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The tale of the Tamil merchant is a fascinating story of the adventure of commercial intercourse in the ancient and early medieval period. Sangam poetry dating back 2,000 years gives us a vivid description of ports and cities bustling with traders and markets which leaves us wondering at the vigorous trade that evidently flourished between the Tamil region and Rome and the Mediterranean world to the west, and South-East Asia to the east.

The early medieval period takes us to a more complex polity dominated by the rise of powerful Tamil empires under the Pallava and Chola dynasties. The strengthening of the state apparatus was accompanied by the emergence of many administrative and representative institutions. In this larger landscape, merchants were key agents of growth and change.

Towering over the region, both literally and figuratively, the temple emerged as the central, definitive institution dominating social and economic life in the region known as Tamilakam. The interface between the temple, state, society and merchants is the major theme of this study.