Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s19.t2: 4.16.2 Merchants and traders

c23.s19.t2.1

Merchants trading in various commodities figure as donors in the inscriptions at Alagarmalai (Nos. *39*, *42*, *43* & *46*, ca. 1st century B.C.) and Pugalur (Nos. *69* & *70*, ca. 3rd century A.D.). The variants *vaṇikaṉ* / *vāṇikaṉ* 'merchant, trader' found in these inscriptions are also attested in early Tamil works and in later Tamil inscriptions. The merchants who made the endowments at Alagarmalai are stated to be from *mattirai* (read *matirai*), the Pāṇṭiya capital (Madurai). One of the merchants referred to in the Pugalur inscriptions hailed from *karu-ūr* (Karur), the Cēra capital. As mentioned earlier, the merchant classes in the Tamil country were supporters of the Buddhist and Jaina religions.