The Chola Empire's Silk Road of the Sea

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the maritime silk routes that connected the Chola Empire to Tang and Song Dynasty China. They trace how Tamil merchant guilds like the Ayyavole and Manigramam shipped pepper, pearls, and textiles to Quanzhou and Canton in exchange for silk and porcelain. The conversation also covers the diplomatic missions recorded in Chinese chronicles, including an embassy from the Chola king Rajaraja I to the Song court in 1015 CE, and the role of Tamil inscriptions found in Southeast Asia that testify to this bustling trade network. Lucas recounts details from the Liang Shu and Song Shi histories, and explains how the Chola navy protected these routes. Luna prompts him to connect this to the broader Indian Ocean world, revealing how Chola merchants operated alongside Arabs, Persians, and Chinese in a truly globalized medieval economy. #CholaEmpire #MaritimeTrade #IndianOcean #SongDynastyChina #TangDynasty #Ayyavole #Manigramam #Quanzhou #Canton #PepperTrade #SilkRoad #TamilMerchants #Diplomacy #SongShi #LiangShu #Nagarapattinam #MedievalGlobalization #History #SouthIndia #RajarajaChola Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo