>1234qwer1234qwer4 at 22:15, 16 February 2021

2021-02-16T22:15:38Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox organization
| image =
| caption =
| map =
| motto =
| formation =
| extinction =
| type = Merchant guild
| purpose =
* Indian Ocean trade
| language =
| main_organ =
| parent_organization = [[Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu|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 Parsi merchants
}}
[[File:Jewish copper plate (c. 1000 CE).png|thumb|Jewish copper plates of Cochin (c. 1000 CE)|421x421px]]

'''Anjuvannam''' (in [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Malayalam]], from [[Persian language|Persian]] '''anjuman''', and '''hanjama''' or '''hanjamana''' in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] or [[Kannada]]<ref name=":1" /> or '''hamyamana<ref name="journal_sage_2015" />''') typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, consisting of non-Indian traders (ethnic Persians and Arabs<ref name="journal_sage_2015" />), primarily active in south India.<ref name=":0">Noburu Karashmia (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 136.</ref> Along with [[manigramam]] and [[Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu|ainurruvar (the Ayyavole Five Hundred)]], the anjuvannam merchant guild played a major role in the commercial activities of the region.<ref name=":0" /> Unlike manigiramam, which was also operating in Indian hinterland, the presence of anjuvannam is found only in coastal towns.<ref name="journal_sage_2015" />

The guild of anjuvannam was organised by West Asian traders that included [[Judaism|Jewish]], [[Christianity|Syrian Christian]], [[Islam|Muslim]] and [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian Parsi]] merchants operating in south India (mostly Indian Ocean trade<ref name="journal_sage_2015" />).<ref name="book_2009_nagapattinam_suvarnadwipa">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2swhCXJVRzwC&q=Anjuvannam|title=Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia|last=Kulke|first=Hermann|last2=Kesavapany|first2=K.|last3=Sakhuja|first3=Vijay|date=2009|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=9789812309372|language=en}}</ref> Historian Y. Subbarayalu had defined the anjuvannam guild as a "body of West Asian traders".<ref name="book_2009_nagapattinam_suvarnadwipa" /><ref name="journal_sage_2015">{{Cite journal|last=Y. Subbarayalu|date=2015-06-01|title=Trade guilds of south India up to the tenth century|journal=Studies in People's History|language=en|volume=2|issue=1|pages=21–26|issn=2348-4489}}</ref><ref name="book_2011_subbarayalu">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-iRygAACAAJ|title=South India Under the Cholas|last=Subbarayalu|first=Y.|date=2011-12-22|publisher=OUP India|isbn=9780198077350|language=en}}</ref> The merchants generally operated in the trading ports of Konkan, [[Malabar Coast]] and [[Coromandel Coast]] of south India (and even in South East Asia including [[Java]]).<ref name="book_2009_nagapattinam_suvarnadwipa" /> 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 [[Tharisapalli plates|Quilon Syrian copper plates]] (c. 849 CE) and in [[Jewish copper plate|Jewish copper plates of Cochin]] (c. 1000 CE).<ref name="book_2010_pius_malekandathil">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rN69iFj1PJoC&q=anjuvannam|title=Maritime India : Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean|last=Pius.|first=Malekandathil|date=2010|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-9380607016|location=Delhi|oclc=551379069}}</ref><ref name=":1">Narayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala.'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 278, 437 and 451.</ref><ref name="book_2011_chandrababu">{{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=Bharathi Puthakalayam|isbn=9789380325910|language=en}}</ref> The increased association of the guild with the Jewish traders of Malabar Coast is visible in the latter inscription.<ref name=":1" />

The earliest concrete epigraphical evidence of anjuvannam is the [[Tharisapalli plates|Quilon Syrian copper plates]] (c. 849 CE). The guild was active on the Kerala coast in the 9th century CE.<ref name="journal_sage_2015" /> From the early 10th century, [[Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu|ainurruvar (the Ayyavole Five Hundred)]] guild spread throughout south India bringing under its umbrella most of the pre-existing guilds. Both anjuvannam and manigiramam were incorporated into the Five Hundred.<ref name="journal_sage_2015" /> In and after 12th century, the Five Hundred acted as an umbrella organisation to cover all the other smaller merchant guilds.<ref name=":0" /> During the 11th - 13th centuries anjuvannam was mostly composed of Muslim traders on both the west and east coasts of India.<ref name="journal_sage_2015" />

A person in the Anjuvannam community is known as an "anjuvannan".<ref name="book_2009_nagapattinam_suvarnadwipa" />

==Etymology==

* An explanation traces the origin of the name anjuvannam to the [[Avestan|Avestic]] word ''hanjumana'' and [[Middle Persian|Persian]] word ''[[Anjuman (disambiguation)|anjuman]]/anǰoman'' that refers to an organisation or association of people.<ref name="book_2011_chandrababu" /><ref name="anjoman_iranica_encyclopedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/anjoman-gathering-association-society-general-designation-of-many-private-and-public-associations|title=ANJOMAN (Organization) – Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=electricpulp.com|website=www.iranicaonline.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-11}}</ref>
*The term ''hanjama'' or ''hanjamana'' is found Telugu and Kannada records.<ref name=":1" /> "Hanjamana" is the title used in inscription from the Konkan coast.<ref name="journal_sage_2015" />
*According to an earlier explanation, the title Anjuvannam derives from the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna system]] as any person not belonging to one of the four varnas was referred to as an ''anjuvannan''.<ref name="book_1887_malabar_manual_logan">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjiFvC3h8UUC&q=Anjuvannam|title=Malabar Manual|last=Logan|first=William|date=1887|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120604469|language=en}}</ref><ref name="book_2011_chandrababu" />

==See also==
* [[Cochin Jews]]
* [[Manigramam]]
* [[Trade guilds of South India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G6JWnV729I Historian Y. Subbarayalu on Anjuvannam]
[[Category:Cochin Jews]]
[[Category:Judaism in Kerala]]
[[Category:Social groups of Kerala]]
[[Category:Guilds in India]]

Anjuvannam - Revision history

>1234qwer1234qwer4 at 22:15, 16 February 2021