soon died thereafter (Sirisena 1978, pp. 65–66; Aung 1967, pp. 51–52). Panthagu’s successor, Uttarajiva, also made a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka with ten other monks (Coedès 1968, p. 177). Among them there was one novice, Chappata, who was admitted to the higher order (Upasampada) in Sri Lanka with rituals performed jointly by Sinhalese and Burmese monks in Polonnaruva. Chappata was left behind in Sri Lanka for his studies while the other monks returned to Burma with Uttarajiva who was honoured with a title of “First Pilgrim of Lanka” on his return (Coedès 1968, pp. 177–78; Sirisena 1978, pp. 66–67). Chappata studied in Sri Lanka for about ten years and was well known among Buddhist scholars by the name of Saddarma Jotipaha (Coedès 1968, Sirisena 1978). In order to perform ecclesial ceremonies in the Sri Lankan manner in Burma, he was accompanied by four other monks when he returned. These four monks were Seevali, a native of Tambralipti, Thamalinda, a son of the Cambodian king who was most probably Jayawarman VII (AD 1181–1218), Ananda, a native of Kanchipuram, and a Sinhala monk, Rahula. While in Burma, Rahula fell in love with a dancing girl; hence he disrobed and left for Malaya as a layman. Chappata, who was honoured with the title of “Second Pilgrim to Lanka”, and three others — though each of them departed later — were highly influential in Burma and other Southeast Asian countries as propagators of the Theravada school of Buddhism, which they had learnt in Sri Lanka. They were the founders of the fraternity called Sinhala Sanga in Southeast Asian countries (Sirisena 1978, pp. 72–75; Coedès 1968, p. 178). Though religious and trade links continued, the damage in relations due to the raid of Parakramabahu had to be set right. A section of the society felt guilty over the events between the two friendly countries during Parakramabahu’s reign. This is clearly shown by the actions taken by Parakramabahu’s successor and nephew Vijayabahu II (AD 1186). One of his first deeds was to write “an excellent letter” (“pravarau sandesayak”) in his own hand in Magadhi to the king of Aramana, and “bound him in friendship, gently, as one of his ancestors Vijayabahu the Great had done” (Mv. 80, pp. 7–8). The chronicle further says that the king had advanced Buddhism to “the happiness of both Sinhalese and Burmese monks” (Mv. 80, pp. 9–10). A new chapter of Southeast Asian relations began with Nissankamalla (AD 1187–96), another nephew of Parakramabahu. Two of his inscriptions, found in Polonnaruva, refer to Aramana and Kamboja among countries with which he formed friendly alliances (Wickremasinghe 1928a, pp. 148–52, 1928b, pp. 153–56). Another source reveals that there was a building called 200

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

200

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

201

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

‘Kamboja Vasala’ in Polonnaruva which has been understood as the “gate of Cambodia” (Wickremasinghe 1928c, p. 74). It could well be the “Abode of Kamboja” as Vasala also means abode, residence, or even palace. Another interesting reference on Kambojin comes from his inscription found in Ruvanweliseya, Anuradhapura (Wickremasinghe 1928d, pp. 70– 83). In this inscription, Nissankamalla says that he bestowed Kambojin with gold, cloths, and such things as they wished and commanded them not to kill birds. This indicates that Cambodians practised bird hunting possibly as a custom even when they lived in foreign countries. It might have a logical relationship with the name of Vyadhapura, the first capital of Khmers, as it has the meaning of “city of hunters” (Coedès 1968, p. 36). Nissankamalla had repeatedly mentioned that he was born in Sinhapura in Kalinga and his parents were King Sri Gopa and Parvati Devi (Wickremasinghe 1928e, p. 87; 1928f, p. 104). Though this royal family has not been traced and a city called Sinhapura has not been identified, it is widely believed that Kalinga is the famous Kalinga of India. Contrary to this, Paranavitana (1960, pp. 1–43) has argued at length that Kalinga, in this case, would be Srivijaya in Malaya, and another scholar, Rohanadheera (1998, p. 39), suggests that Sinhapura is Sing Buri near Lopburi, which was a part of Khmer empire at that time. Though these two interpretations have no wide acceptance, their attempts are important in view of the investigation on the Southeast Asian influence towards Sri Lanka. After Nissankamalla, Polonnaruva declined due to the power struggle among Kalinga, Pandya, and Sinhala aspirants to the throne, which none could hold for a long period (UCHC 1959, pp. 492–500). Though religious and trade relations with Southeast Asia would have continued, there is no specific reference to substantiate this after Nissankamalla. The kingdom ended as a result of the disastrous invasion of Kalinga Magha who ransacked Polonnaruva in 1215 and ruled for twenty-one years (Mv. 80, pp. 54–79). Just like Nissankamalla, Magha of Kalinga has also been attempted to be identified as a king from Srivijaya by Paranavitana (1960, p. 42), but counter arguments of Nilakanta Sastri (1962, p. 127) have won wider acceptance. Nevertheless, Chandrabhanu, a Malay king, who invaded Sri Lanka in the mid-thirteenth century is a landmark in Southeast Asian relations (UCHC 1959, pp. 590–91), but that is beyond the scope of the present paper. An investigation into archaeological remains, such as monuments and sculptures both in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, which would have influenced each other during the Polonnaruva period, is attempted hereafter. This is a difficult task since the art and architecture of Polonnaruva are not significantly 201

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

201

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

202

Anura Manatunga

different from the Sinhalese tradition of the Anuradhapura as well as later periods. Furthermore, the Sinhalese tradition is not much different from Amaravati of South India (Coedès 1968, p. 18), hence assigning something to Polonnaruva is tentative and depends on supplementary historical evidence. On the other hand, the Southeast Asian countries with which Sri Lanka had contacts in the Polonnaruva period already had a highly developed art and architectural tradition of their own, which was inspired by early Indian influence. Thus, it is Thailand which developed her tradition which shared having a significant Sri Lankan influence a little later, but it was mainly a post-Polonnaruva phenomenon, rather than one from the Polonnaruva period (Sirisena 1978, p. 112). However, the bell-shaped or bubble-shaped stupas of Southeast Asia, which were known as the “Sinhala Type”, should be understood as having been inspired by the stupas in Polonnaruva (Sirisena 1978, pp. 114–16). Though the Sanchi stupas were the prototype for bubble-shaped stupas, they were developed in Sri Lanka during the Anuradhapura period, with a spiral top on the bubble shaped garbha, and some more features added to the stupa architecture (Paranavitana 1946, p. 12). The building of large-scale stupas came to a halt in the third century AD, after the construction of the massive Jetavana stupa at Anuradhapura, but was restarted in the Polonnaruva period (Paranavitana 1955, p. 77). The Kiri Vehera, built by Nissankamalla, which is believed to be the work of one of the queens of Parakramabahu and Rankoth Vehera, are the best examples of bubble-shaped stupas in Polonnaruva (Paranavitana 1955, p. 77). As similar stupas in Anuradhapura were already in a ruined condition and there were no such magnificent stupas built after the Polonnaruva period, both Kiri Vehera and Rankoth Vehera would have been models for the “Sinhalese type” stupas in Southeast Asia. It is clear that the Chappata Stupa at Pagan in Burma is considered as one of the best examples of such stupas in Southeast Asia. This stupa has been consecrated to the famous Chappata who resided in Polonnaruva for ten years (Sirisena 1978, p. 121). There are a number of stupas of the Sinhala type in Sajjanalaya in Thailand (Sirisena 1978, pp. 117–21). Wat Cang Lom is a good example among them. Wat Phra Sri of Ayodhya is also of the Sinhalese style. There were miniature models of similar stupas among the ruins of this stupa. It is believed that some of these models were taken from Sri Lanka. Wat Phra Singh Luang of Northern Thailand where a Sinhala Buddha image was found, has a bell-shaped Sinhala stupa (Sirisena 1978, pp. 117–21). The Phra Tat monastery in Nakhon Si Thammarat in the Malay Peninsula has a Sinhala-type stupa. It is interesting to note that the stupa has been compared 202

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

202

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

203

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

with Kiri Vehera and Rankoth Vehera in Polonnaruva and it is believed that the stupa has been built on the instructions of Rahula, the disrobed monk who went there with a dancing girl (Sirisena 1978, pp. 117–21). Nakhon Si Thammarat is identified as one of the centres that diffused the Sinhalese style in Southeast Asia during this period. Some of the temple plans and architectural details of the Sukhothai period of Thailand have been influenced by the Viharas of Polonnaruva (Sirisena 1978, p. 132). Wat Maha Tat in Sukhothai, built by Indraditya, the founder king of the kingdom, is similar to the Thuparama and other gijjakavastha type of viharas in Polonnaruva (Hocart 1996, pp. 8–18). This temple has been modified by a Maha Thera (abbot) named Srisradharajaculamani Sriratana Lankadeepa Mahasamy who visited, and brought back some relics from, Sri Lanka (Sirisena 1978, p. 132). Wat Sri Jum, which has been built in the fourteenth century AD in Sukhothai also has similarities with the above mentioned viharas in Polonnaruva (Sirisena 1978, p. 132). Buddha statues of Southeast Asia can be shown as an example of sculpture having some influence from Polonnaruva. The most common posture of the seated figures of Southeast Asia is the virasana, which is common in Sri Lanka, but rare in India. In the virasana posture, the legs are not interlocked, but the right foot lies on top of the left calf with its sole turned upwards (Sirisena 1978, p. 146). The classic example for this is the colossal seated image of Gal Vihara in Polonnaruva. Gal Vihara, which has no parallels in South Asia in craftsmanship (Bell 1907, p. 7) must have been a model for these statues. The ushnisha, the flamelike object on the head of Buddha statues, is a prominent feature of Southeast Asian Buddha statues. As this feature was not so prominent in India, and was in vogue in Sri Lanka since the late Anuradhapura period, it suggests a Sri Lankan influence on Southeast Asia. Though it is not visible on the statues of Gal Vihara (Le May 1962, p. 119), a hole on top of the head of statues shows that there would have been a ushnisha fixed onto these statues made by wood or other perishable materials. It is noteworthy that an ushnisha made of bronze has been found among materials unearthed in Polonnaruva (Prematilleke 1988, p. 91; Fig. 52. pl. 137). As Gal Vihara statues would have had an impact on Southeast Asia, an influence the other way around has also been suggested. The round face of the seated statue at Gal Vihara seems rather alien to Sri Lanka and is believed to be an expression of Southeast Asian influence (Manatunga 2007, p. 26). The peculiar hand posture of the standing figure at Gal Vihara, which keeps both arms across the chest, has been interpreted as Vajrahumkara Mudra, 203

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

203

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

204

Anura Manatunga

which is possibly a result of Mahayana influence from Southeast Asia (Manatunga 2007, p. 26). Besides the Gal Vihara statues, two other places in Polonnaruva show Southeast Asian affinities. These are the Sathmahal Prasada and the Pothgul Vehera. Both have no parallels in Sri Lanka or South Asia, but only in Southeast Asia. The Sathmahal Prasada (Bell 1903, p. 14) is a solid brick structure with seven storeys that diminished in width and height stage by stage. The top of the building has collapsed, but it is still high, at 53 feet. At the ground level it is a 39 ft 2 inches square building. The centre of the each storey of the building has niches on all four sides. A standing figure of a deity made of bricks and stucco is projected on these niches. A stairway of brick is found on the west side of the building for climbing up to the first storey. This pyramid-like building is situated at the Sacred Quadrangle where the Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha was housed (Bell 1903, pp. 14–15). Therefore, it is clear that this building too is a religious edifice like all other buildings on the premises. Though most of the buildings have been identified, Sathmahal Prasada is still unidentified and remains an ambiguous monument. The Quadrangle is situated just north of the royal precinct of the citadel of Polonnaruva.Thus, it can be identified as the principal royal monastery of the kings of Polonnaruva. Therefore Sathmahal Prasada must be a very important monument though we cannot identify the builder, purpose, or even the ancient name of the building. As epigraphical sources reveal that King Nissankamalla built a sevenstorey palace for himself, Wickremasinghe believes the Sathmahal Prasada would have been this palace (Wickremasinghe 1928, pp. 92–93). But the solid tower-like building is not habitable and, therefore, cannot be a residential building. Ananda Coomaraswamy’s idea was that this was a representation of the mythical Mount Meru (Coomaraswamy 1965, p. 165). Bell, the pioneer archaeologist who cleared these monuments at the Quadrangle in 1903, identified the similarities of this building with Khmer pyramidal edifices of Cambodia (Bell 1903, pp. 14–15). As Bell says “…It stands as an architectural link between the simplest form of rectangular pyramid such as Ka Keo with plain vertical walls and strait of stairs up the middle of each side and the elaborate towers at Mi-Baume and other similar shrines” (Bell 1903, p. 14). Le May (1962, pp. 97–98) noticed the similarity of this building with Wat Kukut in Northern Thailand. Wat Kukut is bigger and taller than Sathmahal Prasada, but contemporary to Polonnaruva period as it was built by king Adittaraja of Haripunjaya in Central Thailand in mid-twelfth century. Besides Wat Kukut, there are some other buildings in Southeast Asia with a 204

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

204

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

205

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

resemblance to Sathmahal Prasada of Polonnaruva. Wat Phra Tat Haripunchai in North Thailand, Wat Phra Pathon, and Wat Pa Deng in Nakhon Pathon are some of them (Sirisena 1978, p. 123). The other monument which shows Southeast Asian affinities in Polonnaruva is the Pothgul Vehera (Burrows 1905, p. 111; Bell 1906, pp. 11– 12; 1910, pp. 10–11). It is an isolated monastery about a mile southwards from other monuments of the ruined city. There is a rotunda with an oblong vestibule on the central terrace of this monastery. At four corners of this squire terrace, there are four small stupas. The central rotunda is an empty brick building and it has had a dome-shaped superstructure of brick work. In lower terraces there are other buildings of a square plan in a symmetrical manner. Both the upper terrace and the lower terraces were enclosed by a thick brick wall in which the main gateway is found in the middle of the northern wall, and two small openings in the south and east walls. A monastery similar to this plan is not found in any other place in Sri Lanka, whereas the Mebon and Pre Rup temples in Angkor have a similar layout (Bell 1906, p. 11). Due to this similarity, Bell who excavated this monastery, thought that this could be the Kambodian Wasala in Polonnaruva, that was believed to be in Polonnaruva during King Nissankamalla’s time (Bell 1910, pp. 10–11). Unfortunately, the early excavators of these monuments have not paid attention to artefacts found in those places. Recent excavations at the Alahana Parivana and other places in Polonnaruva have unearthed a large number of Chinese ceramics and coins belonging to the Song and Southern Song dynasties which were contemporary to the Polonnaruva period (Prematilleke 1982, p. 15; 1985, p. 60; 1989, p. 49). These findings show a busy trade with the East Asia via the Malay Archipelago during this period.

Abbreviations Mv = Mahavamsa UCHC = History of Ceylon

References Aung Maung Htin. A History of Burma. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967. Bell, H.C.P. Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey 1903, 1906, and 1910. Government of Ceylon. Burrows, S.M. The Buried Cities of Ceylon. Colombo: Ferguson, 1905. Coedès, G. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center, 1968. 205

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

205

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

206

Anura Manatunga

Coomaraswamy, A.K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New York: Dover Publication, 1965. Forbes, J. Eleven Years in Ceylon. New Delhi, Asian Education Services, 1994. Hocart, A.M. Three Temples at Polonnaruva. Memoirs Volume II, Department of Archaeological Survey, Government of Ceylon, 1996. History of Ceylon. The University of Ceylon Edition, Volume 1, Parts 1 & 2, Peradeniya, 1959. Ievers, R.W. Manual of the North- Central Province, Ceylon. Government of Ceylon, 1899. Le May, Reginald. A Concise History of Buddhist Art in Siam. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1962. Mahavamsa. Sinhala Translation of Sumangala and Batuwantudavwa. Colombo: Government of Ceylon, 1912. Manatunga, Anura. “Puravidyathmaka Praveshayaka Avasyathava”. Nissanka Journal of the Polonnaruva Project, No. 1, Central Cultural Fund, 2000. ———. Polonnaruva Purana Pana Nagaraya Lesa Handunageneema. Essays In Honour of Professor H.T. Basnayaka. Colombo: Godage, 2004. ———. Pulatisipura Puranaya. Colombo: Ministry of Religious Affairs, 2007. Monier-Williams. A Sanskrit Dictionary. New Delhi: Asian Education Services, 2001. Nicholas, C.W. “Historical Topography of Ancient and Medieval Ceylon”. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume XXI (Special Number), 1963. Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. The Co-.las. 2nd revised edition. Madras: University of Madras, 1955. ———. “Ceylon and Sri Vijaya”. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Volume VII, Part III, 1962. ———. Nikaya Sangrahaya. Dehiwala: Buddhist Cultural Centre, 1997. Paranavitana, Senarath. “Fragmentary Slab-Inscription of Sundara Mahadevi”. Polonnaruva: Epigraphia Zeylanica, Volume II, 1943. ———. Stupa in Ceylon. Memoirs Volume IV. Department of Archaeological Survey, Government of Ceylon, 1945. ———. “The Art and Architecture of the Polonnaruva Period”. Special Issue of the Ceylon Historical Journal on the Polonnaruva Period Volume. Dehiwala: Tissara Publishers 1955. ———. “Ceylon and Malaysia in Mediaeval Times”. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Volume VII, Part I, 1960. ———. Ceylon and Malaysia. Colombo: Lake House, 1966. ———. Glimpses of Ceylon’s Past. Colombo: Lake House, 1974. Prematilleke, P.L. First Archaeological Excavation Report. Alahana Parivena, Project, Central Cultural Fund, Government of Sri Lanka, 1982. ———. Fourth Archaeological Excavation Report. Alahana Parivena, Project, Central Cultural Fund. Government of Sri Lanka, 1985. 206

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

206

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

207

Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

———. Fifth Archaeological Excavation Report. Alahana Parivena, Project, Central Cultural Fund. Government of Sri Lanka, 1988. ———. Sixth Archaeological Excavation Report. Alahana Parivena, Project, Central Cultural Fund, Government of Sri Lanka, 1989. ———. Pujavaliya. Bentota Saddhatissa Edition. Colombo, 1930. Rohanadheera, Mendis. Nissanka Malla: Polonnaruva Period. Maharagama: Taranjee Printers, 1988. Sirisena, W.M. Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1978. Wickremasinghe, D.M.De Z. The slab inscription of Kirti Nissanka malla at Ruvanvali Dagaba, Anuradhapura. Epigraphia Zeylanica. Volume II. Government of Ceylon, 1928a. ———. Polonnaruva: A slab inscription of Nissanka Malla. Epigraphia Zeylanica, Volume II. Government of Ceylon, 1928b. ———. Polonnaruva: Kiri Vehera slab inscription. Epigraphia Zeylanica, Volume II. Government of Ceylon, 1928c. ———. Hatadage portico slab-inscription. Epigraphia Zeylanica, Volume II. Government of Ceylon, 1928d. ———. Polonnaruva: Galpota slab inscription. Epigraphia Zeylanica, Volume II. Government of Ceylon, 1928e.

207

12 Nagapattinam_Ch 12

207

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

208

P. Shanmugam

13 INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia P. Shanmugam

Tracing early Indian contacts with countries in Southeast Asia is still an ongoing debate, although some of these contacts are reflected in the archaeological artefacts belonging to the third century BC. However, archaeological evidence for understanding cultural relations particularly of the Tamil country with Southeast Asia is available from the first century AD. This new evidence, mostly in the form of early epigraphs and coins, was brought to light by the intense archaeological field work undertaken by teams of archaeologists during the last few decades in Southeast Asia. The most important artefact reported was one touchstone (Figure 13.1), discovered at an ancient port called Khuan Luk Pat in Thailand. It has a small inscription in Tamil Brahmi characters, which is read as follows: perumpatan kal. The inscription could be rendered as “touchstone of Perum patan”. There is no doubt in considering the first part of the inscription, namely, Perum patan as the personal name of a gold merchant from the Tamil country (Shanmugam 1996; Karashima 2002). Considering the palaeography of the inscription, we could assign the touchstone to the early centuries of the Christian era (1 C AD). A few more inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi characters scratched on ceramic vessels and assignable to the early centuries of the Christian era were reported in recent years from other places. With this, the discovery of one coin of the Sangam Cholas 208

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

208

208

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

209

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia FIGURE 13.1 Touchstone with Tamil Brahmi Inscription, Khuan Luk Pat, Thailand

(Figure 13.2) from Khuan Luk Pat, Thailand, can be added. It has on the obverse, a horse-drawn chariot and on the reverse, the royal emblem of the Sangam Cholas, namely the image of a tiger (Shanmugam 1994). Early trade contacts of the Tamil region with Southeast Asia are also reflected in the Sangam literature of the Tamil country. In Pat..tinappa-lai, one of the works of the Sangam anthology, datable to the early centuries of the Christian era, a mention is made of a country called Ka--l agam and the mercantile goods traded from that country in the Tamil region. (Pat..tinappa-lai). The country mentioned as “Ka--lagam”, is generally identified with a region called Kedah (Kad.a-ram in Tamil) in Malaysia. However we have no information about the type of merchandise brought from that country. Though we may understand the existence of trade, the source is not clear enough to explain the nature of the trade that existed between the two countries or the traders involved in the mercantile transactions. However, from the archaeological materials mentioned above, it is clear that maritime trade relations existed between the countries of Southeast Asia and the Tamil country as early as the first few centuries of the Christian era. It is possible that some traders settled in parts of Southeast Asia and engaged in trade, though details of their settlements are not available. The maritime trade between the two countries continued during the rule of the Pallavas (AD 600–850). To support the existence of trade we can cite a few inscriptions and sculptures and other cultural materials from both 209

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

209

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

210

P. Shanmugam FIGURE 13.2 Sangam Chola Coin, Khuan Luk Pat, Thailand 2a. Obverse: horse drawn chariot 2b. Reverse: tiger emblem

2a

2b

countries. Apart from the use of the Grantha script and Sanskrit language by the Southeast Asian dynasties to write their inscriptions, Tamil inscriptions were also noticed there. The Takuapa inscription of the Pallava king, Nandivarman III (AD 846–69), is well known and many scholars have discussed its importance since its first publication in 1913 (Hultzsch 1913; Karashima 2002). In a recent excavation at the port city of Khuan Luk Pat, Thai archaeologists unearthed several artefacts belonging to the Pallava period (Srisuchat 1990). Among those is a copper coin (Figure 13.3) of a Pallava king, with a double masted ship motif on the obverse and a bull on the reverse (Shanmugam 1994). A few stone sculptures suggest the influence of Pallava sculptural idiom used in the making of sculptures in this part of Southeast Asia. It has been generally suggested that during the Chola period (the ninth to thirteenth centuries AD) Southeast Asian countries turned out to be a good market for traders from the Tamil country. That trade and commercial activities were maintained at a much higher level than ordinary merchants is supported by few inscriptions found in these areas. Traders from Southeast Asian countries visited some ports in the Tamil country and mercantile guilds such as aiñur--ruvar actively participated in the trade. Tamil inscriptions from Nakon Si Thammarat (Thailand), Barus (Sumatra, Indonesia), and Jakarta Museum in Indonesia suggest the presence of Tamil merchant guilds and possibly their settlements in Southeast Asia. The Chola kings, especially Rajaraja I and Rajendra I, maintained cordial political relations with the countries of Southeast Asia. Envoys of both countries visited and strengthened the ties of commerce. 210

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

210

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

211

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia FIGURE 13.3 Pallava Coin, Khuan Luk Pat 3a. obverse: ship 3b. bull emblem

3a

3b

Among the kingdoms of Southeast Asia, the Srivijaya kingdom established itself as a supreme power in the Malay Archipelago. Srivijaya dominated maritime trade passing through Southeast Asia between AD 670 and 1025 (Hall 1985). Their supremacy was recognized by the Chinese court also. Cordial relationship existed between the kingdoms of Cholas and Srivijaya and both the countries exchanged merchants and trade goods. More than this, the Srivijaya king made a request to the Chola king, Rajaraja I, to build a Buddha vihara at Nagapattinam, an important port of the Tamil country. This request was accepted without delay and the Chu-l.a-man.i Viha-ra was built. The Chola kings, Rajaraja I and Rajendra I, granted lands (EI, 22a), and supported the construction and maintenance of the vihara. Later, during the rule of Kulottunga I, additional grants were made for its maintenance (EI, 22b). The emissaries of the Srivijaya king also donated gold and other ornaments to temples in Nagapattinam (Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy, 1956–57). The above activities could suggest the existence of a good relationship between the kings of the two countries, despite a period of hostilities during the later part of the rule of Rajendra I. We have no evidence for understanding the development of hostilities between the two. Inscriptions in the Tamil country attribute the conquest of Srivijaya (Kad.a-ram) to the Chola king Rajendra I. His inscriptions, from the thirteenth year of his rule, narrate the Chola invasion on a grand scale and the conquest of several places in Southeast Asia. His conquest over the Srivijya kingdom could be placed some time between 1022 and 1025 (K.G. . Krishnan). He conquered the king of Kad. a-ram (Srivijaya) named Sangra-ma 211

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

211

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

212

P. Shanmugam

. Visaiyo-ttunga varman. The inscription gives an account of several places conquered by him during the military action. The following names of places in Southeast Asia could be collected from the inscription: Srı-visaiyam, . . Panaiyu-r, Tonmalaiyu-r, Ma-yirudingam, Ilan ga-so-kam, (Ma-) Pappa-l.am, . Me-vilimbangam, Val.aippandu-ru, Takko-lam, Ma-d.ama-lingam, Ila-mur-idesam, (Ma-) Nakkavaram, and Kad. a-ram. With some difficulty, it is possible to identify some places mentioned in the above list, but in general, it may be suggested that the conquests covered a large area in the Malay Archipelago. The reasons for the hostilities between the two kingdoms are unknown. It is suggested that Rajendra’s expedition was to suppress the sea power of the Srivijayan empire. Some scholars suggest that the expedition was aimed at plundering the riches of Southeast Asian countries. Other scholars are of the view that the expedition was to demonstrate the supreme naval power of the Cholas to the Southeast Asian countries. It is well understood that after the conquest of Srivijaya, Chola rule was not established there. After some years of conquest or immediately after the conquest, hostilities between the two disappeared and cordial relations seem to have been restored. However it is not clear from sources, when and how the hostility between the two ended, but we may notice the emergence of a good relationship between Kulottunga I (1070–1120) and the Srivijayan Empire earlier than 1090. This is well reflected in his smaller Leiden plates (EI, 22b) wherein Kulottunga I provided in his 20th regnal year additional grants for the maintenance of the Buddha vihara established by the Chola kings, Rajaraja I and Rajendra I. The existence of normal cultural and trade relations between the two countries could have induced the traders to carry on their commercial activities. By engaging in trade, the merchants carried with them the beliefs and customs of the Tamil country. Though the nature of trade and merchandise traded are difficult to understand, the material evidence so far available suggests the acceptance of Tamil forms of architecture, sculpture, and iconography in different parts of Southeast Asia. Numerous temples and sculptures found in several parts of Southeast Asia suggest in clear terms the influence of cultural elements of the Tamil country. Although cultural themes of the Tamil country can be looked into and studied throughout Southeast Asia, this study is limited to some areas in Indonesia. The Tamil cultural influence, especially the Chola school of art, can be noticed in a few artefacts from the island of Sumatra. Barus (Lobu Tua), an important eleventh-century mercantile settlement of the Tamil merchants (Subbarayalu 2002), and an important port from the early times, is situated on the western coast of northern Sumatra. Palembang, situated in the southern part of Sumatra, was the capital of the Srivijayan kingdom. In between these 212

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

212

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

213

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia

two important centres is located the central Sumatran port city of Jambi, on the banks of Batang Hari river. Notwithstanding its strategic location, there is no evidence of a Tamil mercantile settlement at Jambi. However, a small bronze image kept in the local museum seems to reflect some traces of Chola art. This bronze image is a standing female figure, usually known as dipalakshmi. She holds in her left hand a big rounded lamp, and in her right hand, a flower. She has a round face, and her hair is securely made into a large bun, a characteristic feature of medieval Chola stone sculptures. Her facial features are well portrayed and she is decorated with neck ornaments, bangles, and leg ornaments. Her dress was neatly arranged in beautiful folds and tassels hang on her sides and also in between her thighs (Figure 13.4). It is well modelled, but lacks the charm of Chola bronzes. FIGURE 13.4 Dı-palakshmi, Bronze, Jambi, Indonesia

213

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

213

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

214

P. Shanmugam

The Dieng Plateau, located in central Java, has several Pallava-style temples. Those temples are situated on a hillock and are mostly of single-cella shrines. Images of Agastya, and Durga as Mahisha- suramardini, are found in the niches of these temples; however some images such as the Uma Mahesvara, Ganesa, and Mahisha-suramardini, kept in the local museum, reflect the influence of the Chola school of art. These images seem to have been collected from places in and around the Dieng Plateau. About three Mahisha-suramardini images are found in the local museum (Figure 13.5). Among the three, the head of one image is broken. All the images depict Durga as standing on the slain Mahisha (buffalo-headed demon). His human form is portrayed as emerging from the buffalo. In her right hand,

FIGURE 13.5 Mahishasuramardini, Dieng Plateau, Indonesia

214

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

214

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

215

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia

she holds the tail of Mahisha, and her left hand holds the tuft of the demon, suggesting the ultimate conquest of the evil demon. On considering the form of the demon depicted in these images, scholars have attributed a Gupta or post-Gupta influence. However, these figures are sculptured on slab stones in their frontal form as found in many images of Durga in the Tamil country. The back is almost plain. Durga is portrayed with several ornaments. These slab stone sculptures should be recognized as images to be kept in niches. Among the other figures, one image of Ganesa (Figure 13.6) is depicted with a long trunk and two hands holding a broken tusk in his right hand and a mo-daka (steamed rice cake) in his left. He is portrayed as seated on a pedestal. In one of the images, his left hand is broken. Another significant image is that of Uma Mahesvara. Both the heads of Uma and Siva are damaged and no facial features can be recognized. The hands are also damaged and, therefore, the attributes held by Siva cannot be recognized. However, the skull depicted on the head of Siva suggests that it was an image of Siva. In this image Uma is shown seated on the lap of Siva and holding him in embrace.

FIGURE 13.6 Ganesa, Dieng Plateau, Indonesia

215

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

215

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

216

P. Shanmugam

There are a few more images kept in the local museum which also exhibit influence of the medieval Chola school of art. The Prambanan temple complex in central Java was constructed during the eighth to ninth centuries AD. It reflects the early Chola style of architecture. The temple complex comprises three major shrines dedicated to Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma, with numerous sub-shrines. The central and the biggest one is the temple of Siva. The central image of Siva is beautifully sculptured in the human form (Figure 13.7). He stands with four hands on a lotus pedestal. FIGURE 13.7 Siva, Prambanan, Indonesia

216

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

216

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

217

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia

His neck is encircled by a snake. The jat.a- makut.a (hair, dressed like a crown) and his lower garment are very well arranged. The architectural feature of the three shrines reflect early Chola features found in Mu-varko-il at Kodumbalur (Pudukkottai district) in the Tamil Nadu (Nilakanta Sastri 1955). At Kodumbalur, the temple was built during the period of Sundara Chola. Here, all the three shrines are dedicated to Siva. Though there exist some deviations from the Chola idiom, the concept and execution of various parts and also of the sculptures suggest the influence of Chola features. One of the most important figures is the image of Durga standing on the body of Mahisha, whose tail is held in her right hand. The human form of Mahisha is held in her left hand, by his tuft. She is depicted with a charming face and eight hands holding the attributes, cakra (discus), dagger, arrow, conch, shield, and a long bow. The image of Ganesa is majestically represented with all attributes (Figure 13.8).

FIGURE 13.8 Ganesa, Prambanan, Indonesia

217

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

217

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

218

P. Shanmugam

The walls around the basement of these temples are sculptured with scenes from Ramayana (Figure 13.9). These are sculptured beautifully and in well laid out panels, and the features are executed with charm. However aspects of local idiom is also noticed in the sculptures. The small panel sculptures reflect those of the panel sculptures at Gopurappatti (Lalgudi taluk, Tiruchirappalli district) (Hariharan 1973) and other places. One head of Siva discovered from the Garuda temple at Prambanan (Chandi Loro Jongrang) exhibits the Chola features. Only the head is available and the other parts of the sculpture are lost. O.C. Ganguly, who studied this excellent piece, said that it could represent one of the most beautiful pieces of Siva sculpture of the early Chola school. It has an elaborate coiffure bedecked with a single human skull beautifully sculptured on the head. The jat.amakut.a is neatly arranged (Ganguly 1927). In the temple at Candi Singasari there are several images suggesting the influence of the Chola school of art. The standing image of Agastya (Figure 13.10) with a short beard was sculptured in the usual pattern. His left hand is partly broken and has a big jata makuta. The short and stumpy Agastya with a big belly has been sculptured with a diaphanous lower garment as FIGURE 13.9 A Scene from Ramayana, Prambanan, Indonesia

218

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

218

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

219

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia FIGURE 13.10 Agastya, Chandi Singasari, Indonesia

found in other images. Two images of Surya (Figure 13.11) riding on seven horses are also found there. The prancing horses pulling a chariot are poorly modelled and the figures of Surya are damaged in both the images. The National Museum in Jakarta has a good collection of sculptures with Chola features. One seated image of Ganesa (Figure 13.12) is with four hands and holding usual attributes, akshama-la (rosary beads), broken tusk, an.kusa (elephant goad), and mo-daka. His karanda makut.a (crown with diminishing tiers) is well portrayed. He is seated on a lotus pedestal and wears a thick 219

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

219

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

220

P. Shanmugam FIGURE 13.11 Pedestals for Surya, Chandi Singasari, Indonesia

yajñopavı-tha (sacred thread). The modelling has been beautifully executed. Another image of standing Agastya (Figure 13.13) also exhibits Chola features. Agastya has been depicted as of medium height with two hands, holding akshamala in his right hand, and the kaman.d. ala (water pitcher) in his left hand. He has tall jata makuta, a thick yajnopavitha, and a short beard, and is standing on a lotus pedestal. Two of his devotees are shown as kneeling and worshipping him with folded hands. Among the two Mahishasuramardini images, the one image of Durga is sculptured on a slab stone as seen similar Durga images in the Tamil region. She has been depicted as standing on the body of Mahisha, with eight hands holding the attributes, conch, dagger, trisu-la (triple forked weapon), and cakra (Figure 13.14). She is also shown piercing the fallen demon with the trisu-la held in her left hand. The demon is depicted in his animal form and his tail is lifted up and held by Durga in her right hand. The demon, after his defeat, is emerging in his human form. In another stone figure of Mahishasuramardini, a similar episode has been depicted with more artistic detail. She is shown wearing rich ornaments on the neck, hands, and hip. Her dress is gracefully arranged and she is standing on the slain Mahisha, who is emerging as a human being from the earlier animal form. However, the beautiful body of the Durga is damaged on the 220

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

220

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

221

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia FIGURE 13.12 Ganesa, Jakarta, Indonesia

right side. These figures could suggest the influence of the Chola style of sculptures. One image of Ganesa from the Jakarta National Museum can be assigned to the late Chola period (thirteenth century AD). The date could be assigned to the image on account of a small inscription found on its body. The inscription consists of two parts; one in Tamil language and script, and the 221

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

221

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

222

P. Shanmugam FIGURE 13.13 Agastya, Jakarta, Indonesia

222

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

222

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

223

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia FIGURE 13.14 Mahishasuramardini, Jakarta, Indonesia

other in old Javanese characters (Karashima 2002). The head of Vinayaga was sculptured with a long trunk on the top of the slab stone. One of the significant cultural aspects of the Tamil merchant groups in general was the adoption of Tamil names and/or Sanskrit names in their foreign settlements. This practice seems to have been followed uniformly by Tamil merchants all over Southeast Asia and they used these names to denote other parts of their settlements also. When man.igra-mam merchants occupied 223

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

223

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

224

P. Shanmugam FIGURE 13.15 Mahishasuramardini, Jakarta, Indonesia

224

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

224

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

225

South Indian Cultural Links with Indonesia

Takuapa (Thailand), one of them excavated a tank in the settlement, which was named Avan.ina-ran.am, after the title of the Pallava king Nandivarman III. However, the name of the settlement is not known from the inscription. In the Barus (Indonesia) inscription, we could make out the name of the . mercantile settlement as Ma-tankari vallavat te-ci uyyakkon.d. a pat.t.inam . (Va-ro-ca-na Ma-tankari vallavat te-ci Uyyakkon.d. a pat.t.inam). The Pagan (Myanmar) inscription mentions that the mercantile settlement occupied by the Tamil merchant group was known as arivattanapuram (pukkama-na arivattanapuram). These names could suggest the practice of Tamil merchants naming their settlements in Southeast Asia with a Tamil name. Although details about the population and members of the different mercantile guilds are not forthcoming, it can be assumed that these settlements had a sizable population of Tamil merchants, both settled and itinerant groups. In Indonesia, cultural elements seem to have been introduced from the early centuries of the Christian era. However, elements of the Pallava style of art are present in several places. The Chola art style of Indonesia seems to be a continuation of the Pallava style of art. The linga motifs are not numerous, but are found in different places. However, it is difficult to identify the Chola idiom in these icons. Vishnu images are also not numerous, but his incarnations and stories seem to have been well known and represented in a few sculptures and panel sculptures. The other important figurines are the images of Agastya, Ganesa, and Mahishasuramardini. Throughout Southeast Asia, Ganesa figures are represented with four hands. The tantric form of Ganesa image, with skull decoration, found in other parts of Southeast Asia, are not well represented in the Chola style images in Indonesia. It is generally believed that most of the Mahishasuramardini images depict the Gupta or post-Gupta influence. However, for depicting the images, slab stones were used, a feature known from Pallava times. The demon Mahisha was depicted in a few sculptures at Mahabalipuram in his semi-human form. The female figure depicts almost similar features comparable to the pre-Chola and early Chola images. It seems that the Mahishasuramardini form was standardized during the Chola period. She is always depicted with eight hands and standing on Mahisa (buffalo). His human form is also depicted in the sculpture. An important aspect of the art style of Southeast Asia was the mixing up of the local idiom with the Pallava as well as Chola art styles. Its introduction in the art forms has played a significant role in the development of Southeast Asian art in general. However, it can be noticed that the local idiom has not been well represented in the modelling of the icons and sculptures in Indonesia. In the depiction of these figures, it was not popularly used. In other parts of 225

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

225

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

226

P. Shanmugam

Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand and Vietnam, the dress, and facial features are mostly representative of the indigenous population. In Indonesia, such a clear transformation to the native features cannot be seen.

Note All the figures in this chapter were photographed by the author on his visits to those places in 1993 and 1994. Permissions were granted by the respective museum authorities.

References Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy. 1956–57, nos. 161, 164, 166. EI. 22a. Epigraphia Indica vol. 22, pp. 213–66. EI. 22b. Epigraphia Indica vol. 22, pp. 267–72. Ganguly, O.C. “A Head of Shiva from Prambanam”. In Rupam, no. 32, 1927, p. 97. Hall, Kenneth R. Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia. Honolulu, 1985. Hariharan, S. “Some Sculptured Epic Panels in Gopurappatti”. In Damilica, Vol II, edited by R. Nagaswamy, pp. 77–81. Madras: Department of Archaeology, 1973. Hultzsch, E. “Note on a Tamil Inscription in Siam”. Journal of Royal Asiatic Society (1913): 337–39. Karashima, N. “Tamil Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”. In Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, edited by Noboru Karashima, pp. 11–14. Taisho University, 2002. Krishnan, K.G. “Chola Rajendra’s Expedition to South-East Asia”. Journal of Indian History, Golden Jubilee volume, p. 116. Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. The Colas. Chennai: University of Madras, 1955. Pattinappalai, ll.191. Shanmugam, P. “Two Coins of Tamil Origin from Thailand”. In Studies in South Indian Coins, edited by A.V. Narasimha Murthy. Vol. IV (1994): 97–99. Shanmugam, P. “An Early Tamil Brahmi Inscription from Thailand”. In Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India, edited by M.D. Sampath. Mysore, Vol. 22 (1996): 100–3. Srisuchat, Tharapong. “Thailand and the Maritime Silk Route: The Role of the Ancient Ports and Harbour Cities in Thailand”. The Silpakorn Journal, Vol. 33 (1990). Subbarayalu, Y. “The Merchant-guild Inscription at Barus, Indonesia: A Rediscovery”. In Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, edited by Noboru Karashima, pp. 19–26. Taisho University, 2002. 226

13 Nagapattinam_Ch 13

226

11/4/09, 12:56 PM

227

Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga

14 RAJENDRA CHOLA’S INVASION AND THE RISE OF AIRLANGGA Ninie Susanti

The trade network of India and Southeast Asian lands and islands in early history gave rise to the growth of trade centres visited by various foreign peoples. Around the fifth century two famous routes known as the (overland) “silk roads” stretched from China, through Central Asia, and Turkestan to the Mediterranean Sea. These roads were connected to the Indian caravan tracks. Another route ran through the sea, extending from China, through the Malacca Strait and Indonesian waters, towards India and the western Indian Ocean (Sjafei 1981–82, pp. 49–50). The continuous trade activities and voyages caused the emergence of a number of seaports in the Indian Ocean. According to Wolters, this development was responsible for the birth of the Sumatran Sriwijaya kingdom (Wolters 1967). Indeed, Sriwijaya came to be a significant transitory trading seaport much frequented by merchants from across the globe. Sriwijaya was the first power in Indonesian history successful in dominating the Malacca Strait areas and in holding the key to the trade and passages to China, India, and other countries. Sumatra had been strategically located for international trade across the oceans since prehistoric times, most likely due to the trade of spices, a commodity much sought after across the world. Rouffaer’s research unfolded (1900) a series of findings of bronze drums from Southeast Asian soil, continuing along a curved line through Sumatra, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, to the Kei Island in Southeast Maluku, demonstrating evidence of a busy spice 227

227

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

227

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

228

Ninie Susanti

trade. Rouffaer also mentions that some European sources had knowledge of spices produced by the Indonesian archipelago (Lapian 1979, p. 96). A country that relies entirely on trade heavily depends on the trade patterns it develops. Inscriptions from the time Sriwijaya was enjoying its peak of prosperity (early seventh century) suggest the kingdom’s expansion into surrounding territories. Its northern extension, for instance, was not only intended to keep watch over the exit and entrance to the strait, but was also meant to control the overland crossing of Tanah Genting Kra. In addition, the expedition planned to conquer Bhumi Jawa may be construed as an effort to subdue West Java, that is, a strategy to annex the lands on both sides of the Sunda Strait to the kingdom (Lapian 1979, p. 97). The conquering mentioned in the Sriwijaya inscriptions strongly suggest that it was related to the control of international trade and navigation in the Malacca Strait. For example, Bangka Island was invaded because of its strategic location. The invasion of other territories near Sriwijaya also showed that the kingdom was capable of controlling the trade and navigation between western powers and China since foreign vessels had to sail through the Malacca and Bangka Straits (Wolters 1967, p. 246). Yijing records that foreign ships visited Kedah and Malayu at regular intervals. The ships stayed there for some time, waiting for favourable winds before proceeding to their destinations. When moored they busily loaded and unloaded their merchandise (Soemadio, ed. 1984, p. 61). Sriwijaya produced pepper, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, etc., spices much in demand internationally. Other sought after commodities consisted of natural resources such as forest products, animals, gold, silver, aloe wood, camphor, turtles, and other items (Wolters 1967, pp. 65–70). These goods were sold or traded with porcelain, cotton, or silk cloths among the merchants. According to Yijing, foreign boats visited Kedah and Malayu during certain seasons, while Sriwijayan ships made similar voyages to China. Sriwijaya was internationally recognized as a great maritime kingdom and was held in high esteem by foreign powers such as China, Persia, India, and Arabia that had established trade relations with it. Political relations and good trade connections were primarily maintained with China and India, rather than with Arabia and Persia. Arab source mentions Sriwijaya as Sribuza, a kingdom that produced commodities such as camphor, gold, and silver (Soemadio, ed. 1984, pp. 67–68). After the highly informative Sriwijaya inscriptions of the late seventh century, subsequent ones were rarely found, so the kingdom’s history of the ninth century, written by local chronicles, was not much known. Information about Sriwijaya’s relations with other countries, such as India and Java, in the 228

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

228

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

229

Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga

tenth and eleventh centuries, is in fact, acquired from foreign sources. Records from the Song dynasty period say that in AD 960 the Sriwijaya (San-fo-qi) king was Se-li Hu-ta-hsia, and in 962, She-li Wu-yeh. Both names may be equated to Sri Udayadityawarman. In the years 971, 972, 974, and 975, several envoys were sent to China, but they never mentioned the king’s names. However, envoys from 980 and 983 said that their king’s name was Hsia-She. In 983 Chinese priest Fa-Yu visited San-fo-qi on his return from India where he had studied holy books. In this country he met the Indian priest Mi-mo-lo-shi-li (Vimalasri) who wished to travel to China to translate holy books (Coedès 1968, pp. 131–32; Soemadio, ed. 1984, p. 66). In 988, a Sriwijayan envoy travelled to China. After a two-year sojourn in that country he went to Guangzhou where he learned that his country had been attacked by She-po (Java), which forced him to stay another year in China. In 999 the envoy sailed to Champa where he received no news about his country’s condition. He then returned to China and requested the emperor to issue an announcement stating that Sriwijaya was under the emperor’s protection. This data agrees with chronicles of the Song era that mention the battle between She-po and San-fo-qi. The information was obtained from a She-po envoy who arrived in 992 and who told about the continuous fighting with San-fo-qi. It is believed that at the time, Ancient Mataram was ruled by King Dharmawangsa Teguh (Soemadio, ed. 1984, pp. 66–67). Chinese sources from the Song period record that in 1003 Sriwijaya King Sri Cudamaniwarmadewa, who claimed to be a Sailendra descendant, sent an envoy to China. The records mention that the envoy from San-fo-qi was dispatched by king Si-li-zhu-luo-wu-ni-fo-ma-tiao-hua. A second envoy was sent during the reign of king Sri Marawijayottunggawarman, who was called king Si-li-ma-luo-pi (Coedès 1989, p. 8). Sriwijaya kings established friendly relations with the Cholas and China, the then two powerful states in Southeast Asia. Direct connections between Sriwijaya and China were confirmed in writings of Buddhist priests such as Faxian and Yijing, or by Song priests who had visited Sriwijaya. The reason of their visit to the kingdom was usually to spread Buddhist teachings and enhance trade and political relations. Friendly ties between Sriwijaya and India are written in a number of Sriwijayan inscriptions, such as the Ligor A, as well as Indian ones, such as the Nalanda and Tanjore inscriptions. The friendly relations were in anticipation of the imminent threat of a Javanese invasion. Sriwijaya-India ties date back to the early years of the Sriwijaya kingdom, when Indian culture, along with the Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, was introduced in Indonesia. These friendly ties are also stated in the Nalanda 229

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

229

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

230

Ninie Susanti

inscription dated AD 860, discovered in the East Indian region of Bihar; it tells of the construction of a monastery at Nalanda at the order of King Balaputradewa, a Sriwijaya king, who professed Buddhism. The inscription also mentions that Balaputradewa’s grandfather was a Javanese king titled Sailendrawangsatilaka Sri Wirawairimathana (Sailendrawangsatilaka means ornament of the Sailendra Dynasty). King Balaputradewa asked King Dewapaladewa, known as the guardian of Buddhism, to donate a part of his field as sima for the maintenance of the monastery. At the time, Nalanda was home to a Buddhist college where many Southeast Asian and Chinese monks pursued their studies (Budi-Utomo 2002, p. 56). Sriwijaya-India ties further developed into close relations between Sriwijaya and Chola, a South Indian kingdom. This relation is stated by a Chinese source, stating that the Sriwijaya King, Si-li-ma-luo-pi, sent an envoy to China in 1008 to pay tribute. The Sriwijaya king could be Sri Marawijayottunggawarman. In the year 1005 or 1006, that is, the twentyfirst year of the reign of Chola King Rajaraja I, King Marawijayottunggawarman had a Buddhist temple built in Nagapattana with the help of the former king. This structure was given the name Cudamanivarmavihara (Soemadio, ed. 1984). Hall interprets it as Culamanivarmavihara (Hall 1976, p. 57). This information can be found in the Leiden inscription, written in Sanskrit (1044), and Tamil (1046) (Menon 2001, pp. 292–93). Sriwijaya-Chola ties ended when Rajendra Chola I attacked Sriwijaya in 1017 and 1025. The 1030 Tanjore inscription issued by Rajendra Chola I mentions, among other things, that in the battle, Sriwijayan King Sri Sanggramawijayottunggawarman was captured by Chola troops. Rajendra Chola I also conquered Kadaram (Kataha-Kedah), Panai, Malayu, Ilamuridesam (Lamuri), Ilankasokam (Langkasuka), Madalingam (Tambralinga) and other regions (Coedès 1968). Though defeated, Sriwijaya was not occupied by Rajendra Chola I, as Chinese sources report the arrival of a Sriwijaya envoy in China in 1028. The Sriwijaya king, who ruled at that moment, is believed to be the son of Sanggramawijayottunggawarman, who was captured during the 1025 assault (Wolters 1967, pp. 250–51). Scholars have presented various views about Rajendra Chola I’s reason for attacking Sriwijaya. They generally agree that political interests and trade competition were the main motivations. The Chola kingdom reached its golden years under the rule of Rajaraja I (985–1014) and his son Rajendra Chola I (1014–44). In the Chola period, especially under the reigns of these two kings, South India enjoyed a period of unprecedented achievements in politics, literature, and arts. The Cholas were the first Indian kings to appreciate marine power and to apply naval politics; they also showed great interest in 230

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

230

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

231

Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga

building public facilities. For example, they supported the construction of irrigation works in the Kaveri delta, the kingdom’s wheat producer. The Cholas were consequently considered the initiator of the delta’s water mechanism, ensuring the proper irrigation of farmlands (Panikkar 1962, p. 37). Rajaraja I had great ambitions to spread his influences when he first became king. He conquered the whole of South India and parts of the Deccan region. He encouraged international trade and supported a Tamil businessman who had designed and revived the splendid Puhat seaport in the Kaveri delta (Rawlinson 1957, p. 181). Rajaraja I ordered the fortification of the navy and sent ships to conquer Sri Lanka. After his death he was succeeded by his son Rajendra Chola I who followed in his father’s steps in political affairs. He subdued Bengal King Mahipala, conquered the Nicobar Islands, Kadaram, Malayu, Sriwijaya, and other port cities. Chola soldiers demanded tributes from the Thai and Khmer kingdoms (Panikkar 1962, p. 136; Majumdar et al. 1958, p. 180). During its heyday, Sriwijaya managed to gain control of the Malacca Strait and surrounding areas by using its navy and the trust of foreign states. Consequently, merchandise could be transported to the various seaports. Chinese sources note that Sriwijaya was one of the most important trading centres in Asia. But in the interest of its trade activities, Sriwijaya did not object to acknowledging China’s tributary rights. This was part of a diplomatic means to ensure that China did not establish equally favourable trade relations with other Southeast Asian countries (Wolters 1967, p. 152; Soemadio ed. 1984, p. 78). The Cholas conducted business with the support of Tamil merchants who are known to have spread across Southeast Asia from the end of the first millennium AD. Tamil inscriptions are scattered all over Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, and Indonesia (Sumatra), demonstrating that Tamil merchants had been entering Southeast Asia at the latest by the ninth century, and had settled in regions near the Malacca Strait (Budi-Utomo 2002). Some scholars maintain that Chola kings frequently worked with and acted as protector of Tamil merchants. On their part, Sriwijaya kings made alliances with pirates in order to protect the kingdom’s maritime territory (Soemadio, ed. 1984, p. 78). As the Malacca Strait was under Sriwijaya control, ships sailing through the Strait were subject to the kingdom’s rules. Urged by high tributes, strict rules, and the initial conflict between Sriwijaya authorities and Tamil traders, Rajendra Chola I launched attacks on the kingdom. The 1017 and 1025 assaults on Sriwijaya were indirectly responsible for the decline of the kingdom and contributed to the rise of Java, then ruled by King Airlangga (1019–43). 231

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

231

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

232

Ninie Susanti

Direct relations between Sumatra and Java, in fact, existed from around the sixth and seventh centuries AD, as manifested in the friendly as well as hostile, relations between the two islands. The Kota Kapur stone inscription of AD 686 reports of Sriwijaya’s efforts to subdue Bhumi Jawa, which had refused to surrender. Its authorities also denounced disloyal citizens threatening them with a distressful fate. Coedès maintains that the Kota Kapur inscription was written at the time when Sriwijaya troops set out to invade Java. They attacked Tarumanagara, a state which had stopped sending envoys to China since 666 and 669 (Coedès 1968, p. 83; Soemadio, ed. 1984, p. 58). Some centuries later, the above mentioned Nalanda inscription praised Sriwijayan King Balaputradewa of Suvarnadvipa, who claimed to be the grandson of the Sailendra king, Sri Wirawairimathana of Yavabhumi or Ancient Mataram. In subsequent years Chinese sources recorded that the two kingdoms were constantly at war. Records from the Lampung region (the Hujung Langit inscription) issued in the Saka year 919 (AD 997) are indications of Sumatra-Java relations, as they were written in old Malay using old Javanese vocabulary in sentences, as well as the authorities’ ranks. The records were released by a local official by the name Pungku Haji Yuwarajya Sri Mahadewa on the occasion of the sima land confirmation for the construction and maintenance of Buddhist temples (vihara) (Tobing 2004, pp. 74–78). Damais has rendered the first three lines of the document from Pallava to Latin script. He maintains that the great number of old Javanese words was evident of the close ties between Sumatra and Java, suggesting that Sumatra was once defeated by, and came under, Javanese rule (Damais 1962/1965). These events bear relations with Chinese sources of the Song dynasty period that report of a She-po envoy’s arrival in China in 992, who mentioned that his homeland was constantly engaged in war with San-fo-qi. Having lived in China for two years in AD 988, a San-fo-qi envoy also stated that his country had been attacked by She-po troops, forcing him to put off his return journey and to request the Chinese emperor’s protection of his country. At the time, the Javanese King Dharmawangsa Teguh reigned over the island, and driven by strong ambitions, he expanded his influence beyond Java (Soemadio ed. 1984, pp. 172–73). The highs and lows of Sumatra-Java relations stimulated Airlangga to rise from the devastation (pralaya) of his kingdom caused by in 1016. Dharmawangsa Teguh’s kingdom suffered attacks from the minor king Haji Wurawari not long after the wedding celebrations of Airlangga (a Balinese prince) and Dharmawangsa Teguh’s daughter. Haji Wurawari is believed to be a Sriwijaya ally in Java who intended to inflict retaliating actions on Dharmawangsa Teguh (Boechari 1965). 232

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

232

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

233

Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga

The Pucangan records of the Saka year 959 (AD 1037) mention that both the king and his daughter were killed in the pralaya incident, and that Airlangga managed to escape to the forest, where, for three years, he led a priest’s life. In 1019, priests of the Siva, Buddhist, and Mahabrahmana orders, and his people visited him and gave their blessings and welcomed him as king since the kingdom was on the brink of disintegration. During his reign, King Airlangga is believed to have issued thirty-three inscriptions found scattered in Surabaya, Mojokerto, Krian, Jombang, Babat, and Tuban. But from these thirty-three records, only eighteen are legible, the remaining being too time-worn. The records suggest that since his ascension to the throne, Airlangga had carried out some reforms, particularly in the areas of politics, economy, religion, and social issues. Political actions were carried out by subduing disloyal regions after the pralaya incident. Battle after battle was waged to establish the kingdom’s hegemony, so that three quarters of his reign was spent in waging wars. But his victories, which were excellently recorded in his inscriptions and in later literary sources, led him to become Java’s greatest sovereign of the eleventh century. From 1021 (the Cane inscription) to 1035 (the Sanskrit inscription of Pucangan) Airlangga launched no fewer than nine attacks on neighbouring territories. The Cane inscription (1021) suggests that he made incursions into the regions west of his kingdom, but fails to mention the regions’ names. In 1022 Airlangga gained another victory and felt the need to confer the sima status to the Dyah Kaki Ngadu Le˘nge˘n family for its support in the fighting — thus the Kakurugan inscription report. Also, the Sanskrit inscription of Pucangan mentions his successful invasion of Wuratan in 1029. He defeated Haji We˘ngke˘r in 1031 and his archenemy Haji Wurawari in 1032. A queen was also Airlangga’s targeted victim, although no mention has been made of her name or her kingdom. But in the same year, Airlangga was subdued by a lesser king and had to flee from his palace. In a second assault, however, he emerged again victorious, as stated in the Te˘re˘p inscription of 1032. The Baru inscription of 1030 states that the king won the battle against King Hasin. In 1035 another fight broke out between Airlangga and Haji We˘ngke˘r, who turned rebellious after his 1031 defeat and who was eventually subdued and killed. The inscriptions also say that after ending the wars, “he sat on his throne and placed his feet on his enemies’ heads”, signifying Airlangga’s success in defeating all his enemies coming from the east, south, and west (Soemadio, ed. 1984). In several documents Airlangga considered himself the manifestation of Visnu, Ksatria Mahapurusa, and Cakravartin. These manifestations may validate Airlangga’s legitimate position, that is, the supreme power, guardian of the world (Visnu). Equating himself with Visnu involves political issues — 233

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

233

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

234

Ninie Susanti

Airlangga wished to demonstrate that he did not perish in the 1016 pralaya and that he had the responsibility to restore, keep, and guard the world and ensure his people’s welfare. His role as a perfect human being (mahapurusa), responsible for the protection of the world, required courage and the boldness to save his country which was suffering from the absence of a leader and a lack of confidence (Susanti-T. 2003, pp. 106–12). The Pucangan inscription written in Sanskrit in the S´aka year of 959 (AD 1037) and those written in old Javanese in the S´aka year of 963 (AD 1041) were highly important documents issued by Airlangga, as the former inscriptions contain family tree chronicles of kings beginning from King Pu Sindok, the great-grandfather of the king of Ancient Mataram. Both inscriptions also include lists of regions defeated by Airlangga in his efforts to establish hegemony. He also instructed the court poet Mpu Kanwa to compose the Kakawin Arjunawiwaha. Some scholars maintain that the exquisite piece of poetry describes Airlangga’s biography, that is, the years he lived in the forest as an exile. The Airlangga kingdom included the highly fertile Brantas River delta. Thanks to the numerous small tributaries that served as good irrigation networks, it is extremely favourable for paddies. The Kamalagyan inscription (AD 1037) mentions the proper cultivation of farmland and efficiency of irrigation (Susanti-T. 2003, p. 119). Airlangga also established measures to promote maritime trade. During this period other Southeast Asian powers too tried to promote their maritime trade. Conducting business across the seas was an important operation as Sriwijaya showed signs of deterioration caused by Rajendra Chola’s attacks in 1017 and 1025. Casparis maintains that Airlangga’s attempts to boost international trade were sparked by his obsession of snatching Sriwijaya’s position as an international transitory seaport. In order to achieve this objective, Airlangga developed and prepared seaports for regional as well as international trade. Judging from the spread of inscriptions and lists of place names contained in the inscriptions, it has been estimated that the Airlangga kingdom’s centre was named Wwatan Mas, located near today’s Surabaya. The estimation is based on the fact that this location has yielded his oldest inscriptions: the Silet inscription 941 S´aka, the Cane inscription 943 S´aka, the Kakurugan inscription 945 S´aka, and the Baru inscription 952 S´aka. In his efforts to promote rice cultivation and revive both local and regional ports of trade, the king moved the kingdom’s centre deeper inland to be near the Brantas River. With its fertile lands, it proved to have a high potential for the cultivation of rice fields. Regions in the Brantas River basin were conquered and subsequently formed a second kingdom: Kahuripan. 234

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

234

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

235

Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga

The kingdom’s original centre is strongly believed to have been near the modern day Mojokerto, where the following Airlangga inscriptions were disclosed: the Te˘re˘p inscription (G. Penanggungan), the Turunhyang A inscription (Truneng Mojokerto village), the Pucangan inscription (G. Penanggungan), the Pandan inscription (Pandan Krojan Mojokerto village), and the Gandhakuti inscription (Keboan Pasar Mojokerto village). These inscriptions were spread over the Mojokerto and Mount Penanggungan areas. The king then moved the kingdom’s centre to Kahuripan. He also had a dam built there, and inaugurated the Hujung Galuh regional seaport. The port is believed to be located on the Brantas River banks, frequented only by medium-sized vessels that provided inter-insular transportation. The Kamalagyan inscription containing all this data was possibly found in Krian Sidoarjo village (Susanti-T. 2003, pp. 273–74). The Pamwatan inscription in 964 S´aka or AD 1042 discloses that the kingdom’s centre was moved again westward and was named Dahana Pura. This inscription was issued by King Airlangga after the release of the Gandhakuti inscription in 964 S´aka, announcing his withdrawal from office. Based on its analysis, it is estimated that King Airlangga issued eighteen stone inscriptions, spread across the areas of Ngimbang (Lamongan region), Sambeng (Lamongan region), and Kudu (North Jombang). The inscriptions of Munggut, Katemas, and Kusambyan were discovered on the Brantas River banks. Towards the basin of the Solo River were spread inscriptions of Drujugurit, Pasar Legi, Lawan, Lemahbang, Sendang Gede, Sumber Sari (I-II), and Sugio. On the Solo River banks were unearthed the inscriptions of Rengel, Pucak Wangi (Babat), and Brumbun. To the north was Kesamben village, possibly the origin of the Kusambyan inscription, not far from Tuban (Susanti-T. 2003, p. 274). Kambang Putih, a seaport of international importance, was built near Tuban on Airlangga’s instruction. Occupied regions, as well as lands with a sima status, served as a convenient access to the Kambang Putih seaport. Two great rivers, the Bengawan Solo and Brantas Rivers, together with numerous small streams, provided convenient waterways for boats. The relocation of the kingdom’s centre was certainly intended to shorten the transportation channel that ran from Hujung Galuh and small ports to transit stops in the Bengawan Solo basin, before ending at Kambang Putih. Regrettably, the Kambang Putih port failed to be completed, when Airlangga abdicated. Mention of the port is made in the Kambang Putih inscription issued by King Garasakan, Airlangga’s son, who ruled Janggala (Susanti-T. 2003, p. 275). Casparis maintains that the use of the Tuban seaport had been adapted to the pattern of waterways that linked Tuban to the kingdom’s 235

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

235

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

236

Ninie Susanti

centre possibly located near Mojokerto/Jombang (1958, p. 20). This demonstrates Casparis’ unawareness of the Pamwatan inscription mentioning the relocation of the kingdom’s centre to Dahana Pura, closer to Tuban. Airlangga’s preparedness to conduct international trade is confirmed in contemporary documents that mention the presence of foreigners who were subjected to tax. These aliens were people from Kliη (Keling), Aryya, Singhala, Pandikira, Drawida, Campa, Kmir, and Re˘me˘n (Cane Inscription, Patakan Inscription and Turunhyang A inscription). They resided inside the kingdom and could have been trade representatives, professionals, or artisans. Archaeological findings consisting of ceramics from China, Cambodia, and the Middle East, have been unearthed near Tuban and in the interior regions. Imported artefacts were also found in great numbers, made up of Southeast Asian fine pink pottery (mercury bottle shaped). These findings are indicative of a smooth running commercial network, connecting the area to other regions that were linked by sea. A research of the artefacts’ age led to a site chronology and arrived at the conclusion that seaports between Tuban and Gresik had been operating since the ninth or tenth centuries AD, saw their busiest years between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and experienced a decline in subsequent years (H. Wibisono 2004, p. 8). This information tallies with that in the inscription mentioning the construction of the international harbour of Kambang Putih on the order of the previous king, and its inauguration during King Garasakan’s reign, as mentioned in the Kambang Putih inscription (Susanti-T. 2003, pp. 278–79). King Airlangga showed a capacity to maintain religious harmony among his people. His chronicles invariably suggest a great esteem for prominent religious figures and priests who acted as witnesses or advisory board members. Although the Siva belief developed swiftly and was adhered to by the majority of the population, other Hindu denominations, Rsi, Mahabrahmana religions, Buddhism, and the worshipping of Bhatari also flourished. Places of worship were carefully maintained. All these matters were recorded in inscriptions released by Airlangga. Airlangga paid great attention to social issues and introduced special rights as additional awards to individuals, families or groups of people for rendering service to him or the state. The rights could be constituted in various forms, such as lifestyle and ownership, allowing people to have special rights to wear certain dresses or jewellery, own houses with certain features, eat special food, own special seats, sofas, umbrellas, and other special items (Sedyawati 1994, pp. 297–301). It is interesting to note that only during Airlangga’s reign was detailed mention made of the names of family heads in a village that had received a sima status, when the reward was intended for the 236

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

236

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

237

Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga

entire village, giving the impression that the king cared for each and every citizen. Such conduct caused the king to be loved by his subjects and protected wherever he went to fight a battle. Casparis was a scholar who discussed Airlangga’s rule and called him “a true personality”, because he succeeded in helping his people go through difficult times when facing devastation. He was a prominent figure and was successful in reuniting his kingdom, and also responsible for improvements in politics, economy, religious and social affairs (1991). Coedès places Airlangga in a position equal to that of other kings on mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia, such as King Suryavarman I of Khmer (1002–50), King Aniruddha of Pagan (1044–77), King Rajaraja Chola (983–1014), and King Rajendra Chola I (1014–44) (Coedès 1968). Agreeing with Casparis’s views, we should also note that Airlangga’s accomplishments were initially caused by the kingdom’s deteriorating political condition, partially brought about by attacks of Rajendra Chola I in 1017 and 1025. This state of affairs forced Airlangga to bring improvements swiftly in political affairs, the country’s economy, and religious and social issues, in order to replace Sriwijaya’s position as the trade centre and international transit seaport. Documents issued by Airlangga suggest his success in realizing, albeit not all, his ambitions.

References Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India: A Study of the History and Culture of the Indian Sub-continent Before the Coming of the Muslims. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc, 1963. Boechari. “Rakryan Mahamantri I Hino Sri Sanggramawijaya Dharmmaprasadottunggadewi”. Laporan Kongres Ilmu Pengetahuan Nasional II, Report on the National Science Congress II, Jakarta, 1965. ———. “Sri Maharaja Mapanji Garasakan”. In Majalah Ilmu-ilmu Sastra Indonesia. (Journal of Indonesian Literary Sciences), IV (1, 2). ———. “The Inscription of Garaman Dated 975 S´aka: The Evidence on Airlangga’s Partition of His Kingdom”. In Monumen (Monument), pp. 125–45. ———. Seri Penerbitan Ilmiah (Scientific Publication Series) No. 9 FS-UI. Depok: Faculty of Letters, The University of Indonesia. Bronson, Bennet. “Exchange at the Upstream and Downstream Ends: Notes toward a Functional Model of the Coastal State in Southeast Asia”. In Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia; Perspectives from Prehistory History and Ethnography, edited by Karl L. Hutterer, pp. 39–52. Ann Arbor: Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asia, 1977. Budi-Utomo, Bambang. “Komunitas Tamil di Barus dan Peranannya dalam 237

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

237

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

238

Ninie Susanti

Perdagangan di Nusantara” [The Tamil Community in Barus and its role in Nusantara trade]. Paper at the International Seminar on “Great Barus’s Role as Centre of Civilization and Trade Port (Emporium) in the Years 1–17 AD”, Jakarta, 12–15 October 2002. De Casparis, J.G. “Airlangga”. Inaugural Lecture, Airlangga University, 1958. Surabaya: Airlangga University’s University Publications, 1991. ———. “The Year 1000 A.D. in Southeast Asia”. Paper at Seminar on “Philippine Palaeographs”. Manila, 19–20 January 1991. ———. “Beberapa Tokoh Besar dalam Sejarah Asia Tenggara dari kira-kira 1000– 1400 M”. [Some Prominent Figures in Southeast Asian History of Around 1000–1400 AD]. Amerta, No. 16. Puslitarkenas, Jakarta. ———. “Airlangga, The Threshold of the Second Millennium”. Article in International Institute for Asian Studies Bulletin, Leiden, 1999. Coedès, G. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1968. Coedès, G. and L. Ch. Damais. “Kedatuan Sriwijaya” [The Sriwijaya Kingdom]. Research on Sriwijaya. Seri Terjemahan Arkeologi (Series of Archeology Translations) No. 2 Joint project of The National Research Center for Archeology & EFEO and The Department of Education and Culture, 1989. Damais, L. Ch. “Tanggal Prasasti Hujung Langit (Bawang)” [The Date of the Hujung Langit (Bawang) Inscription]. In Epigrafi dan Sejarah Nusantara [Epigraphy and the History of Nusantara]: Pilihan Karangan Louis-Charles Damais [Selected writings of Louis-Charles Damais]”. In Seri Terjemahan Arkeologi [Series of Archeology Translations], No. 3 Joint Project of The National Research Center for Archeology and Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient, 1995. Groeneveldt, W. P. Historical Notes on Indonesia and Malaya Compiled from Chinese Sources. Jakarta: Bhratara, 1960. Hall, D. G. E. A History of South-East Asia. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1976. Hall, Kenneth R. “State and Statecraft in Early Sriwijaya”. In Exploration in Early South East Asian History: The Origins of South East Asian Statecraft, edited by Kenneth R. Hall and John K. Whitmore. Ann Abor: Center for South East Asian Studies, The University of Michigan, 1976. Kern, H. “Een Oud-Javaansche Steen Inscriptie van Koning Erlangga” [An Old Javanese Stone Inscription of King Erlangga]. Verspreide Gechriften (Scattered Writings), VI, 1971. ——— 1917. “Sanskrit-Inscriptie ter eere van den Javaanschen vorst Erlangga” [Sanskrit Inscription in honor of the Javanese King Erlangga]. Verspreide Geschriften (Scattered Writings), VI, pp. 85–101. Lapian, A. B. “Pelayaran dalam Periode Sriwijaya” [Navigation in the Sriwijaya Era]. In Pra Seminar Penelitian Sriwijaya [Pre-Seminar on a Research on Sriwijaya] National Research Center for Archeology, Jakarta, 1979. Leirissa, R. Z. “Dr. J. C. van Leur dan Sejarah Ekonomi: Suatu Tinjauan Historiografi” [Dr J. C. van Leur and The History of Economy: A Historiographical Review]. 238

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

238

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

239

Rajendra Chola’s Invasion and the Rise of Airlangga

In Sejarah Indonesia; Penilaian Kembali Karya Utama Sejarawan Asing [History of Indonesia: A Re-evaluation of a Foreign Historian’s Principal Writing]. Jakarta: PPKB-LPUI. 1997. Majumdar, R. C., H. C. Raychaudhuri, and Kalikinkar Datta. An Advanced History of India. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd, 1958. Menon, A. G. “Copper Plates to Silver Plates: Cholas, Dutch and Buddhism”. In Fruits of Inspiration, Studies in Honour of Prof. J. G. De Casparis, edited by Marijke J. Klokke and Karel R. van Kooij. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 2001. Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar. Madras: Oxford University Press, 1958. Panikkar, K. M. A Survey of Indian History. London: Asia Publishing House, 1962. Rawlinson, H.G. India: A Short Cultural History. 1957. Sedyawati, Edi. “Arsitektur Indonesia Masa Hindu-Budha: Tinjauan Fungsi Sosial” [Indonesian Architecture of the Hindu-Buddhist Era: A Social Function Review]. In “Lembaran Sastra” Seri Penerbitan Ilmiah FSUI [“Literary Sheets” in Scientific Publication Series Faculty of Letters, The University of Indonesia]. Depok, 1990. Sjafei, Soewadji. “Catatan Mengenai Jalan Pelayaran Perdagangan ke Indonesia sebelum Abad ke-16” [Notes on the Trade’s Navigation Channel to Indonesia before the Sixteenth Century]. Journal of Indonesian Literary Sciences, X no. 1 (1981–82): Faculty of Letters, University of Indonesia. Soemadio, Bambang. “Jaman Kuno” [The Ancient Period]. In Sejarah Nasional Indonesia [Indonesian National History] Vol. II, edited by Bambang Soemadio, with Marwati D. Poesponegoro and Nugroho Notosusanto. Jakarta: PN Balai Pustaka, 1984. Susanti-T., Ninny. “Airlangga: Raja Pembaharu di Jawa pada Abad ke-11 Masehi” [Airlangga: The Reformer King of Java in the Eleventh Century AD]. Unpublished dissertation, Faculty of Humanities, The University of Indonesia, 2003. Tobing, Binsar D.L. “Prasasti Hujung Langit” [The Hujung Langit Inscription]. Unpublished paper, Faculty of Humanities, The University of Indonesia, 2004. Wibisono, Naniek H. “Pola Perdagangan Abad ke-10–14 Berdasarkan Bukti-bukti Tinggalan Arkeologi” [10–14 Centuries’ Trade Patterns as Evident from Archaeological Relics]. Paper at a panel discussion on “Airlangga sebagai Tokoh” (Airlangga as a Figure), Jombang, 2004. Wolters, O. W. Early Indonesian Commerce: A Study of The Origins of Sriwijaya. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1967.

239

14 Nagapattinam_Ch 14

239

11/4/09, 12:57 PM

240

Risha Lee

15 RETHINKING COMMUNITY The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou Risha Lee INTRODUCTION In the late thirteenth century, a Tamil-speaking community in southern China’s coastal city of Quanzhou built a temple devoted to the Hindu god Siva. The temple is no longer intact, but over 300 carvings are still within the city, on display in the collection of the local museum, and rebuilt into the walls of the city’s main Buddhist temple.1 The known carvings are distinguishable by their South Indian style, with its closest parallels in thirteenth century temples constructed in the Kaveri Delta Region in Tamil Nadu, and are dispersed across five primary sites in Quanzhou and its surroundings. Almost all are carved with greenish-gray granite, which was widely available in the nearby hills and used frequently in the region’s contemporaneous architecture.2 The remains attest to the presence of a settled South Indian community in southern China during the late thirteenth century and indicate an even longer history of cross-cultural exchange between China and India. Scholars have charted the movement and motivations of the twelfth to thirteenth century Sino-Indian exchange, analyzing the Indic carvings to show persistent cultural and mercantile relations between the two regions. However, existing scholarship stops short of reading from the carvings a fresh politics of culture and identity, one that challenges today’s regnant theories in philosophy, history, and political theory. For, as I will show, the carvings resist a binary understanding of cultural interaction, where bounded, 240

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

240

240

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

241

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

definable cultures or ethnicities “influenced” one another. Indeed, I argue that neither the temple patrons in Quanzhou, nor the city’s local artisans, viewed themselves as culturally distinct selves or others when they interacted. Quanzhou’s Indic carvings, I argue, index an active translation of ideas and images in built-form.3

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND What little we know of the community of Siva worshippers in Quanzhou comes directly from the carvings themselves; apart from the material remains of a Siva temple, history has not documented or referenced its creators. The strongest evidence for its construction date is a bilingual inscription found in Quanzhou, written in both Chinese and Tamil on a block of diabase stone, which records the consecration of a Siva temple in 1281.4 This date is appropriate, given the striking stylistic correspondence of Quanzhou’s Indic carvings with contemporaneous temples in Tamil Nadu, India. Although it impossible to know for certain where the temple was originally located since it is now dismantled, many sources suggest the southern part of the city.5 Most of the carvings were found within the Tonghuai gate, located in the southeastern part of the city, when the city wall was demolished in 1947.6 This gate was erected during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), and the carvings were used as building materials to expand the city wall. Although we do not know the exact dates for the dismantling of the temple, this suggests that it could have occurred between the late fourteenth and seventeenth centuries.7 Additionally, there are scattered historical references to Indians living in the southern part of Quanzhou. Zhao Rugua records in his ca. 1225 Description of Barbarian Peoples that foreign merchants living in Quanzhou revered an Indian monk who arrived by sea in 985 and bought a plot of land in the southern part of Quanzhou, aiming to build a temple. Furthermore, a gazetteer from Jingzhang county — perhaps referencing a Hindu temple tank8 — notes that in ancient times a pool of the “foreign temple of Buddhism” existed in the city’s south. Several sources suggest that the southern suburb was the city’s commercial centre throughout the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1279–1368) dynasties, which has led scholars to believe that the temple was once located in the city’s southern sector since the community of Siva worshippers most likely comprised merchants.9 In Chinese history, the 1281 inscription date places the temple in the Yuan dynasty period, initiated by Genghis Khan, a member of a nomadic tribe of ethnic Mongols. After uniting Mongolia in 1206, Genghis Khan extended his empire, which came to include large parts of Asia, the Middle 241

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

241

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

242

Risha Lee

East, and some parts of Europe. While Genghis Khan did not live to see a complete conquest of China, after his death in 1259 Kublai Khan (r.1260– 1294) continued his grandfather’s war against the Song empire until 1279, when he took the last Song outpost in Guangzhou in southern China. Ultimately, it was the foreign community in Quanzhou, composed of South Indians, Arabs, Persians, and others, that played a pivotal role in the Mongols’ political takeover. Trade encouraged these foreign merchants to emigrate to Quanzhou, where many chose to live before the Mongol takeover, enjoying financial success and ascension in the local government’s ranks. One of these foreign traders, Pu Shougeng, stands out in his work to secure the Mongol takeover of southern China, the last outpost of Song power. In 1276, Song loyalists launched a resistance against Mongol efforts to take over Fuzhou (near Quanzhou). The Yuanshi (the Yuan dynasty official history) records that Pu Shougeng, with the support of the local elite, “abandoned the Song cause and rejected the emperor … by the end of the year, Quanzhou had formally submitted to the Mongols.”10 In abandoning the Song cause, Pu Shougeng mobilized troops mostly from the community of foreign residents and local elite, who massacred Song clansmen and loyalists. Pu Shougeng and his troops acted without the help of the Mongol army. Pu Shougeng’s support of Mongol conquest comes without surprise, for the Mongols, themselves foreign to China, favoured foreigners for prestigious positions in their bureaucracy. Up until the Yuan Dynasty’s fall, Quanzhou’s foreigners, or semuren (literally, “people with coloured eyes”), had occupied most of the local government’s official positions. Moreover, several genealogies and histories show that many locals adopted foreign Chinese names and converted to foreign religions, hoping to enjoy the privileges reserved for members of registered foreign households.11 Pu Shougeng himself was lavishly rewarded by the Mongols. He was appointed military commissioner for the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. Additionally, in 1278, Pu Shougeng and the Mongol general, Sogetu, were given official positions in the Quanzhou government for promoting maritime trade.12 The period of Mongol rule is marked by increased Chinese mercantile activity along the South Indian coastline. Ibn Battuta, Wang Dayuan, and Marco Polo all provide eye witness accounts of Chinese merchants in the Indian ports.13 The Kublai Khan court considered trade with India so important that it dispatched an unprecedented sixteen official, diplomatic envoys to India, primarily along the Coromandel and Malabar coasts.14 The Yuan official Yang Tingbi led several missions to these regions, determined to expand China’s political connections with India. Yang’s missions are also suggestive of India’s pluralistic landscape, for he reports meeting with Syrian 242

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

242

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

243

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

Christian and Muslim communities in South India, undoubtedly comprised of diaspora traders.15 Moreover, Yuan officials travelled to India on private trading ships, affirming a connection between court and merchant endeavours to expand their reach in Indian markets and politics.16 From the Indian vantage point, 1281 marks the end of the late Chola period in Tamil Nadu, which began in 1070 with Kulottunga I and ended in 1280 with Rajendra III’s demise.17 Thanks to John Guy, whose stylistic and iconographic analysis convincingly threads the Quanzhou carvings to temples in Tamil Nadu, we know that the Siva-worshipping community in Quanzhou was probably from Tamil Nadu.18 At the very least, its members had strong ties to this region. As overseas commercial ventures became crucial to ensuring the economic well-being of their polity, the Chola monarchs pursued aggressive foreign policies that established trading networks and political relations with China. The Chinese scholar Ban Gu shows that, as early as the first century, South China and South India were connected by maritime trade routes;19 however, Quanzhou only emerged as a port of international importance between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, during the Song dynasty and the Mongol Yuan dynasty. In 1292, it received Marco Polo, who commented on the substantial presence of Indian ships loaded with pepper in the port.20 Archaeological evidence found on the Tamil Nadu coast, including hoards of Chinese ceramics and coins, attest to the vibrant trade between southern India and China, which began in the eleventh century and continued.21 In a book on Sino-Indian relations, Tansen Sen argues that the Chola kingdom contributed to the development of the world market, and that “the trading ports and mercantile guilds of the Chola kingdom played a significant role in linking the markets of China to the rest of the world”.22 From 1015 onwards, Chola monarchs sent envoys to southern China and actively protected their commercial interests through warfare. In fact, writing on merchant guilds, Meera Abraham has suggested that the Chola naval raid on the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia in 1025 was an effort to protect Indian commercial interests from interference by the Srivijaya kingdom, which occupied an intermediary trade position between China and India.23 The Cholas also invaded Sri Lanka to expand their control of overseas ports. Furthermore, the Chola monarchs did not act independently in their relations with China; rather, South Indian merchant played a significant role in facilitating cultural exchanges between China and India. In fact, the patrons of the Hindu temple in Quanzhou were most likely members of a merchant guild that had established a permanent trading post there. Meera Abraham charts the intimate relations between king and merchant, putting 243

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

243

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

244

Risha Lee

into question the commonly held view of the king as a totalitarian ruler bent on absolute overseas authority through military conquest. On the contrary, merchant guilds wielded an immense amount of power in South India’s Hindu temples, as well as overseas. Chinese envoy records illuminate the close relationship between the Chola monarch and merchant guilds. Indeed, Chinese officials could not distinguish between Chola monarch and merchant-sponsored envoys since the identities and affiliations of those present were lost in clerical error and often deliberate misinformation. Competition for larger shares of the market drove individual missionaries to misrepresent themselves. For instance, a Srivijayan envoy succeeded in convincing Chinese officials that the Chola kingdom was a vassal state of Srivijaya in the height of the former’s power, resulting in the official mistreatment of the first Chola envoy in 1015.24 Merchant groups were intensely competitive, so much so that they appealed to culture to ensure their position in foreign markets and encourage foreign diplomacy: they built their own religious monuments and patronized others. For instance, the fourteenth century Chinese travel writer, Wang Dayuan, claims to have seen a pagoda in Nagappattinam in Tamil Nadu, built by Chinese sojourners and inscribed in Chinese characters, which reveal a construction date of 1267.25 Additionally, in the eleventh century, Srivijayans built a Buddhist monastery in Nagapattinam using a Chinese architectural style.26 An inscription found in Guangzhou (ca. 1049) records donations made to a Taoist monastery on behalf of the Chola monarch Kulottunga I.27 More interestingly, these monuments were not culturally distinct entities, for the presence of personnel and iconography from multiple cultures is evident in their built-form. For example, the Kaiyuan Temple’s gazetteer records that a “Master from India” served as the chief architect in renovating its East pagoda in 1238. Additionally, a bas relief of Hanuman, the monkey prince of the Ramayana, appears on one of the temple’s pagodas.28 Although it is beyond this paper’s scope to analyse material from Central or Southeast Asia, it is worth mentioning that representatives from these regions were present in Quanzhou and may have contributed directly and indirectly to the Siva temple’s appearance. Multilingual inscriptions and Indic carvings have been found across Southeast Asia, indicating a wider pattern of migration and settlement by merchants across culturally permeable borders. We suspect the influx of bodies and ideas from Southeast Asia also affected the appearance of the temple and the community of worshippers within Quanzhou.29 Indeed, it appears that the categories of “foreigner” and “merchant” were more salient than “ethno-cultural” identities. While the large volume of literature theorizing merchant networks outpaces this paper, we might simply 244

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

244

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

245

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

note that this scholarship indexes how merchant trade entailed collaboration between multiple, interdependent, and close knit groups, and it cautions against the anachronistic temptation to separate these networks into ethnic or nationally defined entities.

STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE INDIC CARVINGS IN QUANZHOU Using the word “temple” itself overstates the form of the architectural remains today. The carvings are dispersed across five primary sites in Quanzhou and its surroundings. The Kaiyuan Temple, which is still an active Buddhist temple built in the Tang period in 686 CE, houses the largest repository of Indic carvings.30 There, 153 of these carvings, mostly installed in the temple’s front hall, have been used as part of the basement frieze (Figure 15.1). Their style and placement suggest they were not part of the temple’s original conception, but are instead reused materials from an Indian temple. The Kaiyuan Temple has survived numerous natural disasters and renovations, recorded in the Ming dynasty gazetteer, the Record of the Kaiyuan Temple.31 Two separate patrons renovated the temple in 1389 and 1408; the Indic carvings may have been installed in the temple during this time.32 The basement frieze in the Kaiyuan Temple mirrors its anticipated placement in the Indian temple. Lotus-shaped mouldings frame a sculptural bas-relief panel frieze of lions alternating with half-female, half-lion figures. A complete panel is consistent in length, rectangular, evenly bordered, and has the figural sequence of a lion separated by a column, followed by a leonine figure. Upon close inspection, the varying lengths and breaks in the panel suggest that the stones are not in their original position. More interestingly, the artisans who installed the stones in the basement clearly followed the “original” alternating pattern: lion … column … leonine figure. Moreover, they used panel fragments when needed in order to avoid upsetting the sequential order. Two citrakhanda columns with sculptural reliefs of Hindu gods appear in the back of the first hall (Figure 15.2). Scholars of the Tamil speaking community in Quanzhou have paid the most attention to these columns,33 which frame the back entrance to the main hall and sit on a raised stone platform that served as an open air walkway circumambulating the main building. The second largest repository of Indic carvings exists in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum, located in the city centre. In the 1950’s, Quanzhou 245

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

245

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

246

Risha Lee

FIGURE 15.1 Kaiyuan Temple, Quanzhou View of reused Indic carvings in basement frieze, possibly installed in 1389 or 1408.

FIGURE 15.2 Kaiyuan Temple, Quanzhou View of reused citrakhanda type columns in back of main hall.

246

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

246

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

247

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

citizen and collector, Wu Wenliang, first took an interest in unappreciated antiquities lying idle in fields or reused as building materials in local residential homes. He mostly acquired stone carvings, some dating back as early as the eleventh century, which the city’s inhabitants had used to build local structures. The Indic carvings comprise about a fourth of his collection, which also includes carvings bearing Christian, Islamic, Manichean, and Nestorian iconography, inscribed with languages such as Persian, Arabic, Tamil, Italian, Latin, and Syriac. Indeed, many of the carvings bear multilingual inscriptions, attesting to a high level of fluidity between ethno-cultural borders, as well as the presence of non-Chinese individuals with local power. For example, “the gravestone of Ahmad” narrates a family who lived in Quanzhou for several generations. Written in Persian, Arabic, and Chinese, we know that the elder Ahmad “married a woman from Quanzhou and that the younger generation became proficient in Chinese”.34 A number of the collection’s Indic carvings were moved from the Kaiyuan Temple, whose grounds also contain a museum. The Quanzhou Maritime Museum also continues to acquire new carvings through random finds and contributions.35 The 117 pieces of the museum’s carvings, are clearly architectural fragments from a South Indian style temple. They include fluted pilasters, puspapotika (capitals with flower blossom extensions), citrakhanda pillars (square columntype with carved central band), padma (lotus petal carved base mouldings), vyala bas reliefs (composite leonine figure), kapota (cornices), door jambs, lasuna (vase shaped pillar part), ghata (cushion shaped pillar part above lasuna), malasthana (decorated pillar part below ghata), finials, sculptural panels, hastihasta (stairway banister), jali (grill pattern window screens), and a five-foot tall Vishnu statue, carved in the round, complete with a lotus petal base. The carvings are in a small exhibition room in the museum’s rear; apart from a few display podiums, they are disordered and stacked one upon another (Figure 15.3). Also in Quanzhou, the Tianhou gong temple holds two citrakhanda columns with dimensions roughly approximating the columns in the Kaiyuan Temple and Quanzhou Maritime Museum (Figure 15.4), which suggest they are originally from the same temple. The temple dates to the second year of Qingyuan and the Southern Song dynasty (c. 1196), and is dedicated to the local goddess Mazu, traditionally worshipped by sailors seeking protection against harsh waters. The most noticeable difference between the temples is seen in the medallions of the Tianhou gong temple, which are carved with floral and vegetal motifs and exclude figurative imagery of and references to Hindu iconography. As in the Kaiyuan Temple, the Tianhou gong temple’s pillars sit atop a raised stone platform and form part of an ambulatory hall 247

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

247

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

248

Risha Lee FIGURE 15.3 Quanzhou Maritime Museum, Quanzhou Display of Indic carvings.

FIGURE 15.4 Tianhou gong Temple, Quanzhou Citrakhanda type pillars in back hall.

248

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

248

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

249

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

that surrounds the main building. The pillars stand out insofar as they frame the front door of the rear building. About 15 kilometres outside of Quanzhou’s city centre, in the rural Chidian village of Jinjiang county, a small shrine known as the Xingji pavilion is dedicated to the Buddhist goddess Guanyin; however, there is a large sculptural panel of the Hindu goddess Kali, painted in red and gold in place of the Guanyin icon (Figure 15.5). The goddess bears the iconographic features of Kali, since she has a skull necklace, wild hair, female attendants, and a demon underfoot. As early as seventy years ago, the panel was installed as a shrine next to a small bridge, located about one kilometre away from the village.36 During the Cultural Revolution, the bridge and pavilion were dismantled, and the carvings were cemented into a wall surrounding the village. In the 1980s, the village residents dismantled the wall, found the Kali carving, reconsecrated it as the goddess Guanyin, and built a shrine for it. The Xiamen University Museum has a small holding of carvings, including the original bilingual inscription (Figure 15.6) and a door jamb.

FIGURE 15.5 Xingji pavilion, Chidian village, Jinjiang county Indic sculptural panel of Hindu goddess Kali with attendants.

249

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

249

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

250

Risha Lee

FIGURE 15.6 Xiamen University Museum Bilingual stele in Tamil and Chinese, recording consecration of Siva temple in 1281.

That the temple was disassembled generates at least a partial history of the carvings. At some point, these carvings ceased to be Hindu in a religious sense. After the temple was disassembled, they no longer served a religious purpose; rather, their symbolism changed and the stones were infused with a new set of meanings. It was only over the past century, when these carvings were gathered in a museum setting, that they once again received a Hindu identity. However, looking at the stones closely, it is clear that even in their original position in a consecrated Hindu temple, they were never unambiguously “Hindu”. Rather, they are the products of several communities and cultural practices whose boundaries are far from clear. Despite the lack of traditionally historical “texts” establishing a Tamil community living in Quanzhou, the stones themselves serve as a text, providing information about their patrons’ politics with respect to medieval Quanzhou society. Among the surviving Hindu carvings is an inscription, written in both Tamil and Chinese, establishing the consecration of a Siva temple in Quanzhou in 1281. The main portion of the text is written in Tamil, and the last line is written in Chinese. The Tamil text reads: Obeisance to Hara (Siva). Let there be prosperity! On the day Chitra in the month of Chittirai in the Saka year 1203, the Tavachchakkarvarttikal. Sambandapperuma-l. graciously caused, in accordance with the firman (written permission) of Chekachai Khan (the Mongol ruler), the installation of the God Ud.aiyar Tiruk-ka-nis´varam Ud.aiya-na-yana-r (Siva), for the welfare of the king Chekachai Khan.37

This Tamil text offers us several valuable pieces of information: it praises Siva, the primary deity of the temple, names the primary patron, 250

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

250

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

251

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

Sambandhaperumal, a common Tamil name, and asserts that the installation of Siva’s image enjoyed the grace of the imperial Mongol authority (Chekachai Khan). Clearly, Indian patrons responsible for building the temple acted under the auspices of the Chinese imperial authorities. Though the Chinese text has proved elusive for scholars, the disagreements over its appropriate translation reveal in form more than they obscure in substance.38 Although the substance of the text is opaque, its form begs a number of questions. The Tamil letters are poorly formed, suggesting that the scribe was not formally trained in the Tamil script. The ethnicity of the scribe, however, is indeterminable and actually irrelevant for our purposes. Rather, that these two languages appear side by side attests to the salience of both languages within the community. The bilingual inscription indicates that the temple’s patrons spoke to at least three linguistic audiences: Chinese speaking, Tamil speaking, and a third bilingual space. Whether the temple’s patrons used Chinese or Tamil to communicate with other members of the Quanzhou society cannot be known for sure. Furthermore, Tamil may not have been the worshippers’ mother tongue. For temple inscriptions, Tamil language inscriptions may index symbolic reverence rather than actual vernacular use. However, at the very least, the Tamil portion of the inscription — and not the Chinese — recognizes and salutes the Mongol Khanate. For Phil Wagoner, who writes on a mosque built in the medieval Deccan, “[the] architectural action is part of a symbolic political transaction, in which the merit accruing from the building’s foundation is dedicated to… [the] overlord”.39 In my case, the dharmaaccruing overlord is the Mongol Khanate, Chekachai Khan, suggesting that the temple’s inscribed tribute was intended for him. This is not to say that Quanzhou’s non-Indian inhabitants were proficient in Tamil. Rather, the Tamil homage suggests that a knowledgeable, perhaps bilingual community was present to recognize the significance of the inscription and to convey that significance to the Mongol authority. In other words, by the time the temple was built, Quanzhou’s South Indian merchant community had engrained itself in the city’s social fabric, so much so that it was not only capable of recognizing the Chinese authority’s political sovereignty: but it was also recognizable in the Chinese community. Building a temple is a serious commitment, in terms of patronage, planning, and construction, suggesting that Quanzhou’s South Indian merchant community considered itself a permanent part of the city’s fabric. And yet, many of Quanzhou’s Indic carvings are strikingly South Indian in style, so much so that art historian Coomaraswamy remarked that “the Chinese work so closely reproduces Indian … formulae and style as to give 251

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

251

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

252

Risha Lee

the impression of Indian workmanship, at first sight”.40 For example, the Quanzhou columns (Figure 15.7) almost mimic in form those found at the Airavatesvara temple in Darasuram in Tamil Nadu (Figure 15.8), a twelfth century imperial temple built by Rajaraja II.41 However, a closer look at some of Quanzhou’s columns reveal conceptual and craft contributions from multiple communities. While the “cultural” identities of the temple’s builders are difficult to determine definitively, evidence exists to suggest that they included artisans knowledgeable of both South Indian and Chinese building techniques. Consider the two Indian columns in Quanzhou’s Buddhist temple, of the citrakhanda type, used extensively in the mandapas of late Chola temples,42 and unprecedented in FIGURE 15.7 Kaiyuan Temple Citrakhanda column.

252

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

252

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

253

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou FIGURE 15.8 Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, Tamil Nadu ca. 12th century Citrakhanda type columns in mandapa,

Chinese architecture. The columns are chamfered to a sixteen-sided form, possess three cubical blocks bearing medallions, and contain forms derived from both Chinese and Indian precedents. Images in the centre of each medallion alternate between Chinese and Indian motifs. For example, one medallion depicts an image of Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, felling the Arjuna tree (Figure 15.9), and another contains a Chinese chasing phoenix motif (Figure 15.10). This is not to say that similarities between the Darasuram and the Quanzhou temples’ columns do not exist. Indeed, looking at the columns’ capitals, extremely precise parallels clearly exist. The capitals, no longer attached to the columns, are currently housed in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum (Figure 15.11). They consist of petalled “spouts” from which pendant lotuses hang. Put next to the capitals of a non-Imperial, late Chola temple of Tiruvilimilalai, the Quanzhou capitals appear as precise mimicries (Figures 15.12 and 13).43 253

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

253

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

254

Risha Lee FIGURE 15.9 Kaiyuan Temple Medallion on column; Krishna felling Arjuna tree.

FIGURE 15.10 Kaiyuan Temple Medallion on column; Chasing phoenix motif.

254

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

254

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

255

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou FIGURE 15.11 Quanzhou Maritime Museum Capitals of Indic Columns

FIGURE 15.12 Tiruvilamilalai Temple, Tamil Nadu Capital, ca. 13th century

255

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

255

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

256

Risha Lee FIGURE 15.13 Tiruvilamilalai Capital and column in mandapa

The artistic climate in the thirteenth century Quanzhou was clearly multicultural. The temple patrons comprised but one of the many foreign communities living there at the time. As already mentioned, in the thirteenth century, Quanzhou served as one of the world’s largest port cities. It housed Arabs, Persians, Europeans, and other minority groups, in addition to a substantial Indian population. All of these groups commissioned buildings and monuments that can be seen in Quanzhou today. Looking at these monuments’ ornaments, in particular, alongside that of the Quanzhou columns, we see similarities. For example, bands containing a scrolling peony and lotus motif (Figure 15.14) encircle the chamfered parts of the Quanzhou columns. This ornamental motif appears on a Christian gravestone from the same period (Figure 15.15).44 The cloud motif is also ubiquitous on a variety of Quanzhou’s cultural monuments. It appears clearly on the writing support on the side of a colossal statue of a Daoist deity, located in the hills outside of the city (Figures 15.16 and 17), in an Indic carving (Figure 15.18), as well as on the bottom portion of a gravestone with Arabic script, dated to 1302 256

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

256

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

257

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou FIGURE 15.14 Kaiyuan Temple Band on column with scrolling peony and lotus motif.

FIGURE 15.15 Quanzhou Maritime Museum Christian gravestone with scrolling peony and lotus motif.

257

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

257

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

258

Risha Lee FIGURE 15.16 Qingyuan shan slope, Quanzhou Colossal Daoist deity

FIGURE 15.17 Detail of Daoist deity armrest showing cloud motif

258

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

258

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

259

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou FIGURE 15.18 Quanzhou Maritime Museum Indic carving with cloud motif

(Figure 15.19). Considering that identical forms of ornament were used to adorn a variety of city monuments, regardless of cultural origin, it seems likely that patrons of diverse communities employed the same group of artisans. Furthermore, these artisans were probably local Chinese, evident, for instance, through comparing the execution of Chinese and Indian ornamental medallions. Consider the Chinese chasing phoenix pattern that appears both on a medallion of the Indic, Kaiyuan Temple column, and on a Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) silver box, taken from a tomb in nearby Fuzhou (Figure 15.20). The chasing phoenix appears regularly in Chinese — not Indian — imagery from this period.45 On both, the phoenix is balanced and symmetrical; its wings are positioned seamlessly against a border; and, its feathers are sharply defined. By contrast, the image of Krishna felling the Arjuna tree (new to Chinese artisans), located on a medallion of the temple’s Indic column, lacks the same degree of symmetrical organization: the image of Krishna exists within blank, unornamented space. Moreover, comparing Indian images found on the Kaiyuan Temple columns with the same images regnant on late Chola temples in India further 259

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

259

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

260

Risha Lee FIGURE 15.19 Quanzhou Maritime Museum Detail of gravestone with Arabic script and cloud motif, c. 1302.

FIGURE 15.20 Fuzhou Museum Fuzhou Box with chasing phoenix motif, ca. 1127–1279

260

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

260

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

261

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

accentuates the former’s lack of precision. A Quanzhou medallion depicting wrestlers (Figure 15.21) bears a striking resemblance to a bas relief of wrestlers from the late Chola temple of Darasuram (Figure 15.22). In both, the wrestlers’ bodies form a circle and the limbs cross one another at the central point; however, in the Darasuram carving, the bodies are carved precisely, in a continuous, fluid circle, while the Quanzhou wrestlers appear crammed inside the border, struggling awkwardly against the medallion’s confines. It seems the craftsmen responsible for carving the medallions were not accustomed to carving Indian subject matter and relied on a medium other than sculpture for design. But, as we saw, the columns’ capitals nearly mimic those in Tamil Nadu. Perhaps the columns were built by Chinese and Tamil artisans in collaboration: the latter responsible for their overall form and the former for the ornament. But this answer only begs more questions. For instance, did the temple’s patrons recognize Chinese and Indian motifs as

FIGURE 15.21 Kaiyuan Temple Detail of medallion on column with wrestlers.

261

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

261

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

262

Risha Lee FIGURE 15.22 Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, ca. 12th century Detail of bas-relief panel with wrestlers.

“culturally” distinct? What criteria determined image selection? If nothing else, by grafting local Chinese iconography onto their religious centre, South Indian patrons, consciously or not, effectively forged their identities in relation to southern China’s cultural landscape. More pointedly, the built-form of Quanzhou’s columns appears immune to cultural hierarchy: Indian and Chinese subject matter are nearly interchangeable.

CONCLUSION Quanzhou’s Siva temple is a comment on visual translation in the late thirteenth-century world. At points, the temple appears strikingly South Indian in style. At others, the form reveals alteration and innovation, situated in a “multicultural” context. Questions linger: why does the temple 262

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

262

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

263

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

appear mimetically South Indian where it does, especially since a Chinese artisan majority appears to have led the construction effort? On the one hand, one would expect that Mongol policies privileging foreigners encouraged foreign patron communities to adopt an aesthetics of difference, to denote an elevated status. Though if this were the case, why does Quanzhou’s Siva temple refuse to mimic a typical Tamil temple style? Here, I offer one of many possible hypotheses: the temple patrons’ reliance on a shared community of local Quanzhou artisans. When denied precise direction, these artisans must have relied on their own understanding of ornamentation.46 A more robust answer to this question requires knowledge of the temple’s appearance in full, in order to uncover the political, social, cultural, and economic “logics” of aesthetic variation in the temple’s built-form. So as not to overdetermine the explanatory power of aesthetic variation in the temple’s built-form, I want to conclude by reiterating that my analysis is one, complementary dimension of a larger picture. I read Quanzhou’s Siva temple as a historical moment, instantiating an otherwise typical movement of people and ideas in the thirteenth-century world. This moment factors into a much longer history (preceding and subsequent) of the exchange of commodities, personnel, knowledge, and gods, between India and its outside world.47 While the late thirteenth century, when the Quanzhou Siva temple was built, marks a period of heightened relations between China and India, it was by no means a singular moment. After all, people and practices had been circulating between India and China since at least the third century. Quanzhou’s Siva temple, as a historical moment, narrates the inextricable link between circulation on the one hand, and transformation, on the other.

Notes 1. I am indebted to Barry Flood, Katherine Kasdorf, and Vidya Dehejia for reading versions of this chapter, offering bibliographic suggestions, and productive conversation. Any remaining shortcomings are my own. I was able to travel to Quanzhou in the summers of 2006 and 2007 through the generous grants of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Art History Department at Columbia University. I am especially grateful to Wang Lianmo and Ding Yuling, the directors of the Quanzhou Maritime Museum, for their gracious hospitality, encouragement, assistance, and support of this project. I thank Robert E. Harrist and his family for accompanying me on my first trip to Quanzhou and their encouragement of the project. 2. The use of granite is unique to the region. The most concise English language Quanzhou archaeological survey is Richard Pearson, Li Min, and Li Guo, 263

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

263

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

264

3.

4. 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11. 12.

Risha Lee

“Quanzhou Archaeology: A Brief Review”, International Journal of Historical Archaeology 6, no. 1 (March 2002). My work owes much to Phil Wagoner and Barry Flood’s scholarship which, in studying the art object, takes seriously movement and the remapping of cultural boundaries. Barry Flood, “Pillars, Palimpsests, and Princely Practices: Translating the Past in Sultanate Delhi”, Res 43 (Spring 2003). Phil Wagoner, “Fortuitous Convergences and Essential Ambiguities: Transcultural Political Elites in the Medieval Deccan”, International Journal of Hindu Studies 3, no. 3 (December 1999). T.N. Subramaniam, “A Tamil Colony in Medieval India”. In South Indian Studies, edited by R. Nagaswamy (Madras, 1978), pp. 1–52. Hugh Clark, “Muslims and Hindus in the Culture and Morphology” (1995); Dasheng Cheng, Quanzhou yisilanjiao shike [Islamic Stone Reliefs in Quanzhou] (Fuzhou: Fujian People’s Press, 1984); Ellen Wang, “Quanzhou Kaiyuan Monastery: Architecture, Iconography, and Social Contexts”, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation in East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, 2008. Hugh Clark, “Muslims and Hindus in the Culture and Morphology of Quanzhou from the Tenth to Thirteenth Century”, Journal of World History 6, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 49–74. Most Quanzhou scholars believe that the temple was dismantled in the late sixteenth century, owing to a local gazetteer that records a renovation of the Buddhist temple at this time. Scholars have assumed that the Indic carvings installed into the foundation of the Buddhist temple were a part of this renovation; however, there is no other material evidence as yet to prove this conclusively. Qingzhang Yang, “Quanzhou Yindujiao Diaoke Yuanyuan Kao”, Quanzhougang Yu Haishang Sichouzhilu, edited by Zhongguo Haiyang Xuehui, Quanzhou Shizhengfu (Beijing: Sheke Chubanshe, 2002), pp. 427–39. John Guy, “Tamil Merchant Guilds and the Quanzhou Trade”. In Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou, 1000–1400, edited by Angela Schottenhammer (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2000), pp. xi, 449; Qinzhang Yang, “Cultural Contacts Between China’s Quanzhou and South India During the Yuan Period: New Evidence”, Asia-Pacific Studies (1991): 99–111. The Mongols also gained control of Fuzhou and Guangzhou, two vital ports. The merchant, Pu Shougeng, is believed to have been of either Arabic of Persian background. His great grandfather traded in the South Seas and gained great success. The successive generations then moved first to Guangzhou, then to Quanzhou. Billy K. L. So, Prosperity, Region, and Institutions in Maritime China (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2000), p. 108. Ibid. Tansen Sen, “The Formation of Chinese Maritime Networks to Southern Asia, 1200–1450”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 49, no. 4 (2006): 432.

264

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

264

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

265

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

13. Tansen Sen, “The Yuan Khanate and India: Cross-Cultural Diplomacy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries”. Asia Major 19, no. 1-2 (2006): 299– 326. 14. Ibid. 15. The Yuanshi records Tingbi’s visits to India. Also attesting to the close relationships between the countries is Yang Tingbi offering asylum to a local Muslim official, Sayyid, who was at odds with the south Indian court (Ma’abar). Sayyid was brought to China and granted a Korean bride by Kublai Khan. Ibid, 317. 16. Ibn Battuta writes of “Chinese merchants offering clothes to Yuan envoys whose belongings were lost in a shipwreck”. Ibid., p. 323. 17. It is probably no coincidence that the temple in China is founded so soon after the dissolution of the Chola empire. Sen also notes that the temple is erected only a few years after Yang Tingbi’s first mission to India. In Tansen Sen’s article, “The Yuan Khanate and India”. 18. John Guy, “The Lost Temples of Nagapattinam and Quanzhou: A Study in Sino-Indian Relations”, Silk Road Art and Archaeology 3 (1993/1994). 19. Ban Gu, “who lived not later than the end of the first century A.D.” writes of trade with India in his work, Qian Hanshu. Quoted in K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, Foreign Notices of South India (Madras: University of Madras, 1972), p. 44. 20. John Guy, “The Lost Temples of Nagapattinam and Quanzhou”. 21. It might be productive to investigate the continued trade between India and China, even though it postdates the foundation inscription of the Hindu temple. We know for a fact that Chinese silk was an important part of court ritual in India as late as the Vijayanagar period. See Phil Wagoner, “Lord of the Eastern and Western Oceans: Politics and the Indian Ocean Trade in South India, 1400–1600”, paper presented at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, 26–29 March 1998, Washington, D.C. 22. Tansen Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations 600–1400 (Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003), p. 156. 23. A kingdom that is believed to have been located in the Southern Malay peninsula and Sumatra. Meera Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India (New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1988). 24. Tansen Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade, p. 224. 25. This structure was demolished in 1867. There are other Chinese records that describe Chinese temples being built in South India at the bequest of the Pallava king, Narasimhavarman II (690–720). Guy, “Lost Temples of Nagapattinam and Quanzhou”. 26. Recorded in the larger Leiden Grant. Meera Abraham, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds. 27. There are even earlier records than this: a Chinese source states that in 720 the Pallava king Narasimhavarman II “constructed a temple [in Tamil Nadu] on account of the empire [i.e. China]”, and another text cites the existence of three 265

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

265

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

266

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

Risha Lee

Hindu temples in southern China where “Brahmans” resided during the eighth century. Chinese patrons also established Buddhist temples in Tamil Nadu during the Pallava and Chola periods. See John Guy, “The Lost Temples of Nagapattinam and Quanzhou”, p. 293 and “Tamil Merchant Guilds and the Quanzhou Trade”, in Foreign Notices of South India, by K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, p. 118. Many scholars believe that Hanuman became incorporated into Chinese Buddhism and became Sun Wukong, the monkey assistant to Hsuan Tsang. For a summary of the debates, see Victor Mair, “Suen Wu-kung or Hanumat? The Progress of a Scholarly Debate”, in Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sinology (Taipei: Academia Sinica, 1989), pp. 659–752. Tansen Sen notes a number of stones along the South Indian coast that have been inscribed in Arabic and South Indian languages, such as the Galle inscription of Tamil, Chinese, Persian, and Sinhalese. This is not to mention the numerous multilingual inscriptions found throughout Southeast Asia. Moreover, Sen suggests that at least by the Ming dynasty, Chinese merchants had established mercantile bases in Southeast Asia, making the Indian coastline much more accessible. There is equal evidence for the south Indian merchants having set up similar settlements. See Sen, “Formations of Maritime Networks”; H.P. Ray, “Indian Settlements in Medieval China: A Preliminary Study”, Indian Journal of Asian Studies 1, no. 1 (1989): 68–82, and Jan Wisseman Christie, “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 29, no. 2 (1998): 239–68. Shi Yuanxian, Quanzhou Kaiyuansi Zhi [Record of Kaiyuan Temple] (1643 Nian, Mukeben), 1–4 Juan, Xiamen Daxue Tushuguan Cang. Gustav Ecke and Paul Demiéville argue that its current plan is no earlier than the Song dynasty. In The Twin Pagodas of Zayton: a Study of Later Buddhist Sculpture in China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1935). The gazetteer dates to 1643, but it incorporates versions authored as early as the Tang dynasty. It was written by Shi Yuanxian, a monk from Fuzhou, Fujian province. These dates are tentative since no written record specifies the Indic carvings’ installation date. Ellen Wang, “Quanzhou Kaiyuan Monastery: Architecture, Iconography, and Social Contexts” (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2008). See T.N. Subramaniam, “A Tamil Colony in Medieval India”, in South Indian Studies, edited by R. Nagaswamy (Madras, 1978); A.K. Coomaraswamy, “Hindu Sculptures at Zayton”, Ostasiatische. Zeitschrift, Vol. 9 (1933), p. 5; and John Guy, “The Lost Temples.” Pearson et al., p. 41. There are also twenty-eight gravestones that record five generations of a family from Sri Lanka with the surname “Shi,” gravestones from the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are mentions of the Sri Lankan family in genealogies, and a land contract from Guangzhou. Recorded in Wenliang and

266

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

266

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

267

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40. 41.

Youxiong Wu’s, Quanzhou Zong Jiao Shi Ke, Zeng ding ben, Di 1 ban. Ed. (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2005). During my stay in Quanzhou, the museum received two new carvings, both of which appeared to be portions of temple base moulding. These were gifted by a resident who had found them underneath their house. Since Quanzhou has been continuously occupied from the Tang dynasty onwards, there are unquestionably more carvings that have been reused as building materials for private homes. This is from my talk with a resident of the village, who had lived there from childhood and remembered seeing the panel in situ by the bridge. I estimated him to be about 75 years old. Although we cannot determine the construction date of this bridge because it has been dismantled, we can assume that it was an older bridge because it was targeted by Mao Zedong’s anti-culture campaigns. Monks traditionally built bridges to accrue dharma, or religious merit and small pavilions near to the bridges containing sculptures are a common architectural feature. To my knowledge, there has been no involved scholarship of either bridges or pavilions of Fujian province; however, the region is renowned for its profusion of extant bridges, many of which date as early as the Song dynasty. See Hugh Clark, Community, Trade, and Networks: Southern Fujian Province from the Third to the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991). Barry Flood has noted that the term firman, is a Persianized Arabic term, which furthers my argument that Indic temple patrons did not view themselves as culturally distinct selves; rather, such terms were transcultural. Tansen Sen uses the following translation: “Lu-ho-chih-jih, [who was] good in Chinese [language], compiled the sutra of the Great mountain without the help of a Guru.” David Yu, an independent scholar, has recently suggested that it is a phonetic version of the title, “Tavachhavartigal,” intelligible when the characters are read in Fujianese dialect. Most Chinese speaking scholars, however, are unable to read anything. Tansen Sen, “Maritime Contacts between China and the Cola Kingdom (AD 850–1279)”, in Mariners, Merchants, and Oceans: Studies in Maritime History, edited by Kuzhippalli Skaria Mathew (New Delhi: Manohar, 1995), p. 33. Wagoner also writes about this mosque or dharmasale as evidence of “the fluid nature of individual identity and the permeability of cultural boundaries in the Deccan”. Phil Wagoner, “Fortuitous Convergences and Essential Ambiguities: Transcultural Political Elites in the Medieval Deccan”, Internationl Journal of Hindu Studies 3, no. 3 (December 1999): 253. A.K. Coomaraswamy, “Hindu Sculptures at Zayton”, p. 5. See Françoise L’Hernault, P.R., Srinivasan, and Jacques Dumarçay, Darasuram: epigraphical study, etude architecturale, etude iconographique, Publications de l’ecole Française d’extreme-Orient. Memoires Archéologiques 16. Paris: Ecole française d’extreme-orient: Depositaire Libr. A.: Maisonneuve, 1987. 267

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

267

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

268

Risha Lee

42. Michael W. Meister et al., Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture (New Delhi, Philadelphia: American Institute of Indian Studies; University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), p. 294. 43. S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, S.R. Natarajan B., B. Venkataraman, and Ramachandran B., Later Chola Temples: Kulottunga I to Rajendra III (AD 1070–1280) (Madras: Mudgala Trust, 1979). 44. Iain Gradner, Samuel Lieu, and Ken Parry, From Palmyra to Zayton: Epigraphy and Iconography (Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2005). 45. It has been suggested that this motif came into fruition during the Yuan dynasty. Jessica Rawson, Chinese Ornament: The Lotus and the Dragon (London: British Museum Publications, 1984) and James C. Watt, When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1997). 46. Rawson, The Lotus and the Dragon. 47. Claude Markovits, Jacques Pouchpadass, and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Society and Circulation: Mobile People and Itinerant Cultures in South Asia, 1750–1950 (Delhi; Bangalore: Permanent Black, 2003).

References Abraham, Meera. Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1988. Balasubrahmanyam, S. R. Natarajan B., B. Venkataraman, and Ramachandran B. Later Chola Temples: Kulottunga I to Rajendra III (AD 1070–1280). [Madras]: Mudgala Trust, 1979. Ban Gu, Qian Han Shu. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985. Champakalakshmi, R. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300, Oxford India Paperbacks. Delhi and Oxford: OUP India and Oxford University Press, 1999. Christie, Jan Wisseman. “The Medieval Tamil-Language Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 29, no. 2 (1998): 239–68. Clark, Hugh R. Community, Trade, and Networks: Southern Fujian Province from the Third to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge Studies in Chinese History, Literature, and Institutions. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. ———. “Muslims and Hindus in the Culture and Morphology of Quanzhou from the Tenth to the Thirteenth Century”. Journal of World History 6, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 49–74. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. “Hindu Sculptures at Zayton”. Ostasiatsche Zeitschrift 9 (1933): 5–11. Dean, Carolyn and Dana Leibsohn. “Hybridity and Its Discontents: Considering Visual Culture in Colonial Spanish America”. Colonial Latin American Review 12, no. 1 (2003). Ecke, Gustav and Paul Demiéville. The Twin Pagodas of Zayton; a Study of Later Buddhist Sculpture in China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1935. 268

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

268

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

269

The Indic Carvings of Quanzhou

Flood, Finbarr. “Pillars, Palimpsests, and Princely Practices: Translating the Past in Sultanate Delhi”. Res 43 (Spring 2003). Guy, John. “The Lost Temples of Nagapattinam and Quanzhou: A Study in SinoIndian Relations”. Silk Road Art and Archaeology 3 (1993/1994): 291–310. ———. “Tamil Merchant Guilds and the Quanzhou Trade”. In The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou, 1000–1400, edited by Angela Schottenhammer, pp. xi, 449. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2000. Karashima, Noboru. “Trade Relations between South India and China During 13th–14th Century A.D.”. Journal of East-West Maritime Relations 1 (1989): 59–81. ———. Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-Sherds. Report of the Taisho University Research Project, 1997–2002. Tokyo: Taisho University, 2002. L’Hernault, Françoise, P. R. Srinivasan, and Jacques Dumarçay. Darasuram: Epigraphical Study: Étude Architecturale: Étude Iconographique, Publications De L’ecole Française D’extrême-Orient. Mémoires Archéologiques; 16. Paris: Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient: Dépositaire Libr. A. Maisonneuve, 1987. Mair, Victor H. “Suen Wu-Kung=Hanumat? The Progress of a Scholarly Debate”. In Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sinology, pp. 659–752. Taipei Academia Sinica, 1989. Markovits, Claude, Jacques Pouchepadass, and Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Society and Circulation: Mobile People and Itinerant Cultures in South Asia, 1750–1950. Delhi; Bangalore: Permanent Black; Distributed by Orient Longman, 2003. Meister, Michael W., Madhusudan A. Dhaky, Deva Krishna, and American Institute of Indian Studies. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. New Delhi, Philadelphia: American Institute of Indian Studies; University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983. Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. Foreign Notices of South India; from Megasthenes to Ma Huan. Madras: University of Madras, 1972. Parry, Ken. “The Iconography of the Christian Tombstones from Zayton”. In From Palmyra to Zayton: Epigraphy and Iconography, edited by Samuel Lieu Iain Gardner and Ken Parry, pp. 229–46. Turnhout: Brepols, 2005. Pearson, Richard, Li Min, and Li Guo. “Quanzhou Archaeology: A Brief Review”. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 6, no. 1 (March 2002). Qinzhang, Yang. “Cultural Contacts between China’s Quanzhou and South India During the Yuan Period: New Evidence”. Asia-Pacific Studies (1991): 99–111. ———. “Quanzhou Yindujiao Bishinu Shen Xingxiang Shike”. Shi jije zong jiao yan jiu (1988): 96–105. Rawson, Jessica. Chinese Ornament: The Lotus and the Dragon. London: Published for the Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Publications Ltd., 1984. Ray, Haraprasad. “Indian Settlements in Medieval China: A Preliminary Study”. Indian Journal of Asian Studies 1, no. 1 (1989): 68–82. 269

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

269

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

270

Risha Lee

Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400, Asian Interactions and Comparisons. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003. ———. “The Formation of Chinese Maritime Networks to Southern Asia, 1200– 1450”. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 49, no. 421–453 (2006). ———. “The Yuan Khanate and India: Cross-Cultural Diplomacy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries”. Asia Major 19, no. 1-2 (2006): 299–326. ———. “Maritime Contacts between China and the Cola Kingdom (AD 850– 1279)”. In Mariners, Merchants, and Oceans: Studies in Maritime History, edited by Kuzhippalli Skaria Mathew, pp. xiii, 488. New Delhi: Manohar, 1995. So, Billy K. L. Prosperity, Region, and Institutions in Maritime China: The South Fukien Pattern, 946–1368, Harvard East Asian Monographs; 195. Cambridge, MA: Published by the Harvard University Asia Center: distributed by Harvard University Press, 2000. Subramaniam, T. N. “A Tamil Colony in Medieval India”. In South Indian Studies, edited by R. Nagaswamy, pp. 1–52. Madras, 1978. Wagoner, Phil. “Fortuitous Convergences and Essential Ambiguities: Transcultural Political Elites in the Medieval Deccan”. International Journal of Hindu Studies 3, no. 3 (December 1999): 241–64. ———. “Lord of the Eastern and Western Oceans: Politics and the Indian Ocean Trade in South India, 1400–1600”. Paper presented at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 26–29 March 1998. Wang, Ellen. “Quanzhou Kaiyuan Monastery: Architecture, Iconography, and Social Contexts”. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2008. Wu, Wenliang, and Wu Youxiong. Quanzhou Zongjiao Shike. Zengdingben. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2005.

270

15 Nagapattinam_Ch 15

270

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

271

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

APPENDIX I Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions Relating to Southeast Asia and China Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu INTRODUCTION We have assembled here sixteen Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions relating to Southeast Asia and China during the ancient and medieval periods. Out of the sixteen inscriptions, seven come from Southeast Asian countries and China, and the remaining nine from South India. We have given the full text and English translation for the inscriptions from Southeast Asia and China, except for one in Champassak, but we have given the text and translation of only the relevant parts of the inscriptions from South India and Champassak, as their references to Southeast Asian matters are very short and casual, though the inscriptions are long. The sixteen inscriptions are divided into two broad categories: Nos. 1–9 come from South India and relate to Kadaram (Srivijaya) or Kamboja, and nos. 10–16 are all those discovered in Southeast Asia or China. In each category, we have arranged the inscriptions in chronological order. Most of the inscriptions are written in Tamil, but two copper-plates (nos. 1 and 3) are partly in Sanskrit, and the Champassak inscription (no. 9) is fully in Sanskrit. Except for nos. 2–4 (Nagapattinam), no. 6 (Tirukkadaiyur), and no. 16 (Neusu Aceh), the text and translations of all the inscriptions have been published in some epigraphical journals or books that we have given for reference at the beginning of each section, or in footnotes. However, we have made some alterations in the text and translations wherever necessary. Texts and/or translations of nos. 2–4, 6, and 16 are prepared here by us for the first time.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

271

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

272

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

Though the date of the Kadaram expedition made by Rajendra I has been controversial,1 we may suggest the date as sometime in 1026, since the first reference to the expedition in stone inscriptions appears only in those which have the date of the fourteenth regnal year of Rajendra I (1026). Its appearance in inscriptions of the thirteenth year is doubtful. Even in the fourteenth year, up to the seventieth day of that year, only the pre-Kadaram expedition is given (South Indian Inscriptions, V, No. 651).

No. 1: Larger Leiden Copper-plate Inscription of Rajaraja I Epigraphia Indica, Vol XXII, No. 34. Referring to the construction of a Buddhist temple by a Kadaram king and the grant of a village by Rajaraja I. Dated in the twenty-first year of Rajaraja I (c.1006) [the Sanskrit prasasti having been added posthumously early in the reign of his son Rajendra I, about 1019 — See nos. 2–4].

Text of the Sanskrit Section [lines 73–86] so-=yam=akhila-kala--kala-pa-pa-ra-va-ra-pa-ra-dris´v=a-s´ e- sha-nripa-cakra-ca-ruca-mı-kara-kirı-t.a-ko-t.ighat.it-a-ne-ka-ma-n.ikya-marı-ci-puñcarı-krita-pa-da-pı-t.ho- ra-jara-jo- ra-jake-carivarmmasva-sa-mra-jya-varshe- e-kavims´atitame- nikhila-dharan.i-tilaka-yama-nekshatriya-s´ikha-man.i-val.ana-t.u-na-mni mahati janapada-nivahe- pat.t.ana-kku-r-r-ana-mni janapade-=ne-ka-sura-sadana-satra-prap-a-ra-m-a-bhira-me- vividha-savudha ra-jira-jama-nena-gı-pattane- nija-mati-vibhava-vijita-suragurun.abudha-jana-kamala-vana-marı-cima-lin-=a-rtthi-jana-kalpapa-dape-n-a ´saile-ndra-vams´a-sambhu-te-n-a ´srı-vishay-a-dhipatina- Kat.-aha-a-dhipatyam=a-tanvatamakara-ddhvaje-n-=a-dhigata-sakala-ra-javidyasya cu-.la-man.ivarmman.ah putre-n.a ´srı--ma-ra-vijayo-ttumgavarmman.a- sva-pitur=nna-mnanirmma-pitam=adharı-krita-kanakagirı--samunnati-vibhavam=atiraman.-ıyañ= cu-.la-man.ivarmma-v iha-ramadhivasate- buddha-ya tasminn=e-va jan-apada-nivahe- pat.t.an-a-kku-r-r-ana-mni janapade. karin.-ı -parikraman.a-vispasht.a-sı-ma--catusht.ayam=a-n-aimangal-a-bhidha-nam gramam=adat. itthan=de-ve-na dattasya sva-pitra- cakravarttina- gra-masy=a-sya gate-

16 Nagapattinam_App I

272

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

273

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

tasmin=de-vabhu-yam=mahaujasi [v.35] tat-sima-hsanam=a-ru-d. has=tat-putromadhura-ntakah ´s a-sanam ´s a-svatan=dhı-ma-n ka-rayitv=a-dis´a[n*]=nripah [v.36] ´se-sho-=s´e-sha-m= mahı-m ya-vad=dhatte-=s´e-sh-o-rag-e-s´varah sthe-ya-t=ta-van-=viha-ro-=yam vibhave-na sah= a-vanau [v.37] so-=yam kat. a-h-a-dhipatir=ggun.a-na-n=niva-sa-bhu-mir=mmahita-prabha-vah a-ga-minah pra-rtthayate- nare-ndra-n dharmmam sad=e-mam=mama rakshat=e-ti [v.38]

Translation of the Sanskrit Section [lines 73 to 86] He, this Ra-jake-carivarman- Ra-jara-ja, who had seen the other shore of the ocean of the collection of all sciences, whose foot-stool was made yellow by the cluster of rays [emanating] from many a gem set on the borders of the beautiful gold diadems worn by the entire circle of kings, gave, in the twentyfirst year of his universal sovereignty — to the Buddha residing in the surpassingly beautiful Cu-.la-man.ivarma-viha-ra- of [such] high loftiness [as had] belittled the Kanakagiri (that is, Me-ru), which had been built in the name of his father, by the glorious Ma- ra. vijayo-ttungavarman-, who, by the greatness of his wisdom, had conquered the teacher of the gods, who was the sun to the lotus-forest [viz.] the learned men, who was the kalpa-tree to supplicants, who was born in the S´aile-ndrafamily, who was the lord of the S´ri-vishaya (country), who was conducting the rule of Kat.a-ha, who had the makara crest, [and] who was the son of Cu-.la-man.ivarman- that had mastered all the state-craft — at Na-gı-pattana, delightful [on account of ] many a temple, rest-house, water-sheds, and pleasure garden and brilliant with arrays of various kinds of mansions, [situated] in the division called Pat.t.ana-ku- r-r-a [included] in the bigger district Kshatriyas´ikha-man.i-val.ana-t.u, which was the forehead-mark of the whole earth, — . the village An-aimangalam [which had its] four boundaries defined by the circumambulation of the female elephant and [which was situated] in the said division. [verses 35–36] When that powerful [Ra-jara-ja] had obtained divinity, his wise son, king Matura-ntaka, who ascended on his throne, caused an enduring

16 Nagapattinam_App I

273

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

274

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

edict [to be made] for this village, which had thus been granted by his father, the king-emperor, and ordered thus:- [verse 37] As long as Se-sha, the lord of all serpents, holds the entire earth, so long may this Viha-ra last in [this] world with its endowment. [verse 38] This lord of Kat.a-ha of great valour, the abode of virtues, thus prays to all future kings: “Protect (ye) for ever this my charity”.

Text of the Tamil Section [lines 1–18] svasti ´srı- ko-n-e-rin-maikon.t.a-n- kshattiriyasikha-man.i-val.ana-t.t.up pat.t.an-a-kku-r-r-attu na-t.t.a-rkkum brahmade-ya-kkil-avarkkum te-vata-n-ap pal..liccanta-kkan.i-mur-r-u-t.t.u. vet.t.appe-r-r--u-rkal.ila-rkum nakarankal.ila-rkkum namakku ya-n.t.u irupatt-on-r-a-vatu na-l ton-n-u-r-r--iran.t.ina-l tañca-vu-rp pur-ampat.i ma-.likai ra-ja-s´rayanil ter-kkil man.t.apattu na-m irukka=kkit.a-ratt-araiyan- cu-.la-man.ipan-mankshatriyas´ ikha- man. i-val. ana- t. t. u=ppat. t. an- a-kku- r- r- attu na- kapat. t. an-attu et.uppikkin-r-a cu-.la-man.ipan-ma-viha-rattu=ppal..likku ve-n.t.um nivantattukku . kshatri[ya] ´sikha-man.i-val.ana-t.t.u=ppat.t.an-a-kku--r-rattu a-n-aimankalam pal..liccantam . . ir- ankal=ul. pat. a al. antapat. i nı nkal nı kki nilan- ton. n. u- r- r- e- l- e- -iran. t. u-mamukka-n.iy=araikka-n.i muntirikai=kkı--l -mu-n-r-u-ma- mukka-n.i muntirikai=kı--l araiye-=iran.t.u-ma-vin-a-l ir-ai-kat.t.in-a ka-n.ikkat. an- nellu en-n- a-yirattu=ttol. l.a-yirattu na-r-pattu mu-kkalane- irutu-n.i=kkur-un.i oru-na--l iyum kat.-aratt-araiyan- kshatriyacika-man.i-val.ana-t.t.u=ppat.t.an-a-kku--r-rattu na-kapat.t.an-attu et.uppikkin-r-a cu-.la-man.ipan-ma-viha-rattu=ppal..likku ir-uppata-ka ya-n.t.u irupatt-on-r-a-vatu-mutal pal..liccanta-ir-ai-iliy-a-ka variyil=it.t.u-kkut.ukkav=en-r-u na-m colla

Translation of the Tamil Section Hail! Prosperity! [this is the order of ] the matchless king (ko-ne-rin-maiko - n..ta-n - ) to the na.t.tar (i.e., the chief landholders of the nad.u) of Pat.t.an-akur-r-am, a sub-division in Kshatriyas´ikhman.i-val.anat.u, the headmen of

16 Nagapattinam_App I

274

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

275

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

brahmadeyas, the representatives of the u-r in de-vada-n-a, pal..liccanta-, kan.imur--rut..tu and vet..tappe--ru (villages) and of the Nagaram. In the twenty-first year and ninety-second day of our [reign] when we were in the pavilion in the southern part of the Ra-ja-´srayan- palace in the outskirts . of Tañca-vu-r, we have ordered the village of An-aimangalam in Pat.t.an-a-ku-r-r-am [a sub-division] of Kshatriyas´ikhman.i-val.ana-t.u as a tax-free pal..liccanta from the twenty-first year [of our reign] to meet the necessary requirements of the pal.l.i of the Cu-l. a-man.ivarma-viha-ra which is being built by Cu-.la-man.ivarman., the king of Kit.a-ram, at Na-kapat.t.an-am in Pat.t.an-a-ku-r-r-am in Kshatriyas´ikha-man.i-val.ana-t.u, and [therefore] let the income of eight thousand nine hundred and fortythree kalam, and odd of paddy accruing from the payment of land assessment on ninety-seven and odd (ve-li) of land of that village, inclusive of those that had ceased to be pal..liccanta and exclusive of those that had been removed in survey be entered in the (revenue) register as a tax-free pal..liccanta from the twenty-first year [of our reign] and the same be paid over to the Pal..li.

No. 2: Nagapattinam inscription (1) ARE 1956–57, No. 161. (Karonasvamin temple, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur District) Referring to the grant made by an agent of the Srivijaya (Kidaram) king. Fragmentary due to the damage to stone. Dated most probably in 1014 or 1015.

Text 1. Svasti s´rı- ko-pparake-caripan-mara-n-a ´s rı-ra-je-ntira co--l arkku ya-n. 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ttu na-kapat.t.in-attu tirukka-ro-n.amut.aiya maha-de-var tiruccur-r-u ma-.likai va-cal kshatriyacika-man.i yi . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [kon.t.a ceyvitta-n-] s´rı- vishaiyattaraiyar kan-mi ´srımu-lan-akattı-s´aran- ittan-mam cantira-tittavar- ni . . . . . . . . 4. itin-ukku . . . . . . . . . . . . kalvet.t.ikkut.ukkaven-r-u ivva-n.t.u ´srı-ka-riyan. ceykin-r-a al.ana-t.t.u puttamankalamut.aiya-n. 5. nakkan- kumaran- cen . . . . . . . . . . . . tamu. . . . . . pañca-ca-riyat te-va kan-mikal. collavum ipparicu kalvat.t.ine-n-, ivvu-r taccan- e-r-an6. cat.aiyan-e-n- te-var kan.t.a a-ca-riye-n- e…

16 Nagapattinam_App I

275

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

276

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

Translation [Section I, lines 1–6] Hail, Prosperity. In the year … of Srı- Ra-je-ndracho- -l ar …Srı- Mu-lan Agattı-s´varan, who is an agent (kanmi) of the king of S´rı-vishayam (S´rı-vishayattarayar) arranged to erect a gateway to the compound wall of Tirukka-ro-n.amud.aiya Maha-de-var (temple) in Na-gapat.t.inam … This charity [should remain] as long as the moon and sun exist. Under the instructions of . Puttamangalamud.aiya-n Nakkan Kumaran of Al.ana-d.u, who is the officer of temple affairs (srı- ka- riyam) this year, and the temple functionaries (pañcha-cha-riya de-vakanmigal. ) I, Er-an Chad.ayan alias De-varkan.d.a Acha-ri, carpenter of this village, have engraved this charity on stone. This is my signature. (The rest [Section I, lines 6–7, Section II, III, and IV] which is omitted refers to a number of other gifts such as silver vessels and brass lamps, most probably by the same agent.)

No. 3: Nagapattinam inscription (2) ARE 1956–57, No. 164. (Karonasvamin temple, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur District) Referring to the grant made by an agent of the Srivijaya (Kidaram) king. Dated in the third year of Rajendra I (1015 CE).

Text 1. Svasti s´ri kopparake-cari pan-mara-n-a ´s ri ra-je-ntira co--l ate-varkku ya-n.t.u 3-a-vatu kshatriyacika-man.ival.ana-t.t.u . . . . . . . . pat.t.in-ak. . . . . . . . ro-n.a . . . . . . . . . vel..litti2. rume- n-i na-kaiyal-akar-ku s´rı-vijaiyattaraiyar kan-mi ra-jara-jaman.t.alattu kı-t.cempin-a-t.t.u 3. me-n-r-o-n-r-i pat.t.in-at. . . . . . . . . . yvitta kshe . . . . . . ca. . . . . nir-ai[po]npatina-lk kal-añcarai itil vı-rapat.t.attuk kat.t.in-a ca-tima-n.ikkam patin-on--ru nat.uvil makarattu nat.uvu kat.t.in-a marakata. . . . . . . . . . . . . n-a ma-n.ik. . . . . . . . . .. . . . [upa-ya] 4. t.in-a ma-n.ikkam mu-n-r-u itin-me-lva-yk kat.t.in-a paccai makarattin- kı--l va-yk. . . . . . . . n-a ma-n.ikkam añcu itin- kı--l va-yk kat.t.in-a car-pamotti valapakkat[tu vat.t.appu-vil] kat.t.in-a mara. . . . 5. e--l u it.appakkattu vat.t.appu-vil kat.t.in-a ma-n-ikkam e--l u pin-pil paruttakkur-al.il

16 Nagapattinam_App I

276

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

277

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

kat.t.in-a ma-n.ikkam na-lu maka-man.iya-kak kat.t.in-a ma-n.ikkam ca-ti ma-kkallu na-r-pa. . . . . . ver-r-i….. 6. ma-ka nir-ai a-r-u mañca-t.i kallut.pat.a ka-cu nir-ai patina-r-kkal-añce- mukka-lem.. . .ca-t.i ipparicu kalvet.t.uka ven-r-u iva-n.t.u ´srı-ka-riyañ ceykin-r-a arumol-i. . . . . . na-t.t.u. ..... 7. ka . . . . . rattu kan.t.iyu-rut.aya-r ce-ntan- ca. . . . itte-vakan-mikal.um collak, kalvet.t.in-e-nna-kapat.t.in-attu e-r-añcat.aiyan-a-n-a 8. kan.t.ara-[ca-]riyan-e-n-.

Translation [lines 1–2] Hail, Prosperity. In the third year of [the reign of ] Ko-pparake-rsarivarmar alias Sri Ra-je-ndaracho--l ade-var … (Na-ga)pattinam (in) Kshatriyasika-man.ival.ana-d.u, … for the purpose of [decorating] a silver image of Na-gaiyal-agar, an agent (kanmi) of the king of Srı-vijaya (S´rı-vijaiyattaraiyar) (whose personal name is lost) hailing from Me-nro-nr-ipat.t.inam2 in Kı-t.-chembina-d.u in Ra-jara-jaman.d.alam, gifted a collection of jewel-stones, like ruby, emerald, etc. weighing 14 and 1/2 kal-añju. [The middle part [lines 2–6] is omitted] [lines 6–8] By the instructions of Kan.d.iyu-rud.aiya-r Che-ndan … of … Arumol-i[de-vaval.a] na-d.u, the ´srı-ka-riyam officer and the temple functionaries, I, Er-añ Chad.aiyan alias Kan.d.ara-cha-riyan of Nagapattinam have engraved this on stone.

No. 4: Nagapattinam inscription (3) ARE 1956–57, No. 166. (Karonasvamin temple, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur District) Referring to the grant made by an agent of the Srivijaya (Kidaram) king. Dated in the seventh year of Rajendra I (1019 CE)

Text [lines 1–15, pra[asti in Tamil] 16. ko-pparake-ca 17. ripan-mara-n-a ´srı- ra-je-ntira co--l ate-var-ku ya-n.t.u [7]

16 Nagapattinam_App I

277

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

278

18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34.

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

avatu kshatriyacika-man.i val.ana-t.t.u pat. t.in-ak ku-r-r-attu na-kapat.t.in-attu tirukka-ron.a . . t.aiya maha-de-var ko-yilil kit.a-rattaraiyar kanmi ´srı- kuruttan- ke-cuvan-na-n-a agrale-kai el-untaru .livitta arttanarikal.ukku avibali arccan-aikku en-r-u mer-pat.iya-n- varakka-t.t.in-a cı-nakkanakam e n.patte--l u kal-añce- mukka-lum mer-pat.iya-[n-] itte-var ko-yilil uttama-kram iran.t.u kala mun.n.a po-kattukku en-r-u varakka-t.t.in-a cın-ak kan-akam en.patte--l u kal-añce- mukka-lum mer-pat.iya-n- te-varkkum bra-man.arkkum . . . . . tayiru. . . . . . en-r-u varakka-t.t.in-a un.t.ikaippon[a]rupatin- kal-añce- mukka--l um a-ka ipponirunu-r-r-u muppattar-u kal-añce- ka-lum tiruk ka-ro-n.amut.aiya-rkku ven.t.um tiruva-para n.am ul..lit.t.an-a ceyyak kon.t.u itte-var pan.t.a-rattai … ….

Translation [The pras´asti [lines 1–16] omitted] [lines 16–31] In the seventh year of [the reign of ] Ko-pparake-rsaripanmar alias Sri Ra-je-ndiracho--l ade-var, for the purpose of offering food (avibali) to (the image of ) Arttana-rigal. set up by Srı- Kuruttan Ke-suvan alias Agrale-kai, an agent (kanmi) of the king of Kid.a-ram (Kid.rattaraiyar), in Tirukka-ro-n.amud.aiya Maha-de-var temple in Nagapat.t.inam in Pat.t.ina-ku-r-r-am in Kshatriyas´ikhaman.i-val.ana-d.u, Chinese gold (chı-nakkanakam) weighing 87 and 3/4 kal-añju was sent by the aforesaid agent; for the purpose of providing good meals to two persons in this temple, Chinese gold weighing 87 and 3/4 kal-añju was sent by the aforesaid man; and for the purpose of … [feeding] the deity and Bra-hman.as, stamped gold weighing 60 and 3/4 kal-anju was also sent by the same person. Together, the total weight of the gold (sent by Srı- Kuruttan Ke-suvan alias Agrale-kai), therefore, amounts to 236 and 1/4 kal-añju. [The rest [lines 31–84] omitted]

No. 5: Karandai Copper-plate Inscription of Rajendra I K.G. Krishnan, Karandai Tamil Sangam Plates of Rajendrachola I, (Memoirs of Archaeological Survey of India, No. 79, New Delhi, 1984.) Referring to the present of a chariot to Rajendra I by a Kamboja king. Dated in the eighth year of Rajendra I (1020 CE).

16 Nagapattinam_App I

278

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

279

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

Text [verse 48] ka-mbo-ja-ra-jo- ripu-ra-ja-se-na-=jaitre-n.a ye-n =a-jayad=a-have-shu tam pra-hin.o-t pra-rtthita-mitra-bha-vo- yasmai ratham ratshitum=a-tma-lakshmı-m.

Translation The Ka-mbo-ja king, aspiring for his (Rajendra’s) friendship and in order to save his own fortunes sent him a triumphant chariot, with which he had conquered the armies of the enemy kings in the battles.

No. 6: Tirukkadaiyur Inscription of Rajendra I South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. XXII, No. 20. (Thanjavur [old] District, Amritaghateshvara memple — On the north base of the Central Shrine) Describing the Kadaram expedition conducted by the Chola army sent by Rajendra I. Dated in the fifteenth regnal year of Rajendra Chola I (c. 1027).

Text (lines 4–5) . . — alaikat.al nat.uvut. pa[la] kalañ celutti cankira-ma vicaiyo-ttunkavanmanakiya kat. a- rattaracan- ai 3 va- kaiyam porukat. al kumpakkariy[o- t. u]m akappat.utt=urimaiyil pir-akkiya peruneti pir-akkamum a-rttavana[ka]nakar po-rttol-ir- va-calil vicca-tirato-ran.amum moyttol.ir pun-aiman.ip putavamum kanaman.ikkatavamum nir-ai ´srı-vijaiyamum tur-ainı-r pan-n-aiyum panmalaiyu. . reyir- r-onmalaiyu-rum a--l kat.alakal- cu--l ma-yirut.inka-mum kalanka-valvin-ai . - 4 ilankacokamum kappur-u ni[r-ai]pun-al mappappa.lamum kavalam puricai me. vilimpankamum vil. aippantu-r-ut. ai val. aippantu-r- um kalaittakko-r pukal. talai[ttakko-lamum] titama-valvin-ai ma-[tama-]linkamum kala-mutir kat.untir-al ila-muri[te-]camum te-nakkalar pol-il ma-nakkava-ramum tot.ukat.a[r-] ka-val kat.umurat. kat.a-ramum ma-peruntan.t.a-r- kon.t.a ko-parake-caripanmara-na ut.aiya-r ´srı-ra-je-ntiraco--l ate-var-ku ya-n.t.u 15-a-vatu

Translation5 In the 15th year [of the reign] of king Parakesarivarman, alias the lord SriRajendracho--l ade-va, who — conquered with [his] great and warlike army …. [after recounting the king’s several victories ending with the conquest of the Ganga region] — having dispatched many ships in the midst of the rolling . . sea and having caught Sanga-ma Vijayo-ttungavarman, the king of Kad.a-ram (or

16 Nagapattinam_App I

279

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

280

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

Kat.a-ram), along with [his] rutting elephants, [which were as impetuous as] the sea in fighting, — [took] [1] S´rı-vijayam overflown with large heap of treasures, which [that king] had rightfully accumulated, and possessing the [arch called] Vidhya-dhara-to-ran.a at the “war gate” of his extensive city, the “jewel gate”, adorned with great splendour, and the “gate of large jewels”; [2] Pan-n-ai with landing ghats; the ancient Malaiyur with the strong mountain . for its rampart; [3] the great Yirud.ingam, surrounded by the deep sea as moat; . - . - [4] Ilankasokam (or Lankasoka) that is undaunted in fierce battles; [5] the great Pappa-.lam, having abundant high waters as defence; the upper (or . Western) Ilimbangam, having fine walls as defence; [6] Val.aippandu-r-u, possessing vil.aippandu--ru (cultivated land and jungle ?); [7] the premier or . chief Takko-lam, praised by the learned men; [8] the great Tama-lingam (or . Tamalingam), firm in great and fierce battles; [9] Ila-muride-sam, of fierce strength and tempestuous nature; [10] the great Nakkava-ram, full of flowergardens having much honey; and [11] Kad.a-ram (or Kat.a-ram), of fierce strength, which was protected by the deep sea; —

No. 7: Perumber Inscription of Virarajendra South Indian Inscriptions, III, No. 84. (Chengalpat District) Referring to the conquest of Kadaram by Virarajendra. Dated to the seventh year (c. 1070).

Text [line 4] kal-alat.i pan.inta man-n-arkkuk kat.a-ram er-intu kut.uttarul.i

Translation [Virarajendradevar] who conquered Kat.aram and was pleased to bestow it on the king who sought his help. (A different interpretation could be that he was pleased to give it back to the king who surrendered at his feet.)

No. 8: Smaller Leiden Copper-plate Inscription of Kulottunga Chola I Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXII, No. 35. Referring to the grant of villages to the Buddhist temple constructed by the Kadaram king. Dated in the twentieth year of Kulottunga I (c. 1090).

16 Nagapattinam_App I

280

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

281

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

Text [lines 3–5] . ko-v-ira-jake-cari pan-mara-n-a cakkaravartikal. ´s rı--kulo-ttunka-co--l ate-varkku ya-n.t.u irupata-vatu a-yirattal.iya-n-a a-kavamallakulaka-la-purattu ko-yilin-=ul..la-l=ttirumañcan-a-ca-laiyil pal..lippı-t.am . ka-linkara-jan-il el-untarul.i irukka [lines 6–8] kit.a-rattaraiyan- ge-yama-n.ikka-val.ana-t.t.up pat.t.an-a-kku-r-r-attu co--l akulavallippat.t.anattu et.uppitta ra-jentiraco--l a-pperum-pal..likkum ra-jara-ja-pperum-pal..likkum (p)pal..liccantama-n-a u-rkal. pal-ampat.i-antara-yamum vı-ras´e-shaiyum pan-mai-pan.t.ai-vet.t.iyum kunta-liyum . cunka-me-ra-mum ul..lit.t.an-avella-m tavirntamaikkum [lines 9–13] . . mun-pu pal..liccantankal. ka-n.iyut.aiya ka-n.ia-.larai=ttavira ippal..li-ccankatta-rkkeka-n.iya-ka=pper-r-amaikkum ta-mras´a-san-am pan.n.ittara ve-n.t.um en-r-u . kit.a-rattaraiyar tu-tan- ra-javidya-dhara-s´rı--sa-mantan-um abhima-no-ttunka-s´rı-samantan-um vin.n.appam ceyya ippat.i cantivigrahi . ra- javallabha-ppallavaraiyan-o- t. un ku- t. a iruntu ta- mras´ a- san-am pan. n. ikkut.ukkaven-r-u adhikarikal. . ra-je-ntiracinka-mu-ve-ntave-.la-rkku-ttirumukam piraca-tan-=ceytarul.i varat ta-mra-s´a-san-añ=ceytapat.i [lines 39–46] ke-yama-n.ikka-val.ana-t.t.up pat.t.an-ak-ku-r-r-attuc co--l akulavallipat.t.anattu S´rı--S´aile-ndra-cu-d.a-man.ivarmma-viha-rama-n-a ra-jara-ja-pperumpal..likkup pal.l.inilaiyum pal..li-vil.a-kamum ut.pat.a ellai kı--l pa-rk-ellai kat.ar-karaiyil man.ar--kun-r-ut.pat.a me-r-kum ten-pa-r-kk-ellai pukaiyun.i-kkin.ar-r-ukku vat.akkum itan- me-r-ku tiruvı-rat.t.a-n-amut.aiya-maha-devar nilattukku vat.akkum itan- me-r-ku= pparavaikkulal.attu-ma-ra-yan- kalluvitta kul.attil vat.akarai me-r-ku no-kki ka-raikka-r--pperuval-iyur-a vat.akkum me-lpa-r-ku-ellai ka-raikka-r--peruval-ikkuk kil-akkum

16 Nagapattinam_App I

281

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

282

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

vat.apa-r-k-ellai co--l akulavallipat.t.anattu nilam vat.a-ka-t.an-pa-t.i ellaikku=ter-kum a-ka i-n-n-a-nkellaikku ut.pat.t.a nilam muppatt-on-r-e- mukka-le- iran.t.u-ma-

Translation [lines 1–13] In the 20th year of [the reign of ] king ra-jake-carivarman- alias the emperor . S´ri-kulo-ttunga co--l ade-var, who was pleased to be seated along with (his queen) puvan-amul-utut.aiya-.l on his lion throne, — — . When he was pleased to rest on the reclining couch called Ka-lingara-jan- in the bathing hall within the palace at Ayirattal.i alias Ahavamallakulaka-la-puram, on the representation made by the ambassadors of the king of Kat.a-ram . named Ra-javidya-dhara-s´rı-sa-mantan and Abhima-no-tunga-s´rı--sa-mantan that [all] the villages which were the pal..liccantams of Rajentiraco--l apperumpal..li and Ra- jara- japperumpal. l. i constructed by the king of Kat. a- ram at Co--l akkulavallippat.t.an-am in Pat.t.an-ak-ku-r-r-am in Ge-yama-n.ikka-val.ana-t.u be exempted from the payment of antara-yam, etc. and the ka-n.i rights of the . villages be given to the Sangha of the Pal..lis themselves after freeing them from the old ka-n.i holders (ka-n.iya-.lar), the king issued an oral order to that effect . through the adika-ri Ra-je-ndracinga-mu-ve-ntave-.la-r and the sandhivigrahi Ra-javallabha-pallavaraiyan- and this is the copper-plate charter drawn up in pursuance of this order — [lines 39–46] The boundaries of the site and the surrounding ground of the glorious S´ aile- ndra-cu- d. a- man. ivarma-viha- ra alias Ra- jara- japperumpal. l. i at Co--l akulavallipat.t.an-am in Pat.t.an-a-ku-r-r-am, (a subdivision) of Ge-yaman.ikkaval.ana-t.u are:[lines 40–46] the eastern boundary is to the west of Sand-hill on the sea-shore. The southern boundary is to the north of the well called pukaiyun.n.i and also to the north of the land belonging to the Tiruvı-rat.t.a-namut.aiya-maha-de-va situated to the west of this as well as to the high road to Ka-raikka-l which proceeds westward from the north bank of the tank dug out by Ma-ra-yan- at par-avaikkul.am. The western boundary is to the east of the high road to Ka-raikka-l. The northern boundary is to the south of the boundary of the land called Vat.a-ka-t.an-pa-t.i in Co--l akulavallipat.t.an-am. The land situated within these four boundaries measures thirty-one and three-fourths ve-li, two ma- and one muntirikai, etc. in extent.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

282

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

283

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

No. 9: Chidambaram Inscription of Kulottunga I Epigraphia Indica, V, No. 13C, p. 106. Referring to a gemstone present by a Kamboja king. Dated in the fortyfourth year (c. 1114).

Text [lines 9–14] ´srı- ra-je-ntira-co--l ate-varkku ka-mpo-ca-ra-jan- ka-t.ciy-a-kak ka-t.t.in-a kallu itu ut.aiya-r ra-je-ntira-co--l a-te-var tiruva-y mol-intarul.i ut.aiya-r tiruccir-r-ampalam-ut.aiya-r ko-yilil mun- vaittatu. intak kallu tiruv-etir-ampalattu tirukkal-carattil tiru-mun--pattikku me-laip pattiyile- vaittatu.

Translation This stone that had been presented to king Ra-je-ndracho--l ade-var by the king of Ka-mbo-ja was placed, as per the instructions of the king, in the front portion of Tiruchchir-r-ambalamud.aiya-r temple and subsequently fixed in the upper front row of the stone wall of the front hall (or shrine).

No. 10: Goldsmith’s Touchstone Inscription at Wat Khlong Thom Noboru Karashima, ed., Ancient and Medieval Commercial Activities in the Indian Ocean: Testimony of Inscriptions and Ceramic-sherds, Taisho University, Tokyo, 2002 (afterwards abbreviated as AMCAIO), p. 10. The Tamil name of a goldsmith is inscribed on a small oblong stone in the collection of Phra Kru Athon Sangarakit Museum, Khum Luk Pat, Khlong Thom District, Thailand. The date is assigned to the third or fourth century palaeographically.

Text perumpatan-kal

Translation The stone of the great Patan. or goldsmith.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

283

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

284

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

No. 11: Champassak Inscription of Devanika AMCAIO, pp. 150–51.6 On a stone pillar set up within the compound of the residence of the erstwhile prince of Champassak at Champassak, Laos. Dated palaeographically to the fifth or sixth century.

Explanation This long Sanskrit inscription relates to the praise of a prince called De-va-nı-ka in high terms, comparing him to various Puranic heroes. In the course of this narration, he is said to be like Kanaka Pa-n.d.ya in upholding justice (kanaka-pa- n.d. ya iva nya-ya-rakshan.-e). The name Kanaka Pa-n.d. ya immediately recalls to one’s mind the name Por-kai-Pa-n.d.ya (por-kai means golden hand) of the Pandya king who figures in the Tamil epic Silappatikaram of about the fifth century CE as cutting off his own hand in order to safeguard justice.

No. 12: Takua Pa Tamil inscription7 AMCAIO, p. 11. The stone was originally discovered in a small hill along the Takua Pa river of Southern Thailand together with a stone Vishnu and other statues of Pallava style. Presently kept at the Nakhon Si Thammarat Museum, Southern Thailand. Dated palaeographically to c. ninth century CE.

Text 1 2 3 4 5 6

… [ya]ravarmakku . … ma-n- ta-n- nan[kurut.aiya] [n-] tot.t.a kul.am pe-r S´rı- a[vani] na-ran.am man.ikkira-matta-rk kum ce-n-a-mukatta-rkkum … apata-rkkum at.aikkalam

Translation [In the reign of …varman?] Nang[u]r-[u]d.ai[yan] dug this tank called S´rı--[Avani]-Na-ran.am. [This is] put under the protection of the bodies Man.ikkira-mam (Man.igra-mam), Se-na-mukam8 and …apata-r.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

284

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

285

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

No. 13: Barus inscription of a Merchant Guild AMCAIO, pp. 19–26.9 This Tamil inscription was found in Lubo Tua (Loboe Toewa) near Barus (Baros) in north-western Sumatra. The date in Saka 1010, corresponding to 1088 CE, of the text falls within the reign of Kulottunga Chola I of Tamil Nadu. This stone is presently housed at the Museum Nasional in Jakatra, Indonesia. A preliminary notice of this inscription was made by E. Hultzsch in Madras Epigraphy Report 1891–92, p. 11 and the same was discussed in detail in K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, “A Tamil Merchant-Guild in Sumatra”, TBJ, LXXII, 2 (1932), pp. 314–27.

Text 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

svasti ´srı- cakarai a-n.t.u a-yirattu[p pa]ttuc cella-ni[n-]. r-a ma-cit tingal. . va-ro-ca-na ma-tankari vallavat te-ci uyyak kon.t.a pat.t.inattu ve-.la-purattu ku-t.i niranta te-[cit ticai] . vil.angu ticai a-yirattaiññu-r-r-uvaro-m nammakana-r nakara se-na-pati na-t.t.ucet.t.i ya-rkkum patinen.pu-mi te-ci apparkku ma-[ve]ttukal.ukkum na- vaittuk kut.utta parica-vatu marak[ka] la… … … . la marakkala na-yanun ke-vikal.um kastu[ri] vilai mu[tala]kappa[t.a] añcu tun.[t.a-]yam pon-n-um ku[t.u] ttup pa-va-t.ai e-r-akkat.avata-kavum ippat.ikku [i]kkal el-uti na-t.t.i k kut.utto-m patinen.pu-mi te-cit ticai vil.a . nku ticai a-yirattainnu-r-r-uvaro-m a r-amar-aver-ka ar-ame-y tun.ai.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

285

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

286

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

Translation10 In the Saka year 1010 current, month Masi, we, the Five Hundred of the Thousand Directions, having met at the Ve-l.a-puram in Va-ro-su (Barus), also . called Ma-tankari vallavat te-ci uyyak kon.t.a pat.t.inam (literally “the pat.t.inam (commercial town) for the welfare of the merchant body blessed by . Ma-tankari, that is, Durga”), decided to grant as follows to ‘our sons’, the nagara-se-na-pati Na-t.t.u-cet.t.iya-r, to Patinen.-bu-mi-de-si-appar, and to the ma-vettu-s (elephant-trainers?): [On each of the] ships’ [cargoes?], the ship’s captain and crew (ke-vi) will pay the fee añjutun.d.a-yam in gold, pegged to the price of kasturi (musk), and [then only] may ‘step on the cloth spread’ (that is, enter the settlement to trade). Thus we, the Five Hundred of the Thousand Directions, known in every direction in all the Eighteen Lands, had the stone inscribed and planted. Do not forget charity; charity alone will help you.

No. 14: Pagan Inscription of a Kerala Merchant AMCAIO, p. 15. Dated palaeographically to c. thirteenth century CE. Originally part of a Vishnu temple in Pagan in Myanmar, now preserved at the National Museum in Pagan. The Vishnu temple referred to in this inscription was called Na-na-de-si-vin.n.agar, obviously after the merchant guild Na-na-de-si, a synonym for Ayya-vol.e-ainu-r-r-uvar, the well-known south Indian merchant guild. Mago-dayar-pat.t.an.am, the town from which the merchant came is the medieval Chera capital town on the Kerala coast, presently known as Kod.ungallu-r.

Text [lines 4–9] svasti ´s rı- tiruccelvam peruka. pukkama-n-a arivattan-apurattu na-n-a-te-ci vin.n.akar a--l va-r ko-yil tiru man.t.apamuñ ceytu tirukkatavumit.t.u inta man.t.apattukku nin-r-erikaikku nilai vil.akkon-r-umit.t.e-n- malaiman.t.alannu mako-tayar pat.t.an.attu ira-yiran- cir-iya-na-n-a ci kulace-kara rampiye-n- itu ´srı- itan-mam malaiman.t.alatta-n-

Translation Let there be prosperity. I, Ira-yiran Chir-iya-n alias Kulase-kara Nambi, of

16 Nagapattinam_App I

286

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

287

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

Mago-dayar-pat.t.an.am in Malai-man.d.alam, erected the front hall in the (Vishnu) temple, called Na-na-de-si Vin.n.agar at Pukkam alias Arivattanapuram, fixed the gate and gifted a lamp to burn in this hall continuously. This charity is to be known as “Malaiman.d.alatta-n”. (Preceding this Tamil text, there is a Sanskrit verse from Mukundama-la, referring to the intense devotion of the bhakta towards Vishnu.)

No. 15: Quanzhou Tamil inscription AMCAIO, p. 16. (Found in Quanzhou, China) Dated in Saka 1203 corresponding to c. 1281 CE. This inscription was discovered in 1956 in a private house in Quanzhou, the famous medieval port in southern China. The inscription is engraved on a single stone (now broken into two pieces), Some Chinese characters are visible below the Tamil section, but this Chinese inscription does not seem to be related to the present Tamil inscription. The inscription opens with a Sanskrit invocation to Hara (Siva). The entire text is associated with the remains of a Siva temple of Quanzhou. This was possibly one of two South Indian style Hindu temples that must have been built in the south-eastern sector of the old port, where the foreign traders’ enclave was formerly located. The title Tavaccakkarvarttikal. taken by Sambandapperuma-.l, the builder of the temple, suggests that he might have been a Saiva religious leader. The text also refers to the Mongol ruler Chekachai Khan (perhaps Kublai Khan), in whose name the temple is named as Tiru-k-Ka-n--ı´svaram. T. N. Subramanian first edited this inscription and commented elaborately on its importance in “A Tamil Colony in Medieval China”, South Indian Studies, I, edited by R. Nagaswamy (Madras, 1978), pp. 1–52. His reading of the temple’s name as Tirukkatalisvaram was a mistake due to the incomplete photo of the stone available to him at that time.11

Text 1 2 3 4 5 6

harah. svasti ´srı- ´saga-ptam 1203vatu cittirai ccittirai na-.l ´s rı- cekaceka-n- tirume-n-ikku nan--n-ıccuramutaiya na-yana-rai . -r-aka ut.aiyar tirukka er-iyarul.ap pan.n.in-ar campantap peruma-.l a-n-a tavaccakkaravattikal. cekacaika-n- parma-npat.i

16 Nagapattinam_App I

287

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

288

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

Translation Obeisance to Hara (Siva)! Let there be prosperity! On the day Chitra in the month of Chittirai in the Saka year 1203, the Tavachchakkarvarttikal. Sambandapperuma-.l graciously caused, in accordance with the firman (written permission) of Chekachai Khan (the Mongol ruler), the installation of the God Ud.aiyar Tiruk-ka-nis´varam Ud.aiya-na-yana-r (Siva), for the welfare of the king Chekachai Khan.

No. 16: Neusu Aceh Tamil Inscription12 This inscription is written on both sides of a tall stone found in a mosque of Neusu Aceh in the suburbs of present Banda Aceh, North Sumatra, in 1990. The original stone is presently housed at the Provincial Museum of Nanggroe Aceh, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The inscription written on one side of the stone is completely worn away. The second side is also worn away, but some lines on this side can be deciphered to some extent. This side contains the second half of the inscription. Palaeographically this inscription can be dated to c. thirteenth century CE. The decipherment was done by Subbarayalu.

Text 1st Face [Completely effaced but for a few letters] 2nd Face 01 … … 02 vum po-va- .. 03 kavum po-kkavu04 .l.latu kaik05 kol..lak kat.a06 vatallata-ka07 vum itukku 08 urayva[run ta]09 n.kallai [va-]10 kal kammayala-11 r ul..littu [ca12 vattut.aya]var 13 kal. vantu ko14 t.u po-ka kat.avar15 kal.a-kavum po-

16 Nagapattinam_App I

288

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

289

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

licai kol..lak kat.avarkal.allava-kavum pir-akum nammakka.l ikkalvet.t.ukkukokkac ceyyak kat.avarkal. subhamastu.

Translation [lines 2–7] … the remaining shall not be collected; [lines 7–15] the concerned persons including the va-kal-kammayala-r shall come here and take [with them] their (or your) rubbing stone used for this. [lines 15–18] interest shall not be collected; [lines 18–24] Even hereafter “our men” shall carry on [their duties] according to this stone inscription. Let good things prevail.

Explanation As the first portion (on the first face) is completely illegible, the exact purport of the record is not clear. In the available text on the second face, first some stipulations are mentioned. Something is mentioned “as not to be collected”. . Lines 7–13 seem to refer to gold testers and testing stone (urayvarum tan kal). The compound term va-kal-kammayala-r in lines 9–10 must be traced to a local language; it does not seem to be Tamil. In the context it may denote some officials or royal goldsmiths as they are the ones who are entrusted with the testing stone. It may be inferred from the term nam-makkal. (literally “our men”) in lines 19–20 that the record relates to the merchant guild called Ainu-r-r-uvar (Ayya-vol.e-500 or Na-na-de-si), similar to that mentioned in the Barus inscription, as that term is the usual designation of the agents/servants of the merchant guild.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

289

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

290

Noboru Karashima and Y. Subbarayalu

Notes K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.las, Madras, 1955, p. 211; Majumdar, R.C., “The Overseas Expeditions of King Rajendra Chola”, Artibus Asiae XXIV, 1961; K.G. Krishnan, “Chola Rajendra’s Expedition to South-East Asia”, in K.G. Krishnan, Studies in South Indian History and Epigraphy, Madras. 1981. For the date of the expedition, Sastri suggests 1026 (Rajendra’s fourteenth regnal year) and Krishnan 1025 (thirteenth regnal year), but the reading of the regnal year of the inscription (Epigraphia Carnatica, vol. IX, Cp 84) on which Krishnan depends is doubtful, and in another inscription (SII, viii, 683), which is also referred to by Krishnan, there is no mention of the Kadaram expedition. However, Majumdar’s suggestion of 1018 comes from his taking of the Sanskrit part of the Tiruvalangadu copperplate inscription, dated in the sixth year of Rajendra I, as coeval with the Tamil part. But the Sanskrit prasasti of this copper-plate inscription must be a later addition, as in the case of other copper-plate inscriptions and, therefore, cannot be dated in 1018, for which see the Krishnan’s paper mentioned above. 2. Me-n-r-o-nr-ipat.t.inam the place of the agent, was most probably the port town of Periyapat.t.inam, near Ramesvaram Island. 3. A variant reading is “kad.a-rattarayan-”. . 4. A variant reading is “ilanka-co-pam” 5. The translation is a slightly modified version of the one given in Nilakanta Sastri, The Co-.las, 2nd ed., 1955, pp. 211–12. The attributes “ma-” (meaning great or big) to the place names are left untranslated by him, following the pioneer Epigraphist Hultzsch in South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, No. 20, pp. 104–09. 6. The inscription was first edited by G. Coedès in “Nouvelles données sur les origins du royaume Khmer: La stele de Vat Luong Kau pres de Vat Ph’u”, BEFEO, XLVIII, 1956, pp. 209–20. The text and translation published in AMCIAO was made by K.V. Ramesh. 7. Edited and discussed by K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, “The Takua-pa (Siam) Tamil Inscription”, Journal of Oriental Research, VI, 1932, pp. 299–310; Idem., “Takuapa and Its Tamil Inscription”, JMBRAS, XXII, 1949, pp. 25–30. 8. The earlier treatment of Se-na-mukam as a military body is not correct. The context of its occurrence in a few ninth century Tamil inscriptions along with Man.igra-mam and its association with several mercantile bodies in a few early Javanese inscriptions (H.B. Sarkar, Corpus of the Inscriptions of Java, Vol. I, p. 53; Vol. II, p. 276) would suggest that it was also a body of traders. 9. The text was first published in Subbarayalu, Y., “The Merchant-Guild Inscription at Barus, Sumatra, Indonesia — a Rediscovery”, in Claude Guillot, ed., Histoire de Barus: Le Site de Lobu Tua I: Etudes et Documents (Cahiers d’Archipel 30) (Paris, 1998), pp. 25–33. 10. This is a slightly modified version of Subbarayalu’s original translation in light of the suggestions made by Jan Wissemann Christie in “The Medieval Tamil1.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

290

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

291

Ancient and Medieval Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions

language Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 29 (1998), pp. 239–68. 11. The importance of this inscription is discussed also by N. Karashima in his paper, “Trade Relations Between South India and China During the 13th and 14th Centuries”, Journal of East–West Maritime Relations, Vol. 1, 1989, pp. 59– 81. 12. The text of this inscription was made by Subbarayalu using some photographs of the inscriptions provided by Dr Claude Guillot of Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and some recent photos exhibited in the Kaala Chakra exhibition in Singapore, 2007. A partially deciphered text of this inscription is used by Jan Wissemann Christie in “The Medieval Tamil-language Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 29 (1998), pp. 239–68.

16 Nagapattinam_App I

291

11/4/09, 12:58 PM

292

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

APPENDIX II Chinese Texts Describing or Referring to the Chola Kingdom
 as Zhu-nian (

) Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

Introduction 1) The kingdom of Zhu-nian in Songshi 2) Song huiyao (lidai chaogong), the three parts pertaining to Zhu-nian envoys 3) The kingdom of Zhu-nian in Zhufan zhi 4) The kingdom of Zhu-nian in Lingwai daida 5) Note on Di-hua-jia-luo, the alleged Chola king 6) The kingdom of Pugan in Songshi

INTRODUCTION In this Appendix we have assembled English translations of four Chinese texts from the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1279–1368) periods, describing or referring to the Chola kingdom as Zhu-nian (
). These texts are Song huiyao (
 ),1 Songshi (
),2 Zhufan zhi (
 ),3 and Lingwai daida (
 !).4 Another Chinese text from this period that also contains a notice of the Chola kingdom is Wenxian tongkao (
 !).5 The reason for not providing a translation of the Wenxian tongkao in this Appendix is explained later. We have also included a note on Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !), described in Songshi as the king of Zhu-nian and an English translation of the section of the kingdom of Pu-gan in Songshi in relation to the note on Di-hua-jia-luo.

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

292

11/4/09, 1:02 PM

293

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

While we have collaborated closely in writing this Appendix, the responsibility for the translation and argument rests with the translator or author indicated in each section. Songshi is the official history of the Song Dynasty compiled by Tuotuo (

) et al. and published in 1345. It is one of the twenty-five dynastic histories.6 The description of the Chola kingdom appears in scroll (
) 489, in the section dealing with biographies and memoirs (
). Wenxian tongkao is an important work on Chinese institutional history, with commentaries that were compiled by Ma Duanlin (
 ) and published in 1321. The description of the kingdom of Zhu-nian is included in scroll 332 in the section called “Examination of the Barbarians in the Four Quarters” (
 ). Song huiyao (
 ) belongs to the genre of official documents known as huiyao, which are collections of official documents and materials used by the government of a dynasty and arranged according to administrative divisions. Therefore, compilers of the Dynastic Histories usually examined and depended on huiyao, if available, in their compilation. A large part of the original ten compilations of Song huiyao, however, has been lost after its use in editing Songshi and only those parts that were quoted or reprinted in some later work remain today. Unfortunately, the description of the kingdom of Zhu-nian is not found in the extant Song huiyao, although it must have been included in the original work. The only relevant records are the descriptions of the three diplomatic missions from Zhu-nian found in the section dealing with tributary missions called lidai chaogong (
 !). We have translated the description of these missions in this Appendix. Besides the above three texts, there are two more important works of the Song period which afford information on Zhu-nian. They are the works describing the ethnographic and economic conditions of the kingdoms in the maritime world called nanhai (
), meaning Southern Ocean, and covering Southeast, South, and West Asia approachable by sea. These two works are Lingwai daida (
 !) written by Zhou Qufei (
 ) in 1178, and Zhufan zhi (
 ) written by Zhao Rugua (
 ) in 1225. During the Song period, particularly in its later half, the importance of the office called tijushibo (
 !),7 controlling maritime trade relations with foreign kingdoms, increased greatly. Branches of this office were established in several trading centres in southern China, including Guangzhou (
) and Quanzhou (
), for the purpose of dealing with the matters concerning Southern Ocean kingdoms. Zhao Rugua worked for the tijushibo in Quanzhou, and Zhou Qufei was for some time serving as the Deputy Governor of Guilin

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

293

11/4/09, 1:02 PM

294

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

(
) in southern China. They were, therefore, able to gather information on maritime kingdoms from foreign sailors and merchants. Both of them described the kingdom of Zhu-nian. While Zhao Rugua quotes several passages from Lingwai daida, his description of Zhu-nian is longer and more informative than that of Zhou Qufei. Among the Chinese books published during the Song and Yuan periods, there are many others which refer to Zhu-nian, including Xu Zizhitongjian changbian (
 !"#$),8 Yuhai (
),9 Shantang xiansheng qunshu kaosuo (
 !"#$%),10 Shilin yanyu (
 !),11 and Wenchang zalu (
 !).12 However, there is little or no new information on Zhunian in these works. Therefore, we have not included these works in our translations. The common passages in some texts translated here should be explained in little detail. The notices on the kingdom of Zhu-nian in Songshi and Wenxian tongkao, for example, are almost identical. Other than the use of a few different Chinese characters,13 Wenxian tongkao omits some of the place and personal names found in Songshi. The identical records could be a result of the compilers of these works using the same source material. It is also possible, however, that the compilers of Songshi, a later work, depended on Wenxian tongkao. In fact, it is clear that Songshi, which was in fact compiled hastily, copied large portions of the text from Wenxian tongkao including that of the kingdom of Zhu-nian. However, Songshi provides many names of persons and places that were omitted in Wenxian tongkao. This indicates that Songshi used other sources in addition to Wenxian tongkao in compiling the Zhu-nian section. The thirty-one names of the settlements (buluo) of the Zhu-nian kingdom given in Songshi, which are omitted in Wenxian tongkao, correspond exactly to those given in Zhufan zhi, with the exception of just one character. The source of these names may have been sailors and merchants coming from southern Asia and collected by Zhao Rugua. Thus, it would seem that the compilers of Songshi also accessed Zhufan zhi. As stated earlier, some of the passages in Zhufan zhi come from Lingwai daida. And it is possible that the author of Wenxian tongkao had access to both Zhufan zhi and Lingwai daida. The common passages in these five texts show the sharing of information regarding foreign kingdoms in Chinese sources. This also makes it difficult sometimes to identify the original source of notices on foreign kingdoms, including Zhu-nian. The record of the kingdom of Zhu-nian in Wenxian tongkao was translated into French in 1883 by Marquis d’Hervey de Saint-Denys.14 Later, an English translation of Wenxian tongkao was made, based on d’Hervey de Saint-

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

294

11/4/09, 1:02 PM

295

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

Denys’s French version.15 Friedrich Hirth and W.W. Rockhill translated Zhufan zhi into English in 1911.16 Lingwai dadai has been translated into German by Almut Netolitzky.17 However, the text of Songshi has never been translated into a Western language. Although, as an excellent piece of pioneer work, d’Hervey de Saint-Denys’s French translation and its English version of Wenxian tongkao have been used widely by many non-Chinese scholars since its publication, there are many mistakes in them that should be corrected. We have not included the translation of Wenxian tongkao because it is almost identical with that of Songshi. The differences between the two texts are explained in the footnotes. In other words, therefore, a fresh translation of Wenxian tongkao is actually included in this Appendix. For transliterating Chinese characters, we have used the Pinyin system, the current international standard rominization, but which differs somewhat from the Wade-Giles system employed in earlier translations by d’Hervey de Saint-Denys and Hirth and Rockhill. The pronunciations in thirteenthcentury southern China are sometimes retained more accurately in Japanese and Korean pronunciations of Chinese characters.18 This point should be kept in mind when reconstruction of Tamil place or personal names is attempted from their Pinyin transliteration.


 1) The Kingdom of Zhu-nian (

) in Songshi (

)19
 Translated with notes by Noboru Karashima To the east, the kingdom of Zhu-nian (
) is at a distance of five li 20 from the sea; to the west it takes 1,500 li to reach Tian-zhu (
);21 to the south, it is 2,500 li to Luo-lan (
);22 and to the north it is 3,000 li to Dun-tian (
).23 Since ancient times it has had no contacts with China. By water, it is about a 411,400 li journey to Guangzhou (
). In the kingdom there is a city which is enclosed by seven-fold walls that are seven-feet high. The length of the outer wall is twelve li from north to south, and seven li from east to west.24 Each wall is one hundred paces from the next. Four walls are made of bricks, two are of mud, and the innermost wall is of wood. Within each wall are planted various flowering plants and fruit trees. People reside within the first to third walls, which are surrounded by small streams. Four ministers (
)25 dwell within the fourth wall, and four sons of the king within the fifth. The sixth wall encloses Buddhist monasteries, where one hundred monks live. The seventh walled citadel comprises the royal palace where there are more than four hundred rooms.26

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

295

11/4/09, 1:02 PM

296

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

There are 31 settlements (buluo
) integrated under the king’s rule.27 The twelve to the west are: Zhi-du-ni (
 ), Shi-ya-lu-ni (

), Luo-pa-li-bie-pa-yi (
 !"), Bu-lin-pa-bu-ni (

!), Gu-tan-bu-lin-pu-deng (
 !"#), Gu-li (
), Suo-lun-cen (

), Ben-ti-jie-ti (
 ), Yan-li-chi-li (
 !), Na-bu-ni (
), Zhe-gu-lin (
 ), and Ya-li-zhe-lin (
 !), The eight to the south are: Wu-ya-jia-li-ma-lan (
 !"#), Meigu-li-ku-di (
 !"), She-li-ni (
 ), Mi-duo-luo-mo (
 !), Qie-lan-pu-deng (
 !), Meng-qie-lin-qie-lan (
 !), Pa-li-pali-you (

!), and Ya-lin-chi-meng-qie-lan (
 !"#). The twelve28 to the north are: Bo-luo-ye (
 ), Wu-mo-li-jiang (
 !), Zhu-lin (
), Jia-li-meng-qie-lan (
 !"), Qi-jie-malan (
 !), Wo-zhe-meng-qie-lan (
 !"), Pi-lin-qie-lan (

), Pu-leng-he-lan (
 !), Bao-pa-lai (
 ), Tian-zhu-li (
 ), Lu-po-luo (
 ),29 and Mi-meng-qie-lan (
 !). The present king belongs to the third generation of the dynasty. If any offence is committed by a commoner, minister is ordered to deal with it. If the offence is light, the culprit is tied to a wooden frame and beaten with a bamboo stick fifty to hundred times. If it is a serious crime, the criminal is beheaded or crushed under the feet of an elephant. At banquets, the king and the four ministers prostrate themselves at the foot of the steps (
).30 Then, they sit together and [watch] music, song and dance [performances]. They don’t drink alcohol, but eat meat. They are accustomed to wearing cotton clothes and eating baked or steamed cakes made of rice or wheat flour. They employ ladies as attendants for table (
)31 and personal service. When arranging a marriage, initially the man’s family sends to the woman’s family a female go-between with gold and/or silver ring(s). After two days,32 the woman’s family33 meets with the man’s family and ceremoniously announces the quantity of fields, domestic animals, and arrack, which they can offer [as bride price]. In addition to this, the woman’s family also presents to the prospective bridegroom gold and/or silver ring(s), a fine cloth (
 ),34 and the brocaded cloth to be worn by the bride. If the man does not want to marry the woman, he should not take the things offered, and if the woman wants to refuse the marriage, she has to return to him twice of what was received. In warfare, they place elephants in the front, followed by soldiers holding small shields. Then, come successive ranks of soldiers with lance, soldiers with long sword, and archers. The four ministers divide the command of all

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

296

11/4/09, 1:03 PM

297

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

of them between them. At a distance of 2,500 li to the southeast of this kingdom, there is a kingdom called Xi-lan-chi (
 ).35 War sometimes breaks out between these two kingdoms. This kingdom produces pearls, elephant’s tusks, coral, transparent glass, betel nuts, cardamoms, and ji-bei bu (
 ).36 Quadrupeds include goats and tawny cows (
). Poultry include pheasants and parrots. Fruits include myrobalan, wisteria, Persian dates, coconuts, gan-luo (
),37 kun-lun mei (
 ),38 and jack fruit. Flowers include white jasmine, san-si (
),39 she-qi (
), 40 hibiscus, li-qiu (
),41 the blue, yellow and green sal, white lotus, chan-zi (
),42 and shui-jiao (
).43 Grain crops include green beans (
), soybeans (
), wheat and rice. Bamboo also grows there. Since ancient times this kingdom had never sent tribute to our country. In the ninth month of the eighth year of the dazhong xiangfu (
 !) reign period (1015), its king Luo-cha-luo-zha (

)44 sent to our court a mission consisting of the ambassador vice minister Suo-li San-wen (
 !), the second ambassador (
) Pu-shu (
), 45 the third ambassador (
)46 Weng-wu (
), the guard Ya-le-jia (
 ), and others, with a letter and tribute from the king. San-wen and others ascended the audience hall holding up (with both hands) a tray containing pearls and green beads (
 ) and scattered them in front of the throne. After descending, they again made a bow. The interpreter explained what they had said as “we, living in a remote region, wish to express our sincere desire to be enlightened by the Chinese civilization”. The king said the following in his letter: Your subject, I, Luo-cha-luo-zha (

), wish to say that a merchant boarding a small ship came to our country, from whom we have learned that now the Song dynasty is ruling the Empire and Your Majesty succeeded the two emperors who founded the dynasty. You venerated both Heaven and Earth performing appropriate rituals in two places.47 Your virtue was heard even by Heaven, who gave grace to you accordingly. I expected to meet the occasion and was favoured to hear the auspicious words (
).48 I wish to extend my sincerity in serving Your Majesty like the sun and to express my great joy in beholding Your Majesty in audience. I humbly hear that Your Majesty’s rule extends without limit and people serve you submissively wherever they live. I humbly contemplate your achievement which surpasses that of all the rulers in the past, your rule being righteous. The merit of your administration covers Heaven and Earth, and the force of your power gives discipline to the universe. Your divine power has never killed, your civility has enlightened, your high

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

297

11/4/09, 1:03 PM

298

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

virtue has been extended to your subjects, and you worshipped Heaven with submissive mind. Your goodness protected even the feeble reed and your trust extended to the fish in the deep water. Therefore, Heaven appreciated your splendid achievements and as predicted in the letter from Heaven, you have accomplished what was never done in the past and are keeping the base for the established rule of the Empire. I presume to consider that as your subject I am a small being like a mosquito and a humble creature like a papier-mache dog, having been living for generations in a barbarous town. My country is far from Chinese civilization, having not been enlightened and having sent no tribute to your court. Now I quietly listen to the song praising the virtue of Your Majesty, which is sung even in the frontiers. Regrettably I am too advanced in age to proceed to your court personally to offer tribute. In addition I live in a remote country separated by the vast sea and there are many obstacles on the way rather difficult to overcome. Therefore, I am now observing from after the gate of Your Majesty’s palace with the strength of my sincerity. To present the products of my country is like ants and crickets being attracted by mutton, and to pay tribute and serve Your Majesty is like sun-flower and giant hyssop being drawn towards the sun. With respect I send a mission of 52 persons to your court to offer the products of our country as tribute, consisting of a robe and a cap both decorated with pearls, 21,100 liang (
)49 of pearls, sixty elephant tusks, and sixty jin (
)50 of frankincense. San-wen and others also presented 6,600 liang of pearls and 3,300 jin of perfumes. In the beginning, when Luo-cha-luo-zha (

) heard the story from the merchant of a ship which arrived at his country, it was also told that there had been no storms in the sea for the past ten years. This, according to an old man remembering a legend, was because there was a sage in China. Therefore, the king sent San-wen and others with tribute. Departing from his kingdom,51 San-wen sailed on a ship for 77 days and nights, passed by the side of the Isles of Na-wu-dan shan (
 ) and Suo-li-xi-lan shan (
 !"), and arrived at the kingdom of Zhanbin (
 ). Again, by travelling for 61 days and nights, passing by the side of the Isle Yi-ma-luo-li shan (
 !"), he reached the kingdom of Gu-luo (
 ),52 which gets its name from the Gu-luo (
) Mountain. Again, he continued his journey for 71 days and nights, passing by the Isles of Jia-ba shan (
 ), Zhan-bu-lao shan (
 !)53 and Zhou-bao-long shan (
 !), and reached the kingdom of San-fo-qi (
 ). 54 Again traveling for 18 days and nights, traversing the mouth of the river (
) near the hill of Man shan (
),55 and coasting the Isle of Tian-zhu

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

298

11/4/09, 1:03 PM

299

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

shan (
 ), 56 he reached Bin-tou-lang shan (
 !). 57 At the distance of 100 li from the ship to the east, they saw the tomb of Xiwangmu (
 !).58 Sailing for another 20 days and nights, passing through the Isles of Yangshan (
) and Jiuxingshan (
 ), he reached Pipazhou (
 )59 of Guangzhou (
).60 Only after 1,150 days61 since he left his country, was he able to reach Guangzhou (
). The Emperor ordered Shiyouzhi (
 ), the Audience Usher (gemenzhihou
 !)62 to treat them with great regard and to accord to them the same honours as to the envoys of Qiu-ci (
)63 for receptions and ceremonies. On the occasion of the emperor’s birthday (
 )64 in that year, San-wen and others requested permission to join the Buddhist monks of the Qisheng chanyuan Monastery (
 !)65 in celebrating the auspicious birthday of the Emperor. The embassy returned the following year66 with an imperial edict and rich gifts for Luo-cha-luo-zha (

). In the fourth year of the tianxi (
) reign period (1020), [the king of Zhu-nian] once again sent an envoy called Pa-lan-de-ma-lie-di (
 !"
), to offer tribute. But he died of an illness on his arrival at Guangzhou (
). The governor of Guangzhou conveyed to the Emperor the letter [of the king] which the envoy had brought. The Emperor ordered the governor to treat the retinue with banquets and to send them back with rich presents. In the tenth month of the second year of the mingdao (
) reign period (1033), the king Shi-li-luo-cha-yin-tuo-luo-zhu-luo (
 !"

)67 sent the ambassador68 Pu-ya-tuo-li (

) and others with his letter written in gold, with tribute consisting of a robe and a cap both decorated with pearls, 105 liang of pearls, and 100 elephant tusks. Fu Wei Zhong (
 ),69 who was the Vice Commissioner E
) of the West Dyeing Office (xiran yuan
 ) and Secretarial Receptionist (gemen tongshi sheren
 !"#),70 received the envoys as proxy for the Deputy Minister for the Court of State Ceremonial (honglu shaoqing
 !).71 Pu-ya-tuo-li (

) reported that although he had tried several times to bring tribute, the rough seas had wrecked his ship and prevented him from reaching [China]. He wished to scatter the finest pearls (
)72 at the feet of the imperial couch in order to gain an audience with the Emperor and express his adoration for him. Accordingly, he was allowed to ascend the audience hall holding a silver bowl up [with both hands]. On the floor of the hall, he knelt down and scattered pearls under the imperial couch and retreated. In the second month of the first year of the jingyou (
) reign period (1034), the ambassador Pu-ya-tuo-li (

) returned to his kingdom having been granted the [honorific] titles of Grand Master of the Palace with

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

299

11/4/09, 1:03 PM

300

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon (jinzi guanglu dafu
 !"#)73 and Civilizing General (huaihua jiangjun
 !). In the tenth year of the xining (
) reign period (1077), the king Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !)74 sent a mission of twenty-seven persons. It consisted of the ambassador Qi-luo-luo (
), the second ambassador Nan-bei-pa-da (
 !), the third ambassador Ma-tu-hua-luo (

), and others. They presented as tribute pearls as big as peas (
 ), mazhu (
),75 a large glass bowl, huanao (
)76 of white plum, jinhua (
),77 rhinoceros horns, frankincense, pingxiang (
),78 rose water, jinlianhua (
 ),79 muxiang (
),80 asafetida, borax, and cloves. The first and second ambassadors ascended the audience hall holding pearls and borneol (
), and scattered them on bended knees. That act is called sandian (
). After they had descended, an official from the Imperial Dispensary (yuyao
) was sent by imperial order to entertain them. [The two ambassadors] were granted the [honorific] titles of Civilizing General (huaihua jiangjun
 !) and Maintaining Submission Commandant (baoshun langjiang
 !) respectively. Based on their ranks (
),81 each [envoy] was presented garments, vessels and cloths. To the king, 81, 800 strings of copper coins (
)82 and 52,000 liang of silver were granted as return presents.


 ! 2) Song huiyao (
 !), the
 ), lidai chaogong (

 three parts pertaining to Zhu-nian (

) envoys83 Translated with notes by Noboru Karashima 1) On the second day in the ninth month of the eighth year of the dazhong xiangfu (
 !) reign period (1015), a mission of the kingdom of Zhu-nian consisting of the ambassador Suo-li San-wen (
 !), the second ambassador Pu-jia-xin (
 ),84 the third ambassador (
)85 Weng-wu (
) arrived to offer tribute. They ascended the audience hall holding up (with both hands) a tray containing pearls and green beads (


) and scattered them in front of the throne. [They presented] a robe and a cap both decorated with pearls, pearls, elephant tusks, frankincense, and aromatic medicine. The original note to the above paragraph: According to Shantang kaosuo (
 !),86 on the second day in the ninth month of this year Luo-da-luo-zha (

), 87 the king of Zhu-nian kingdom, sent his envoy Suo-li San-wen (
 !) and others to offer tribute consisting of a robe and a cap both decorated with pearls, pearls, elephant tusks, and

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

300

11/4/09, 1:03 PM

301

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

aromatic medicine. Prior to that, a merchant boarding a ship reached that country and told [the king] that the Emperor made a ritual for Heaven in the East and that for Earth in the West (

). The king of that country said that there had been no storms in the sea for the past ten years, which, according to an old man remembering a legend, was because there was a sage in China. Therefore, the king sent envoys, who (also) ascended the audience hall holding up (with both hands) a tray containing pearls and green beads and scattered them in front of the throne. After descending, they again made a bow. The interpreter explained what they had said as “we, living in a remote region, wish to express our sincere desire to be enlightened by the Chinese civilization”. 2) On the twenty-first day in the tenth month of the second year of the mingdao (
) reign period (1033), Shi-li-luo-cha-yin-tuo-luo-zhu-luo (
 !"

),88 the king of Zhu-nian, sent the ambassador Pushen-tuo-li89 (

) and others with his letter written in gold and tribute consisting of a robe and a cap both decorated with pearls, pearls, and elephant tusks. Tuo-li (
) requested permission to conduct a barbarian ritual to express his adoration for the Emperor. [The request having been accepted,] he holding a silver bowl up (with both hands) knelt down on the floor of the audience hall, scattered pearls (
) under the imperial couch, and then retreated. 3) On the seventh day in the sixth month of the tenth year of the xining (
) reign period (1077), Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !), the fanwang (
)90 of the kingdom of Zhu-nian, sent the ambassador Qi-luo-luo (

) to present his two letters, one written in barbarian language and the other in Chinese, and tribute consisting of pearls, borneol (
), rhinoceros horn (
), elephant tusk, frankincense, fine cloth mixed with gold thread (
 !), a glass bowl, rose water, and medicine. On that day the ambassador and his deputy were allowed to ascend the audience hall holding pearls and borneol and scattered them on bended knees. That act is called sandian (
). After they had descended, the Emperor especially sent a palace attendant (
)91 to entertain them.

3) The Kingdom of Zhu-nian in Zhufan zhi (

 ) Translated with notes Äó= Äó=Tansen Sen The kingdom of Zhu-nian is the South Yin-du
 of the Western Heaven
. To the east, one reaches the sea in five li; to the west, it is 1,500 li to West Tian-zhu (
 ); to the south, it is 2,500 li to Luo-lan (
);

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

301

11/4/09, 1:03 PM

302

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

[and] to the north, it is 3,000 li to Dun-tian (
). [The kingdom] had no commercial contacts [with China] in the past. By water, it takes a journey of more than 411,400 li to reach Quanzhou (
).92 [Those] wishing to go to this kingdom, have to proceed by changing boats at Gu-lin (
). Alternatively, it is said that [one] can also go [via] the Pu-gan (
) kingdom.93 There is a city in the kingdom which is enclosed by a seven-fold wall that is seven feet high. The length of the outer wall is twelve li from north to south and seven li from east to west.94 Each wall is one hundred paces from the next. Four walls are made of bricks, two are of mud, and the innermost wall is made from wood. Various flowering plants and trees bearing fruits are planted [within] each of these walls. The dwellings of the people are all [within] the first and the second walls that are surrounded by small trench. Four ministers reside within the third and fourth walls. The four sons of the king live within the fifth wall. The sixth wall is for Buddhist monasteries, where one hundred monks live. The seventh wall is where the king resides. It has more than four hundred rooms. There are 31 buluo (
) in the kingdom.95 The twelve to the west are: Zhi-du-ni (
 ), Shi-ya-lu-ni (

), Luo-pa-li-bie-pa-yi (
 !"), Bu-lin-pa-bu-ni (

!), Gu-tan-bu-lin-pu-deng (
 !"#), Gu-li (
), Po-lun-cen (

), Ben-ti-jie-ti (
 ), Yan-li-chi-li (
 !), Na-bu-ni (
), Zhe-gu-lin (
 ), and Ya-li-zhe-lin (
 !). The eight to the south are: Wu-ya-jia-li-ma-lan (
 !"#), Meigu-li-ku-di (
 !"), She-li-ni (
 ), Mi-duo-luo-mo (
 !), Qie-lan-pu-deng (
 !), Meng-qie-lin-qie-lan (
 !), Pa-li-pali-you (

!), and Ya-lin-chi-meng-qie-lan (
 !"#). The twelve to the north are: Bo-luo-ye (
 ), Wu-mo-li-jiang (
 !), Zhu-lin (
), Jia-li-meng-qie-lan (

!), Qi-jie-malan (
 !), Wo-zhe-meng-qie-lan E
 !"), Pi-lin-qie-lan (

), Pu-leng-he-lan (
 !), Bao-pa-lai (
 ), Tian-zhu-li (

), Lu-po-luo (
 ),96 and Mi-meng-qie-lan (
 !). When an offence is committed by a commoner, a minister (
) is ordered to deal with it. Those with lighter offence are tied to wooden frame and beaten with a bamboo stick fifty, seventy to hundred times. Those committing serious crime are beheaded or crushed under the feet of an elephant. At banquets the king and the four ministers prostrate themselves at the foot of the steps (
). Then, they play music, sing and dance together. They don’t drink alcohol but eat meat. They are accustomed to wearing cotton clothes and have baked and steamed flour breads. They employ female

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

302

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

303

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

servants (
) to attend [to the] table (
) and [as] escort[s] (
). There are about ten thousand of such female servants. Everyday there are three thousand who are in attendance in rotation. When arranging a marriage, initially [the boy’s family] sends to the girl’s family a female go-between with gold and/or silver ring(s). After three days, [the girl’s family] meets with the boy’s family to decide the quantity of fields, domesticated animals, arrack, and other things which they can offer [in marriage]. The girl’s family, in return, presents to the would-be bridegroom gold and/or silver ring(s), a fine cloth (
 ), and the brocaded cloth to be worn by the bride. If the boy doesn’t wish to marry the girl, he does not dare take the gifts offered, and if the girl wants to refuse the marriage, she has to return double [of what was gifted].97 The taxes imposed by the kingdom are numerous and heavy [so] itinerant traders rarely go there. [The kingdom] is at war with various kingdoms of Xitian. The palace has sixty thousand war elephants that are all seven to eight feet tall. During the time of war, a lodge, carrying soldiers, is placed on the back of the elephant. [When the enemy] is far away they shoot arrows, when near they use spears. The victorious elephants are granted titles to acknowledge their contribution. The people value vigor and are casual about [their] lives. Sometimes in front of the king they fight with small weapons and die without regrets.98 Food for father, sons, elder and younger brothers are cooked in separate woks and served in different utensils. Still they have deep respect [for each other].99 This kingdom produces pearls, elephant’s tusks, coral, transparent glass, betel nuts, cardamoms, opaque glass, colored silk cloths, and ji-bei bu (
 ).100 Quadrupeds include goats and tawny cows (
). Birds include pheasants and parrots. Fruits include myrobalan, wisteria, Persian dates, coconuts, gan-luo (
), kun-lun mei (
 ), and jack fruit. Flowers include white jasmine, san-si (
), she-qi (
), hibiscus, li-qiu (
F=the blue, yellow and green sal, white lotus, chan-zi (
), and shui-jiao (
). Grains include green beans (
), soybeans (
), wheat and rice. Bamboo also grows there.101 Since ancient times this kingdom has never sent tribute [to China]. In the eighth year of the dazhong xiangfu (
 !) reign period (1015), its king sent envoys to present tribute including pearls. The interpreter explained what [the king] had said as: “we, living in a remote region, wish to express our sincere desire to be enlightened by the [Chinese] civilization”102 The Emperor ordered Shiyou zhi (
 ) of gemen zhihou (
 !) to treat them with regard reception and to accord them the same honors as to the envoys from

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

303

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

304

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

Qiu-ci (
). On the occasion of the emperor’s birthday (
 ), the envoys from the [Zhu-nian] kingdom received permission to attend birthday celebrations at the Qisheng yuan (
 ).103 In the tenth year of the xining (
) reign period (1077),104 [the Zhunian kingdom] again sent tribute. [Emperor Shenzong] sent an official in charge of internal affairs (neishi) to welcome them.105

4) The Kingdom of Zhu-nian (

) in Lingwai daida

 ! (
 !) Translated with notes by Tansen Sen The kingdom of Zhu-nian (
) is the South India (
 ) of the Western Heaven (
). [Those] wishing to go to this kingdom have to proceed by changing boats at the Gu-lin kingdom (
 ). Alternatively, it is said that [one] can also go [via] the Pugan kingdom (
 ).106 The crown of the ruler of this kingdom [is decorated with] luminous pearls and rare precious stones. [He] is often at war with various kingdoms of Western Heaven. The kingdom has sixty thousand war elephants that are all seven to eight feet tall. During the time of war, a lodge, carrying soldiers, is placed on the back of the elephant. [When the enemy] is far away they shoot arrows, when near they use spears. The victorious elephants are granted titles to acknowledge their contribution. There are even those to whom embroidered drapes and gold cribs are presented. Everyday the elephants also pays tribute to the king. [The kingdom] produces things like borneol rings (
 !),107 lids [made from] cat’s eye (
 ), pearls, ivory, amber of various color, and colored silk cloth. There are almost 10,000 female servants (
),108 3,000 of whom alternate everyday to serve at the court. The people of the kingdom value vigor and are casual about [their] lives. There are [people] who refuse to yield. Everyday there are about ten pairs who fight with small daggers in front of the king and die without regrets. Food for father, sons, elder and younger brothers are cooked in separate woks and served in different utensils. Still they have deep respect [for each other]. In the eighth year of the dazhong xiangfu (
 !) reign period (1015), its king sent envoys to present tribute including pearls. The interpreter explained what [the king] had said as: “we, living in a remote region, wish to express our sincere desire to be enlightened by the Chinese civilization”. Then

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

304

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

305

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

in the sixth lunar month of the ten year of the xining (
) reign period (1077) of Emperor Shenzong (
), the kingdom again presented tribute of native products. The emperor sent an official in charge of internal affairs to welcome them.

5) Note on Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !), the alleged Chola king
 ! Noboru Karashima Much confused discussion has been made in the past on the envoys and the identification of the king Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !) who sent them, as there is a record in the Songshi (
) and Wenxian tongkao (
 !) of the envoys sent by the great chief (
 ) Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !) of Sanfo-qi (
 ), which arrived the same year (1077) as the Chola envoys arrived. [For San-fo-qi, see note 54 to the text.] Most scholars identified Dihua-jia-luo of Zhu-nian as Kulottunga-chola, who is also known as Rajendradeva, taking Di-hua-jia-luo to represent part of his name, namely deva (
) kulo (
). The double entry of this mission as those of Zhunian and San-fo-qi was often ignored as a mistake committed by the compilers of Songshi and Wenxian tongkao. However, the discovery of a stone inscription of the Tianqing Taoist temple (
 ) in Guangzhou (
) in the 1960s (Tan Yeok Seong, “The Sri Vijayan Inscription of Canton [AD 1079]”, Journal of Southeast Asian History, 5-2, 1964) has clarified that Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !) was the lord (
) of San-fo-qi (
 ) who helped the reconstruction of the Taoist temple that had been destroyed earlier, by sending three of his officers to Guangzhou. The names of the two officers (Zhi-luo-luo
 and Ma-tuhua-luo
 !) are again almost the same as the names of the persons who are described as the first and the third ambassadors (Qi-luo-luo
 and Ma-tu-hua-luo
 !) sent by Zhu-nian King Di-hua-jia-luo. It is evident, however, from the inscription of Guangzhou that Di-hua-jia-luo was the ruler of San-fo-qi, and not of Zhu-nian. Then, why does he appear as the king of Zhu-nian in the Songshi and Wenxian tongkao? This can be explained by the relationship Zhu-nian had with San-fo-qi in the eleventh century. The Chola invasion of San-fo-qi (Srivijaya/Kadaram in Kedah in the Malay Peninsula) around 1025 is well-known and so is another invasion around 1068 made by Virarajendra to help a Kadaram king. Virarajendra reinstated the Kadaram king who had asked his help, which indicates that San-fo-qi (Kadaram) was under Chola protection as a dependency. There is a Tamil copper-plate inscription (Epigraphia Indica,

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

305

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

306

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

xxii–35: Smaller Leiden plates) which shows that the two countries continued to keep good and close relations until 1090. The Chinese court must have known these circumstances to some extent, recording San-fo-qi envoys of 1077 also as the envoys from Zhu-nian. Strangely, however, the compiler of Songshi described Di-hua-jia-luo as the king (
) of Zhu-nian. Song huiyao (
 ) was the most important source-material which gave information to the compiler of Songshi, and in its lidai chaogong (

) section, which records the arrival of envoys from foreign countries, the status of Di-hua-jia-luo is described as fanwang (
), a foreign king or ruler of Zhu-nian, thus distinguishing him from the king of Zhu-nian. Rajendra I, in contrast, is described as the king of Zhu-nian in the same section. Fan (
) connotes “subordinate” and “barbarous” too. There is no record of the arrival of envoys from San-fo-qi as an independent kingdom in that year in Song huiyao. Confusion occurred in past studies from this omission of “fan” (
) by the compiler of Songshi, by mistake or on purpose. Songshi’s description of Di-hua-jia-luo as the king of Zhu-nian might have been related to the notion that Zhu-nian was subordinate to San-fo-qi (
 !"#$), expressed in the Pu-gan (
 Pagan in present-day Myanmar) kingdom section of Songshi, which is translated into English in the sixth section of this Appendix, though it is very mysterious how the Chinese court conceived this notion. It is suggested by some scholars that San-fo-qi, which was actually subject to Zhunian, tricked the Chinese court into believing that Zhu-nian was subject to San-fo-qi to hold a better position in China trade. The account of the 1077 mission in Wenxian tongkao, however, does not cause this problem because it describes the envoy as the one sent by the state, not referring to the name of the sender and his status. Rokuro Kuwata in his article, “A Study of Srivijaya” (in Japanese) in R. Kuwata, Studies on the History of East-West Maritime Trade, Tokyo, Kyukoshoin, posthumously 1993 (original publication of the article in 1945, the gist of which is translated into English and published in Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko [The Oriental Library] 30, 1972), drew our attention to the fact that in two Chinese works (Shilin yanyu
 !"# by Ye Mengde
 , 1123–236 and Wenchang zalu
 !"#by Pang Yuanying
 , c.1086) there are records of envoys sent by a country called San-fo-qi Zhu-nian (
 !"), which may be taken as the vassal state of the Cholas in Kadaram. Song huiyao and other works also record the arrival of envoys from the kingdom called San-fo-qi Zhan-bei (
 !"), that is, the kingdom of Jambi. As stated in note 54

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

306

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

307

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

to the text, San-fo-qi seems to have been a general name — whatever its origin might have been — given by Chinese to the kingdom that was supposed to be ruling the area of the Malacca Strait, and, therefore, they had to specify, whenever necessary, a particular kingdom by suffixing something to it, like San-fo-qi Zhu-nian (Kadaram) or San-fo-qi Zhan-bei (Jambi). As the kingdom of Kadaram was a dependency of the Cholas, Zhu-nian was selected for the suffix, and as the new kingdom was established in Jambi, that kingdom was named with the suffix Zhan-bei. The name of San-fo-qi Baolin-bang (
 !"#), meaning the kingdom of Palembang, is also seen in a diplomatic document in the Ryukyu kingdom (Kuwata 1993, p. 259). The issues concerning the relationship between Zhu-nian (Chola) and San-fo-qi (Srivijaya/Kadaram) is discussed in Noboru Karashima, “Indian Commercial Activities in Ancient and Medieval Southeast Asia”, in Contributions of Tamil Culture to the Twenty First Century: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference-Seminar of Tamil Studies, Thanjavur, 1995, edited by Karashima, Annamalai, and Rajaram (Chennai, 2005) (yet to be released, but the same text is found in a booklet, Plenary Session Papers, distributed on the occasion of the Conference).

6) The Kingdom of Pugan in Songshi109 Translated with notes by Noboru Karashima In the fifth year of the chongning (
) reign period (1106) the kingdom of Pu-gan (
) sent envoys to offer tribute. The imperial order was issued to give them the same treatment in reception as given to the envoys of the kingdom of Zhu-nian (
). According to the Department of State Affairs (
 =Shangshusheng), [however,] [the kingdom of ] Zhu-nian is subject to [that of ] San-fo-qi (
 ), and therefore, during the xining (
) reign period (1068–77), the imperial edict [to it] was written on a large (plain) silk backed with white paper (
 )110 and kept in an [ordinary] box (
) covered with an [ordinary] wrapping cloth (
). Now, Pu-gan is a large kingdom, and [therefore,] it cannot be looked down as a kingdom subject to another. It is desirable to treat it [in reception] like Da-shi (
 the Arab country), Jiao-zhi (
 the present-day Vietnam) and other [kingdoms]. All the imperial edicts should be written on a silk with flower design in gold and backed with white paper, be kept in a gilt box locked with a silver key (
 !),111 be covered with a brocade wrapping cloth (
 !), and be sent with the envoys. This suggestion [made by the Department of State Affairs] was adopted.

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

307

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

308

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

Notes 1. Important Documents of the Song Dynasty. This work is also referred to as Song huiyao jigao (
 !"). The edition used for translation in this Appendix is the annotated version by Xu Song
 titled Song huiyao jigao
 !", Beiping, Guoli Beiping tushuguan, 1936. 2. History of the Song [Dynasty]. The edition used for translation in this Appendix is the version titled Songshi
, Beijing, Zhonghua shuju, 1977. 3. Records of the Barbarous People. The edition used for translation in this Appendix is the annotated version by Yang Bowen
 , titled Zhufan zhi jiaoshi
 !", Beijing, Zhonghua shuju, 1996. 4. Information of what is Beyond the Passes. The edition used for translation in this Appendix is the annotated version by Yang Wuquan
 , titled Lingwai daida jiaozhu
 !"#, Beijing, Zhonghua shuju, 2006. 5. Comprehensive Examination of Literature. 6. Usually known as the twenty-four Dynastic Histories, but with the addition of the Xin Yuanshi (
 ) or the New History of the Yuan Dynasty in 1921, the total number of Dynastic Histories is now twenty-five. 7. Superintendency of Maritime Trade. 8. Long Draft of the Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for the Aid in Government. 9. Ocean of Jade. 10. Examination and Collection of the Works of Mr Shantang. 11. The Chatters of Stone Forest. 12. Miscellany Records of Wenchang. 13. For example, Songshi uses
(feng) meaning “to present” in the description of the ambassadors’ ascending the audience hall holding a tray, while Wenxian tongkao employs
(peng) meaning “to hold with both hands” in the same place. Though the two characters are closely related in meaning,
is better than
in this case. 14. D’Hervey de Saint-Denys translated only the section of the Barbarians of Southeast and Southwest in the section of Examination of the Barbarians in the Four Quarters (
 ) of Wenxian tongkao. See his Ethnographie des peuples étrangers à la Chine. Ouvrage composé au XIIIe siècle de notre ère par Ma-touanlin traduit pour la première fois du chinois avec un commentaire perpétuel (Geneva, 1883), 2 vols. 15. The English translation of the kingdom of Zhu-nian is included in K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Foreign Notices of South India: From Megasthenes to Ma Huan (Madras: University of Madras, 1939), pp. 319–25. 16. Chau Ju-kua: His work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the twelfth and thirteenth Centuries, entitled Chu-fan-chi, by Friedrich Hirth and W.W. Rockhill (New York 1966) (first published in St. Petersburg in 1911). 17. Almut Netolitzky, Das Ling-wai tai-da von Chou Ch’ü-fei: Eine Landeskunde Südchinas aus dem 12. Jahrhundert (Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag), 1977.

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

308

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

309

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

18. Zhu-nian is spelt Chu-lien in the Wade-Giles system and is pronounced as Chu-ren in Japanese. 19. The description is found in the fifth group of the Foreign Countries (
 ) of the Biography and Memoirs (
) section in Songshi. 20. A li (
) in Song-period China was equivalent to about 550 metres. Wenxian tongkao (
 !, afterwards WXTK) states the distance from the sea as 5,000 li. 21. In the section on the Tian-zhu (
) kingdom in Songshi (
), “Tian-zhu” (
) is explained as being the same as the kingdom also called “Shen-du” (
) and “Yin-du” (
). All three are names for the Indian subcontinent derived from the River Indus. Following previous Chinese records on the Indian subcontinent, the Songshi also divides Tian-zhu into five Tian-zhus (
 ): Northern, Western, Middle, Eastern, and Southern Tian-zhu. Reflecting this understanding, Zhufan zhi (
 ) gives Western Tian-zhu in this place. On these Chinese names, see P. C. Bagchi, “Ancient Chinese Names of India”, Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies of the Catholic University of Peking 13 (1948): 366–75. 22. Considering the later reference to Xi-lan-chi (
 ) in the text, which can be identified with Sri Lanka or its Arabic form “Sirandib”, the character luo (
) should read xi (
) or xi (
). Alternately, Luo-lan (
) could have been a mistake for Wei-lan (
), indicating Elam, the Tamil name for Sri Lanka. Wei (
) is easily mistakable for luo (
). 23. Dun-tian (
) has been identified as Tenasserim in the Malay Peninsula. But that may be too far, based on the distance mentioned in the text. Tondai, an alternative suggestion, may be too near. Thus, the place has yet to be properly identified. 24. Archeological excavations in Thanjavur, the capital of king Rajaraja I, have so far failed to locate the palace. On the other hand, the palace site in Gangaikondacholapuram, the capital of Rajendra I, has been excavated and two brick walls surrounding the palace in rectangular shape have been recognized, though the whole structure has not yet been clarified. Pierre Pichard, et al., Vingt ans après Tanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram, Vol. 1 (Paris: Ecole Francais d’Extreme-Orient, 1994). 25. In the officialdom of the Song dynasty, shilang (
) was the title given to the officials of ministerial rank 3b (
). The four ministers in this case must have been the most important ones among them. 26. WXTK omits the letter for “more than”. 27. Buluo (
) means an area settled by the people who have some blood or religious tie, and in Songshi, this word is used only for regions outside China. In this case, it seems to have meant na-d.u, the basic production unit lived by such people in the ancient and medieval Tamil country, although Hirth and Rockhill, translators of Zhufan zhi, take it for the transliteration of the Sanskrit pura, meaning town or city. As Zhufan zhi, the author of which may

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

309

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

310

28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46.

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

not have had access to Song huiyao (
 ), gives all these names, and as there is no difference between the names given in Zhufan zhi and those in Songshi, except for only one letter, the original information must have belonged to Zhufan zhi. As Hirth and Rockhill write, there is nothing to indicate how the long list of characters should be divided, where one name ends and another begins. They seem to have followed the division first made in the text of Zhonghua shuju (
 !) edition, which shows exactly the same division, and we also follow the same division here. At present we have no idea how to identify these names, but meng-qie-lan (
 ), which appears four times, may be taken to mean mangalam, as Hirth and Rockhill indicated. The Japanese pronunciation of the character
(qie) is “ka, ga, or kya”. WXTK omits all the buluo names by giving only the number of buluo in each of the three directions. WXTK gives the number as 11, not 12, making the total number thirty-one as stated at the beginning. The middle character
(po) is for
(suo) in Zhufan zhi. It is not clear what was meant by
, which usually means steps or staircase. For zhangzhuan (
), WXTK uses changzhuan (
) meaning “tasters” who examine the food to be offered to the Emperor. WXTK gives “three days” for “two days”.jie D’Hervey de Saint-Denys, who translated WXTK, as well as Hirth and Rockhill, explain the sentence as members of the boy’s family assembled and decided. It seems to be fine muslin cloth used in West Asia, as yuenuo (
) is related to Persia in medieval Chinese sources. Xi-lan-chi (
 ) is perhaps a transcription of Sri Lanka or its Arabic form “Silandib”. Ji-bei bu (
 ) seems to be cloth made of kapok. It is not clear what is meant by gan-luo (
). Kun-lun mei (
 ) seems to be a variety of plum. According to a medieval work on perfume, Chen Jin’s (
) Chenshi xiangpu
 !, pieces of this wood are used to make perfume. It is not clear what is meant by san-si (
). It is not clear what is meant by she-qi (
). It is not clear what is meant by li-qiu (
). It is not clear what is meant by chan-zi (
). Shui-jiao (
) seems to be Japanese fibre banana. Lingwai daida explains the use of its leaf. Luo-cha-luo-zha (

) is taken to be Rajaraja (I), whose reign extended from 985 to 1014. WXTK splits the second character of this name Pu-shu (
) into two characters: ru xin (
), and Songhuiyao splits it into jia xin (
). Panguan (
) indicates the deputy position of officers sent to frontiers. In this case, if San-wen was in civil service and Pushu was in military service,

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

310

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

311

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

47.

48. 49. 50. 51.

52.

53. 54.

55.

Weng-wu would have been the deputy of San-wen in civil service, with Ya-lejia being deputy of Pu-shu in military service. Anyway, we may be able to treat him as the no. 3 of the mission, Receiving a letter of prophecy from the Heavens, the Emperor made a ritual for Heaven at the Tai mountain (
) in the first year of the dazhong xiangfu reign period (1008), and another for Earth by the side of Fen river (
) in the fourth year of the same period (that is, 1010). Jiyu (
), meaning “auspicious words”, is given as guyu (
), meaning “old words”, in WXTK. One liang (
) is equal to about 40 grams. One Jin (
) is equal to about 640 grams. It is very difficult to identify many of the place names on the route mentioned here. If the embassy traveled straight across the Bengal Bay, Na-wu-dan shan (
 ) , Suo-li-xi-lan-shan (
 !") and Zhan-bin guo (
 ) may be identified with places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Yima-luo-li shan (
 !") with a site at the northern tip of Sumatra. However, if the embassy took the northern course, these places must be identified with those on the Bengal Bay coast, including Myanmar. The identification of some places have been suggested in the past studies by Pelliot, Hirth, Rockhill, et al. but the most detailed discussion on it is found in O.W. Wolters, “Landfall on the Palembang Coast in Medieval Times”, Indonesia 20 (1975), 1–57. Gu-luo (
) can be identified with the present-day Kedah, known as Kalah by Arab traders in the medieval period. The mountain of the place seen from the offing must have been a landfall for navigators. Wolters suggests Cham Pulau, a small island off the west coast of Lingga Island. WXTK gives gu (
) for zhan (
). The name San-fo-qi (
 ), which appears in Chinese records from the 10th century, is applicable to at least three kingdoms which ruled in the Malacca Strait region, namely, the kingdom whose headquarters was in Palembang in Sumatra, the kingdom which established its power in Jambi, a little north of Palembang, after the middle of the 11th century, and the kingdom in Kadaram (the Kedah area) in the Malay Peninsula. San-fo-qi in the text seems to refer to Palembang. In the early Chinese sources the kingdom in Palembang appears as Shi-li-fo-shi (
 !), which was identified with Srivijaya by G. Coedes. There are many problems concerning Srivijaya and San-fo-qi including their relations and state structure. Those problems have been discussed by various scholars in the past including O.W. Wolters (“Studying Srivijaya”, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Academic Society, LII-2, 1979) and PierreYves Manguin (“Palembang and Srivijaya: An Early Malay Harbour-City Rediscovered”, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Academic Society, LXVI-1, 1993). Interpretation of Manshan-shuikou (
 !) is problematic. Wolters

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

311

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

312

56. 57.

58. 59. 60.

61. 62.

63. 64. 65. 66.

67. 68. 69. 70.

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

interprets shuikou (
) as the water flow of a river coming down from the Palembang area, and Manshan (
) as Menumbing hills at the north-western tip of Bangka Island. See W. Wolters, “Landfall”, p. 48 ff. Tian-zhu shan (
 ) is identified as Pulan Aur in the vicinity of the Tioman Islands, off the coast of Pahang. See Wolters, “Landfall”. Bin-tou-lang shan (
 !) has been identified as Panduranga on the Cham coast of southern Vietnam by Pelliot. See Pelliot, “Textes Chinois sur Panduranga”, BEFEO, III-4 (1903), p. 649. Xiwangmu (
 ) is a legendary nymph. Pipazhou (
 ) is an anchorage of the port of Guangzhou (
). Guangzhou (
) is an important port which flourished in southern China along with Quanzhou (
) during the Song and Yuan period. Later Guangzhou was also called Guangdong (Canton). 1150 days is too long for the journey from the Coromandel Coast to Guangzhou. Gemen zhihou (
 !) was a title given to low-rank officers in the military service, irrespective of their actual work. In the case of Shiyouzhi (
 ), however, we may consider him to have been in the position of a Audience Usher whose rank was 8b (
), though there were many gemen zhihou title holders whose actual position was different from that of Audience Usher. Qiu-ci (
) is Kucha, an ancient and medieval oasis state in central Asia, which was a tributary state of Song China. Chengtianjie (
 ) was the birthday (2 December) of the Emperor Zhenzong (
). Qisheng Chanyuan (
 !), the birth-place of the father of Emperor Zhenzong (
), seems to have been converted later into a Buddhist monastery. According to a passage in Chapter 85 of Xu zizhi tongjian changbian (

 !), chronicles of the Northern Song dynasty compiled by Li Tao (
) in 1174, the envoy Suo-li San-wen (
 !) died of an illness at Rangyi District (

) and was buried there. The Emperor sent an officer to the place to conduct a ceremony. Shi-li-luo-cha-yin-tuo-luo-zhu-luo (
 !"

) is identified as Sri Rajendrachola (I), whose reign extended from 1012 to 1044. WXTK omits the name and title of the envoy. WXTK omits the name and title of the officer. During the Song period, names of many offices and officers which had ceased to function were used for ranks or honorific titles to be given to elite officers. Vice-Commissioner of the West Dyeing Office, which dealt with clothing and ornaments in the court during the Tang period, is one such example, and Fu Wei Zhong’s position was a gemen tongshi sheren (
 !"#) ranked in 7b (
).

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

312

11/4/09, 1:04 PM

313

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

71. The institution honglusi (
 ), to which he belonged, was in charge of receiving and entertaining foreign guests. 72. Zhu (
) means any small, ball-shaped object, including pearls. 73. Jinzi guanglu dafu (
 !"#) represents the third rank given to officers in the civil service. 74. Though Songshi describes Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !) as the king of Zhu-nian, he was actually the great chief (
 ) of San-fo-qi (
 ). In past studies, much confused discussion has been made on this alleged Chola king. Please see Note on Di-hua-jia-luo, the alleged Chola king. 75. It is not clear what sort of small ball ma-zhu (
) is. 76. Huanao (
) is the same as longnao (
) which is borneol. 77. It is not clear what was meant by jinhua (
). 78. Pingxiang (
) seems to be a variety of frankincense (
). In a book on incense (
 !) it appears under the head of frankincense. 79. Jinlianhua (
 ) usually means Asiatic globeflower. 80. Muxiang (
) is Saussurea lappa, a grass belonging to the chrysanthemum group. 81. WXTK omits the words youcha (
), which means “differently according to rank”. 82. One min (
) is composed of 1,000 copper coins tied by a string through the central hole of each coin. 83. The three parts are found in
 in Scroll 199 of Song huiyao jigao (

 ). 84. Songshi gives this name as Pu-shu (
), and Wenxian tongkao (
 !) as Pu-ru-xin (
 ). 85. See footnote 46 in the Songshi translation. 86. Shantang kaosuo (
[
 !]
) is an encyclopedic reference book on various publications and their contents, compiled at the end of the twelfth century by Zhang Ruyu (
 ) alias Shantang (
). 87. Songshi gives this name as Luo-cha-luo-zha (

), which is more congruent with the pronunciation of Ra-jara-ja. 88. Shi-li-luo-cha-yin-tuo-luo-zhu-luo (
 !"

) is identified as Sri Rajendrachola (I), whose reign extended from 1012 to 1044. 89. Songshi gives the name as Pu-ya-tuo-li (

). 90. Songshi describes Di-hua-jia-luo (
 !) as the king of Zhu-nian, and he was also described as the great chief (
 ) of San-fo-qi (
 ). Here in Song huiyao, he is recorded as fanwang (
) of the Zhu-nian kingdom. From this discrepancy much confused discussion has been made on this alleged Chola king in the past studies. See the separate note, 5) Note on Di-hua-jia-luo, the alleged Chola king, infra. 91. Neishi (
) was a title given to eunuchs in the palace during the Song period. 92. For place names in this paragraph, see notes 4 and 5 in the Songshi translation

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

313

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

314

93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106.

107. 108.

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

in this Appendix. In the Songshi, the destination in China is given as Guangzhou (
). These two sentences in Zhufan zhi are taken from Lingwai daida (
 !). For Pu-gan kingdom, see, 5) Note on Di-hua-jia-luo, the alleged Chola king. See the note 24 in the Songshi translation. See notes 27–29 in the Songshi translation. The middle character
(suo) is given as
(po) in Songshi. See the similar passage in the Songshi. The differences between the two passages are pointed out in the notes to the translation of the Songshi. Most of this passage is taken from Lingwai daida. This passage also appears in the Lingwai daida. Hirth and Rockhill translate ji-bei bu (
 ) as “cotton stuffs”. See note 36 in the translation of the Songshi section for an alternative explanation. For explanations of these products, see notes 37–43. This passage is taken verbatim from the Lingwai daida. Hirth and Rockhill translate Qisheng yuan (
 ) as “Sacred Enclosure”. See note 65 in the Songshi translation. Lingwai daida reports that the event took place in the sixth lunar month. The diplomatic interaction between the Cholas and Song is recorded in greater detail in the Songshi. See the translation in this Appendix. Gu-lin here refers to Kollam (Quilon) in the present-day Kerala state in southern India. Pu-gan refers to the Pagan kingdom in Myanmar, for which see, 5) Note on Di-hua-jia-lou, the alleged Chola king, infra. While the route to the Chola kingdom through Pagan is understandable (although a faster route would have been across the Bay of Bengal through the Nicobar Islands), the mention of a route through Quilon on the Malabar coast is puzzling. Those sailing from China to the southern coast of India would first reach the Coromandel coast and then proceed to the Malabar coast. In the section on Gu-lin, the author mentions that Chinese traders going to Da-shi (
), indicating the Persian Gulf, changed to “small boats” (
) at Gu-lin. Another section of the book states that those coming from Da-shi sailed south in “small boats” (
); after reaching Gu-lin they changed to “large boats” (
) and proceeded east. Based on these two notices, Yang Wuquan (
 ), the annotator of Lingwai daida, argues that merchants sailed on large, Chinese ships, to Gu-lin and from there sailed to various places, including the Coromandel coast on small boats. Other than the fact that there may not have been “large” Chinese ships sailing to south Asia at the time when Lingwai daida was composed (see Tansen Sen [2006]), the argument is unconvincing. Probably the author meant that those coming from the west would have to pass through Gu-lin to reach Zhu-nian. Naozi (
) should read longnao (
), which is borneol. Jinü (
) also indicated prostitutes. Here, however, the reference seems to be to female servants at the court.

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

314

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

315

Chinese Texts Describing the Chola Kingdom as Zhu-nian

109. The description is found in the fifth group of the Foreign Countries (
 ) of the Biography and Memoirs (
) section in Songshi. 110.
 =(a big backing paper) seems to be an error for
 !" (a large silk backed with white paper), considering the stipulation of writing orders in Zhiguan fenji (Sun Fengsi
 !F, Songshi (
 ! section) and others. 110. For
 !", Wenxian tongkao (
 !) gives


 , which is taken here as the phrase that is more understandable.

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

315

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

316

17 Nagapattinam_App II (CH)

Noboru Karashima and Tansen Sen

316

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

317

Index

INDEX

A Aarayirappadi Guruparampara Prabhava, 118 Abbasid dynasty, 2 Abraham, Meera, xiv, 2, 67, 68, 135– 36, 166n3, 243 Abu-Lughod, Janet L., 64, 155n26 Abu Zaid, 66 Achyudha Vikrantha, 104 Aden, 2, 3, 23 Adittaraja, 204 Agastya, 214, 218, 220, 225 Aihole, 54, 136, 143 Ainurruva merchant guild, 135–57 inscriptions, 93, 183, 289 organization, 51, 174 origins, 54–55, 143, 151, 152 relation with Chola state, xviii, 80, 151, 181, 183 religion, 173–74 trade with Southeast Asia, 210 see also merchant guilds of South India Airavatesvara temple, 252 Airlangga, xvii, 166n8, 231, 232–37 Aiyer, K.V. Subrahmanya, 125, 128, 135 Aja’ib al-Hind, 79 Ajanta Caves, 184 Akkasalai temple, 173

Alahana Parivana, 205 Alaungsithu, 198, 199 al-Maqdisi, 2 Alur, 88 Amaravati, xiii, 202 Amoghavajra, 65 Amritaghateshvara temple, 279 Ananda, 197, 200 Anantavarmadeva, 164 Anawrahta, 196, 197 Andaman Islands, xvi, 169, 311n51 Andhra Pradesh, 12, 13, 53t, 54, 141, 170 Angkor emergence, 3–4 Indian textiles in, 182, 185, 187, 188 relations with the Cholas, 7–8, 12, 183 temple layout, 205 Angkor Wat, 188 Aniruddha, 237 Anjuvannam merchant guild, 158–67 activities, 94, 149, 174 grouping of foreign merchants, xviii, 54, 136, 148 other guilds and, 51, 158 see also merchant guilds of South India An Lushan (
 ) rebellion, 62 317

317

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

317

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

318

Index

Annaimangalam, 125 Annamalai, E., 20 Annapota Reddi, 50, 60n12 Anuradhapura art and architecture, 202 Buddhist links, 104, 105, 106 inscription, 88, 201 Sinhalese kingdom, 194, 195, 197 see also Polonnaruva; Sri Lanka Appar, Saint, xvii, 107–108 Arab traders, 160, 162, 165, 180, 242, 256, 311n52 Arabia, 23, 29, 40, 228, 307 Arabic language, xviii, 160, 165, 247, 256, 260f, 266n29, 267n37 archaeological excavations of Ancient Mataram, 236 at Gangaikondacholapuram, 96– 101 at Periyapattinam, 20–60 at Polonnaruva, 193–94, 201–205 in Southeast Asia, 208 in Tamil Nadu, 243 Archaeological Survey of India, 121, 172, 278 Archaeological Survey of Tamil Nadu, xvii architecture brahmanical influence, 186 Chola influence, xiii, 10 Nagapattinam pagoda, 109–18, 128–30 Pallava influence, xiii, 10, 112f Polonnaruva, 202 Quanzhou Siva temple, 245–69 temple construction, 108, 110 Arthashastra, 179 Arunachalam, B., 78, 80, 81, 82, 87, 88, 89n3, 93 Ashoka, 178 Ashokavardhana, 105–106 astronomy, 81, 82–83 Athipatta Nayanar, Saint, 120

Aung Maung Htin, 194, 196, 198, 199, 200 Ayodhya, 202 Ayyanadikal Tiruvadi, 159 Ayyar, Venkatarama K.R., 135, 138 Ayyavole merchant guild community in Barus, 10 disappearance, 166 inscriptions, 93, 163 name, 181 organization, 51, 164–65, 174, 286 peak of activities, 12 relation with Cholas, xviii, 2, 9 see also merchant guilds of South India B Babat, 233, 235 Baghdad, 2 Balaputra, 17 Balaputradeva, 67, 230, 232 Bali, 181, 184, 186, 227 Ban Gu (
), 243 Bana, 185 Banda Aceh, 288 Bangka Island, 228, 312n55 Bangka Straits, 228 Barrett Jones, A.M., 167 Barus Chola attack, 87 inscription, 10, 56, 143, 164, 183, 210, 225, 285–86 situation, 81, 212 batik, 186, 190 Bay of Bandon, 87 Bay of Bengal Chola dominance, 68, 80, 176 cultural exchange across, xiii navigation of, 80–81, 82–83, 87 rivalry in, 5, 6, 8 trade patterns, xviii, 12, 13, 180 Bayon, 188 Bell, H.C.P., 194, 203, 204, 205

318

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

318

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

319

Index

Bengal, 14, 100, 169 Bengawan Solo River, 235 Bhagadatta, 187 Bhaskara Ravi, 54, 149, 160, 163 Bhatari, 236 Bielenstein, Hans, 66 Bihar, 169, 230 Bode, Mabel, 104, 105, 107, 130n5 Bodhidharma, 105 Boechari, 232 Borobudur, 4 Brahma, 216 Brahmanism, 180, 184, 186 Brahmi script, 208 Brantas River, 234, 235 Brihadisvara temple, xvii, 78, 97, 184 British Library, 128 Buddhadutta, Thera, 104–105 Buddhaghosa, Thera, 104–105 Buddhamangalam, 104 Buddhism Buddha’s tooth relic, 129, 197, 204 in China, 266n28 iconography, 185 influence in Southeast Asia, xiii, 5 in international relations, 12, 73, 109–18 in Java, 233, 236 literature, 103–105, 109, 179, 185 Mahayana, 204 maritime trade and, 180 in South India, 103–109, 173–74, 194 in Sri Lanka, 193, 194, 195–96, 197, 199–200 in Srivijaya, 65, 67, 79, 229–30 Theravada, 104–105, 197–98, 200 Budi-Utomo, Bambang, 230, 231 Burma Indian textiles in, 185 merchant guilds in, 12, 54, 136, 138, 183, 286–87 navigation routes, 81

Pagan empire, 4, 69 place name identification, 194, 196, 311n51 relations with Sri Lanka, 197–200 war with Tamils, 196 see also Pagan Burrows, S.M., 194, 205 C Cakravartin, 233 Cambodia architecture, 204 ceramic finds in Java, 236 Indian influence, 184, 190 Khmer empire, 168 relations with Southeast Asia, 198, 200–201 relations with the Cholas, 12, 183, 184 see also Angkor Candi Singasari, 218 Canton (
), 9–10, 87, 118 Cefu Yuangui (


), 110 Central Asia, 227 ceramics archaeology, 20–60, 236 firing techniques, 29 history of trade, 21, 36 in South India, xvi, 13, 183–84 in Sri Lanka, xvi, 205 types found, 26, 29, 36, 40, 51 Ceylon see Sri Lanka Chaffee, John, 65 Chaiya, 4, 87 Chalukya dynasty, 76, 92, 96, 135, 150, 169 Champa, 3, 5, 7, 168, 184, 188, 229. see also Vietnam Champakalakshmi, R., 68, 135, 136, 138 Champassak, 271 Chandrabanu, 154, 201 319

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

319

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

320

Index

Chao Kang, 62 Chappata, 200 Chappata Stupa, 202 Chekachai Khan, 251, 287 Chennai, 94, 98, 108, 163 Chera kingdoms, 76, 166n5, 169, 195, 286 Chidian village, 249 Chilka Lake, 13 China economic history, 62 importance of markets, 61–65, 175, 180 Indian textiles in, 180 maritime trade, xv, xix, 5, 9, 62–65, 117, 175 relations with Southeast Asia, 5, 6, 8, 9 relations with South India, 57, 176, 242–43 sailing routes, 87 South Indian artefacts in, xix, 13, 231 Chinchani, 161 Chinese language, 22, 244, 247, 250– 51, 295, 301 Chola empire art, xiii, xix, 10–11, 68, 176–77, 184–90, 208–26, 230 concept of kingship, 184 emblem, 209 emergence, 2, 3, 5, 56, 168, 169– 71, 174, 195 military organization, 88, 92–93 peak period, 230 relations with China, xv, 8, 9, 11, 68–74, 183–84 relations with Southeast Asia, xv, 12 taxation system, 85, 92 Chola invasions chronology, xvi, 61, 68 countries affected, xviii, 3, 9, 76, 169–70

historical context, xiii–xv, 1–19, 68 reasons for, xiv, xvi, 61, 68–72, 79– 80, 171–72, 175, 211 Tanjavur inscription, 1, 77–78, 85, 87 Chola navy ensign, 84 logistics and provisioning, 84–86 navigational expertise, xvi, 80–81, 83–84, 91 strength, 88–89 types of vessels, xvii, 77, 83, 93, 94, 179 Chola-Srivijaya relations Chinese misperception of, 68–69, 72 Chola attacks, 68, 70, 79–80, 230 Nagapattinam in, 6, 121–28, 172– 73, 181–82, 211, 230 trade matters, 61, 70–74, 79, 88, 243 Cholamandala, 12, 178 Christian traders, 54, 136, 158–60, 162, 165, 242–43 Christie, J. Wisseman, 10, 166n8, 290n10 Chudamanivarman, 67 Chulamanivarman, 125–26, 128, 172, 176, 273, 275 Chulamanivarma Vihara, 126, 273, 275 Chulias, 14 Chulin, 71 Clark, Hugh R., 73 Cochin, xx, 160 Coedès, George on Airlangga, 237 on art and architecture, 202 on Buddhist history, 194, 198, 200 place name identification, 78, 171, 201, 230, 311n54 on Srivijayan history, 229, 232 colandia, 83, 179

320

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

320

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

321

Index

Coomaraswamy, Ananda, 204, 251 Coromandel Coast ceramic finds, xvi, 22, 47 Chola conquest, 3, 178 Kublai Khan’s envoys to, 242 name, 178 textiles, 182, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190 trade restrictions on, 175 trading communities, xviii, 80, 163, 172 vessel types, 94 cotton trade, 179. See also textiles trade Cudamani Vihara, 6, 79, 181, 230, 282 Cultural Revolution, 249 D Da Nang, 188 Da-ba-dan (
 ), 21–22 Dahana Pura, 235, 236 Dai-Viet (
), 3 Damais, L., 232 Dambulla, 106 dance, 184, 190 Dandabhukti, 76 Daoyi Zhilue (
 !), 21–22, 38 Darasuram, 252, 253, 261 Davids, Rhys T.W., 104 De Casparis, J.G., 234, 235, 236, 237 Deccan Plateau, 76 Deccan Sultanate, 13 Delhi Sultanate, 13, 14 Description of Barbarian Peoples, 241 see also Zhufan zhi (
 ) Devanika, 284 Devapala, 67, 132 Devaraya I, 162 Devare, H., xviii, 178–92 Dewapaladewa, 230 Dhammapala, Acharya, 104–107, 130n5

Dhammasoka Maharaja Vihara, 105– 106 Dharanindravarman, 67 Dharmadam, 22 Dharmakirti, 198 Dharmawangsa Teguh, 229, 232 Dieng Plateau, xix, 214 Dikshit, G.S., 135 Ding Yuling (
 ), 263n1 Dravidian language, 180 Drawidas, 10 Durga, 214, 215, 217, 220 Dvaravati kingdom, 190 E East Africa, 14 East Java, xix Egypt, 188 see also Fatimid dynasty elephants, 198–99, 296 Elliot, Sir Walter, 116f, 128–29 Eran Sadaiyan, 124 European traders, 57–58, 74, 135, 256 F Fatimid dynasty, xv, 2, 5 Faxian (
), 86, 90n31, 180, 229 Fa-Yu (
), 229 Filliozat, Jean, 80 Five Dynasties period (
), 62 Forbes, J., 193 Formosa, 176 Fujian (
), 29, 31f, 32f, 63, 182, 242, 266n31, 267n36 Funan (
), 87 Fustat, 188 Fuzhou (
), 242, 259, 266n31 G Gal Vihara, 203 Gama, Vasco da, 153 Ganapati, 13, 47 Gandha Vamsa, 104, 105, 107 321

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

321

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

322

Index

Ganesa, 214, 215, 217, 219, 221, 225 Gangaikondacholapuram, xvi, xvii, 40, 45f, 96–101, 125, 169, 309n24 Ganges, 9, 76, 96, 170, 171 Ganguly, O.C., 218 Garasakan, 235, 236 Garuda, 186, 218 Genghis Khan, 241–42 Gerini, G.E., 80 Glass Palace Chronicle, 196 Gopinatha Rao, T.A., 158, 161, 166nn1–3 Gopurappatti, 218 Grantha script, 183, 210 Gresik, 236 Guangdong (
), 29, 100 Guangzhou (
) in China-Southeast Asia relations, 8, 65, 70, 71, 229 inscriptions, 72, 244, 305 in maritime trade, 63, 293, 312n60 sailing to, 295, 299 Song dynasty outpost, 242 Guanyin (
), 249 Guilin (
), 293–94 Guillot, Claude, 291n12 Gujarat, 2, 108, 149, 182, 189 Gulf of Mannar, 91, 164, 174 Gulf of Siam, 3, 7, 87 Gundert, H., 158, 160¢B Guntur, 47 Gunung Tua, 11 Gupta dynasty, 104, 215, 225 Guy, John, 243 H Haji Wengker, 233 Haji Wurawari, 232, 233 Hall, Kenneth R., 67, 68, 70, 135, 138, 211, 230 Han dynasty, 62, 180 Hanuman, 244, 266n28 Hardy, E., 105

Hariharan, S., 218 Haripunjaya, 204 Harshacharitra, 185 Hartwell, Robert, 63, 64, 66 Hasin, 233 Heitzman, James, 68 He-luo-dan (
 ), 16n21, 180 Hervey de Saint-Denys, Marquis d’, 294–95, 308n14, 310n33 Hinduism clothing and, 188 iconography, 185–86, 190 influence on Southeast Asia, xiii, 5, 180 mythology, 154n8, 184, 186, 190 in Nagapattinam, 107–34, 174 in Quanzhou, 176, 240–69 in Sri Lanka, 193 Hirth, Friedrich, 295, 311n51 Hocart, A.M., 203 Hoole, Elijah, 129 Hsuen Tsang (
), 106, 108–109, 131n10, 131n16, 194, 266n28 Huang Chao (
), 63 huiyao (
), 293 Huizong (
), 69 Hujung Galuh, 235 Hultzsch, Eugen, 78, 158, 171, 210, 285 I Ibn Battuta, 38, 163, 242, 265n16 Ibn Khurdadhbih, 66 Ievers, R.W., 193 ikat textiles, 186, 189 Ilamuridesam, 87, 170, 212, 230, 280 Ilankasokam, 174, 212, 230, 280 India maritime trade and, 3, 179–80, 227 relations with China, xiv, 117, 242 relations with Southeast Asia, xiii–xiv, 1, 5, 6, 176–77, 179–80, 228 in Xuanzang’s travels, 194

322

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

322

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

323

Index

Indian Ocean trade system arrival of Europeans, xiii, 135 China’s influence, xv, 62–65, 72– 74, 117 commodities, 55, 169, 180 early period, 209, 227, 243 inscriptional evidence, 47 language spoken, 183 major powers, xv, 3, 168 role of Cholas, xviii, 12, 67–72 role of Islam, 13–14 role of Srivijaya, 67–72 Roman period, 135, 179 routes, 76, 174, 243 scholarship on, 135 structure and organization, xviii, 73, 168–69 see also merchant guilds of South India Indonesia Anjuvannam merchant guild, 165 Brahmanism in, 186 Chola expansionism and, xviii, 76, 243 Hinduism and Buddhism in, 229 South Indian cultural links, 208–26 South Indian inscriptions, xiii, 136, 164, 288–89 textiles, 186, 189 Indra, 184 Indraditya, 203 Indrapala, K., 91, 94n1, 135, 138 inscriptions Aihole, 143 Andhra Pradesh, 149–50 Anuradhapura, 88, 201 Ashoka, 178 Baligami, 149 Baru, 233, 234 Barus, 10, 56, 143, 164, 183, 210, 225, 285–86 Bedkihal, 142, 145 Belur, 140

Brumbun, 235 Budumuttawa, 138 Cane, 233, 234, 236 Champassak, 271, 284 Chera, 158–61, 163 Chidambaram, 283 content, 92, 137–41 Devanagala, 199 distribution, 53, 136–37, 231 Drujugurit, 235 Esalam, 78, 127 Galle, 266n29 Gandhakuti, 235 Guangzhou, 11, 71, 244, 305 Hujung Langit, 232 Kaikini, 162 Kakurugan, 233, 234 Kalyani, 128, 129 Kamalagyan, 234, 235 Kambang Putih, 235, 236 Kamudi, 142 Kannada, 92, 139, 152, 161, 162, 165 Karandai, 278 Katemas, 235 Kerala, 54, 149 Kochi plates, 54, 149 Kollam plates, 54 Konerirajapuram, 137 Kota Kapur, 232 Kottayam plates, 54, 149, 160 Kovilpatti, 55, 139, 140, 150 Krishnapattinam, 93 Kurugodu, 149 Kusambyan, 235 languages, 241, 244, 247, 250, 266n29 Lawan, 235 Lemahbang, 235 Ligor A, 229 Mayilappur, 163 Motupalli, 12–13, 49f, 50f, 154n15 Munggut, 235 323

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

323

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

324

Index

Munisandai, 138 Nagapattinam, 121–25, 172–73, 271, 275–78 Nakhon Si Thammarat, 12, 183 Nalanda, 229–30, 232 Neusu Aceh, 271, 288–89 Northern Konkan, 161 Pagan, 12, 54, 55f, 138, 225, 286– 87 Pallava, 121 Pamwatan, 235, 236 Pandan, 235 Pasar Legi, 235 Patakan, 236 Perumber, 280 Piranmalai, 55, 139, 148, 150 Polonnaruva, 155n24 Pucak Wangi, 235 Pucangan, 233, 234, 235 Puttur, 68 Quanzhou (
), 13, 57, 250, 287–88 Rengel, 235 Samuttirapatti, 138 Sarkar Periyapalaiyam, 139, 140, 145, 148 scholarship on, 135–36 Sdok Kak Thom, 7 Sendang Gede, 235 Silet, 234 Sirkazhi, 92 Sugio, 235 Sumber Sari I and II, 235 Takuapa, 210, 284 Tanjavur, 1, 77–78, 85, 87 Tanjore, 160, 169, 183, 229, 230 Terdal, 149 Terep, 233, 235 Thiruvarur, 121 Tirukkadaiyur, 271, 279–80 Tiruvalangadu, 68, 290n1 Tiruvidandai, 98 Tittandatanapuram, 148, 150

Turunhyang A., 235, 236 types, 138 Viharehinna, 54, 138–39, 144, 148 Vishakapatnam, 150, 163–64 Vo-Canh, 80 Wat Khlong Thom, 283 Islam, 13, 189 see also Muslim trade Isthmus of Kra, 4, 7, 12, 170, 183 Italian language, 247 Iyer, K.V. Subrahmanya, 125, 128, 135 J Jainism, 154 Jakarta National Museum, 57, 210, 219, 221, 285 Jambi, xix, 12, 87, 213, 306, 311n54 Janggala, 235 Japan, 21 Java art and architecture, 214 He-luo-dan (
 ), 16n21 Indian cultural influence, 184, 186 Indian textiles in, 183, 186–87, 188, 189, 190 relations with Srivijaya, 228–29, 231–32, 234, 237 sailing to, 81 statuary, 182 Taruma Nagara, 180 trading communities, xviii, 165, 181 see also Airlangga; Mataram Java Sea, xviii, 8 Javanese language, 232 Javanese script, 223 Jayabahu, 197 Jayakumar, P., 121, 124 Jayamkondan, 170 Jayawarman VII, 200 Jeeyar, Pinbazhagiya Perumal, 118 Jesuits, 129 Jewish traders, 54, 136, 158, 160–62 Jinjiang county (
 ), 241, 249

324

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

324

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

325

Index

Jiu Tang Shu (
 ), 110 Johore, 170 Jombang, 233, 235, 236 Joseph Rabban, 54, 149, 160 Jurchens, 63 K Kadaram identification as Kedah, 87, 171, 172, 209, 212 inscriptions, 125, 271 Kulottunga and, 11, 12 Rajendra’s attack, 96, 170, 175, 230, 231, 272, 279–80, 305 Sailendra dynasty, 79, 127 Srivijayan capital, 9, 11, 173 trade, 174, 181 Kadiyalur Uruthirangkannanar, 103 Kahuripan, 234, 235 Kaiyuan Temple, 244, 245–69 Kakadvepa, 198 Kakatiya dynasty, 13, 47, 60n12, 152 Kakawin Arjunawiwaha, 234 Kalabhra dynasty, 104 Kalahasti, 184 kalam, xvii, 93 Kalamkari, 184, 190 Kali, 249 Kalinga, 9, 100, 180–81, 193, 201 Kalingattupparani, 97, 170 Kallanai, 169 Kambang Putih, 235, 236 Kambar, 97 Kamboja, 183, 271, 278, 283 see also Angkor; Cambodia Kanchipuram, 104–105, 106, 109, 185, 200 Kannada language, 92, 139, 152, 161, 162, 165, 181 Kapad, 153 Karashima, Noboru on Anjuvannam merchant guild, 162

on Chinese ceramics, xvi, 20–60, 100 edition of historical texts, xv, xx, 271–315 on merchant guild inscriptions, xvii– xviii, 135–57, 208, 210, 223 on Song shi, 72 Karikala, 103 Karikalan, 169 Karnataka Chola empire, 170 cotton production, 181 inscriptions, xviii, 88, 138, 139, 141–43, 150–52 merchant guild activities, 51, 53t, 54, 149 seat of Chalukya dynasty, 135 Karonasvamin temple, 275, 276, 277 Kasinathan, Natana, 130n1 Kasyapa, 198 Kataha, 172, 273, 274 see also Kadaram; Kedah kattu-maran, 83 Kaveri delta, 171, 174, 231, 240 Kaveripattinam, 179 Kavirippompattinam, 103–105, 107– 108, 111f, 130, 136, 174 Kayal, xvi, 23, 174 Kayarohanaswamin temple, 110, 115f, 118, 121 Kedah historical names for, 68, 87, 124, 172, 209, 305, 311n52 inscriptions, 124–25 strategic location, 87, 228 Kedah Peak, 87 Keezchembi Nadu, 124 Kei Island, 227 Kerala Chola invasion, 9, 170 merchant guild activities, 94, 140, 150, 154n7, 161–63, 286 merchant guild inscriptions, 53, 54, 136, 141, 149 325

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

325

11/4/09, 1:05 PM

326

Index

name for places of worship, 166n6 place name identification, 22 Khitans, 63 Khlong Thom District, 283 Khmer Empire, 168, 187, 196, 201, 237 see also Angkor; Cambodia Khuan Luk Pat, 183, 208–209, 210 Khum Luk Pat, 283 Kidaram, 87, 172, 275, 276, 277 see also Kadaram; Kedah Kil-Chembinadu, 173 Kilvelur, 103 Kiri Vehera, 202, 203 Klings, 10, 14, 181, 187 Kodiakarai, 82 Kodumbalur, 161, 217 Kollam, 54, 149, 159, 160, 163, 314n106 Kollama, xvi, 29, 36f, 37f, 40 Kondavidu, 60 Konkan coast, 163, 165 Korea, 21 Kosala, 76 Kota Cina, 11 Kottapatnam, 51, 52f Kottayam, 149, 159, 160 Kozhikode, 163 Krian, 233 Krian Sidoarjo, 235 Krishna, 259 Krishnan, K.G., 211, 278, 290n1 Krishnapattinam, 93, 163 Ksatria Mahapurusa, 233 Kshatriyasikamani-valanadu, 121, 126, 274–75, 277, 278 Kublai Khan, xvii, 110, 242, 287 Kucha (
), 69, 312n63 Kudu, 235 Kulke, Hermann, xv, 1–19, 72 Kulottunga I inscriptions, 11, 71, 173, 280–82, 283, 285, 305

reign, 11, 98, 125, 127, 243 relations with China, 183 relations with Srivijaya, 11–12, 67, 71, 72 temple grants, 176, 211, 212, 244, 280–82 Kulottunga III, 123 Kumara Gupta I, 104 Kunnattur, 29, 35f Kurakkeni-Kollam, 159, 163 Kuwata, Rokuro, 306 Kyanzittha, 12, 196, 197 L Lakshwadeep archipelago, 76, 169 Lampung, 232 Langkasuka, 187, 194, 230, 280 Laos, 3, 284 Lapian, A.B., 228 Latin language, 247 Le May, Reginald, 203, 204 Lee, Risha, xix–xx, 240–70 Leiden plates larger, 6, 125–27, 172–73, 230, 265n26, 272–75 smaller, 12, 125, 127–28, 129, 176, 280–82, 306 Leiden University Museum, 125 Li Yibiao (
 ), 117 Liang Wudi (
 ), 105 Liangshu (
), 187 lighthouses, 82 Ligor, 4, 87, 197 Lingwai daida (
 !), 29, 292– 95, 304–305, 314n93 Loboe Toewa fragment, 176, 285–86. see also Lobu Tua Lobu Tua, 212, 285 Lokateikpan temple, 185 Lopburi, 201 M Ma Duanlin (


), 110, 293

326

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

326

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

327

Index

Maabar, 57 Maclean, C.D., 94 Madamalingam, 170, 212, 230 Madhurantaka, 125 Madras, 94 Madurai, 104, 105, 179 Madurai District, 29, 47, 171 Madurai Government Museum, 29, 47 Madurai Sultanate, 13 Magadhi language, 200 Magha, 193, 201 Mahabharata, 179, 190 Mahabrahmana, 233, 236 Mahalingam, T.V., 162 Mahaprajnaparamita, 118 Maharashtra, 53t Mahavamsa, 193, 196, 198, 199 Mahaveli River, 194 Mahendravarman Pallava, 107 Mahinda, 195 Mahipala, 169, 231 Mahishasuramardini, 214, 220, 225 Mairudingam, 170 Majapahit empire, 187 Majumdar, R.C., xvi, 68, 126, 231 Malabar Coast Anjuvannam merchant guild, 136 ceramic finds, xvi Chola expansionism, 76 importance to Cholas, 2, 3 Kublai Khan’s envoys to, 242 trading communities, xviii, 54 Malacca, 14 Malacca Strait see Straits of Malacca Malaiyur, 174, 280 Malay Archipelago, 211, 212 Malay language, 11, 232 Malay Peninsula Buddhism in, 197–98, 202 Chandrabanu invasion of Sri Lanka, 154n7

merchant guild inscriptions, 137 place name identification, 171, 309n23 sailing routes and ports, 87, 174 Srivijayan control of, 7, 9, 11 subjugation by Angkor, 3–4, 7 Tamil expeditions to, xvi, 150, 180 see also Chola invasions; Srivijaya Malaysia, 76, 124, 125, 180, 209 Maldives Chola conquest, 3, 6, 9, 76, 169, 170 identification in sources, 91, 94n1 Tamil expeditions to, xvi Maloney, Clarence, 94n1 Mamallapuram, 108, 110, 118, 174 Manakkavaram, 78, 86, 87, 170, 212 Manatunga, A., xix, 193–207 Manguin, Pierre-Yves, 311n54 Manigramam merchant guild, 158–67 inscriptions, 137, 149, 181, 284, 290n8 in Isthmus of Kra, 10, 225 organization, 51, 54, 150, 174, 181 peak of activities, 12 relations with Chola state, xviii, 2, 9 scholarship on, 135–36 see also merchant guilds of South India Manikapatnam, 13 Manorathapurani, 105 Mantai, 40, 150, 164 Mao Zedong (
 ), 267 Mapappalam, 170, 174, 212 Mara Vijayottungavarman, 125, 127, 172 marakkalam, xv, 93, 94 Marakkanam, 174 Marathi-Sanskrit, 165 Marco Polo, 23, 47, 110, 128, 182, 242, 243 maritime trade. See Indian Ocean trade system 327

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

327

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

328

Index

Ma’sudi, 4 Masulipattinam, 182 Mataram, 4, 8, 229, 232, 234 Mathura, 109, 131n16 Mayirudingan, 174, 212 Mazu (
), 247 Mebon, 205 Medan, 87 Mediterranean Sea, 62, 64, 77, 174, 179, 227 Meenakshisundararajan, A., xviii, 168– 77 Melthondrip Pattinam, 124 Menon, A.G., 230 Merbok River, 87 merchant guilds of South India competition among, 244 effect on Srivijayan trade, 70 ethno-cultural heterogeneity, 244–45 Europeans and, 58 inscriptions, 10, 47, 50, 51, 53, 54, 93–94 maritime trade system and, xviii organization, 51, 54–55, 136, 138, 144–49 protection, 139, 147, 174 role in Chola power, xiv, xvii, 2, 174, 231, 243–44 scholarship on, 135–36 in Southeast Asia, 80 Zheng He and, 58 Meru, Mount, 185–86, 204, 273 Midnapur, 76 Milinda Panho, 103 Minangkabau, 190 Minayeff, Professor, 107 Ming dynasty, 14, 36, 74, 180, 241, 245, 266n29, n34 Minochant Pagoda, 197 Minshinsaw, 199 Modelski, George, 64 Modi, J.J., 161 Mojokerto, 233, 235, 236

Moluccas, 4 Mongolia, 241 Monier-Williams, 194 Mookerji, Radha Kumud, 82 Motupalli, 12, 47, 51, 60n12 Mpu Kanwa, 234 Mumbai, 161 Muslim trade in Chinese markets, 64–65, 243 influence on Cholas, 2 merchant guilds and, 54, 136, 146, 160, 162, 165–66 Muvar Ula, 97 Muziris, 174 Myanmar see Burma Mysore, 151 N Naga, 186 Nagai, see Nagapattinam Naganatha temple, 118 Nagapattinam, 102–34 archaeological finds, 103 centre of Chola power, xvii, 82, 179 Chinese artefacts in, 13, 109–18, 244 emergence as port, 107–109 historical sources on, xvii, 102–34 identification from sources, 103, 105 textile trade, 182–83 trading communities, xviii, 162 see also Leiden plates Nagaswamy, R., 163, 287 Nakhon Pathon, 205 Nakhon Si Thammarat, 12, 197, 202– 203, 210 Nakhon Si Thammarat Museum, 284 Nalanda, 17, 67, 105, 126, 132n39, 229–30 Nanadesi merchant guild activities, 174–75, 181 inscriptions, 12, 50, 136 meaning of term, 51, 148, 149, 286, 289

328

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

328

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

329

Index

see also merchant guilds of South India Nandhivarman II Pallavamalla, 118, 119 Nandhivarman III, 119, 210, 225 Narasimhavarman Pallava I, 108 Narasimhavarman Pallava II, xvii, 109–18, 119, 128, 265n27 Narathu, 199–200 Narayanan, M.G., 166n5 Nellore, 51, 93, 163 Netolitzky, Almut, 295 Netti-pakarana attakatha, 105 Ngimbang, 235 Nicholas, C.W., 195 Nicobar Islands Chola invasions, 1, 169, 231 place name identification, 78, 170, 311n51 port of call, 81, 86, 314n106 Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. on Barus inscription, 56, 285 on Chinese sources, 110 on Chola art, 217 on Chola ensign, 84 on Chola invasions, xiv, 1, 61, 68, 80, 171, 195, 290n1 on Chola-Srivijaya relations, xvi on Magha of Kalinga, 201 on place names, 78, 91 on the Sinhalese, 196 on South Indian trade, 79 Nissankamalla, 193, 200, 201, 202, 204, 205 Niyogi, Puspa, 67 Northern Song dynasty (
 ), 312n66 Nusa Tenggara, 227 O Oc Eo, 87 Odra-visaya, see Orissa Onang Kiu, 71

Orissa, 3, 13, 76, 100, 154n7, 169 Ottakkoothar, 170 overland trade routes, 63, 73 see also Silk Road P padavu, 94 Pagan architecture, 4, 185, 202 relations with China, 11, 69 relations with Chola state, 12 relations with Sri Lanka, 196, 198 role in trade with China, 4 South Indian merchants in, 12, 54 see also Burma Pahang, 312n56 Palaiya-Kayal, 29 Palembang, 12, 66, 81, 87, 181, 212, 311n54 Pali, 103–4, 105, 193 Palk Strait, 91 Pallava dynasty Bodhidharma, 105 contribution to Chola power, 68 cultural influence, xiii, 10, 112f, 184, 210, 225 maritime trade under, 209 Nagapattinam and, 107–18 Pallava Grantha inscriptions, xiii, 232 Pallavavankka, 198 palli, 166n6 Panaimalai, 109 Pandalayini-Kollam, xvi, 38, 39f, 163 Pandarattar, T.V. Sadasiva, 162 Pandukabhaya, 194 Pandya dynasty defeat by Delhi Sultanate, 152 inscriptions, 284 Maabar, 57 maritime trade under, 23, 80 Polonnaruva and, 201 port of Periyapattinam, 23 wars with Cholas, 84, 96, 98, 169, 195 329

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

329

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

330

Index

Pang Yuanying (
 ), 306 Panikkar, K.M., 231 Pannai, 87, 170, 174, 230, 280 Panthagu, Sangaraja, 199–200 Papanchasudani, 105 paradesi merchant guild, 148 Parakesari-Varman Rajendra-Chola I, 169 Parakramabahu, 93, 193, 198, 199, 200, 202 Paranavitana, Senarath, 197, 198, 199, 201, 202 Parantaka Chola I, 121 Parsees, 161, 162, 165 Parvati Devi, 201 Pasai, 164, 166n7 Patani, 87 Pathmanathan, S., 136 Pattinak Kootram, 121, 126 Pattinappalai, 103, 171–72, 179, 209 pearl trade, 174 Pelliot, Paul, 311n51, 312n57 Penang, 87, 170 Penanggungan, Mount, 235 Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 178–79 Periyapattinam, xvi, 21–23, 174, 290 Periyapuram, 97 Persia, 77, 228 Persian Gulf, 2, 14, 23, 63, 68, 176 Persian language, 183, 247, 266n29, 267n37 Persian traders, 160, 165, 242, 256 Perum patan touchstone, 208 Phetchaburi province, 185 Phra Kru Athon Sangarakit Museum, 283 Phra Tat, 202 Polonnaruva, 193–207 archaeological evidence, 193–94, 201–205 architectural influence, 202–203 capital of Sri Lanka, 193, 195 Chola control, xix, 9, 174

seat of Sinhalese dynasty, 154n7 see also Sri Lanka Pompuhar, 183 Porunararuppadai, 179 Potalaka mountains, 109 Pothgul Vehera, 204, 205 Prambanan, xix, 4, 216, 218 Pranarai Hill, 184 Pre Rup, 205 Prematilleke, P.L., 194, 203, 205 Provincial Museum of Nanggroe Aceh, 288 Ptolemy, 80, 103, 179 Pu-gan, 292, 302, 304, 306, 307 Pujavaliya, 197 Purananuru, 171 Pu Shougeng (
 ), 242, 264n10 Pu Sindok, 234 Q Qianlong (
), 110 Qing dynasty (
), 266n34 Qingyuan (
), 247 Quanzhou (
), 240–69 foreign traders in, xix, 57, 65, 241, 242 multicultural nature, 247, 251, 256, 262–63 role in maritime trade, xx, 63, 243, 293, 312n60 sailing to, 302 Siva temple in, 240–41, 244–69, 287–88 South Indian artefacts in, xix, 13, 57, 176 Tamil-speaking community in, 240, 256 Quanzhou Maritime Museum (

 !"#$%), 245, 247, 253, 263n1 Quilon, xvi, 29, 175, 314n106 see also Kollama

330

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

330

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

331

Index

R Radha, 76 Rahula, 200, 203 Raja Iskandar, 71 Raja Shulan, 71 Raja Vihara, 105 Rajadhiraja I, 68, 98, 122t, 151 Rajadhiraja II, 123t Rajamanickanar, M., 119 Rajaraja art and architecture, 110, 184, 230 expansionism, 3, 68, 79, 91, 96, 169, 174, 231 inscriptions, 121, 122, 169 Leiden grants, 6, 12, 125–28, 172– 73, 212 maritime trade under, 77, 181, 183, 231 Polonnaruva and, 193, 195 relations with Chinese, 8, 151 relations with Southeast Asia, 210 Rajaraja II, 123 Rajaraja III, 13 Rajaram, S., 20 Rajasimha, xvii, 109–18, 119, 128 Rajasuriyar, G.K., 84 Rajendra I capital, xvi culture under, 230 expansionism, 1, 3, 68, 79, 91, 96, 169, 174, 231 invasion of Srivijaya, 1–2, 61–75 maritime trade under, 77 other inscriptions, 68, 121–27, 173–75, 278–79 prasasti inscription, xiii, 1, 77–78, 93, 170, 211, 279–80 relations with China, 40, 84, 100 relations with Khmers, 183 relations with Southeast Asia, 210 relations with Srivijaya, 6, 8, 121– 24 see also Chola invasions

Rajendra II, 122 Rajendra III, 243 Ramachandran, T.N., 131n13 Ramanathapuram, 124 Ramantali, 161 Ramayana, 184, 186, 190, 218, 244 Ramesh, K.V., 2, 161, 162 Ramesvaram, 21 Ramnad coast, 163, 173 Rankoth Vehera, 202, 203 Rashtrakuta dynasty, 3, 68, 161 Rawlinson, H.G., 231 Record of the Buddhist Religion, 109 Record of the Kaiyuan Temple, 245 Red Sea, 2, 14, 72 Reinaud, J.T., 66 rice cultivation, 169 Rockefeller, Mr and Mrs John D., 173 Rockhill, W.W., 295, 311n51 Rohanadheera, Mendis, 201 Roman trade, 135, 179, 183 Rouffaer, G.P., 227–28 S Sadasiva, 7 Saddarma Jotipaha, 200 Sailendra dynasty kings, 172, 229, 230 Nagapattinam temple donations, 6, 79, 126, 128, 181 Nalanda monastery, 17n27, 132n39 relations with Cholas, 121, 125, 127 see also Srivijaya Sailendrawangsatilaka Sri Wirawairimathana, 230 Saivism, 108, 120, 130, 184, 233, 236 see also Hinduism; Siva Sajjanalaya, 202 Sakhuja, Sangeeta, xvi, 76–90 Sakhuja, Vijay, xvi, 76–90 Samanta, 183 Sambandar, Saint Thirugnana, 107– 108 331

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

331

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

332

Index

Sambeng, 235 San-fo-qi (
 ), 7, 36, 172, 229, 305–307, 311n54 Sangam Age, xvii, xix, 103, 104, 171 Sangama Vijayottungavarman, 279 sangara, 83 Sangrama Visaiyottunga varman, 211– 12 Sanskrit language names, 86, 87, 223 in Southeast Asia, 184, 210 texts, xv, 86, 118, 186, 287 words, 125, 180, 181, 309n27 Sapir Iso, Maruvan, 159–60 Saratha Pakshini, 185 Sarkar, H.B., 165 Sasanavamsa, 107 Sathmahal Prasada, 204, 205 Satyasraya, 169 Schafer, Edward H., 63 sculpture Chola influence, 183, 184, 213, 217, 225 evidence for clothing styles, 187, 188, 190 Gupta or post-Gupta influence, 215, 225 influence of Indian textiles, 182 localization of styles, 10–11, 225– 26 in Nagapattinam, 124–25 Pallava influence, 210, 225, 284 Polonnaruva influence, 203 Quanzhou Indic style, 13, 176, 240–69 Sedyawati, Edi, 236 Seevali, 200 Sejarah Melayu, 71 Sekilar, 97 Sen, Tansen on Chola conquests, xiv, xvi, 2, 61– 75 on Chola trade, 243

edition of historical sources, xv, xx, 267n38 on multilingual inscriptions, 266n29 on Quanzhou Siva temple, 265n17 on Srivijayan diplomacy, 8, 11 on Tang dynasty economy, 62, 63 on Vajrabodhi’s voyage, 65 Seshadri, G., xvii, 102–34 Sethuraman, N., 108 Settur, 47 Sevuna dynasty, 152 Shanmugam, P., xvii, xix, 136, 208– 26, 209, 210 Shantang xiansheng qunshu kaosuo (
 !"#$%), 294, 300, 313n86 Shenzong (
), 304 Shi Yuanxian (
 ), 266 Shilin yanyu (
 !), 294, 306 ships, xvii, 77, 83, 93, 94, 179, 314n106 see also Chola navy Shwezigon Pagoda, 197 Siku Quanshu (
 !), 110 Silapadikaram, 179, 180 Silappatikaram, 284 Silk Road, xiii, 9, 63, 174, 179, 227 Simhalam, see Sri Lanka Sing Buri, 201 Singapore, xiv, 72 Sinhala language, 94n1 Sinhalese dynasty, 76, 154, 193, 195, 201 Sircar, D.C., 161, 162, 166n4 Sirisena, W.M., 196–97, 199, 200, 202, 203, 205 Siva in concepts of kingship, 131n26, 184, 190 depictions of, 112f, 124, 215–18 in Hindu pantheon, 131n26, 154n9 in inscriptions, 287, 288

332

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

332

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

333

Index

shrines, 131n23, 216 temples, 45f, 96, 128, 139, 140, 172, 216 see also under Quanzhou Sivakaivalya, 7 Sjafei, Soewadji, 227 Soemadio, Bambang, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233 Sogetu, 242 Somavamsa, 3 Song dynasty (
) artefacts in Sri Lanka, 205 diplomatic relations, 65–67 emergence, xv, 2, 5, 168 Fujian bridges, 267n36 historical sources, xiv, 6, 11, 69, 72, 110, 183, 229, 232, 292 maritime trade, 3, 63–65, 241, 243 official hierarchy, 309n25 relations with Cholas, 56, 67–74 relations with Srivijaya, 68–74 tribute system, 63–64 Song huiyao (
 ), 292–93, 300– 301, 310n27 Songshi (
), 70, 72, 151, 180, 292–95, 305–307, 310n27 South China Sea, xviii South India art and architecture, 97, 186, 202 Chinese artefacts in, 13, 20–60, 109–18, 124, 183–84, 243 Chola expansionism in, 2, 6 dietary habits in, 85, 86 historical evidence, 91, 103 influence on Southeast Asia, xiii, 10–11, 180–92 relations with China, 57, 176, 243 textiles, 178–92 Zheng He’s (
) expeditions, 14 see also Coromandel Coast; Malabar Coast Southeast Asia Chinese artefacts in, 21

Chola invasions, 68 early contacts with India, 208 foreign traders in, 63, 165 Indian textiles in, 178–92 influence of India, xiii merchant guild inscriptions, 53 Southeast Maluku, 227 Southern Song dynasty (
 ), 247, 259 Spencer, George W., xiv, 2, 65, 70, 71, 78, 79, 1712 spice trade, xix, 4, 8, 55, 62, 182, 227 Sri Cudamaniwarmadewa, 229 Sri Gopa, 201 Sri Lanka Buddhism, 104–107, 118, 129 Chinese artefacts in, 40, 205 Chola retreat, 152 cultural links with Southeast Asia, xix, 4 identification in Chinese sources, 309n22 merchant guild activity, 53, 54, 136, 138, 141, 144, 154n7, 231 relations with Burma, 196–200 relations with Cambodia, 201 Tamil expeditions to, xiv vessel types, 94 Zheng He’s (
) expeditions, 14 see also Anuradhapura; Chola invasions; Polonnaruva Sri Maravijayottungavarman, 6, 229, 230 Sri Ranganatha Temple, 119 Sri Sanggramawijayottungawarman, 230 Sri Tri Buana, 72 Sri Udayadityawarman, 229 Sri Wirawaraimathana, 232 Sribuza, 228 Srimara Vijayatunga Varman, 79 Srinivasanallur, 161 Srirangam, 119 333

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

333

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

334

Index

Srisuchat, Tharapong, 210 Srivastava Balram, 84 Srivijaya commodities, 228 control of Malay Peninsula, 3–4 emergence, 227 inscriptions, 228 Mataram and, 4, 5 military strength, 4, 231 monopoly on sandalwood, 7, 66 name, 194, 201 peak of prosperity, 228 position in Malay world, 4 relations with China, 5, 8, 10, 11, 66, 228, 229, 231 strategic location, 65–66 taxes and levies, xiv, 79, 175 trade, 2, 64, 65–67, 181, 194, 211, 231 see also Chola invasions; CholaSrivijaya relations Sriwijaya, see Srivijaya Sthanu Ravi, 54, 149, 159 Straits of Malacca importance to trade, 227–28 Isthmus of Kra as alternative to, 7 navigation through, 81, 83, 86–87 San-fo-qi and, 307 Srivijaya’s control of, xv, 3, 10, 66, 80, 227, 228, 231 Tamil merchants in, 10 stupa construction, 186, 202–203 Subbarayalu, Y. on Chola navy, xvi–xvii, 91–95 edition of historical texts, xv, xx, 10, 57, 288, 291n12 on merchant guilds, xviii, 136, 158–67, 212 Subramanian, T.N., 138, 162, 287 Sukhothai, 188, 203 Sulawesi, 189 Sumatra Chola-influenced sculpture, 11

Chola invasion, 1, 9, 76, 78, 169, 170 inscriptions in or concerning, xvii, 10, 56, 164, 183 place name identification, 171, 311n51 sailing to, 81, 83, 86 seat of Srivijayan kingdom, xiii strategic location, 227 textiles, 186 see also Srivijaya Sun Wukong (
 ), 266n28 Sunda Archipelago, 81 Sunda Straits, 3, 66, 80, 81, 83, 86, 90n31, 228 Sundara Chola, 217 Sundara Maha Devi, 197 Sundarar, Saint, 108, 119–21 Sunga dynasty, 185 Surabaya, 4, 233, 234 Surya, 219 Suryavarman I, 7, 182, 183, 237 Suryavarman II, 12, 182, 185 Susanti, N., xix, 227–39 Suvarnabhumi, 171, 179 Suvarnadwipa, xx, 171, 232 Syriac language, 247 Syrian Christians, 158–60, 165 T Takkolam, 174, 212, 280 Takola, 180 Takuapa, 10, 87, 137, 175, 183, 184, 210, 284 Talakkadu, 161 Tamil language, 22, 162, 183, 208, 221, 230, 247, 250 Tamil Nadu Buddhist links, 104, 119 Chola rule, 135, 169, 170 cotton production, 181 merchant guild activities, 51, 54, 136, 149, 150, 154n7, 161, 162

334

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

334

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

335

Index

merchant guild inscriptions, 53t, 138, 141, 151 relations with Southeast Asia, xix sculptural styles and motifs, 124– 25, 185, 240, 251–52, 259–62 temple motifs, 185 Tamil traders cultural influence, 212–13 Muslim, 14 nautical expertise, xvi, 80–81, 89n3 in Quanzhou, 240–69 relations with Chola court, 70, 243 settlements in Southeast Asia, 10, 181, 231 status in foreign countries, 251 Tan Yeok Seong (
 ), 12, 71, 305 Tanah Genting Kra, 228 Tang dynasty (
), 5, 62, 66, 245, 266n31, 312n70 Tangasseri, 36, 37f Tanguts, 63 Tanjavur Chola capital, 56, 96, 125, 169, 178, 309n24 fabrics, 179 inscription, 1, 77–78, 85, 87 merchant guild activities, 164 paintings, 184 Tanjore, 160, 179, 183, 184, 195, 229, 230 Taruma Nagara, 180, 232 Telugu, 14 Telugu language, 14, 47, 49f, 163, 164 Tenasserim, 309n23 textiles trade, 178–92 diplomacy and, 182, 189 importance, xviii, 55, 175 literary references, 179 patterns and motifs, 182, 185–86, 188 prestige in Southeast Asia, 185, 186–87 ritual use, 189–90 techniques, 182, 185

Thailand architectural styles, 202–205 ceramics from, 51, 52f Chola expansionism, 3 Indian artefacts in, 183, 208–209 Indian influence in, 184, 186 Indian textiles in, 180, 185, 186, 188, 190 local idiom in art, 225–26 merchant guild inscriptions, 136, 231, 283 Thambaratta, 197 Thana District, 161 Thanjavur, see Tanjavur Thanjavur District, 92, 275, 276, 277, 279 Thaton, 196 Theravada Buddhism, see Buddhism Thetkyamuni temple, 185 Thevaram, 107 Thirumangai Azhvar, Saint, 118 Thirunavukkarasar, Saint, xvii, 107– 108 Thiruthondar Thogai, 121 Thiruvarur, 121 Thompson, William R., 64 Thuparama, 203 Tianhou gong temple (
 !), 247 Timor, 81 Tioman Islands, 312n56 Tiruchchirrambalamudaiyar temple, 283 Tiruchirapalli, 169 Tiruvilimilalai, 253 Tisai-Ayirattainnurruvar, 176 Tittandatanapuram, 148, 150, 163 Tobing, Binsar D.L., 232 toni, 94 Topputorrai, 82 Torajas, 189 Tra Kieu, 188 Trang, 87 Trenckner, V., 104 335

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

335

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

336

Index

Trincomalee, xix, 174, 194, 195–96, 198 Tuban, 233, 235, 236 Tuotuo (

), 293 Turkestan, 227 Twitchett, Denis C., 62 U Ula, 170 Uma Mahesvara, 214, 215 Uraiyur, 104, 161, 179 Uttam Chola, 84 Uttarajiva, 200 V Vageeshvara, 198 Vaishnavism, 184 see also Hinduism; Vishnu Vajrabodhi, 65, 117 valenjiyar merchant guild, 174 Valentyn, F., 128 Vanjoor, 103 Vansattappakasini, 194 Vasanthi, S., xvii, 96–101 Vedaranyam, 82 Velgam Vehera, 196 Venga, 76 Venkayya, V., 158, 160 Venkiah, 78 Viengsra, 183 Vietnam ceramics from, 51, 52f Champa empire, 168 Indian influence, 184 inscriptions, 80 place name identification, 312n57 relations with China, 11, 64, 307 sailing routes, 80 sculpture in, 188, 225–26 Vijayabahu I, 193, 196–97 Vijayabahu II, 200 Vijayalaya, 178

Vijayanagar dynasty, 152, 161, 162, 184, 265n21 Vikramabahu, 197 Vikramaditya VI, 151 Vira Raghava, 54, 149, 160 Virachola-valanadu, 140 Virarajendra, 123t, 151, 176, 280, 305 Vishakhapatnam, 163, 164 Vishakhapattanam, 12, 150 Vishnu in concepts of kingship, 184, 190, 233 depictions of, 186, 225, 247, 253, 284 devotional songs, 118, 287 names, 108 temples and shrines, 54, 216, 286, 287 Vishnu Dharmottarapurana, 186 Vyadhapura, 201 W Wade, Geoffrey, xx Wagoner, Phil, 251, 267n39 Wang Bangwei (
 ), 65 Wang Dayuan (
 ), 182, 242, 244 Wang Lianmo (
 ), 263n1 Wang Xuance (
 ), 117 Wat Boromadhatu, 12 Wat Cang Lom, 202 Wat Kukut, 204 Wat Maha Tat, 203 Wat Pa Deng, 205 Wat Phra Pathon, 205 Wat Phra Singh Luang, 202 Wat Phra Sri, 202 Wat Phra Tat Haripunchai, 205 Wat Sri Jum, 203 Wat Yai Suvannaram, 185 Wenchang zalu (
 !), 294, 306 Wenxian tongkao (
 !), 8, 110, 292, 294, 305, 315n110

336

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

336

11/4/09, 1:06 PM

337

Index

West Bengal, 169 Wheatley, Paul, 78 Wibisono, H., 236 Wickremasinghe, D.M.De Z., 200, 201, 204 Wolters, O.W. on Chola raids, 61, 230 place name identification, 311n51, n53, n55 on Srivijaya, 10, 65, 66, 227, 228, 311n54 Wu Wenliang (
 ), 247 Wuratan, 233 Wwatan Mas, 234 X Xiamen University Museum (
 !
 ), 249 Xiyouji (
 ), 109 Xuanzang (
), 106, 108–109, 131n10, 131n16, 194, 266n28 Xu Zizhitongjian changbian (
 !
 ), 294 Y Yang Tingbi (
 ), 13, 242, 265n15, 265n17

Yang Wuquan (
 ), 314n106 Yavabhumi, 232 Yavadwipa, 180 Ye Mengde (
 ), 306 Yijing (
), 65, 106, 109, 228, 229 Yingzong (
), 110 Yogyakarta, 4, 189 Yu, David, 267n38 Yuan dynasty (
), xix, 28f, 57, 74, 241–43, 263, 268n45, 292 Yuan Shi (
), 57, 242, 265n15 Yuhai (
), 294 Yule, Henry, 103 Yu Ying-shih (
 ), 62 Z Zhang Ruyu (
 ), 313n86 Zhao Rugua (
 ), 182, 241, 293–94 Zheng He (
), 14, 57–58, 153 Zhenzong (
), 312n64, n65 Zhou Daguan, 187 Zhou Qufei (
 ), 293–94 Zhufan zhi (
 ), xiv, 2, 292–95, 301–304, 309n21, 310n27 Zhu-nian (
), 292–315 see also Chola empire Zvelebil, Kamil V., 103

337

18 Nagapattinam_Index (Ch)

337

11/4/09, 1:06 PM