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

MARITIME TRADE
At the beginning of the per~od of our study - from 1750 - the political unrcrtainities in
Coromandel hinterland brought down the native maritime trade to decline. The conflicts
between the ruling powers large and small or major and minor eroded the economy of the
region. The English were gaining the upper hand against their European rivals. The Dutch
power was waning. The production of textiles, the staple commodity of export, was affected
In the weaving centres. The maritime traders could not procure goods for Southeast As~an
markets. Consequently exports from ports got reduced. Native people connected with maritime
activities were naturally affected. Many of the ports decayed. Moreover the rise of European
companies in Asian trade was another serious challenge, in which the traditional markets
were shut down to the Coromandel merchants in general and Muslims in particular.
In these adverse conditions, the Muslims owned sh~pping began to decline in number. The
trading activities were limited to the ports of Ache, Johore, Perak Pegu, Arakan, Malay Peninsula and
Ceylon. PortoNovo, Nagapattanam, Nagore, Karaikkal, Adirampattanam Ton~~i. Kilakkari,
Kayalpattanam and Kulasekarapattanam were busy ports.
The records of C o m d 3lipping forhebjhteenth century are not tor&ent with the shim that
entered and left from the ports. The ships that entered and left from Madras port is randomly
listed in the consultations of the Fort St. George council. Information on some ship owners
and recod of their-, appear in the litgatkm that cam2 &fore the Mayor's court. The evidence thus is b~
no means exhaustive and extensive but there is enough to provide a picture of the ownership and the
routes popularly sailed by the native tradersq0. In the eighteenth century. Madras emerged as the mat of
Coromandel trade. From Madras, there was regular trade to Arakan, Ujang Salong. Kedah, Malacca
and Ache, to the South of Madras long distance trade to Ceylon. Maldives and Malabar. There was short
distance traffic between Madras, K&,
Fort. St. Dad, Cuddalore. Tranquebar, Pondicheny PortoNovo
Karaikkal, Nagore and Nagapattanm in which the Tamil Muslims participated.