Copper plates, Early History, History, Indian Tradition, Mar Sabrisho and Mar Piruz, Thomas Christians - Monday, March 7, 2011 5:02 - 53 Comments

Nazrani Christians and the Social Processes of Kerala, 800-1500

[ This article deals with a part of Nasrani history, which was not properly studied by any other historian so far. The study is based primarily on the original Tharisapally copper plate and on the Portuguese primary source material. This article is included as chapter III in the book “Maritime India: Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean” by Dr.Pius Malekandathil, published by Primus Books, New Delhi, 2010, pp.38-61 under the title “ Dynamics of Economy, Social Processes and the pre-Portuguese Christians of India, 800-1500”. The NSC team is grateful to the author, Rev Dr Pius Malekkandathil, for sending us this article for publication to a wider audience, who do not have access to the book.]

The socio-economic processes of Maritime India began to undergo decisive changes by ninth century, when its vast coastal terrains were considerably influenced by the economic forces emitted by the long distance trade between the ports of Persian Gulf regions and of Canton in China. One of the most significant impact of this trade-route on Indian economy was that the long-distance traders, who had to temporarily break their voyage on Indian coast because of the adverse monsoon winds on the other side of the Ocean, became instrumental in identifying and developing port-sites near the mouth of various rivers, through which commodities held in high demand in other parts of the world could be obtained. Consequently a long of chain of ports of varying degrees of economic importance began to emerge on the east and west coast of India, making many consumption-oriented regional economies located closer to these ports start producing commodities needed by these foreign merchants.

On the one hand the process of production oriented towards market began to get relatively intensified in some of these places, while on the other hand, there was a concomitant phenomenon of migration of mercantile communities to India to take maximum advantage out of the changed situation. The local rulers who noticed the advantages of using these economic changes for their political intentions began to extend support and patronage to foreign merchants and mercantile migrants reaching their ports, who were eventually transformed as their supportive base for the political dreams of expanding their territories. One of the most evident cases of this nature could be traced back to the set of commercial privileges granted by the ruler of Ay kingdom to the Christian migrant traders of Quilon like Mar Saphor and Mar Prodh from the erstwhile Sassanid Persia in the mid-ninth century. Though the purpose of the grant was to generate enough wealth so as to strengthen the hands of the ruler and to realize his political plans, this grant bolstered and legitimized the increasing evolution of Christians as a significant trading group in Kerala out of the economic linkage established between the spice-producing Christians in the hinterland and the migrant Christians from Persia but having far-flung mercantile networks in the Indian Ocean. In this development, these Christians acquired certain traits from the social and cultural processes taking place in their neighborhood that in turn were to form their distinctive marks for the centuries to come. Continue…