The Chola-Arabs Kollam Copper Plates and the Syrian Christians

In 849 CE, the Venad ruler Ayyanadikal granted privileges to a community of Syrian Christian merchants on a set of copper plates in Kollam. The Kollam Tarissapally copper plates represent the oldest surviving record of any Indian Christian community and a unique window into the maritime trade networks linking South India and West Asia. This episode examines the plates themselves, the Jewish and Christian merchant guilds of Kollam, the meaning of the privileges granted, and the light they shed on early medieval Kerala's diverse religious and commercial landscape. We also explore the legend of Saint Thomas's arrival in Kerala, the rise of the Syrian Christian church, and the tensions between the Chola imperial sphere and the independent Chera and Venad kingdoms. Specific figures include Ayyanadikal, Mar Sabor and Mar Proth, and the Chola emperor Rajaraja I's later dealings with the region. #CholaEmpire #KollamCopperPlates #SyrianChristians #Ayyanadikal #MarSabor #Venad #KeralaHistory #IndianOceanTrade #MaritimeHistory #SaintThomas #CheraKingdom #Nestorianism #Quilon #Tarissapally #MedievalIndia #TradeGuilds #History #FexingoHistory #SouthIndia #IndianOcean Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo