maritime activities economy and social customs of the muslims of ...

m many as 10,000 horses were Imported into the Corornandel ports of whlch Jamdudin's CW,
treeduas
" 'k. Themost~ti&mofbdeftunAmb$npor~~~~horres. b p d o h
visited Kayal at the end of thirteenth century has left detailed record about the horse trade at Kayal.
Kayal was also an important link in horse trade to CeylonIz.
The diverse Muslim communities of peninsular lndia had a significant role to play in the Indian
ocean trade in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries until they were ousted by the European powers
By the end of twelth century, the naval power of the Cholas and the Sylendras completely declined and
many mercantile communities of peninsular India began to claim a major role in Indo-Ceylon trade and
as well as trans oceanic trade. Soon they were able to secure a dominent role in the maritime trade of
Ida and an enviable share of the seaborne trade in Malacca, lndonasian islands, Jam, Aden and Maldiws.
The Muslims controlled much of the region's trade in gem stones and pearls. Many Muslim port centres
also s e d as outlet for the international trade in cotton piece goods. After the destruction of Bagdad in
the middle thirteenth century by Mangoles, the Arab activities in the East became restricted. In fact at the
end of fifteenth centuly the Arabs had lost their supreme position in the sea borne trade13. The Gujarathi
Muslims and Tamil Muslims had taken over from the Arabs the dominent role in the Indian ocean trade
The fifteenth centuy Chinese sea farers comment on the commercial link of Nagapattanarn
with Sumatra, Java and Burmese coasts. In the sixteenth centuy Adirampattanam, Kilakkarai
Nagapattanam. PortoNovo and Pulicat were among the region's most active textile export centres:
Muslim sea going men from Pulicat and Nagapattanam carried'coromandel piece goods to Mocha,
Malacca and Burma. Even in the late nineteenth century, these Muslim ports still had links with great
~nternational exchange centres of Indonesian archipelago and Malay Peninsula14.
The Gujarathi Muslims handled much of the trade to Aden, Malacca, Sumatra and in Bay of
Bengal. Around the same time. Tamil Muslim traders played an influencial role in the Southeast Asian
trade though not perhaps to the same extent as the Gujarathis. Pearson says that details are unfortunately
not avalkble but it is clear from the evidence we haw in the Malay annals regarding the affluence
and political influence enjoyed by the Tamil Muslims in the Kingdoms of Malacca, Java, in the fifteenth
century, and the significant role they played in the trade of the Malay world'5. The Gujarathi Muslim
ships might haw ftieghted for the Coromandel Muslims, when they touched the coast.