The Tamil Merchants and Southeast Asian Rulers Merchandise, Maritime Trade and Traffic, 1506–1813

This book explores the mercantile activities of Tamil Hindu and Muslim merchants in the Southeast Asian ports of Melaka, Manila, Banten, Mergui, Tennaserim, Ayutthaya, Pasai, Pedir, Aceh, Kedah, Perak and Penang after the advent of the Europeans. It establishes significantly how capital, markets and maritime trade were being transformed and extended much more widely across Malaya, Java, Sumatra and Thailand. Based on extensive original European sources, the volume reveals the import and export of commodities and the trading networks developed between royal courts and Tamil merchants occupying the posts of harbourmaster, prime minister, chancellor of the treasury, supreme commander of the navy, police chief, taxation official and royal merchant. It describes the multifaceted nature of trading and the wide scope of commodity chains, and the many tensions while competing with European trading rivals. It contributes to current scholarly debates on colonialism and the nature of intra-Asian maritime trade.