The Sangam poems indicate that agriculture, fishing, and cattle rearing were widespread in ancient Tamil society. They also highlight the significance of Indian Ocean maritime trade and the practice of
iron forging. The initial phase of
urbanization in southern India, and the Chera country, is typically linked to the period from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE. Some scholars argue that this urbanization was not driven by socio-economic changes but was instead stimulated by external trade. However, historians sometimes find this view difficult to accept, as trade cannot be regarded as an independent factor, separate from socio-economic processes.
Spice trade Trading relations with merchants from
Graeco-Roman world, or the
Yavanas, and with northern India provided considerable economic momentum for southern India; the main economic activity was trade across the Indian Ocean. The earliest Graeco-Roman accounts referring to the Cheras are by
Pliny the Elder in the first century, in the first-century text
Periplus Maris Erythraei, and by
Claudius Ptolemy in the second century. The Periplus Maris Erythraei portrays the trade in the territory of Cheras or "Keprobotras" in detail. The port of
Muziris, or Muchiri in Tamil, located in the Chera country, was the most-important centre in the
Malabar Coast, which according to the Periplus "abounded with large ships of Romans, Arabs and Greeks". Bulk spices, ivory, timber, pearls and gems were exported from Chera country, and southern India, to the Middle East/Mediterranean regions. Geographical advantages, such as favorable monsoon winds that carried ships directly from Arabia to south India, the abundance of exotic spices in the interior
Ghat Mountains and the many rivers connecting the Ghats with the
Arabian Sea allowed the Cheras to become a major power in ancient southern India. Trading in spices and other commodities with Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Graeco-Roman navigators was perhaps extant before beginning of the Common Era and was consolidated in the first century CE. In the first century, the Romans conquered
Egypt, which probably helped them gain dominance in the Indian Ocean spice trade. The Graeco-Romans brought vast amounts of gold in exchange for commodities such as
black pepper. The Roman coin hoards that have been found in Kerala and Tamil Nadu provide evidence of this trade. The first-century writer Pliny the Elder lamented "the drain of Roman gold into India and China" for luxuries such as spices, silk and muslin. The Indian Ocean spice trade dwindled with the decline of the Roman empire in the third and fourth centuries, and they were replaced by Chinese and Arab/Middle Eastern navigators. The nature of the spice trade between the ancient Chera country, and southern India, and the Middle East/Mediterranean regions is disputed. It remains uncertain whether this trade with the Mediterranean world was conducted on equal terms by local rulers and merchants, such as the Cheras and Pandyas. However, early Tamil poems record that these rulers were consumers of luxury goods associated with the Indian Ocean spice trade. They were also involved in long-distance maritime trade, likely by developing ports and imposing rudimentary tolls and customs duties.
Iron technology There are several ancient Tamil, Greek and Roman literary references to high-carbon steel from South Asia. The crucible steel production process probably started in the sixth century BCE in southern India (as evidenced from
Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu,
Golconda in
Telangana, and
Karnataka) and
Sri Lanka. The Romans called this steel "the finest steel in the world" and referred to it as "Seric". It was perhaps exported to the Middle East/Mediterranean world by c. early 5th century BC. The steel was exported as cakes of steely iron that were known as "wootz". Wootz steel was produced by heating black
magnetite ore in the presence of carbon in a sealed clay crucible inside a charcoal furnace to completely remove slag. An alternative was to smelt the ore to give
wrought iron, then heat and hammer it to remove slag. The carbon source was probably bamboo trees and leaves from plants such as avārai (
Senna auriculata). The Chinese and Sri Lankans perhaps adopted the production methods of wootz steel from the south Indians by the fifth century BCE. In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed a unique wind furnace that was driven by the monsoon winds. Production sites from early historic period have been found at
Anuradhapura,
Tissamaharama and
Samanalawewa, as well as imported iron and steel artefacts from Kodumanal in southern India. A c. 2th century BC Tamil trade guild in Tissamaharama, in the south-east of Sri Lanka, transported some of the oldest iron and steel artefacts and production processes to the island from early historic southern India. == Legacy ==