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

Thus it will be seen tha there was a slow and steady decline in the maritime trade of the Muslims
of Coromandel. The decline in trade started right at the emergence of the Portuguese in sixteenth
centwy,and come to the point of liqujdation by the end of nineteenth centuy The economic compulsions
due to the presence of many European companies, pushed back the coastal Muslims. The lesser
resources at the disposal of the coastal Muslims made them to retreat from active direct trade, Instead
they became the agents of bigger and wholesale Muslim traders, and English private merchants and
procured textiles. food grains, condiments, and other commodities suitable for export and interportal
trade and sold them to the waiting bigger merchants on the shore. Muslims owning small dhoneys,
vallarns and boats moved along the shallow waters of the coast and procured the available commodities
and brought them to bigger ports. Thus the chain of trading activities of the Muslims was kept up
though the quantum was very less. The Muslim maritime community which once dominated trading
fields in the maritime commerce on the Coromandel coast was vanishing devoid of any significance or
gloy at the end of nineteenth century.
PEARL AND CHANK FISHERY
The anitquity of pearl fishey and pearl trade in Tamil nadu goes to the Sangam period. Sangam
Tamil literatures like Patthupattu, Ahananurn. Purananuru. Kalithcgai. Narrinai, SUappathkrarn, and
ManimeMai refer to the pearl of Pandya country and the connected mattes. Tamil Bakthi literatures
like Thevararn, Nahyirathiyraprabandam. Seaakasinthamani etc. describe various ornaments made of
pearl140. Inscriptions and copper plate grants of various rulers of Tamil county refer to the pearl and
pearl flshey. The Thanjavur inscriptions of Raja Raja speak of numerous grants of pearl ornaments
endowed to the temple14'. But we get splended account on pearl fishey from 13-14th centuries starting
from the account of Marcopolo.
The Arabs were the principal traders in pearls. Arab writers, traders and geographers of tenth
centuy, like Suliman and A b d refer to the pearls of Tamil Country and pearl trade142. The documents
of the Portuguese, the Dutch the English and the accounts of European travellers give very valuable
informations about pearl fishey. The people who wre the fishen of the pearl oysters were the Parathaws
(Paravas) who were the traditional fishermen in the coastal area. Pearl oysters were rich in
Ramanathapuram and Thirunelveli coasts and in the Gulf of Manaar. In fact the Portuguese called the
Thimnelveli coast as "Pixaria" or Fishery Coast in view of abandance of pearl oysters and chank.