Muziris
The most important ports dealing with the spice trade (mostly black pepper) in south-west India were Muziris and Nelkynda. Muziris belonged to the Cheran Kingdom, Nelkynda to the neighbouring Pandian Kingdom.
Both were mentioned by Pliny:To those who are bound for India, Ocelis [an Arabian Red Sea port] is the best place for embarcation. If the wind, called Hippalus, happens to be blowing, it is possible to arrive in forty days at the nearest mart of India, Muziris by name. This, however, is not a very desirable place for disembarcation, on account of the pirates which frequent its vicinity, where they occupy a place called Nitrias; nor, in fact, is it very rich in articles of merchandize. Besides, the road-stead for shipping is a considerable distance from the shore, and the cargoes have to be conveyed in boats, either for loading or discharging … Another port, and a much more convenient one, is that which lies in the territory of the people called Neacyndi, Barace by name … The district from which pepper is carried down to Barace in boats hollowed out of a single tree, is known as Cottonara [possibly Cochin].92
Muziris dates from at least the first century BCE and was located (probably) in the area of modern Kodungallur and Pattanam, though the exact location is uncertain and Muziris is regarded as a ‘lost city’. Goods were exported to the Arabian coast, Red Sea ports, and probably northwards along the coast to Scythia and the Persian Gulf. Goods traded from here include black pepper, malabathron, spikenard, gemstones, ivory and Chinese silk, though pepper was the main commodity (see below). The goods were purchased with Roman money and several hoards of Roman coins have been found in the area, as well as other evidence of Roman presence. In 2009 a Hindu Times article described the discovery of around 500 Roman amphora sherds in the third season of archaeological excavations at Pattanam.
Kodungallur and Pattanam are on the north and south sides respectively of the Periyar River; the Periplus (§54) described the abundance of Arabian and Greek cargo ships: ‘Muziris, of the same Kingdom [as Tyndis], abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks [from Egypt]; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twenty stadia’ (note: 10 stadia is approximately 1 mile).The following section (§56) has detail of the trade:
They send large ships to these market-towns [esp. Muziris and Nelkynda] on account of the great quantity and bulk of pepper and malabathrum. There are imported here, in the first place, a great quantity of coin; topaz, thin clothing, not much; figured linens, antimony, coral, crude glass, copper, tin, lead; wine, not much, but as much as at Barygaza; realgar and orpiment; and wheat enough for the sailors, for this is not dealt in by the merchants there. There is exported pepper, which is produced in quantity in only one region near these markets, a district called Cottonara. Besides this there are ex-ported great quantities of fine pearls, ivory, silk cloth, spikenard from the Ganges, malabathrum from the places in the interior, transparent stones of all kinds, diamonds and sapphires, and tortoise-shell; that from Chryse Island, and that taken among the islands along the coast of Damirica [=Limyrike]. They make the voyage to this place in a favorable season who set out from Egypt about the month of July, that is Epiphi.
It is interesting that the peak development of Muziris (second century BCE to fourth century CE) pre-dates but is close to that of the Imperial Roman era, suggesting that its fortunes rose and fell in parallel with those of Rome.
The Akananuru, a classical multi-authored Tamil work of poetry mainly from the first to fourth centuries CE, referred to fine ships of the Romans coming with gold to ‘the wealthy Musiri town’ and departing with pepper.93 The Purananuru (The Four Hundred Songs of War and Wisdom) is another ancient anthology (first to fifth centuries CE), which described the busy atmosphere at Muziris when the Romans docked, with sacks of black pepper stacked in (ware)houses and gold being brought ashore in boats.94
The Periplus (§53) warns of pirates in the coastal area of south-west India, and this hazard is even labelled on the Tabula Peutingeriana (see Figure 14, a medieval copy of an original fourth-to fifth-century CE Roman map) in the area near Muziris, as well as by Pliny.
Muziris was also dangerous because of conflict with the neighbouring Pandian kingdom, and Tamil literature describes how it was besieged to destroy its dominant position in trade.
Interestingly, the presence of the ‘Templum Augusti’ near to Muziris on the Tabula Peutingeriana map is highly suggestive of a Roman settlement here, which emphasises the importance to Roman trade. The Muziris Papyrus
The discovery of the mid-second-century CE Papyrus Vindobonensis G40822, better known as the ‘Muziris Papyrus’, was a groundbreaking advance in the understanding of the Indo-Roman spice trade. It appeared in the antiquities market in the early 1980s and was acquired by the Austrian National Museum, where it now resides, and has been studied by scholars extensively. It deals with the shipment of goods from Muziris in India – one side of the document (the recto, Figure 15) is an agreement to transport goods from a Red Sea port (almost certainly Myos Hormos or Berenike) across the Egyptian desert to Coptos on the Nile and then downriver to Alexandria;95 the other side (verso) is a summary of the amounts of the different known cargoes (ivory, schidai and nard) and their value for customs duty. The document is fragmentary, but the total weight and monetary value is known, allowing De Romanis to infer the amount and nature of the missing cargo – black pepper and malabathron.96 The name of the ship carrying the cargo was the Hermapollon, a very large ship by the standards of the time. As we will see shortly, the value of the cargo was enormous, and after arrival at port this necessitated carriage through the desert under guard.