A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c12.65

c12.65

Trade, both inland and foreign, was well organized and briskly carried on throughout the period; Tamil poems, classical authors and archaeological finds in South India all speak with one voice on this subject. The great port-cities were the emporia of foreign trade. Big ships, we are told, entered the port of Puhār without slacking sail, and poured out on the beach precious merchandise brought from overseas. The extensive bazaar of that great city was full of tall mansions of many apartments each with doorways, wide verandahs and corridors. The family life of the rich merchants was carried on in the upper floors while the lower ones were set apart for business. Besides the flags waving on the masts of ships in harbour, various other kinds of flags advertised the different kinds of merchandise as well as the fashionable grog-shops. Śaliyūr in the Pāndya country and Bandar in Chera are counted among the most important ports in the poems. Horses were imported by sea into the Pāndyan kingdom, and elsewhere. The repairing of merchant ships after their voyages is mentioned, as also lighthouses. People from different countries gathered in the ports, and life in them was truly cosmopolitan. The Yavanas sailed their large ships to Muśiri (Cranganore) bearing gold, and returned laden with pepper and ‘the rare products of the sea and mountain’ which the Chera king gave. So far the evidence of the poems.