Anjuvannam

Anjuvannam
TypeMerchant guild
Purpose
  • Indian Ocean trade
Region
South India (primarily)
Membership
Non-Indian traders (Jewish, Syrian Christian, Muslim and Zoroastrian Parsi merchants)
Parent organization
Ainurruvar (in and after the 12th century)
Jewish copper plates of Cochin (c. 1000 CE)

Anjuvannam (in Malayalam, from Persian anjuman, and hanjama or hanjamana in Telugu or Kannada[1] or hamyamana[2]) typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, consisting of non-Indian traders, primarily active in south India.[3] Along with manigramam and ainurruvar (the Ayyavole Five Hundred), the anjuvannam merchant guild played a major role in the commercial activities of the region.[3]

Unlike manigiramam, which was also operating in Indian hinterland, the presence of anjuvannam is found only in coastal towns.[2] A person in the Anjuvannam community is known as an "anjuvannan".[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference journal_sage_2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 136.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference book_2009_nagapattinam_suvarnadwipa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).