Showing posts with label Malabar - Chinese trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malabar - Chinese trade. Show all posts

The many mysteries behind the Cheng Ho Voyages

Posted by Maddy Labels: , ,


Much is written about the voyages of Cheng Ho. In fact there is even a voluminous book just listing bibliography of published works detailing Cheng Ho’s life and time. But how much of all that is conjecture, myth, lore and legend and how much of it is fact? That seems to be the biggest problem, because the scribes of the Ming period rewrote history and fudged fact with fiction with impunity, so much so that filtering truth from them is an art in itself. The importance of the voyages, the treasure ships themselves which awed and terrified onlookers from any shore, the expenses in making them, the reasons for these voyages and the reasons which ended the voyages are still steeped in mystery. The man behind it all, the seven foot tall Muslim eunuch, is who they say brought Islam to Melacca, defeated pirates, established relations and leaders, fought a war with a Lankan Monarch and took away Buddha’s tooth to Nanking. But Zheng He or Cheng Ho, who suddenly found himself adrift when his patron Chu Ti (Zhu Di - the Yong Le, Yung Lo monarch) passed away mysteriously, also met a mysterious end.

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The Selden Map and Calicut

Posted by Maddy Labels: ,

There is a lot of furor about the rediscovered Selden map. Academicians are discussing it with gusto and laboring on the minute aspects, innumerable news articles introduce it and two great books have been written about the map and its story. The map itself is all about the South China seas or what we know today as parts of South East Asia and the land borders as seen from it. It is quite important for many people studying such aspects as territorial waters, the Spratly islands issues, the Fujian of Fukian trade networks and so on, but what connection could it have with Calicut?

Well this relatively big and somewhat nontraditional multicolor map, now restored to its full beauty, is available for study at the Oxford - Bodleian library in England, to whom it was bequeathed by a relatively staid lawyer named John Selden in 1659. Dating from the late Ming period, it shows shipping routes with compass bearings from the port of Quanzhou to nearby lands we know today as Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia. As the experts put it, this is the earliest Chinese map not only to show shipping routes, but also to depict China as part of a greater East and Southeast Asia, and not as the center of the known world, was largely unseen and forgotten since the eighteenth century, but rediscovered in 2008 by the historian Robert Batchelor. Since then there has been numerous theories and discussions about how John Selden who never sailed got the map, about who the cartographer could have been, for whom it was perhaps made, why and when it was made and so on. Those interested may peruse the fine books of the two academics involved, Batchelor and Brook.

My interest is the left extremity of the map where a peculiar aspect can be noticed, just like it was by these eminent people. What you will see is a small panel of text with a location listed as ‘Gu Li’ or Calicut, and the box provides in three bullets directions of the routes to Aden, Oman, and the Strait of Hormuz. I will get to the specifics shortly. However the location of Calicut in an otherwise well-constructed map at least as far as geography is concerned, is a total anomaly. It somewhat corresponds to Rangoon as shown and has no relation to the Calicut or Gu li of the Chinese. At the same time, the distances to the other locations are correct considering Calicut as the sailing origin. Why so? Was it just shown is the extremity of the Chinese and Fujian trade networks and a window to the Indian Ocean world with Calicut continuing to be the key trading partner from the West? Let’s take a look.

For that you need a little perspective. The map itself was constructed towards the end of the Ming period, i.e. early 1600’s. Calicut though still important had slipped out of the early prominence and the Arabian seas were mostly in the control of first the Portuguese and later the Dutch. The English were waiting to slip in at an opportune time. The Moplah, Marakkar and Arab sailors still plied the waters of the Arabian Sea and the Western powers i.e. Dutch, English and Portuguese ran their own shipping vessels through these waters carrying tons of spices and other goods back and forth to red sea ports. The Ming Chinese voyages had ceased in the 15th century, a full 100 years or more before the Selden map was created. The junk trade was mostly restricted to the SE Asian areas (the area depicted in the map). So why place Gu Li at the corner or even mention it? It is not possible to discuss this topic without covering the Chinese trade with Malabar through the ages, albeit briefly.

The winds of trade were the monsoon winds which blows south in the winter and north in the
summer and the ships went where the winds took them to start with. Sailing techniques then took them where they wanted to go and as we know, the ports of Malabar and Quilon became important and friendly stopover points for the Chinese and Arab sailors plying the routes. The consumption centers were the two extremities, them being China and Europe. The Suez Canal being nonexistent meant that goods landed on red sea or gulf ports and were transported over land and then again by sea to, multiplying the costs of goods many times by the time it reached the European customer. The route to China was initially controlled by royalty and so the prices were fully regulated by a single party, with of course costs coming in by way of a complex sailing route and large costs to fend off piracy while sailing from Malabar to various Chinese ports, most importantly Quanzhou or Canton. If you look the timing, Chinese merchants would leave southern China in Jan or Feb for Southeast Asia and make the return journey no later than late July.

Most ships crossing the Gulf ports left the east coast of Arabia during the second half of November and the first half of December. Ships leaving the Red Sea would start out the middle of October, as they could then catch the winds directly to the Malabar cost, reaching the Malabar ports during December. If they were journeying to China they would have to lie low so that the cyclones of the Azyab died down in the Bay of Bengal and they could continue on in January, crossing southern tip of India and head to the Kalah Bar in the Malay Peninsula.

Arab ships usually did not venture farther than this as they had to venture back to their shores laden with stuff to trade, as soon as the kaws winds started to blow the other way. In any case, the Chinese junks brought their trade goods to the Malay Peninsula and sometimes as far as Calicut itself. Calicut or Gu Li went onto become the stop over point where either the same ship continued on or the ships exchanged wares at Calicut. In this way trade continued unabated for centuries between the traders and as an ancillary, Calicut not only supplied the spices, but also strong wood for ships, repair facilities and even dhow building facilities, while at the same time remaining a secure port with just trade facilities and local markets. We dealt with all this in the Pragati article. As we mentioned previously, Calicut was on the way to anywhere (remember the Abu Hasan fart story?) in those days, west or east!

The Catalan Atlas is the most important Catalan map of the medieval period (drawn and written in 1375. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham, a Jewish book illuminator who was self-described as being a master of the maps of the world as well as compasses. You can for example see a Chinese ship on the Indian west coast near Calicut signifying the importance of the port with respect to Chinese trade. The connections between China and Malabar were thus strong even before the arrival of Zheng He and his entourage and a vibrant junk trade was witnessed and recorded by travelers such as Ibn Batuta.


In previous articles covering Chinese trade withMalabar, we traversed the 12th through 15th centuries. In the Chu Fan Chi article we covered the early days, in the Shamiti and Zheng he articles we covered the 15th century trade and then as we saw, it all ended abruptly as testified by Joseph.

Joseph the Indian was in Lisbon around 1501, having gone there with Cabral. I had written about all that earlier, so those interested in his story may refer that. At 40, he was of sound mind and considered a very honest person by his interlocutors. His accounts (though modified here and there by his interlocutors) were published around 1510-1520. He is clear in stating that there are many types of traders in Calicut amongst the countless moors, and makes it amply clear that the trade had declined somewhat from the times when the White Chinese with long hair, fez and head ornaments were present in Calicut. He also mentions that around 1410-1420 AD the Chinese had a factory at Calicut. He states – having been outraged by the King of Calicut, they rebelled and gathering a large army came to the city of Calicut and destroyed it. From that time and upto the present day they have never come to trade in the said place and they go to a city of a King Naisindo which is called Mailapet. We discussed this and the aftermath in the Chinese settlement article,where it is clear that the Chinese descendants and remnants moved to the South sea ports, Madras and Coromandel ports. So was there some kind of Chinese trade with Malabar after Joseph’s oft stated Chinese skirmish with the Zamorin? It was not since the pepper trade and much more continued to remain at Calicut and the Indian as well as Portuguese and Dutch ships brought in their wares to these ports initially. The Casado traders were ensconced in Cochin and Goa by then.  And we see these junks back in the Arabian seas, for there is a comment in history books that the Kunjali Maraikkar (KM III) captured a Chinese treasure Junk laden with goods somewhere near Goa in 1592. Is that why Gu Li is still mentioned in the 17th century Selden map? Let’s take a look at the Chinese trade during the Portuguese and Dutch periods. But in general the reader must also note that the largish Junks were not really suitable for shallow waters to the south of India and the winds that lashed ports frequently in those months. Furthermore they generally avoided the pirates that abounded the region as well as the western ships with guns.



While the Indian embassies wound down by mid 15thcentury, we find that some other Asian embassies such as those of Homruz and Ceylon maintained connections with Ming China even as late as 1459. Malacca, Java and Champa dispatched envoys upto the beginning of the 16th century, so the connections remained. But the important thing to note is that while China was a large producer of Silk and Porcelain much wonted in the west, they hardly needed to import anything from the west. The question then asked is did they continue to get spices and if so from where? Well, the answer to that is that the coastal towns in the SE Asia by then had established networks with the Indian especially Malabar spice traders and the Portuguese, Dutch and English operating out of Goa, Cochin, Malacca and Java. With austerity setting in, the consumption perhaps reduced and with the trade outflow vastly exceeding imports presented no real problem for China.

Blusse in his fine paper provides great detail of the Fukien trade with Batavia- The Fukienese were without doubt the greatest Chinese seafarers. Living on a string of rather infertile coast plains, and cut off from the hinterland by high mountains and swift rivers, the Fukienese have been forced from early times to import rice from the neighbouring provinces and to export industrial products like crude porcelain, iron ware and textiles. During the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, coastal and overseas trade suffered from the raids of Japanese and Chinese pirates, and private overseas trade which could hardly be distinguished from piracy was strictly forbidden. Only tributary trade was allowed to continue. The gradual suppression of the pirate raids and mounting pressure from Fukienese merchants who wanted to resume legal private trade to Southeast Asia led to a new orientation in the government policy. Beginning in 1567, 50 licenses per year were handed out to private traders for overseas trade with Southeast Asia. In his informative article on Chinese overseas trade in the late Ming period Ts'ao Yung-ho speaks of a hundred licenses being issued in 1575, a number which was restricted to 88 by 1589.

That the many problems with the Portuguese embargo resulted in privateering outside the reach of Goa is discussed briefly by scholars such as Roderich Ptak. Initial power holders were the rich local chieftains in Malabar such as the Zamorin who was assisted at sea by the Marakkars forming a network with bases in Ceylon and Malacca. But in general it must be kept in mind that the 15th and 16th century Chinese materialistic trader was officially illegal considering that China had closed its borders to shipping whereas Portugal encouraged it in its own terms, both with state owned ships and through private Casado traders. As time went by, the ‘illegal’ Fukien trade in the South Seas strengthened. The later parts of the 15th century led to the rise of Ryukyu merchants as there was a good amount of emigration from mainland Fukien areas to various SE Asian ports resulting in Chinese merchant communities. But these were not those the Chinese termed Wo-k’ou or pirates. The Fukien trade thus included Portuguese Casados and the Ming government collaborated with the Portuguese or vice versa (even though mainland Chinese referred to the Portuguese sometimes as Fo-lang-chi or Portuguese robber merchants). Even after the Portuguese decided to take Macao, they could not obtain an upper hand. The Red barbarians or red hairs, the covetous and cunning Dutch who came later with their double planked ships with spider web sails, also attacked the Fukien ships often. But by then, the Chinese had created their own community stronghold at Batavia and intermingled well with Indonesian women. Nevertheless, these Chinese as we saw before were not well regarded in China for abandoning their homeland and when they were massacred by the Dutch in 1740 at Batavia, Canton raised no eyebrows.

And then of course were various mafia organizations, as well as the Chinese Muslim network. The Chinese expat living in Philippines or other places such as Indonesia or Malaya was very much like an Indian today in the Middle East, nurturing ways and dreams of going back to settle down and retire with some money. At the same time, they were not welcomed back in the homeland and they had left their homes and left without taking care of their ancestral tombs. Lost in limbo, they stuck to their little coastal communities and made small forays upto the borders of SE Asia, perhaps as far as Coromandel ports. Sometimes a stray junk run was commissioned at the behest of a wealthy Gujarati trader to Cambay or Malabar, but in general they did not stray too many times into the western seas.

So even though large Chinese armadas were no longer sailing by the early 17th century, the trade had become distributed and though irregular, attained a sort of permanency. The Dutch were of course the masters of the sea by then but less radical compared to the Portuguese. And so we come to the early parts of the 17th century, to Fukian Guanzhou and SE Asia, where the Selden map was made by somebody for somebody from whom it went to Selden (Parts of that tale can be pieced together reading Brook’s book).

An early 1607 Ming encyclopedia map also came upto Burma but did not include Calicut in their map, though the Zheng ho maps on which these were based had many details of all the places along the route. Why was Calicut taken out? Was it because China broke off its links after the fallout with the Zamorin? Or was it because of the potential problems the Chinese faced from the Portuguese?

My contention therefore is that the Selden map depict the Eastern seas of the Chinese while the Calicut cartouche was just a box providing the next set of coordinates to yet another planned map of the Western seas (perhaps it was not even planned, as the network did not go beyond Burma) with other locales like Ormus, Dhofar and Aden. The placement of Calicut on this map does not signify a location.

The person who sanctioned the making of the map is discussed in detail by both Batchelor and Brook who believes it to be Li Dan or Andrea Dittis, the Captain China of the Formosa trade. Li operated out of Manila for a time before moving to Hirado, in Japan and becoming a part of the Shuinsen trade, with a formal vermillion seal license from the Tokugawa shogunate. He served as the head of the Chinese community in Hirado, and maintained a residence in the English sector of the city to run the red seal ships. As Richard Cocks said – ‘This Andrea Dittis is now chosen capten and cheefe comander of all the Chinas in Japon, both at Nangasaque, Firando and else wheare.’

Let us look at Brook and his analysis around Calicut. One of the first things he hovers on is the role played by Thomas Hayden an oriental scholar in annotating the map together with a Chinese associate Michael Shun Fo Chung. Hayden over time, also had his portrait made and in the portrait, he holds a scroll with some Chinese characters. These Chinese characters are Gu Li or Calicut. Why did this orientalist who otherwise did no research on India choose to mention Calicut on the scroll held by him, that too in a portrait left behind for posterity? Interestingly it is also conjectured that Hayden who did not know Chinese, laboriously painted these characters himself into the scroll. Why of all the other places, did he pick on Gu Li? Brook leaves that tantalizing question for readers to answer. I would venture to state that by 1700 Calicut was of course very important for the English and they were trying hard to find a foothold there. The English Captain William Keeling, as we know had reached Calicut in 1615 and concluded a treaty with Zamorin under which, among others, the English were to assist Calicut in expelling the Portuguese from Cochin and Cranganore. Later on, around 1664, Zamorin gave the English permission to build a "factory" in Calicut but did not extend any other favors. Was Hayden by virtue of this bluff trying to get a commission to Calicut from the EIC?


Well, let’s get back to Calicut on the Selden map. The westward exit on the left near Johor on the Malay Peninsula and suddenly shows Calicut on the map as a destination. But as we said before Calicut is much more to the left and to get there, another sea the Bay of Bengal has to be crossed, the southern tip has to be circumnavigated and the ship has to sail upwards to get to the port town of Calicut, a lot of sailing still to do (as though a panel of the map has been cut off). Well the map in my opinion provides commentary on the next friendly (?) port of call and what other possibilities are possible for ships choosing to take that venture. Strangely the important  port of Cambay and Surat is missing, but the gulf ports are mentioned clearly with Aden 185 watches NW, Djofar (Oman) 150 watches NW, and with more detail the directions to Hormuz. But these were no longer important ports at that time, much like Calicut. So why mention these Zheng He period ports complete with compass bearings? Brooks assumes that the cartographer used a Ming map as a source and transcribed what was in there with no special purpose other than to show Calicut as a boundary before the Eastern mysteries.

That a current sailing map shows a bit of irrelevant information across the borders is still a bit of a surprise. But then I remembered an interesting article by Calicut Heritage forum. It concludes thus - In 2007, Liu Yinghua had, while working with the manuscript section of Calicut University under the guidance of Dr. C. Rajendran, Professor of Sanskrit, discovered 15 Chinese coins being used to tie together the palm leaves manuscripts. These coins belonged to much later period.  Liu identified these as belonging to the periods of Emperors Qianlong (1736-1795), Jiaqing (1796-1820) and Daoguang (1821-1850). This probably showed that trade relations between Calicut and China continued well into the second half of the 19th Century when the Opium Wars soured the Sino-British relations.

So is there is more to this story??

References
Hubs of medieval trade – Pragati article 
Mr Seldens map of China – Timothy Brook
The Selden Map Rediscovered: A Chinese Map of East Asian Shipping Routes, c.1619 - Robert Batchelor
Chinese Trade to Batavia during the days of the VOC- Leonard BLUSSÉ
Merchants and maximization – Roderich Ptak
Piracy along the coasts of Southern India and Ming China – Roderich Ptak
China and Portugal at Sea The early Ming trading system and the Estado Da India Compared – Roderich Ptak
The Dutch seaborne empire 1600-1800 Charles Boxer
The map site 
Leminhkhai’sblog provided the Calicut box map image

with due acknowledgements and thanks to all image owners and providers


Some other day, I will tell you the story of the VOC- Chinese Junk trade, the tale of Li Dan or Andrea Dittis and another person called Tenjiku Tokubei, a famous Japanese adventurer a.k.a. the Marco Polo of Japan as well as of the Red seal ships.

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Was there ever a Chinese settlement at Calicut?

Posted by Maddy Labels:

The coastal ports and towns of Malabar (in this respect we go from Kayalpatanam - Tuticorin to Mangalore) have had numerous trade contacts over centuries with other countries and kingdoms. In the case of Arab traders, they just lived and traded at the various ports, passing on commissions, brokerages or customs duties to the local chieftains. Later they bonded with local women to create offshoot communities that supported their trade and later forked inwards connecting up with other traders and tribes to source the spices and wood they traded in, though not directly participating in it, at least in the earlier years. They were mainly working as individuals, but sometimes parts of some family guild or the other.


One of the earliest and most powerful kingdoms to establish bonds and tributes with the kingdoms in Malabar was China. So you can note, the Chinese were different, they tried to establish more formal relations with the rulers and administrators of the land and create longer lasting trade and perhaps even attempted monopolies, though we will see that for various reasons it did not quite bear fruit in the long run, due to the changes that took place at the ruling levels in China and the retaliation from the better-established Arab traders.

In related articles, we talked about the Calicut connections with Zheng He (Cheng Ho) and the Ming dynasty; we also talked about trade previous to that. But the question has always remained, why do we not see any material or genetic traces of the Chinese in Calicut? We know also that a number of Malabar ambassadors went to mainland China starting well before the Cheng Ho voyages. We know that some of them lived for extended periods in the port cities of China where even Tamil temples could be seen. And we know that there was flourishing trade between the South Indian East coast and the SE Asian countries. We know also that Malabar traders set up outposts in Malacca and other parts of Malaysia, Sabah and so on, of course in Indonesia and Bali.

We do know of a silk street, we do know of the China Kotta and we do know for a fact that the Cheng Ho voyages touched Calicut. We also know that the Chinese had even stronger links with Kollam or Quilon, but still not a trace of it today (I must add here that there is perhaps a small trace of it in the building structures here and there and the boat industry). If you look at the Far East, you see their temples and lifestyles in vogue even today. Just like China rejected foreign systems and methods inland, did we also reject them after a major event, eventually borrowing only a few food habits and clothing styles?

From trade perspectives, we know that historic trade meant that the foreigner had his representative in Calicut (See article on hubs of medieval trade). It was the same with respect to the Chinese and so they did have a representative settlement of sorts in Calicut, somewhere to the West of the City. But why did they leave, where did they go and when? Why do we not see the physical characteristics in any of the descendants, if some remained? Did they go to Chennaipattanam or Malacca? Was it after the turmoil as stated by the Malayalee priest Joseph? I myself see no reason to suspect Joseph’s words, for he had no reason to falsify it and a lack of purpose.

Yet, we have so many Chinese related implements, practices and food. Logically, for it to have permeated even into the nobler levels of society in many of these places of Kerala, including Calicut, would have meant a longer than sporadic relationship than one of a trader touching a port and sailing off. So it is a mystery, just like the mystery of the Namboothiri or Nair advent into Kerala. The answer may be right in front of us, under our nose, but we cannot dig it out, I suppose.

Some might ask the question. Did the Chinese ever come to Calicut or any other port? Did they just remain in the China seas and the people who came this side were the Malay-Chinese? Interesting question that, a question which can be refuted using the evidence from the Chau Ju Kha, the Ma Huan accounts and so on. There are other Chinese accounts and add to that the accounts of Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta, to establish the fact that large ships, owned by a state organization plied to Calicut. Even a trader of Mithqual’s stature could not own 20-30 such massive ships, and note also that these large ships mentioned were not the trading dhows of a few hundred tons.

Let us take a deep look at what Joseph the Indian had to say. Some historians mistrust him, perhaps because of some less factual mentions that are attributed to him, while others look at his words and find answers. Should we take him seriously? Was there any fact in all he said? Where the mentions of an evangelical nature inserted into his accounts by the translators and those who published his accounts? Let us not stray in that direction and concentrate on what he had to say about the people and trade, for that is our focal point today.

Joseph was apparently born in 1461 and was in Lisbon around 1501, having gone there with Cabral. I had written about all that earlier, so those interested in his story may refer that. At 40, he was of sound mind and considered a very honest person by his interlocutors. The accounts were published around 1510-1520.

He is clear in stating that there are many types of traders in Calicut amongst the countless moors, and makes it amply clear that the trade had declined somewhat from the times when the White Chinese with long hair, fez and head ornaments were present in Calicut. He also mentions that 80-90 years ago (which places that around 1410-20) the Chinese had a factory at Calicut. He states – having been outraged by the King of Calicut, they rebelled and gathering a large army came to the city of Calicut and destroyed it. Now this could mean that they lived at a distance, was it at Pantalayani where they usually stayed during the monsoons (winter)? From that time and upto the present day they have never come to trade in the said place and they go to a city of a King Naisindo which is called Mailapet about 90 miles East by way of the Indus river. These people are called the Malasesnes/Malasines….hailing from a place 6,000 miles away from Calicut. He also mentions a trade fair at certain times of the year in Calicut which is attended by the merchants from China, India, Syria, Egypt and Persia. Was he talking of the Mamankham?

The Italian version of course inserts additional sentences such as the Chinese are Christians etc… but the others do not, so we can discount some of the words from the Italian version of Joseph’s accounts. Nevertheless, it is possible that some of the traders were Christians though my feeling is that Calicut as trans-shipment and a pilgrimage boarding point as well as a concentration of Arab traders would have necessitated a majority settlement of Chinese Muslim traders. It is exemplified by the leadership of Muslim Zheng He in the voyages, the large numbers of Muslim Chinese and Muslim scribes such as Ma Huan with him in his voyages. We also saw that they always used Calicut as a boarding point to go to Mecca, so I would assume that some of the larger ships carried rich Muslim pilgrims from China, not just traders. But that creates yet another question. If Zheng he and all the other traders from China were Muslim, would that have fought with the Arabs? Perhaps they did, for the needs of the rich man’s goods (spices) in China were quite high at that time and profit rivaled religion.

What is key is certain place names. Mailapet - 90 miles to the East of Calicut. While Greenlee places that as Malacca, the distance is greater and a sea has to be crossed. So was it Mylapore or was it Masulipatam? The place was ruled by the King Narsindo. Elsewhere Narsindo is considered to be the Vijayanagara King. So it was inland, on the East coast, and thus perhaps Masulipatam or Mylapore is right. In both places we have seen Chinese settlements and even temples. We will get to this again, later.

Now let us look at the period. Joseph mentions that the Chinese were active during the 1410-20 periods. This would mean that much of what is written about the Zheng He voyages makes sense, that his voyages jump-started the trade with Calicut, and that they peaked in the 20’s. This will also lend credence to the fact that the cessation of the Ming Voyages resulted in the departure of the Chinese from Calicut. Was it precipitated by a conflict with the Arabs, aided by the Zamorin? How long did the Chinese remain?

Much earlier, around 1280 or so - We see that Marco Polo speaks of the merchants and ships of Manzi, or Southern China, as frequenting Kaulam, Hili, and now Malabar, of which Calicut was the chief port. Yule adds - This quite coincides with Ibn Batuta (this was around 1327), who says those were the three ports of India which the Chinese junks frequented, adding Fandaraina (i.e. Pandarani, or Pantalani, 16 miles north of Calicut), as a port where they used to moor for the winter when they spent that season in India. By the winter he means the rainy season, as Portuguese writers on India do by the same expression. He stated - As far as this place (Hita in Malabar) come the ships of China, but they do not go beyond it; nor do they enter any harbour, except that of this place, of Kalikut and Kwalam. He also mentions that these ships were made in El-Zaitan in China. The Chinese are also mentioned in the Unnayi Charitram, which states that Chinese attended these bazars as early as the 14th century.

Back to the question of where the Chinese went from Calicut The Latin historian Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza wrote, in his History of the Kingdom of China, that the local residents of Calicut had told him that the many fruit trees in Calicut were planted there by Chinese immigrants– They went to the Kingdom of Narsinga. Let us look at another record to clarify this - "So that at this day there is great memory of them in the ilands Philippinas, and on the cost of Coromande, which is the cost against the kingdom of Norsinga towards the sea of Cengala (bengala): whereas is a towne called unto this day the soile of the Chinos, for that they did reedifie and make the same. The like notice and memory is there in the kingdom of Calicut, whereas be many trees and fruits, that the naturals of that countrie do say, were brought thither by the Chinos, when that they were lords and gouernours of that countrie." (Mendoza, Parke's transl._ pg. 94-95). This explains that they moved to the Philippines and a coastal port town on the Coromandel.

As I wrote earlier, the question was where is this port town of Mailapet? Is it Masulipatanam in Andhra or Chinapatam or todays Madras. Hobson Jobson concurs that it is perhaps Madras. Quoting the entry under Chinapatam, but some historians also mentions that the Portuguese confused China with Jaina, when it comes to Jain temples around Malabar.

Chinapatan was borne by the place previously. It will be seen under MADRAS that Barros curiously connects the Chinese with St. Thome. To this may be added this passage from the English translation of Mendoza's China, the original of which was published in 1585, the translation by R. Parke in 1588:—"... it is plainely seene that they did come with the shipping vnto the Indies . . . so that at this day there is great memory of them ……. on the cost of Coromande, which is the cost against the Kingdome of Norsinga towards the sea of Bengala (misprinted Cengala); whereat it a towne called unto this day the Soile of the Chinos for that they did reedifie and make the same. I strongly suspect that this was Chinapatam, or Madras.

 Abdur Razzak came to Calicut in 1442-1443 and mentions the tough but adventurous Tchini Betchagan. What he meant by that phrase has not been well understood as yet, but learned men state that they were the Chinese offspring. In fact all this prompted later Portuguese voyagers to be given specific instructions to find out as much as they could about the Chijns and their trade, after hearing about Chinese trade at Calicut and Malabar and the mentions of the large ships from China.

Then again there is the Portuguese account that places Chinese arrival in Malabar of the Chinese many centuries earlier, close to 1400, the time when Calicut started to flourish and the city was laid out. Gaspar Correa's account in the Voyages of Da Gama has a curious record of a tradition of the arrival in Malabar more than four centuries before of a vast merchant fleet "from the parts of Malacca, and China, and the Lequeos" (Lewchew); many from the company on board had settled in the country and left descendants. In the space of a hundred years none of these remained; but their sumptuous idol temples were still to be seen (Stanley's Translations, Hak. Soc, p. 147). So the Chinese remnants, temples (perhaps Jain) and so on were seen by travelers even as later as in 1500-1530.

Anyway the Ming voyages stopped after Cheng ho’s death and due to many other reasons, perhaps due also to the shifting of the capital from Nanking to Peking and the Northern barbarian menace. We will discuss that in greater detail another day.

Mr Vasisht in his Kerala Calling article mentions discovery of some remnants of the Chinese at Pantalayanai. He states - Famous Japanese historian Nebro Karashima along with Dr. M.R. Raghava Warrier have discovered many Chinese implements at Pantalayani Kollam. I am not sure what they found, but I believe they are pottery shreds, implements etc

Were there ever any kind of interaction with the locals and the creation of a group of descendants? We do know that the Ming voyages had families traveling together, but it was not the norm, so there would have been plenty of local partners for the Chinese, in Calicut, much like the Arabs. Yes, it seems to have been the case, as borne by the interview with Coya Veetil Koya in 1830 or so. Let us refer the Col Mackenzie manuscripts - A catalogue raisonnée of oriental manuscripts in the library of ..., Volume 3 - William Taylor (orientalist, missionary.), Government Oriental Manuscripts Library (Tamil Nadu, India), Section 5.

Account received from one named Coya Vettil Coya, an inhabitant of Calicut.

According to this person's statement, the ancestors of his tribe came with some banners, or distinctions, by way of the sea, in a ship or bark from China-Kribala: and, in eonseqehce of rendering essential services to the Samudri raja of Calicut, the class received from him distinguishing immunities and banners.

 There is nothing further of any importance- I find, on inquiry, that the class of people referred to, are most probably Chinese; as my informant says they are the same kind of people with the Chinese at Madras; except that the former do not wear the long queues, which the Chinese regard as tokens of honor. By consequence, the people in question may be Malays, or other persons, from the eastern islands.

I am not inclined to assume that it was a Malay Muslim. We do know of Malabar kakas in Malaysia and especially Malacca. It could be so that one of them came back to settle down in Calicut. But the mention of the Chinese Kingdom (Kribala) and the titles provided by the Zamorin makes me lean towards the mainland China.

But these hypotheses are in no way conclusive as Calicut Heritage forum states in clear tones. Much more has to be done, such as excavations in certain specific areas, genetic sampling (Calicut & Madras) and so on, continuation of studies such as that of Dr Liu Yinghua and more focused and formal studies on the subject. Perhaps a shift of focus to the Chinese community in Madras will reveal those links, instead of concentrating on Calicut. An anthropologic study of the food culture, the various items of food and cooking utensils can be done to determine the impact of the relationship and its movement from the trading to the nobler communities of that medieval period.

References

India in 1500AD – Antony Vallavantara CMI
The book of Ser Marco Polo – Henri Cordier
Kerala Calling – March 2006 Trade Contacts – MC Vasisht
Madras Journal of Literature and Science, Volume 8 - Mackenzie manuscripts
Historic Alleys – See label Malabar – Chinese trade
Calicut Heritage forum article
Hubs of medieval trade
Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza, The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China reprinted from the translation of R. Parke; edited by Sir George T. Staunton

Pics - bloomingcalicut, wikipedia

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The Sha-mi-ti mystery

Posted by Maddy Labels:

Ming China and Calicut – Part 1

This study resulted from the reading of a very complicated document covering China and Calicut relations during the early Ming period. The excellent article by Roderich Ptak would have reached a complete and proper conclusion if he had access to more Malabar history books, but then again, Malabar history is neither well understood and recorded by indigenous people living then, nor are the relations with foreign traders well documented. There is a reason for that of course since trade was kept at arm’s length by the rulers and the local populace who went about their normal course of living, leaving the sailing and port handling to expatriate Arabs and other nationalities who were free to come and work as they wanted, provided they kept to themselves and paid the duties in time. And with that background, we go to Beijing, the new capital of imperial Ming China…

In 1403, Yung Lo (Yong Le – Zhu Di) had come to power in China, and was about to project the Ming capital into limelight, with the massive building efforts of a new city, a new palace and plan and organize the dispatch of a vast armada of ships under the admiralty of Zheng he (Cheng Hu). The new emperor, the representative of heavens received many emissaries from countries that it had relations with. The how’s and why’s will be discussed in another more detailed article, but let us look at an interesting entry into various Chinese manuscripts which thence pose a few questions. Quoting Ptak…

An envoy sent by the ruler of Calicut (now referred to, for the first time, as "Ku-li"), Sha-mi-ti (Samutiri), came to China in the wake of Yin Ch'ing's returning ships. This Calicut emissary was entertained twice by the Chinese, together with other envoys including the one from Hsi-yang, once on 21 October 1405 and once on 6 November 1405. Note here that we are actually talking about two emissaries from Calicut (His-Yang Kuli was also Calicut). While we do not learn anything about the subsequent departure of the Calicut envoy, it is important to realize that this is the first instance where a Calicut ruler is said to have been formally granted a Chinese title (on 3 October); perhaps Sha mi-ti had acceded to power some time in 1403 or 1404 and news of this only arrived in China with Yin Ch'ing, hence the Calicut envoy who accompanied Yin received all honours on behalf of his king.

However, the situation is complicated by the fact that envoys representing a place called Ch'e-li (here probably not identical with the Yunnan tribal office in MS, ch. 325) were received, as indicated, on 23 September 1405 together with ambassadors from Hsi-yang (representing perhaps Chola) and Java, and on 25 February 1403 (erh-yueh jen tzu), together with diplomats representing Korea and Siam. Since, quite obviously, Ch'e-li in both events is linked to other maritime countries it could be that we are dealing with an Indian Ocean country here and not with the Yunnan tribal office. There is little reason, however, to believe that "Ch'e-li" is a mistake for "So-li" or "Ch'e-li (a)" or for any of the other forms representing "Chulya" since no other text alludes to such a possibility. Moreover, Ch'e-li is listed together with Hsi-yang (which may have something to do with Hsi-yang So-li or So-li, as shown above) as two places in the entry of September 1405. Furthermore, Hsi-yang and La-ni (if these stand for two places) submitted tribute in 1403, i.e. in the same year in which the first Ch'e-li diplomats were received; in other words, if Ch'e-li and Hsi-yang (So-li) were to stand for the same place, there would have been two envoys from that place submitting tribute in one and the same year which is highly unlikely. A second possible interpretation of Ch'e-li is to consider this name as a variant form of Ku-li.

This is possible in the case of 1403 but not in the case of the 1405 envoy since it is clearly stated in MSL that in 1405 Yin Ch'ing brought with him to China an ambassador from Calicut (Ku-li). So, why would two envoys from the same place (under two different names) have arrived almost simultaneously in 1405? Now, before continuing with the discussion of this name problem a second question has to be considered. Several of the geographical descriptions of Calicut, starting with the HYTC and TMITC, which do not list Sha-mi-ti's mission of 1405 claim that another Calicut ruler, Ma-na Pi-chia-la-man (Mana Vikraman), sent tribute to China in 1403 through his emissary Ma Shu, while other works, for example SYCTL, SIKC or TWL, speak of two tribute missions, of the one of Ma Shu in 1403 and the one sent by Sha-mi-ti in 1405. The SIKC even lists a third envoy for the year 1404. While the latter cannot be verified through any other account, we have seriously to consider the "two envoy option" Perhaps the 1403 tribute mission sent by Ch e-li (as listed in MSL) is identical to the Ma Shu mission dispatched by Ma-na Pi-chia-la-man. If so, we may again infer that a change in government took place at Calicut after Ma Shu had left, most likely towards the end of 1402 or during the years 1403/4………………..

Does this imply that Calicut was called "Ch'e-li" by the Chinese before and "Ku-li" after Sha-mi-ti's accession? Once again, there are no definite solutions to the above questions. We may only conclude that, in all likelihood, two Calicut envoys arrived, one in 1403 under the old ruler, one in 1405 under the new one. The part played by Ch'e-li, Hsi-yang and La-ni or Hsi yang La-ni remains unclear……….

Cheng Ho took back to Calicut Sha-mi-ti's envoy who had arrived, as we saw, on 3 October and remained in China until 5 November 1405. When Cheng Ho returned from his first expedition on 2 October 1407 he was accompanied by several emissaries including a new ambassador from Calicut. This envoy is also mentioned in KC. In MSL he is referred to as Pi-che-ya-man-hei-ti. Moreover, the sovereign of Calicut is now no longer called ch'iu-chang (chieftain) but wang (king), according to the status granted to him in 1405.44 ranted to him in 1405.

To get a better understanding of all this text, one should be aware of what the Chinese called a tributary system. Why did Calicut and the other countries listed have to send envoys and pay tribute to China? We will try to get a fair understanding from reading Fairbank’s article.

Quoting Fairbank - First is the fact that the emperor is the son of heaven. He had to maintain harmony between heaven and earth.

"The kings of former times cultivated their own refinement and virtue in order to subdue persons at a distance, whereupon the barbarians (of the east and north) came to Court to have audience. . The first tenet of this theory-and this is an interpretation-was that the alien, however crass and stupid, could not but appreciate the superiority of Chinese civilization and would naturally seek to "come and be trans- formed" (lai-hua) and so participate in its benefits. The formalities of the tributary system constituted a mechanism by which formerly barbarous regions outside the empire were given their place in the all-embracing Sinocentric cosmos

First of all the tributary ruler who tendered his submission was incorporated into the charmed circle of the Chinese state by several forms. An imperial patent of appointment was bestowed upon him-a document which recognized his status as a tributary. More than this, the tributary system was a diplomatic medium, the vehicle for Chinese foreign relations. Whenever a new ruler ascended the throne of a tributary state, he was required by the regulations to send an envoy to obtain an imperial mandate from the Chinese court. By imperial command he was then appointed ruler of his country, and the imperial patent of appointment was given to his envoy; after receiving this document, the new ruler sent a tribute mission to offer thanks for the imperial favor. A recognized vassal might appeal in time of need for Chinese help

In summary one can see that the early days of the Ming dynasty saw envoys being deputed from two kingdoms around Calicut, both vying for Chinese approval, one being the Manavikarama envoy from Calicut and the other from the neighboring principality of Chaliyam. And thus we see Chaliyam on the global map for the first time.

Some would wonder how a place like Chaliyam could be connected to the Ming king. Others would be surprised to know that this small principality was an independent kingdom. Some others wonder how a Chaliyam ambassador could rub shoulders with other bigwigs in imperial Peking, and conclude that there was a time when all this was possible, mainly due to the trade links that existed. In today’s measures, the trade was not that significant, but it was enough to encourage private traders to start the process and for a large kingdom to take notice, if only to cater for their rich men’s fancy tastes for things like spices. This kind of imagination becomes difficult when you know that those tastes have become common place now.

Anyway as we can see, the Chaliyam raja was also connected with the Chinese trade. Cheng Ho comes around in 1405 and established the superiority of the Zamorin and his accession as the ruler of Malabar, and places him above the Chaliyam king. Many history books wrongly mention that Zheng came to establish the Manavikrama Zamorin’s accession to the throne; it was actually to present the papers and install the stone monument establishing the relationship as a fact.

Chaliyam’s (the nearby locales of Parappanad, Beypore, Tirur, Tanur are all known in history from ancient times and form part of this locale) history is certainly checkered after that, and the events in that region were to determine the futures of many a king, namely the Zamorin, the Portuguese, the Chinese, the Arabs and Moplahs. One can think a bit and easily figure out why the place was important. One was the acess to the river Bharatapuzha, trade connected to it and secondly the geography of the vicinity. As you will note the serene Puzha flows over the Nila valley and empties the waters from the mountains into the Arabian Sea at Ponnani, so it was an important sea port that connected though a major river to inland centers where material for trade arrived. This locale in early Malabar history was called Vettathnaad, Prakasha Rajya or land of light. Today the family that ruled these areas is extinct, and their story is not very easy o piece together, but we do know that at one time, one of the chieftains for the sake of survival even changed religion to side with the Portuguese. Rivalry with the neighboring Zamorin of Calicut determined the future of that place. Sad events continued, after life had settled down somewhat and the British had taken charge. Violent events connected with the Moplah revolts shook the sleepy villages of Vettath naad, Chaliyam and the offices of the powerful EIC.

Readers should note that there were two chieftains, one being the Tanur king or Vettath raja, the other being the vassal of the Zamorin called the (N) Parappanad raja. The Tanur kingdom was in those days very learned, and produced many famous people, mathematicians and artists. Tanur was thus a swaroopam. Somewhere during the 1350 period the wars between the upcoming Zamorin and the Vettah raja intensified and the dynasty were defeated by the Zamorin. The Ponnani port was very important for Arab trade and thus the strategic importance meant that the Zamorin had to have a long term relationship with the raja. Following this the Tirunavaya wars took place and in the uneasy truce that followed the Vettam raja was given a significant position in the ceremonious Mamankham where he stood to the right of the Zamorin and the Shahbandar koya of Calicut to his right.

Vettatnad (Vettam) or Tanur Swarupam comprised of parts of Ponnani and Tirur Taluks. It included within itself such places as Tanur, Trikkantiyur, Chaliyam, Triprangode etc. Chalium on the other hand was controlled by the Parappanad raja called Urinama. So note that the Parappanad swaroopma is different from the Tanur swaroopam, but then again entire area for foreigners was perhaps termed Chaliya.

What connection would the Chinese trade have with the principalities of Chaliyam or Tanore? To figure that out it must be noted that Ponnani was an important port where many of the trade ships berthed. The main exports specific to Chaliyam were the muslin shawls, Chalia (areca) nuts other than the usual trade goods & fine articles that came down the river. It rivaled Pantalayanai to the North of Calicut and eventually became the seat of the Yemeni Arabs as well as the Portuguese when they established a fort there. So how about the Chinese?

Ibn batuta had to say this in 1326 - I next came to the city of Shaliat, where the Shaliats are made, and hence they derive their name. This is a fine city. I remained at it some time, and there heard that the kakam (third sized vessels) had returned to China, and that my slave girl had died in it and I was very much distressed on her account. The infidels too had seized upon my property, and my followers had been dispersed among the Chinese and others.

A later observation by P Vincenzo is certainly curious. We passed Cinacotta", says P. Vincenzo, "at the mouth of the river Ciali, where the Portuguese formerly had a fortress" (liv. I, cap. xxxiii).. G De Orta certainly mentions a fort of the Chinese, whereas Vincernzo equates it to ‘little fort’. But the time lines covered in past and present tenses cross in translations and one cannot be sure, nevertheless, did the Chinese settle down in Chaliyam or were they mostly around Calicut?

Reading all these one can infer that there was a sizeable Chinese presence in the location, around the turn of the 15th century, even before Cheng Ho’s arrival in Calicut. It could have been so that they were mainly centered on Chaliyam and the mention of a Cinacotta probably signified a Chinese settlement around that location. Perhaps that was the very reason the Chaliyam raja had his envoys in China even before the Zamorin’s envoy reached Ming China.

Who could have been the emissary of Sha-mi-ti? Was Sha-mi-ti a translation for Samuthiri as Western historians conclude? Unlikely, for the word did not come into use until later in the 15th century, it was therefore just some confusion by the translators or could very well have been a name other than Samuthiri. But the mystery is still not solved, for suddenly the Paraksh Rajyam or Vettathnadu now delivers a ruler named Viraraya in ancient history notings. As people who study the Zamorins will agree, the Mana Vikaramas are understood, but nobody really knows how the Viraraya became a part of Zamorin titles. Nampoothiri concurs - He says that the Viraraya title seems to be acquired 15th AD, when Zamorins annexed Valluvanadu territory (or was it actually the Vettathnadu?).

Was there perhaps a time when the Virarayas of Vettath nadu were part of the Zamorin’s ruling coalition, i.e. not just standing to his right on important occasions, but also as part of the family? Did they drift apart in time to become enemies? But that drift is more difficult to analyze without more matter, and so we will try to do so another day.

Soon the Chinese were to leave Malabar shores entirely. I had covered it briefly in the past, but will get back to it in more detail soon. The Ming dynasty shifted its interests to internal problems and land border issues, forgetting their tributaries abroad. Probably the relationship between Calicut and China was broken already for other reasons as ‘Joseph the Indian’ mentions. The Portuguese came next and the Zamorin had to resort to asking the Egyptian and Turkish Sultans for help. The heavily armed Chinese armada of Zheng He was not available anymore and the tributary status was perhaps lost… but why? That will be another story for another day.

As for Chalium, the uneasy truce with the Zamorin continued till 1498 and the Portuguese appeared on the scene. Seeing an ally in them, the Vettath rajas sided with the Portuguese in the wars that followed, and allied with the royal families of Cochin and Travancore. By the 18th century the family became extinct, though the Zamorin was to send his family to Paonnani, just before his own death, when faced with danger from Hyder Ali.

The area around continued to be a prosperous trading center and became home for many a famous person including the Zainuddin Makkadum’s, the Maraikkars and so on, all figuring regularly in Malabar history. The weavers vanished in the turmoil’s that followed and the Shaliat manufacture was attributed to Kashmir. The Portuguese finally constructed a fort in 1532, fulfilling their their main aim. The fort was later (1571) demolished by the Zamorin and many big battles followed, resulting in the departure of the Portuguese from Malabar soil once and for all. It later became a terminus for the Madras railway in Malabar and slowly faded from notice. Today there are talks of creating a warship building center there. Perhaps the locales near Tyndis will become famous once again after years of obscurity.

Notes
1. Ibn Batuta states that Shaliats are made in Chaliyam, and it is possible that the fine cotton head scarf (Keffiyeh) worn by Arabs (muslin from cotton & silk weed) were manufactured by the Chaliyar weavers of Chaliyam in those days. However the modern day shawl is attributed to a Shaliat in Kashmir. As Chaliyars were always resident close to a river, this is likely. Batuta called the place Ash Shaliyat.
2. The Kilimanoor koil thampurans such as Marthanda varma are related to the Malabar Parappanad family. Vettathu Nadu annexes Chowara, one of the original list of 64 Namboothiri Gramams’ and Queen Gangadhara Lakshmi of Kochi adopted children from Vettathu Nadu for this reason.
3. The Vettath sampardayam in Ramanattam(which later became Kathakali) originated from Vettah nadu,.

References

Tributary Trade and China's Relations with the West – JK Fairbank
China & Calicut in the early ming period – Roderich Ptak
Samoothirinaad – NM Nampoothiri

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Chau ju-kua’s Chu fan Chi and Malabar

Posted by Maddy Labels:

One of the earliest written documents referring to the details of Chinese and Arab trade with Malabar and the Malabar ports is the Chu fan Chi written by Chau Ju Kua. Though there is one other document, which is the reference provided by Suleyman the merchant, revised by Zayid Hasan of Siraf and Masaudi between the 9th and 10th centuries respectively, the Chau ju-kua (pronounced Zhao Rugua) book has special importance as this touches on the Chinese trade with Malabar.

The phrase Chu Fan chi means ‘Description of the barbaric (could also mean foreign) people’ and covers the Chinese Arab trade of the 12th and 13th centuries. I have referred to the English translation provided by Friedrich Hirth and WW Rockhill.

First some background - The first mentions of Chinese traders comes from Ceylon which was also a focal point of Arabic Red sea traders. Early mentions of far eastern sailors can also be found in ‘Cosmas Indicopleustes’ which was written around the 6th century and mentions goods from China. It is also known that Canton had Arab & Indian colonies at the port as early as 200AD. Trade existed between India and China as early as 2nd century AD, over Northern Pegu (Burma) but this was mainly overland. Maritime trade with Chinese ships started in the early decades of the 7th century first via Siam (Thailand). Nevertheless there are allusions to extensive trade which Coriander mariners conducted between the shores of Malabar, Coromandel ports, Ceylon, Indonesia and even Indo-China even before that. Documentation though is very difficult to come by.

However Chinese accounts do mention sea trade with India as early as 120BC. Herein lay a strange anomaly. Probably due to errors or confusion with translation, many historic books talk about tribute being paid to Chinese kings. Dr G Banerjee in his book ‘India as known to the ancient world’ is emphatic in pointing out that tribute was actually confused with the word trade and it involved bilateral exchange of produce. So while many books talk of the mighty Chinese empire being paid tribute, the actual situation was a conduct of normal trade without any might attached to it. The main tributary countries to China were India, Arabia and Persia. Prof Hirth believes that port of Canton was in existence since 3 BC. India was known as Tien chu ( from Sanskrit Sindhu – Shindu) in Chinese writing.

Though one of the first Chinese to undertake a sea voyage and write about it was Fa Hien who went from Hoogly in Calcutta to China in the early part of the 5th century, (He went from Hoogly to Ceylon, then to Java and finally Chinese shores, in a wind sailing ship) Documented Arab trade routes came up first in the 8th century from the port of Kia Tan and here one can see that the port of Kulam Mali or Quilon is the main stopping point in Malabar for Arab ships (However these were heresy information and the Chinese still did not have first hand trade with India. The route beyond Quilon, to the Red sea ports is missing or sketchy). At the same time earlier mentions that very large ships (Arab or Indian) were entering Canton harbor and that ladders many tens of feet high were needed to scale those ships for unloading have been found. As trade progressed, the colony in Canton had become Muslim and had numerous Persians and Arabs. Around the 9th century another port became popular, named Zeytoun. But by then the revolt in the area resulted in many of these foreigners fleeing China and settling down in West Malaysia.

Chinese shipping started roughly between the 9th and 12th centuries and touched the Malay, Indonesian and other Far Eastern ports. The lucrative trade was run directly by the Chinese monarchies. By the 12th century Chinese junks (square in shape and built like grain measures) seem to have started calling at Quilon. By the 12th century the Chinese compare themselves to Arab ships stating that while their ships housed several hundred men, the ones from the Arab side were much bigger and housed a thousand.

Chau Jhu-kua, an inspector of foreign trade at the customs department in Quanzhou (Fukien – Fujian) a.k.a Zeytoun, then (Information collected from around 1211 and completed by 1225) documents (together with another man called Chou Ku Fei) for the first time whatever knowledge he has heard in the ports about the seas, the ports of call, the ships and the material traded. The second volume lists all the traded goods and their characteristics.

He states in the second book that Malabar exports cotton and spices in return for silk and Porcelain. While the cotton and other produce was of smaller quantities, pepper was sizeable (if you recall Marco Polo mentions that the amount of pepper that goes to China is 100 times more than what goes to Europe). So the trade with Malabar was robust and continues so until it reached an abrupt end in the 13th century was briefly reignited when Cheng Ho came in the 15th century and stopped again after the Portuguese came. It would be interesting how the pepper reached China after the 15th, it probably got re routed via Far East Asia, but that will be discussed in some later article.

Let us see what he has heard of and how he describes Malabar

Malabar (Nan-pi)

The Nan pi country is in the extreme south west. From San fo tsi, one may reach it with the monsoon in a little more than a month. The capital of the kingdom is styles Mie-a-mo (Malabar) which has the same expression as the Chinese expression Lissi.

The ruler of the country has his body draped, but goes barefooted. He wears a turban and loin cloth, both of white cotton cloth. Sometimes he wears a white cotton shirt with narrow sleeves. When going out he rides an elephant and wears a golden hat ornamented with pearls and gems. On his arm is fastened a band of gold, and around his leg is a golden chain.

Among his regalia is a standard of peacock feathers on a staff of vermillion color, over twenty men guard it round. He is attended by a guard of some five hundred picked foreign women chosen for their fine physiques. Those in front lead the way with dancing, their bodies draped, bare footed and with a cotton loin cloth. Those behind ride horses barebacked, they have a loincloth, their hair is done up and they wear necklaces of pearls and anklets of gold, their bodies are perfumed with camphor and mush and other drugs, and umbrellas of peacock feathers shield them from the sun.

In front of the dancing woman are carried the officers of the king’s train, seated in litters (bags) of white foreign cotton and which are called pu-toi-kiou and are borne on poles plated with gold and silver.

In this kingdom there is much sandy soil, so when the king goes forth, they first send an officer with an hundred soldiers and more to sprinkle the ground so that the gusts of wind may not whirl up the dust.

The people are very dainty in their diet; they have a hundred ways of cooking their food, which varies every day.

There is an officer called Han-Lin who lays the viands and drinks before the king, and sees how much food he eats, regulating his diet so that he may not exceed the proper measure. Should the king fall sick, through excess of eating, then (this officer) must taste his faeces and treat him according as he finds them sweet or bitter.

The people of this country are of a dark brown complexion, the lobes of their ears reach down to their shoulders. They are skilled in archery and dexterous with their swords and lances; they love fighting and ride elephants to battle, when they also wear turbans of colored silks.

They are extremely devout Buddhists.

The climate is warm, there is no cold season, Rice hemp, beans, wheat, millet, tubers and green vegetables supply their food, they are abundant and cheap. They cut an alloyed silver into coins, on these they stamp an official seal. The people use it in trading. The native products include pearls, foreign cotton stuff of all colors (i.e. colored chintzes) and tou-lo mien (cotton cloth).

There is in this country a river called the Tan shui kiang which at a certain point where its different channels meet becomes very broad. At this point its banks are bold cliffs in the face of which sparks (lit stars) can constantly be seen and these by their vital powers fructify and produce small stones like cat’s eyes clear and translucid. These lie buried in holes in these hills until some day they are washed out by the rush of a flood when the officials send men in little boats to pick them up. They are prized by the natives.

The following states are dependent on this country of Nan pi. (City names in brackets provided by Rockhill, and are assumptions)

Ku-Lin (Quilon)
Fong ya Lo (Mangalore)
Hu Cha La (Gujarat)
Ma li mo (Malabar)
Kan Pa i (Cambay)
Tu nu ho (Salsette island - Bombay)
Pi li sha ( Broach)
A li jo ( Eli mala – Cannanore)
Ma lo hua (malwa)
Au lo lo li (Cannanore or Nellore)

The country of Na Pi is very far away and foreign vessels rarely visit it. Shi lo pa chi li kan father and son, belong to this race of people, they are now living in the Southern suburb of the city of tsuan (chou fu)

Its products are taken thence to ki lo tu sung and San fo tai abd the following goods are exchanged in bartering for them: Ho-chi silks, porcelain ware, camphor, rhubarb, cloves, sandalwood, cardamoms and gharu-wood.

Ku-lin may be reached in five days from the monsoon from Nan Pi. It takes a tsuan chou ship over forty days to reach lang Li (Lan wuli) there the winter is spent and the following year, a further voyage of a month will take it to this country.

The customs of the people on the whole are not different from those of the Nan Pi people. The native products comprise cocoanuts and sandalwood, for wine they use a mixture of honey with coconuts and the juice of a flower which they ferment.

They are fond of archery; in battle they wrap their hair in silken turbans.

For the purpose of trade they use coins of gold and silver, twelve silver coins are worth one gold coin. The country is warm and has no cold season.

Every year ships come to this country from San fo Tsi, Kien-pi and Ki-to and the articles they trade are the same as in Nan pi.

Great numbers of Ta-shi live in this country. Whenever they have taken a bath they anoint their bodies with yu-kin as they like to have their bodies gilt like that of the Buddha.

Preliminary comments

Strangely little is written about Ku Lin (just the last two paragraphs), the place where they docked, but much is written about Ku Li or Calicut. This probably signifies the might of Calicut and the Zamorin’s control in the pre 12th century period.

The Nair family that settled in China is very interesting – Shi lo pa and Chi li kan. Though many historians refer to them as Nair’s it is very difficult to infer so from the sounds of the names. I do recall an ambassador Narayana from the Zamorin in the 15th century. It is noted from the translator’s comments that after the arrival of the two Malabar people in China, the trade increased drastically.

Tanshuikiang River – Which could that be with the mountains and hills behind it? Was it the Chaliyam River, Korappuzha or perhaps something bigger from the past? It could very well be. Maybe it is the river mentioned by CKR in his comments as flowing through the middle of today’s Calicut.

The golden amulet is noticed by many visitors. Vasco DeGama (Correa) mentioned that it was so heavy that it needed a person to support his arm.

It is unlikely that the Zamorin had a retinue of female guards. So were the women guards some sort of fanciful thinking? The first woman warrior mentioned in Malabar history was Unniarcha, to my understanding, but of course there were others before that.

The mention of silver coinage is a little strange. I do recall from Ma Huan’s book that 12 silver coins is equal to one gold coin in the 15th century. But until then Silver seems to have held up as main monetary token. This somehow contradicts mentions of that period that barter was the main method used by Coromandel traders. Probably large volume trade was bartered, and coins were used for smaller trade.

Officers carried in palanquins or riding on horses? That is indeed strange for there are hardly any other mentions of Malabar kings and officers on horses which were only popular and suitable in hard soil as found in neighboring Vijayanagar and Chola regions. Elephants of course are quite often mentioned in other accounts.

Cats eyes from the waterfall? Waterfalls were not unique to Malabar for such an impression to be made and documented. As Rockhill states, much of what Chau Ju Kua heard was from Arab traders who mentioned only what they wanted the Chinese to know, not necessarily the whole truth.

Han lian – officer seems to be some kind of Moosad vaidyar who was the personal physician. They existed well until the 19th century as personal Ayurvedic physicians. However the sampling of faeces is pretty new and totally unlikely (the rules of pollution would never allow that), it must have been imagination. The Zamorin wearing a white turban is also a new observation.

The great numbers of Ta-shi living in Quilon is again a very interesting observation for Ta-shi are Arabs. But Arabs anointing their bodies with oil is pretty rare but quite possible.

In another part of the book, it is mentioned that the Quilon people did not tie their hair up on top, wearing them loose compared to Malabar people and wore red leather slippers.

Salsette Island incidentally is today’s Greater Bombay. See the wikipedia article for details.

Nan pi is Nampi (as testified by Ma Huan in his book about Cheng Ho’s visit) – or land of the Nampoothiris? It is interestingly stated here in this book that the supremacy of the Nair country extended to Sri Lanka (Si Lan) and the other places listed thouygh it is very doubtful from a factual viewpoint.

About the people being Buddhists one should note that Chinese writers according to Rockhill use the word Fo which is transliterated to Buddha, but may just mean ‘God’.

A clarification about Zeytoun and Canton is needed here. Some historians mentioned that they are the same place, i.e. Quanzhou or Guangzhou, but others confirm that Zeytoun (Xiamen or Amoy now) came about only in the 10th century. Note that they had other names too, Canton was Chin or Sin-kalan or Khanfu and Zaytoun was Ts'iian-chow or Chinchu in Fukien. Hangchow or Hangzhou was a third port, close to Shanghai. Canton is to the south, Hangzhou up North and Xiamen between them.

The word Satin comes apparently from Zaytoun as it originated there.

References

India as known to the ancient world – Dr Gauranganath Banerjee
Chu Fan Chi - Chau Ju Kua - F Hirth and WW Rockhill
China in Word history – S A M Adshead

Pics - from the net, google images - thanks to the uploaders

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Chinese trade at Calicut

Posted by Maddy Labels:

The Indian sub continent, as Abu Lughod puts it ‘was in the way to everywhere’. And one such stop over in medieval times was the Malabar port of Calicut. It was always the key link in the Indian Ocean and the Indo China sea trade system. Picture a 15th century day at Kozhikode - The big bazaar (Valiyangadi) just off the Calicut beach resounded with multiple languages, and a teeming populace consisting of so many races. Nairs, Tamil Chettiars, white & black Jews, Arabs, Persians, Syrians, Christians, Turks, Somalis, Chinese, Malays, Italians and many more nationalities rubbed shoulders with each other speaking a score of languages and dialects. Thinking back I wonder, where did they live and what did they eat???

Some time back I had written about Cheng Ho’s arrival in Calicut, the Chinese treasure ships and the ambassadors they took back. I had also mentioned about the trade as such and the way Chinese traders conversed (see links below). Let us now try to understand how it started and how it ended.

Normal maritime links between Arabia and China and the Far East existed some 1200 years ago. That presumption is proved by the recent discovery of a sunken Dhow filled with trade goods, near Indonesia. Arab dhows piloted by fearless Middle Eastern traders continued what they excelled in, sailing with the winds, taking their time, with minimum fuss, plying at the ports of Calicut, Zeytoun (Quanzhou – Citong city - S China) and Basra to offload and exchange trade merchandise. The porcelain and silk continued to reach Basra & Europe through overland and sea routes. The Spices went up North to China and West to Europe. The Kling or Kalinga (Chettiar?) merchants from the Coramandel also sailed their great ships to Chinese ports.

Chinese trade originally started with both Coromandel (Chola) Nagapatinam and Malabar ports during the Sung dynasty between 967-1279. Quilon was where the Arabian coast trade with China really started, and as the geopolitical scene and export power base shifted, the Chinese moved up the coast from Quilon to Cochin and finally Calicut. During this period the Chinese ships ventured out from Zeytoun and Canton usually until Malabar (the lure was pearls from the Ceylon straits) and not beyond to the Arab ports. It was only in the 13th century that Chinese ships frequented the Arabian ports. Suleiman in his writings around 852AD state that ships leaving Muscat stopped at Quilon on the way back, a time when they had to pay a very heavy customs duty of 1000 Dinars! In 1282 we even had Quilon Envoys at Zeytoun. It must have been during these periods that the Chinese fishing nets landed up in Travancore & Cochin, a period when Kublai Khan ruled. The Chinese king/queen, the ruler of Venad, was titled Penate (Venadan) by the Chinese. The Quilon royal residence was called Apuhota. It was in 1294 that Marco Polo visited Quilon, while in the service of Kublai Khan. Quilon ginger & pepper were in great demand in China.

Somewhere around 1310, as documented by the Roman Friar John of Monte Corvino (Quilon was called Columbum then by the West) the Arabic missionaries and Mopilah merchants stepped into Quilon and started to strengthen their religious bases and their numbers, eventually wresting away the local trade from the Chinese. Around 1340, Ibn Batuta visited Quilon and Calicut. This is just about the time that the Calicut port’s supremacy starts. The Chinese trade in Quilon is by now on the decline, the Arabs, Moors and the Moppilahs are taking over the trade at the other ports as well. The first reports of the flourishing trade came when Ibn Batuta came in 1343 he wrote about seeing some 13 Chinese junks in the Calicut harbor.

The 14th & 15th Century was the period when trade with the Chinese rose dramatically owing to the visits by Cheng Ho and the warm relations between Kuli (Calicut) and the Ming China. The decline of the Chinese trade in Calicut started when the Bahrami traders took an upper edge at Calicut, according to Ashin Das Gupta. The advantage the Moors had over the Chinese was numbers and their willingness to help the Zamorin in his conquests. Ashin Das Gupta however mentions in his books that the Chinese trade virtually ended with Quilon and mentions only a few visits by Chinese Junks to Calicut which I believe was erroneous considering Mahuan’s writings and the Cheng Ho saga.

By the 15th Century the Chinese shifted their focus to Malacca. Curiously the Arab trade route also restricted itself to the Arabian Sea resulting from the fall of the Abbasiud Caliphate. Thus, Indian ships plied the routes between Malacca and Malabar ports. Let us now look at the 15th Century trade. In 1402, during a devastating civil war, Zhu Di seized the throne from his nephew. Since he had seized the throne by force, Emperor Zhu Di was especially anxious to demonstrate and prove his legitimacy.In 1403 Emperor Zhu Di ordered construction of an imperial fleet that was to include trading ships, warships, the so-called "treasure ships," and support vessels and ordered the fleet, under the command of Admiral Zheng He, to embark on a major voyage that same year. The emperor and Admiral Zheng He had been friends since the admiral was in his teens, and they trusted one another. Since Zheng He was a Muslim, he would be able to establish good relations with Muslim trading communities as well as with Chinese traders in the ports the ships visited

Zheng He (Cheng Ho) voyages - Zheng He commanded a fleet of 317 ships, almost 28,000 men, their arms and supplies. He oversaw seven voyages that touched upon Calicut between 1405 -1433. Multi lateral trade prospered and formal relations between the Ming dynasty and several Indian, Middle Eastern and South East Asian countries were established. Zheng He or Cheng Ho dies at Calicut in 1433. The Ming emperor orders a halt to wasteful spending on treasure ships and thus the Chinese sponsored maritime trade comes to a complete halt. After 1439 there is no further evidence of any envoys from or to Calicut. (See my blog on Zheng Ho)

Malabar was one place where all the products from the East or the West could be purchased or sold. As a free port, administered under the benevolence of the Zamorin, Calicut prospered. Many nationalities coexisted in harmony, crime was minimal and honesty in trade was well documented.

Now you, the reader may question – why did the native of Malabar rarely venture out into the seas, during the medieval times? Why was it that this was done only by the Arabs and probably the Moppilas – the Maraikkar community (with Sri Lankan Origin perhaps). The answer is very interesting and comes from the deep rooted belief that if one leaves the shores, then you lose caste. That is the story of Kala Paani. The old Aryan myth goes as follows – The Ocean is the resting place of the great God and any human activity on it will disturb the tranquility. Doing so would mean losing your caste, possible excommunication and banishment from society. Thus the oceans were called Black water or Kala Pani and the English had a tough time getting labor across to the West Indies, Africa and other places. Read a separate blog on this subject.

What did the Chinese do at Calicut? They picked up spices of course, but only on the Journey eastwards back to China. They did stop over in Calicut on each of the voyages, recuperated, replenished their stores and continued on frequently to the west. For the westerly trade, they bartered in Calicut with gold coins, spices from SE Asia and mainly rice that they had picked up at Orissa, to purchase Silver for the trip to Zanzibar. Ian Blanchard gives the reasons in detail in his book on Mining. Curiously in Zanzibar, they bartered the Silver for Rhodesian native gold and more spices!! Another item traded by Calicut merchants was Arabian Opium that was purchased at a third of the price in Canton, by Chinese traders in Calicut. It was something the Chinese considered very important and needed for their medicines

Here the reader should note that the Opium story again takes a funny course. The Malabar people never got hooked on drugs like Opium, however it is mentioned in the annals of history that the people around Dutch Cochin were habituated for a period after the Dutch who controlled the Opium trade, used Opium to barter for spices during their supremacy. Then after the British came, they cultivated Opium in Bengal (George Orwell’s father headed the department) for delivery to China….

According to traveler Ma Huan’s notes, the only people the Chinese had any regard for was the people of Kuli or Calicut. The rest were typically barbarians. The reasons are amply explained in this description.

This is the great country of the Western Ocean. In the fifth year of the Yung Lo, the court ordered the principal envoy, the grand eunuch Cheng Ho and others to deliver an imperial mandate to the king of this country and to bestow on him a patent conferring the title of honor and the grant of a silver seal, also to promote all the chiefs and award them hats and girdles of various grades…..The people are very honest and trustworthy. Their appearance is smart, fine and distinguished. Foreign ships from every place come there, and the king of the country also sends a chief and a writer and others to watch the sales, thereupon they collect the duty and pay it to the authorities.

Where did the Chinese live in Calicut? Look no further than in a westerly direction from the environs of the Big Bazaar, the Northwest port area. Calicut of the 14th Century was built as a model city, following the Hindu grid formula based on the image of a sacred man Purusha. The axis and energy centre was dictated by the position of the Tali temple, and all trades and people had a place. The Chinese lived in the Chinese street now called the Silk Street. This was later occupied by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English (the Portuguese fort was located there). The Mappilas lived South West. South East was Tali temple, the palace and the kalaris. Northeast was the commercial quarter.

It is also interesting to note that in one of the Zheng Ho voyages; he participated (and probably even helped) with the installation of a Manavikarma Zamorin.

Chinese Arab rivalry - The instigation of the Zamorin by Arab traders who were envious of the competition from the Chinese started the process. Various references indicate sharp rivalry between the Arab and Chinese traders and OK Nambiar in his book reaffirms that a Chinese village was set fire upon by the Arabs of Calicut. Joseph the Indian, visiting Europe in the 16th century, accompanying Cabarl (Read the linked Cabral’s hostages) on his voyage back to Lisbon states that the Moppilahs armed with the Zamorin’s backing destroys a Chinese settlement in Calicut over some trade dispute. While this may have happened in the 16th century, during the 13th century, the Chinese had frequent visits at Zeytoun by Marakkar Muslims and during 1291 even gave asylum to Bouali (Abu Ali, I guess a Marakkar), from Tuticorin until he died and was buried there in 1299)

There is a belief that many of the Chinese shifted base from Calicut to rival Cochin as a result of these attacks, but after taking revenge (Ashin Das Gupta confirms it as well, based on Joseph’s notes). Joseph also states that the Chinese have remarkable energy and conducted a first rate trade in Calicut. According to Jospeh, the Chinese left Calicut after this slaughter and after taking revenge on the people (late 14th century) finally shifting base to Mailapatam under King Narasinga towards the sea of Cengala (also recreating dwellings and scenery like Calicut – De Barros) and leaving behind only a colony of half castes (Chini Bachagan referred to in Malabar Manual & AbduRazzak) and some Chinese temples (??). The one apparent problem was, I understand, the desire of exclusivity that the Chinese demanded in bilateral trade relations. The Zamorins could never grant that, considering the Indian Ocean trade with Arabs, the large Europe trade and considering that Calicut was after all a free port.

By the time Gama reached India, the Chinese trade was just a matter of tradition, and not a flourishing one. The Chinese had their temples in Calicut and had a settlement including half caste progeny, that’s all.

They were not alone and all this time, they had stiff competition with the Arabs and Moppliah’s of Malabar, whom the Zamorin favored. Even though the shipping stopped after 1435 and the edict by the Mings not to continue trade links, the overland routes prospered. However they continued in Calicut till the Portuguese came. That was the final nail in the coffin and once the massacre of everything that did not fall into the Portuguese line of thought started, the Chinese left. They probably moved on to other new trade centers like Calcutta which the later day English favored, or to Malaysia, Indonesia etc which was more conducive to unthreatened existence.

The Portuguese and the Dutch ensured the fall of Calicut from trading grace, shifting it first to Cochin and Goa. A casual English visitor to Calicut in the late 17th Century mentions a thriving port that once bustled with activity and bristling with trading rivalry had declined to looks presented by a modest and peaceful fishing village. However one must bear in mind that the only reason for Portuguese success in the late 15th century was the abrupt removal of the Chinese from the maritime scene by the Ming dynasty due to problems at home. The Portuguese next shifted focus to Malacca and it was by 1521 that the Chinese broke off relations with them once and for all.

Who are the Chinna Kribala, another type of Koyas of Calicut – William Taylor feels that they came by sea and were probably of Chinese origin. But he also infers that they could be Malay. It is one of those half castes who became Marakkar’s confidante – Chinali.

Incidentally the port frequented by the Chinese in Calicut was Pantalayani Kollam and was termed Fandaraina. Here was where their ships docked during the monsoon months.

Some words about where the Chinese departed to - They shifted base to Mailapatam under King Narasinga of Vijayanagara towards the bay of Bengal (also recreating dwellings and scenery like Calicut – De Barros). Further research shows that this China Patanam is Chennapatanam or today’s Chennai, yesterday’s Madras (Hobson-Jobson – Chinapatam)!!

But there is also a comment in history books that the Maraikkar’s (KM III) captured somewhere near Goa a Chinese treasure Junk laden with goods in 1592 (corroborated by many writers & historians). That’s funny – according to other information the Chinese had stopped shipping around the early 16th century?

Note – The Compass was apparently invented by the Chinese circa 1110AD, with that, sea navigation became easier. In the very early days when Arabian Dhows reached Chinese shores of Zeytoun, the Chinese always met the incoming ships at the straits to conduct trade and only a few were allowed in, in which case trade was carefully supervised. The five major ports in the world according to Ibn batuta (1304-1377) were Alexandria, Quilon, Calicut, Zeytoun and Soldaia or Sudak in Crimea. All five were fed with the Indo-China trade.

Tail Note – In the 15th and 16th centuries, Calicut was reportedly larger than Lisbon (Hope Diamond – Richard Kurin) Can you believe that?

Links & References
Cheng Ho in Calicut
When Fingers talk
Enterprising Malayalees
Cabral’s hostages
Beyond Price - R. A. Donkin
Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the middle Ages - Ian Blanchard
Quilon – An Indian port of former Days – Padmanabhan Thampi
Before European Hegemony - By Janet L. Abu-Lughod
History's Great Untold Stories - Joseph Cummins

Pics

Chinese junk photo - Wikimedia
Big Bazar - Time
Cheng Ho map of route to Calicut - Wikimedia

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