Page 73 - SST Class 06

DO YOU KNOW? the other valleys. Rich and powerful were the
kings who controlled the river valleys and the
A person who buys things from where they are made
coastal areas. Sangam poem mentioned the
and sell them elsewhere is called a trader. Trade has
muvendar, the word that means the three chiefs
been taking place since ancient times. Traders
travelled long distances to buy and sell things. Traders used for the heads of the three ruling families —
also helped in exchange of cultures and ideas. the Cholas, Chereas and Pandyas, that became
very powerful around 2,300 years ago.
A POEM ABOUT TRADE Each of the ruling chiefs had two power
Evidence of trade can be found in the Sangam poems. centers — one inland and the other on the
Here is a poem that describes the good brought in Puhar, coast. There were six cities out of which two
an important part on the east coast. were port cities and of great importance —

“Here are brought Puhar or Kaveripattinam which was the port
Swift, prancing horses by sea in ships, of the chola kings and Madurai, the capital
of the Pandyas. Collection of regular taxes
Bales of black pepper in carts,
from the people was not a practice, but
Gams and gold born in the Himalyas,
instead of these taxes, they received and
Sandalwood born in the western hills,
demanded gifts from the people. Tribute was
The pearls of the southern seas, collected from the neighboring areas and the
And corals from the eastern oceans, chiefs went on military expeditions, too.

The yield of the Ganga and the crops from the Kaveri, Some of the wealth was kept by the chief,
Food stuffs from Sri Lankas, pottery from Myanmar, himself and the rest was distributed among
their supporters which included members of
And other rare and rich imports”
their families, soldiers, poets who composed
People dealing in trade, explored various sea for these chief, their chiefs, their compostion
routes and methods to reach far and wide their found a proper place in the Sangam collections –
goods. Some stayed at the coasts, whereas the poems composed in praise of these chiefs. They
others ventured to go across the Arabian Sea and were rewarded amply by the chiefs with precious
the Bay of Bengal, where the advantage from the stones of gold, horses, elephants, chariots and
monsoon winds helped the sailors to cross the fine cloth for these poetic compositions.
seas more quickly. The sailors, mostly chose to Satavahanas became very powerful in the
sail with the south-west monsoon, if they wanted western part of India, around 200 years later.
to reach the western coast of the subcontinent
Gautamiputra Shri Satkarni was the most impor-
from east Africa or Arabia. This was a long
tant ruler of the Satavahanas. Knowledge about
journey which they undertook and their ships
him is gained from an inscription, composed by
were heavy too, after being loaded up with all
his own mother Gautami Balashri. He, along
those items that they were going to trade in.
with the other satavahana rulers were known as
Hence, the ships needed to be sturdy and strong, Lords of the Dakshinapatha, meaning they were
to go on long journey. the lords of the route, leading to the south which
NEW KINGDOMS ALONG THE COAST was also used as a name for the entire southern
River valleys, plateaus, hills and a long coastline region. He also sent his army to the eastern,
mark the southern half of the subcontinent. western and southern coasts.
Kaveri is the most fertile river valley, among all

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