Merchants, Guilds and Temple Towns in an Early South Asian Kingdom: Pallavan Tamil Nadu

Mainstream scholarship has often overemphasised the importance of merchants in the socio-economic set-up of early Tamil Nadu. In the light of references found in some of the early Sangam anthologies like Eññuttogai and Pattuppàññu, and a few of the post-Sangam kàvyas like Cilappatakàram and Maõimekalai, it has often been remarked that merchants played a pivotal role in the organisation of internal as well as external trade. While such suggestions may be appropriate to an extent, there is a need to reconsider some of these views in the light of a fresh scrutiny of the source material.