“நேர்கண் சிறு தடி நீரின் மாற்ற
வானம் வேண்டா உழவின் ...” – (நற்றிணை 254:10-11)
The logistics of transporting and marketing salt was done by the traders called உவணர்கள்.
பல் எருத்து உமணர் பதி போகு நெடு நெறி (பெரும்பாண் 65 )
The Sangam text speaks of the long path taken by the salt traders with their stock transported in bullock carts.
எல்லிடைக் கழியுநர்க்கு ஏமம் ஆக
மலையவும் கடலவும் மாண்பயம் (பெரும்பாண் 66-67)
For the protection of those whose traded with Articles of value granted by the mountains and the sea.
உல்குடைப் பெருவழி கவலை காக்கும்
வில்லுடை வைப்பின் வியன் காட்டு இயவின் (பெரும்பாண் 81-82)
They pass by broad forest routes that branch into places that have the means to protect the highways with Tolls.
The buzz of activity described in the ports of the Sangam age showcases the variety of the merchandise traded.
Indians had discovered cotton and weaving much earlier and were exporting textiles to many countries including Rome. Cultivation of Cotton and making of cloth reflects other innovations - Mining iron ore, creation of implements Techniques of Spinning and Weaving, Creation of dyes for colours and designs to make cloth interesting. Spices, and Beads were much in demand. Logistics, Accounting, Administration followed.
Mordant dyes were metallic oxides used for colouring cloth. Indigo cultivation in areas around Villupuram and Pondicherry thrived. Red colour was derived from a Plant, Manjishta, known as சாய வேர் ( botanical name - Oldenlandia Umbellata) and yellow from turmeric. Various hues were organically derived from plants and minerals. Metals in textiles were also an Indian innovation. No wonder Indian textiles were much sought after all over the world.
In the 5th century BCE, Herodotus, gave a
reference about India, of which there is a testimony that says, “India has trees which bear fleece as
their fruit, surpassing in their beauty and quality, the wool of sheep.”!!
Sophocles (505 – 495 BCE) has
mentioned rice, sandalwood etc specifically as Indian products which were known
to the Greeks only by their Tamil names.
Arisi அரிசி became Oriza ; இஞ்சிவேர் had become Zinziber.
Gold and Liquor flowed in exchange and customs from the port became a good source of revenue for the rulers. Ports were coveted possessions.
Some pieces of cloth traded by the British East India Company in the 1700s are found in the Museums of UK and Europe. The finish and the colours are astounding! Little wonder Romans and Greeks were enamoured by our textiles.
This blog has a beautiful collection
Coromandel Textiles in the 1800s | Celeste Goulding (blueseabluesky.blogspot.com)
A little-known fact is that, there is an Iron Pillar, at Kodachadri peak of the Kollur Mookambika Temple that has resisted rust and still stands for centuries, just as the famous Iron Pillar at Delhi.
Ancient Bharat had evolved the process of making the finest steel. It was known as Wootz steel, and the word wootz came from the south Indian word எஃகு/ உக்கு for steel.
Swords made of this steel travelled to the middle east and became prized possessions and came to be known as Damascus swords. Some European Travellers to South India have left accounts the south Indian metal industry.
Francis Buchanan in 1807, Benjamin Heyne in 1818 and a few people have observed and recorded manufacture of steel in south India by a crucible process at several locales.
Even in the late 1600s, shipments running into tens of thousands of steel ingots were traded from the Coromandel Coast.
It indicates production of steel almost on an industrial scale and this was before the Industrial revolution in Europe.
Kodumanal in Erode district is located on the banks of the Noyyal river. It is mentioned in the Sangam text Pathithruppathu as Kodumanam.
Excavations in a place now known as Porunthal , showed that this city had highly skilled craftsmen producing iron and coloured beads crafted in glass and infused with colour. Carnelian Beads were very famous as were those made of agate and quartz. These had been transported to the Port City of Poompuhar through the highway - Konga Peruvazhi. India was also among the earliest producers of diamonds.
It is also to be noted that Indians were the only ones who had the technology to produce zinc in the ancient times.
Our trade of those times also includes a manufactured merchandise and was no way primitive as was made out to be.
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