Anjuvannam

{{Infobox organization

| image = Quilon Syrian copper plates - vertical plate (9th century AD)..jpg

| caption = Quilon Syrian copper plates

| map =

| motto =

| formation = c. 9th century CE

| extinction =

| merged = Ainurruvar (the Ayyavole Five Hundred)

| dissolved = c. 13th century AD

| type = Merchant guild

| purpose = * Indian Ocean trade

| language =

| main_organ =

| parent_organization = Ainurruvar (in and after the 12th century)

| location =

| region = South India (primarily)

| membership = Non-Indian traders (ethnic Persians and Arabs)

Jewish, Syrian Christian, Muslim and Zoroastrian merchants

}}

File:Jewish copper plates of Cochin - (plate I, side I) (early 11th century AD).jpg

Anjuvannam (in Malayalam, from Persian anjuman, and hanjama or hanjamana in Telugu or Kannada{{Cite book |last=Narayanan |first=M. G. S. |url=https://archive.org/details/1_20200409_20200409_1359 |title=Perumals of Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |year=2013 |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=278, 437 and 451 |chapter= |orig-year=1972}} or hamyamana{{Cite journal |last=Subbarayalu |first=Y. |date=2015 |title=Trade guilds of south India up to the tenth century |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2348448915574403?download=true&journalCode=sipa |journal=Studies in People's History |language= |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=21–26 |doi=10.1177/2348448915574403 |issn=2348-4489|url-access=subscription }}) typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, consisting of non-Indian traders — principally ethnic Persians and Arabs — primarily active in south India.{{Cite book |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-concise-history-of-south-india-9780198099772?cc=us&lang=en& |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-809977-2 |editor-last=Karashima |editor-first=Noboru |pages=136 |chapter=}} Along with manigramam and ainurruvar (the Ayyavole Five Hundred), the anjuvannam merchant guild played a major role in the commercial activities of southern India in the medieval period.

Unlike manigiramam merchant guild, which was also operating in Indian hinterland, the presence of anjuvannam is found only in coastal towns. In some ports this guild obtained royal charters, which permitted the special immunities and privileges within those cities. Anjuvannam finds mention in number of south Indian inscriptions, most notably in Quilon Syrian copper plates (c. 849 CE) and in Jewish copper plates of Cochin (c. 1000 CE).{{Cite book |last=Pius |first=Malekandathil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rN69iFj1PJoC&q=anjuvannam |title=Maritime India: Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean |date=2010 |publisher=Primus Books |isbn=978-9380607016 |location=Delhi |oclc=551379069}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crxUQR_qBXYC&q=Anjuvannam+hanjumana |title=History of People and Their Environs: Essays in Honour of Prof. B.S. Chandrababu |date=2011 |publisher=Indian University Press |isbn=9789380325910 |editor-last=Ganeshram |editor-first=S. |language=en |editor-last2=Bhavani |editor-first2=C.}} The guild initially engaged in commercial activities along the Kerala coast before expanding its operations to other south Indian coasts.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India |date=2024 |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-93-570-5618-2 |edition=2nd |pages=1593–94 |orig-year=2008}}

History

= Etymology =

The term Anjuvannam probably originates from a Persian root. It is related to {{langx|ae|hanjumana|italic=yes}} and Persian anjuman or {{Transliteration|fa|anǰoman}} (this refers to an organization or association of people).{{cite web |last1=Bayat |first1=M. |last2=Algar |first2=H. |last3=Hanaway, Jr. |first3=W. L. |date=2012 |title=Anjoman (Organization) |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/anjoman-gathering-association-society-general-designation-of-many-private-and-public-associations |access-date= |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=}} The term {{Transliteration|te|hanjama}} or {{Transliteration|kn|hanjamana}} is found in Telugu and Kannada records. {{Transliteration|kok|Hanjamana}} is the term used in an inscription from the Konkan Coast. According to an earlier explanation, the title Anjuvannam derived from the Hindu varna system as any person not belonging to one of the four varnas was referred to as an {{Transliteration|sa|anjuvannan}}.{{Cite book |last=Logan |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjiFvC3h8UUC&q=Anjuvannam |title=Malabar |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=2004 |isbn=9788120604469 |language=en |orig-year=1887}}

A person in the Anjuvannam community is known as an "anjuvannan".

= Composition and area of activity =

Historian Y. Subbarayalu had defined the anjuvannam guild as a "body of West Asian traders".{{Cite book |last=Subbarayalu |first=Y. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-iRygAACAAJ |title=South India Under the Cholas |publisher=Oxford University Press India |year=2011 |isbn=9780198077350 |language=}} The guild of anjuvannam was usually organized by Middle Eastern traders that included Jewish, Syrian Christian, Muslim and Zoroastrian or Parsi merchants operating in south India (mostly Indian Ocean trade).{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2swhCXJVRzwC&q=Anjuvannam |title=Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia |last2= |first2= |last3= |first3= |date=2009 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=9789812309372 |editor-last=Kulke |editor-first=Hermann |location=Singapore |language= |editor-last2=Kesavapany |editor-first2=K. |editor-last3=Sakhuja |editor-first3=Vijay}} The merchants generally operated in the trading ports of Konkan Coast, Malabar Coast and Coromandel Coast of south India (and even in South East Asia including Java).

While the Manigramam merchant guild operated in the Indian hinterland as well, the Anjuvannam merchant guild was found exclusively in coastal towns of South India.

= Development =

The earliest concrete epigraphical evidence of the Anjuvannam, the Quilon Syrian copper plates dated to c. 849 CE, confirms the guild's activity on the Kerala coast in the mid-9th century CE. From the early 10th century CE, the ainurruvar (the Ayyavole Five Hundred) expanded across southern India, uniting most pre-existing merchant guilds, including the Anjuvannam and Manigiramam, under its umbrella. The increased association of the anjuvannam guild with the Jewish traders of Malabar Coast is visible in the Jewish copper plates of Cochin (c. 1000 CE). Starting in the 12th century CE and continuing thereafter, the Five Hundred merchant guild served as an umbrella organization for various smaller merchant guilds. During the 11th - 13th centuries anjuvannam was mostly composed of Muslim traders on both the west and east coasts of India.