Book Review

Anas Babu T’s detailed research digs deep into how trading by sea shaped the medieval cities of Calicut and Kayalpatnam. The main aim is to figure out how these coastal cities turned into cities because of seafaring trade. This study does something crucial by filling a gap in what we know, especially about South Indian city-building before the Europeans showed up. It tackles the challenge of having mostly European sources to work with.

In a time of big changes in politics and money, new independent places pop up along the Malabar Coast. Calicut becomes a big deal under the Zamorins, making good money from trading, especially in black pepper – something everyone wants. The web of ports around Calicut shows how vital it is in the Indian Ocean trade, thanks to Arab traders from Egypt and Yemen. Meanwhile, Kayalpatnam, a key medieval port on the South-Eastern Coast, sees different rulers come and go. Its handy location helped it do trade with China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. There’s also lots of pearl fishing and trading war horses, making Kayalpatnam a major trading hub. But when the Portuguese rolled in around the late 15th century, everything got shaken up, leading to conflicts and changing how things moved in the sea for both Calicut and Kayalpatnam.

Looking at what gets shipped out of Calicut, we see pepper and spices ruling the international trade scene. Malabar pretty much owns pepper growing, showing how much the region depends on sea trade. Then the Portuguese show up and mess with the usual trade routes. Calicut loses its top spot to Cochin. The fight between the Portuguese and the local Muslim communities, especially the Marakkayars, makes things even more complicated in both Calicut and Kayalpatnam. Shifting the focus to Kayalpatnam, the study checks out how it got involved in Chinese trade during the Yuan and Ming periods. The place became famous for its pearl fishing, making it a hotspot for pearls and conch shells. The Portuguese are all about dominating spice trade and getting folks to convert to Christianity, but they face resistance, especially from the Marakkayars. The Portuguese changes end up causing mass conversions and messing with how things work in both Calicut and Kayalpatnam.

So, both Calicut and Kayalpatnam end up dealing with the effects of lots of sea trade. This shows up in how the cities grow, Islamic groups set up shop, and different cultures mix. Even today, we can see these cities’ history in stuff like buildings, clothing styles, and language.

Concepts and Methods

The study’s conceptual and methodological framework takes a deep dive into various urbanization theories, with a special focus on the economic and commercial dimensions shaping Calicut and Kayalpatnam. The research recognizes the challenge of universally defining urban areas and appreciates the diverse expressions of urbanization. It meticulously traces the historical development of urban areas in the Indian subcontinent from the Harappan Civilization to the medieval period, considering distinct phases influenced by trade, agriculture, and political dynamics.

Informed by theories presented by scholars such as Stanley K. Schults, Ranabir Chakravarty, and Pius Malekandathil, the study categorizes urban centers based on their functions, particularly highlighting the role of marketplaces in fostering urbanization. Additionally, insights from Kenneth R. Hall, emphasizing the interplay between primary and secondary cities, contribute to understanding economic, political, and cultural developments. The research integrates Malekandathil’s concept of ‘commercially charged urbanism’ and ‘politically charged urbanism,’ establishing a dual urbanism framework.

The examination of South Indian urban processes, specifically in Calicut and Kayalpatnam, spans periods marked by political shifts, economic changes, and interactions with external forces such as Arab and Chinese trade. Essential components include the roles of Muslim merchants, trading guilds, and the impact of European powers, notably the Portuguese. Indigenous sources, encompassing Manipravalam literature, Granthavari chronicles, and inscriptions, play a vital role in deciphering the historical urban landscapes of both cities.

Primary sources driving this investigation include travel accounts, epigraphy, archaeological findings, merchants’ letters, and indigenous textual accounts. Translated travelogues by Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, Duarte Barbosa, and indigenous sources like Calicut Granthavari serve as pivotal references. Epigraphical records, especially from Kayalpatnam, provide valuable evidence of mercantile activities and the involvement of diverse trading guilds. Yemeni chronicles of al-Muzaffar Yusuf and al-Khazraji offer unique perspectives on the commercial activities of Calicut and Kayalpatnam. Scientific reports on pearl fishery by James Hornel enrich the understanding of geophysical features and economic activities in the Kayal region. This comprehensive approach, blending historical theories, primary sources, and indigenous records, forms the foundation for unraveling the intricate urbanization processes in Calicut and Kayalpatnam.

Sources

Exploring how Calicut and Kayalpatnam shaped up over time is like peeling back layers of history using various sources. Imagine reading travel stories told by Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, and Duarte Barbosa, translated so we can understand what was happening in terms of trade, economy, and city life from their perspectives. Digging into the ground, especially in Kayalpatnam, we find inscriptions and artifacts, like receipts from ancient trade guilds, showing the real stuff that went down.

Merchant letters from back in the day are like old-school emails, giving a sneak peek into the lives of traders in Calicut and Kayalpatnam – the deals they made, the connections they had. Then there are homegrown storytellers, the Manipravalam literature, and local court records like Calicut Granthavari, spicing up the tale with stories from when the Zamorins ruled. Alongside these firsthand accounts, other history books and smarty-pants theories from folks like Stanley K. Schults, Ranabir Chakravarty, and Pius Malekandathil. They’re like the tour guides, giving the tools to understand the bigger picture. Following Malekandathil’s idea of dual urbanism, the approach blends all these stories, letters, and theories, creating a roadmap to unravel how Calicut and Kayalpatnam became the cities we know.

Bibliography

PRIMARY SOURCE

I. FOREIGN LANGUAGES

I. A. ARABIC LANGUAGE

• Ahmad, S. M. (1989). Arabic Classical Accounts of India and China. Indian Institute of Advanced Study.
• Al-Khazraji, A. I. al-H. (1983). Al-‗Uqood al-lu‘lu‘iyya fi tarikh al-dawla al-rasooliya. (M. B. Asal & M. al-Hawali, Eds.). Markaz al-Dirasatwa-al-Buhoos al-Yamani.
• Battuta, I. (1929). Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354. (H.A.R. Gibb, Ed.).
• Battuta, I. (1953). The Rehla, of Ibn Battuta. (M. Hussain, Ed.). Oriental Institute.
• Battuta, I. (1993). The Travels of Ibn Battuta A.D. 1325-1354. (C. Defremery & B.R. Sanguinetti, Trans.). MunshiramManoharlal.
• Ibn Mājid al-Najdi. (1971). Arab Navigation in the Indian Ocean Before the Coming of the Portuguese. (G.R. Tibbetts, Ed. & Trans.). The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
• Jāzim, M. A. (2003-2005). Nūr al-ma‗āriffīnuẓumwa-qawānīnwa-a‗rāf al-yamanfī al-‗ahd al-muẓaffarī al-wārif. (2 Vols.). al-Ma‘had al-Faransi li al-Aasarwa-al-Uloom al-Ijtimaiya bi Sana‘a.
• Kooria, M. (2012). ‗TahridAhlil Iman: An Indigenous Account Against Early Modern European Intervention in Indian Ocean World‘. In K.M. Muhammed (Trans.), TahridAhlil Iman ‗ala Jihadi ‗AbdatiSulban. Other Books.
• Kooria, M., & Pearson, M. N. (2018). ‗Khutubat al-Jihādiyya: A Sixteenth Century Anti-Portuguese Sermon‘. In Malabar in the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism in a Maritime Historical Region. Oxford University Press.
• Muhammad, Q. (2015). Fat‘h al-Mubīn: A contemporary of the Portuguese Invasion on Malabar in Arabic Verse; Edited and Translated into English. (E.S. Shameer, Ed.). Other Books.
• Nainar, S. M. H. (1942). Arab Geographer‘s Knowledge of Southern India. University of Madras.
• Zainuddin, S. (1833). Tohfut-ul-Mujahideen, an Historical Work in the Arabic Language. (M.J. Rowlandson, Trans.). Oriental Translation Fund.
• Zainuddin, S. (1942). Tuhfat-ul Mujahideen. (S.M.H. Nainar, Trans.). University of Madras.
• Cabral, P. A. (1959). The Voyage of Pedro Alvares Cabral to Brazil and India from Contemporary Documents and Narratives. (W.B. Greenlee, Ed. & Trans.). AES.
• Castaneda, H. L. (1811-1820). ‗History of the Discovery and Conquest of India by the Portuguese, Between the Years 1407 and 1505‘. In A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels. (R. Kerr, Ed.).
• Coleridge, H. J. (1876). The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier (1506-1556). Burns and Oates.
• Correa, G. (1869). Lendas Da India. (H. E. J. Stanley, Trans.). Hakluyt Society.
• Da Orta, G. (1895). Colloquies on the Simples and Drugs of India. (C. Markham, Ed. & Trans.). Henry Southern & Co.
• Indicopleustes, C. (1897). The Christian Topography of Cosmas. (J. W. McCrindle, Ed. & Trans.). Hakluyt Society.
• Linschoten, V. (1885). The Voyage of John Huyghen Van Linshoten to the East Indies, from the Old Translation of I598. (A. C. Burnell & P.A. Tiele, Eds.). Hakluyt Society.
• McCrindle. (1885). Ancient India as Described by Ptolomy. BES Press.
• Moule, A. C., & Pelliot, P. (1938). Marco Polo: The Description of the World. (2 Vols.). George Routledge & Sons.
• Pires, T. (1944). The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires, an Account of the East, from the Red Sea to Japan, written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515 (Armando Cortesao, Ed. & Trans.). (2 Vols.). Hakluyt Society.
• Polo, M. (1993). The Book of Ser Marco Polo-The Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East. (H. Yule & H. Cordier, Eds. & Trans.). (2 Vols.). Munshiram Manoharlal.
• Pyrard, de Laval, F. (2000). The Voyage of Francois Pyrard of Laval to the East Indies, the Maldives, the Moluccas and Brazil. (A. Gray & H.C.P. Bell, Eds. & Trans.). Asian Educational Service.
• Schoff, W. H. (1974). The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Oriental Reprint.
• Schurhammer, G. (1977). Francis Xavier-His Life, His Times, India 1541-1545. (M. J. Costellore S.J., Trans.). (2 Vols.). The Jesuit Historical Institute.
• Varthema, L. di. (1997). The Itinerry of Ludovico Di Varthema of Bologna from 1502 to 1508. (J.W. Jones, Ed. & Trans.). Asian Educational Service.
• Varthema, L. di. (1863). The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Desert and Arabia Felix in Persia, India and Ethopia A.D. 1503-1508. (J.W. James, Trans., & G.P. Badger, Ed.). Hakluyt Society.
• Yule, H. (1913-16). Cathay and the Way Thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China. (4 Vols.). (H. Cordier, Rev.). Hakluyt Society.

I. E. OTHER LANGUAGES

• Casale, G. (2005). ‗His Majesty‘s Servant Lutfi: The Career of a Previously Unknown Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Envoy to Sumatra Based on an Account of His Travels from Topkapi Palace Archives.‘ Turcica, 37(1).
• Goitein, S. D., & Friedman, A. M. (2008). India Traders of the Middle Ages: Documents from the Cairo Geniza ‗India Book‘. Brill.
• Major, R. H. (1974). India in the Fifteenth Century-Being A Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India in the Century Preceding the Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope: From Latin, Persian, Russian and Italian Sources. Hakluyt Society.
• Yule, H. (1870). ‗An Endeavour to Elucidate Rashiduddin’s Geographical Notices of India.‘ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 4(2).
• Sastri, K. A. N. (2001). Foreign Notices of South India-From Megasthenes to Mahuan. University of Madras.

II. INDIAN LANGUAGES

II. a. MANIPRAVĀLAM LITERATURE

• Kodungallur Kunjikkkuttan Thampuran. (2014). Randu Sandesangal: Lakshmidasante Sukasandesavum Uddandashastrikalude Kokilasandesavum. Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society.
• Krishna KaimalAymanan. (1984). Unnicirutevi Caritam. Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society Kottayam.
• Kunjan Pillai Elamkulam. (1965). Koka Sandesam. Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society.
• Kunjan Pillai Elamkulam. (1983). Unnunilisandesam, From the Historical Perspective. Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society (reprint).
• Kunjan Pillai Elamkulam. (1985). Chandrotsavam. Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society.
• Kunjan Pillai, Suranad. (1953). Ananthapura Varanam. Manuscripts Library.
• Nair, P. V. K. (1976). Unniyaticaritam. Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society (reprint).
• Unni, N. P. (1972). Kokilasandesam of UddandaI. Thiruvananthapuram.

II. b. TAMIL LANGUAGE (SANGAM LITERATURE)

• Vaidehi (Translator). Aingurunuru. [Accessed from https://sangamtranslationsbyvaidehi.com/ettuthokai-akananuru-301-400/]
• Vaidehi (Translator). Akanānūru. [Accessed from https://sangamtranslationsbyvaidehi.com/ettuthokai-akananuru-301-400/]
• Vaidehi (Translator). Purananuru. [Accessed from https://sangamtranslationsbyvaidehi.com/ettuthokai-akananuru-301-400/]

II. c. OTHER LANGUAGES

• Namboothiri, N. M. (2005). Mamankam Rekhakal. Vallathol Vidya Peethom.
• Varier Raghava M. R. (1984). Keralolpathi Granthavari. Calicut University.
• Wye, J. W. (1817). ‘Translation of a History of the Portuguese Landing in India, Written on Leaves of the Barb Tree, or Ola, in the Malabar Language.’ Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for the British Indian and Its Dependencies, 3.

III. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

III. A. EPIGRAPHICAL SOURCES

• Annual Report on Epigraphy. Department of Archaeology, Delhi.
• South Indian Inscriptions. Archaeological Survey of India, Government Press, Madras.
• Epigraphica Indica. Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi and Calcutta.
• Desai, Z. (1989). A Topographical List of Arabic, Persian and Urdu Inscriptions of South India. Indian Council of Historical Research.

III. B. EXCAVATION REPORTS

• Sivanantham, R., & Seran, M. (2019). Keeladi An Urban Settlement of Sangam Age on the Banks of the River Vaigai. Department of Archeology, Government of Tamil Nadu.

IV. MANUALS, REPORTS AND GAZATTERS

• District Gazetteer, Kozhikode. (1962). Sreedhara Menon, Government of Kerala.
• Madras District Gazetteers, Malabar. (1933). C.A. Innes and F.B. Evans, Madras Government Press (reprint).
• Madras District Gazetteers, Malabar and Anjengo. (1908). C.A. Innes., and F.B., Evans, Madras Government Press.
• Madras District Gazetteers, Tinnevelly. (1917). H.R. Pate, Government Press, Madras.
• Malabar Manual. (2009). William Logan, Low Price Publications (originally published in 1887).
• Manual of the Tinnevelly District in the Presidency of Madras. (1879). A.J. Stuart, Government Press, Madras.
• Report to the Government of Madras on the Pearl Fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar. (1905). James Hornell, Government Press, Madras.
• The Cochin State Manual. (1911). C. Achyutha Menon, Cochin Government Press.
• The Imperial Gazetteer of India. (1885). W.W. Hunter, Truber & Co., London (Vol. 4).
• The Imperial Gazetteer of India. (1908). W.W. Hunter, Truber & Co., Oxford (Vol. 15).
• The Indian Pearl Fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. (1922). James Hornell, Madras Fisheries Department Bulletin, vol. XVI.
• The Sacred Chank of India. (1914). James Hornell, Madras Fisheries Bureau, No.7, Government Press, Madras.