Tamil and Muslim traders in ancient and medieval Sri Lanka

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Traders from Andhra and Tamil kingdoms visited Sri Lanka in ancient times. There are several early Brahmi inscriptions which record cave donations made by the ‘Dameda’. The earliest of these inscriptions is dated to 2nd Century BC. Historians say that the caves were mainly donated by Tamils engaged in trade.

One inscription refers to five Tamil householders whose leader has been a mariner. Another speaks of the Tamil trader Visakha and a third inscription also indicates a trade connection.

Parakrama Bahu Pic. courtesy: Google

A late Brahmi inscriptions records that two merchants from Andhra had made a donation of one hundred Kahapanas to Devanapiyasa monastery. They had instructed the scribe to use two letters from the Andhra script when writing the inscription. Four coins dated to 2nd Century BC and 2nd Century AD, carrying Tamil names were found at Tissamaharama.

The Indian peninsula did not have many good natural harbours. Those in the West coast were better than those in the East. The main international ports such as Bharuch and Sopara in the ancient period, Surat and Cambay in the medieval period, were in the North West.

The South-west had the ports of Muziris and Nelkynda. Cochin, Goa and Bombay offered fairly safe anchorage for ships. None of these ports are in the Tamil kingdom. Not having suitable ports, the Tamil kingdom, unlike Sri Lanka, was not on the international east-west trade route. Cheng Ho did not visit the Tamil kingdom, he visited Kerala.

Trade hub

Sri Lanka had several international ports and was an important trade hub. Sri Lanka also had superior access to the Bay of Bengal. I think therefore that the Tamil traders had to come to Sinhala ports to send their goods overseas.

The ports came under the king. The king knew this and called the shots. Parakrama Bahu I in his Nainativu inscription written in Tamil said that foreign merchants were welcome and were assured of protection. But in the event of a shipwreck, half the goods would go to the king. If the ships carried elephants and horses he would only take a quarter of the goods.

The Tamil traders would not have been allowed to dominate trade. The Sinhalese were traders themselves. I think that is why there is no evidence of permanent Tamil trading settlements in Sri Lanka.

From the 12 th Century the transport of Asian goods to Europe was in the hands of Muslim traders. They operated through a loosely strung collection of Muslim settlements introduced into Asian States. Mendis says they had considerable power in their localities and were a pressure group close to the rulers. By the 15th Century, the carrying trade in Asia was completely in the hands of the Muslims. The Portuguese, arriving in the 16th Century, crushed the Muslims and completely destroyed this activity.

The Muslim traders in Sri Lanka came from Kerala and Tamilnadu. Their function was to send the local goods onto Kerala into the hands of the Mapilla Muslim traders of Kerala. The Mappilla traders then sent the goods to the Arabian Sea where the Arab traders took them over and sent them to Europe. These Mapilla Muslims were in touch with Sinhala traders. Goods were dispatched from the ports of Puttalam, Kalpitiya, Chilaw, Colombo, Negombo, Beruwela, Galle and Weligama.

According to the memoirs of Gaspar Corea when Lorenzo de Almeida entered Colombo harbour, in the 16th Century, vessels belonging to Muslims were being loaded with cinnamon, small elephants, various kinds of wood and green and dry coconuts.Barbarosa (16 th Century) a Portuguese sea captain said that the ports were crowded with Muslims who monopolized commerce. They spoke a mixture of Arabic and ‘Malabar’. He said that traders came regularly from India. They were pleased with the freedom given them by the State and many settled in Sri Lanka. They found it salubrious.

Historical evidence

Muslim writers say that the Muslim traders took vertical control of the export trade displacing the Sinhalese. Shukri says the Muslim trader went into the interior, collected the local merchandise and transported them to the ports. But there is no historical evidence to support this. Only two tombstones have been found in the interior, one by the Puttalam -Kurunegala Road and the other by Puttalam - Anuradhapura Road. The rest were found near ports.

Other Muslim writers said that the Sinhalese were never interested in trade or shipping. Trade was handled by the Muslims, with the assistance and encouragement of the Sinhalese. They said even the commodities which were the king’s monopoly were mainly in the hands of the Muslims. The officials conducting the king’s business in the ports were Muslims since all trade was under their control. Yusuf said that port settlements in Sri Lanka were entirely foreign and predominantly Muslim. He had inferred this from the Muslim settlement in Calicut. These statements are very flattering to the Muslims. However, the writers are unable to show historical evidence to support their assertions.

I think that it is unlikely that the Muslims would have been allowed to completely dominate the export trade.

The export trade was important to the Sinhalese and they would not have permitted this valuable sector to go completely into foreign hands. Wassaf (14 th Century) thought that the trade advantage was with the Sinhala king and not the Muslims. I do not think the Muslims had much power in the royal court either.

Mendis says Muslims provided naval support to the Sinhalese when Ariyachakravarti invaded in the 14th Century. But Ibn Batuta did not meet the Sinhala king when he visited Sri Lanka. When the Portuguese came the Sinhala king agreed to trade with them without consulting the Muslims.

He readily expelled the Muslim traders from Kotte in 1526 at the request of the Portuguese. The Portuguese, when they took control of Kotte and Sitavaka ordered the Muslims out of their territory. The Muslims ran to Senerat (1604-1635) saying they had nowhere to go. Senerat sent them to the East coast.

(The writings of M Azeez, O Bopearachchi, C R de Silva, L Dewaraja, Malini Dias, K. Indrapala, S. Kiribamune, V L B Mendis, K A Nilakanta Sastri, S Paranavitana, M A M Shukri, W M Sirisena, W I Siriweera, R Thapar and R Walburg were read for this essay)