Textile Trade and Hinterland Settlements of the Lower Kaveri Valley on the Coromandel Coast of India from 13th to 20th Century CE

Textile Trade and Hinterland Settlements of the Lower Kaveri Valley on the Coromandel Coast of India from 13th to 20th Century CE

The textile industry became one of the important economic activities on the Coromandel coast from the Late Medieval Period. Several ports became active on the Coromandel coast as a result of the urbanization contributed by long-distance trade and colonialism. The Lower Kaveri Delta region on the Coromandel Coast had many ports and was connected hinterland settlements. The settlements show evidence of textile production at many of these sites, and settlements of weaver communities are present in this area even today. The settlement of Nangur excavated by the author in 2019 produced evidence of textile weavers in archaeological as well as ethnographic contexts. Thirumullaivayil was one of the important ports of the region that connected with Nangur and other craft settlements in Sirkazhi region. This paper focuses on the textile trade on the later medieval and colonial periods and the hinterland settlements that connected with the ports of Lower Kaveri valley.

V.Selvakumar

The Museum of Underwater Archaeology

November 2021

English

Selvakumar, V.. 2021. “Textile Trade and Hinterland Settlements of the Lower Kaveri Valley on the Coromandel Coast of India from 13th to 20th Century CE.” Edited by Brian Fahy, Hans Van Tilburg, Bill Jeffery, T. Kurt Knoerl, and Riley Smith. In Proceedings of Fourth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Keelung,Taiwan, and Virtual, November 1-5, 2021. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology URL:
https://apconf-much.org/proceedings/exhibits/show/apconf-muchproceedings/item/695

Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage