Paper presented by Prof. George Menachery (kunjethy@gmail.com 00919846033713) at the Muziris Seminar, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, Sept.

2013: The Maritime Importance of Muziris as Described by Roman Historians and Poets, and other writers. in the First Centuries BCE/CE as Inspiration for Undertaking a Modern Day Muziris - Red Sea Sail Ship Voyage.

Prologue:
Allow me to put my last things first by bringing to the attention of the learned scholars present an item from the Hindu dated January 21, 2012 which more or less summarises what I want to say here.

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Re-enact Muziris voyages, KHA tells Navy

K.A. MARTIN & S. ANANDAN
Defence Ministry told to take the lead in rebuilding such a vessel at Beypore The Kerala History Association (KHA) headed by jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer has urged the Indian Navy to join hands with the Departments of Cultural Affairs and Tourism to re-enact the voyages of ancient trade vessels from the ancient port of Muziris to the Red Sea around 2000 years ago. In a key resolution, passed early this month, the association asked the Union Defence Ministry to take the lead in rebuilding such a cargo vessel at Beypore, a historical boatbuilding hub in northern Kerala renowned for its esoteric technology adept at building urus' [cargo sail yachts] using locally available timber and coir. The association felt that recreating a cargo vessel that plied the seas from Muziris to link ports in the Red Sea on the Egyptian and the Yemeni coasts would highlight the strong historical links between the two important regions of the world besides bringing to the world's attention their cultural exchanges. Historian K.N. Panikkar endorsed the idea when he told The Hindu on Friday that it would be good if the Navy undertook such a mission. He recalled that such efforts had been made in other parts of the world, including in the recreation of journeys along the old Silk Route. It must have taken 40 days to reach Muziris from Egypt by sea in the olden times, said George Menacherry, a historian, who piloted the resolution at the association's meeting.

He, however, added that the Jewel of Muscat,' a replica of the late first-millennium trading vessel that sailed around the world jointly created by the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of Singapore, had shown that the journey would take just 27 days now. Approached for its comments, the Navy said although it had not received the proposal yet, it would study the merits of the project before taking a call on that. While the Navy has always taken a keen interest in understanding, conserving, and contributing to build upon the rich maritime history that India boasts, collaboration in such ventures require decision at the highest-level, said Navy sources. In the State, the Navy has earlier assisted the archaeological excavation team at Pattanam (where vestiges of Kerala's trade with the Mediterranean countries were exhumed) by sending its deep-sea divers to conduct underwater surveys. It sustains a chair on maritime history at Calicut University and the local chapter of the Maritime History Society is headed by the Southern Naval Command's Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST). When the Jewel of Muscat' (Jewel of Oman), currently installed as a maritime history museum in Singapore after a historical sail along the ancient Middle East and the Far East, was constructed in Oman on the lines of a shipwrecked ninth-century cargo vessel, uru-builders of Beypore were called in to build it. Built without nails or screws and with planks sewn together using coconut fibres, the sail yacht was made by over a dozen carpenters and rope-makers from Beypore. There was a time when the boatbuilding industry here had its hands full, building about 60 urus simultaneously. Even now, they build about six to seven urus for foreign customers who use them for tourism promotion. They recently constructed one for a French customer. Exponents of the esoteric technology of uru-making are not many now. But still there are a few and scores of workers are employed by them to carry out the job. They can create mock-ups of ancient ships as well, said M.P. Padmanabhan, INTUC national leader and an authority on the subject.

Recreating the vessel will highlight the links Such efforts made in other parts of the world'

1.00 In the title of the paper the term MuzirisRed Sea Sail Ship Voyage is used as if this writer is even today sure about the exact location of Muziris. When this writer wrote the chapter on Kodungallur and Muziris in the work Kodungallur City of St. Thomas (first published in 1987) there was to be found near- unanimity of opinion

about the location of Muziris among the vast majority of 20th Century historians. This unanimity of opinion continued more or less until the book was reprinted in 2000 and its contents published on the site www.indianchristianity.com . Until quite recent times, most historians believed with many generations of people down the centuries, that Muziris was Cranganore or Kodungallur. Ptolemy has E. Long. 117.00 and N. Lat. 14.00 for Muciris Emporium and 117.20 and 14.00 for the Azhimukham (Pseudostomas) See K.V. K Ayyar, A Short History of Kerala, Ernakulam, 1966, Appendix II, pp. 193, 194, 195 for some two score and ten places in the area mentioned by Greek and Roman authors of the century between c. 50 and 150 A.D. Here are a few other examples: K.P.Padbanabha Menon: Pliny described Cranganore as primum emporium Indiae (Actually Pliny says this about Muziris). And again, Situated on the western sea-board at a point where the river system that afforded untold facilities for communication with the interior opened its mouth into the sea, Cranganore formed a great emporium of trade from very early times from where The Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, each in turn, carried on commerce with the East." [History of Kerala, I, Ernakulam, 1924, p 297] K.M. Panikkar : "The great hoards of Roman coins discovered in Kerala bear ample witness to the extensive character of this trade. "The main port in Kerala which was the centre of this trade, as Pliny says, was Muziris or Cranganore. It was known in Kerala as Muyirikkodu - it is so mentioned in the so called Christian plates. The earlier Tamil poets allude to it as Mucciri. Periplus mentions that Muziris is a city at the height of prosperity frequented as it is by ships from Arriake and by Greek ships from Egypt. The exports of Kerala consisted mainly of pearl in considerable quantity and of superior quality; pepper in larger quantities and gems of every variety" K.M. Panikkar, A History of Kerala, Annamalai Nagar, 1959, p.3. Galletti, The Dutch in Malabar, Madras 1911, p.9 (Introduction v) V.Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manual (in 3 volumes), Vol I, Trivandrum,1906, pp 231-232.

T.K Velu Pillai, The Travancore State Manual (in 4 volumes), Vol. II, Trivandrum, 1940, p.10.

Yule-Cordier, Cathay and the Way Thither, London.

Vincent Smith quoted in T.K. Velu Pillai, op-cit., vol.II. p.10 Bjorn Landstrom , The Quest for India , Stockholm, 1964, (Double day English Edition). p.48 K.V. Krishna Iyer, Keralas Relations with the Outside World, pp. 70, 71 in "The Cochin Synagogue Quatercentenary Celebrations Commemoration Volume", Kerala History Association, Cochin, 1971. There are many more statements by a plethora of writers taking for granted that Muziris is Kodungallur. But in recent years, especially after the excavations at Pazhnam or Pattanam by Shajan followed by others, there is a tendency among a group of scholars to doubt the location of Muziris, hence what is accepted more or less universally is that Muziris is on the west Coast of Malabar, possibly in the vicinity of Kodungallur in the Parur-Chetwa belt. This divergence in the views of scholars does not affect the position that large quantities of Kerala goods and goods that arrived in Kerala from various points were exported from Muziris.

2.00 The writings of early writers both of the east and the west bring out mainly three aspects of the Muziris trade, one: the products exported from Muziris and the demand for Muziris exports at Rome and elsewhere in the Empire, two:the extend of the Muziris trade and its economic impact, three: the route and modus for the transportation and the duration of the trips by land and sea.
The flourishing town of Muciri where the large beautiful ships of the yavanas which bring gold and take pepper come disturbing the white foam of the little fair Periyar of the Cheras. Ahananaru (149),Tamil Sangam Poem datable to 2nd century CE. While the journey from Muziris was easier with the north-eastern winds, the journey from Rome that used the rough south-west winds was tough. The whole journey was relatively quick

but risky. Lionell Casson, a well-known archaeologist working on Roman trade, thinks that the Romans had the right kind of ships that were designed for safety than speed The vessels usually arrived in Muziris in September and were anchored till December or early January. Gold coins, topaz, coral, copper, glass, wine and wheat were imported from Rome, while pearl, diamonds, sapphire, ivory, silk, pepper and precious stones were exported from the west coast. Casson estimates that a 500-ton ship could have carried goods equivalent to the price of 2,400 acres of fertile farmlands in Egypt. While another archaeologist, Federico Romanis, estimates that one ship carried nothing less than 68,000 gold coins worth of goods. The trade, it appears, was seductively profitable and worth the risk. As the Vienna Papyrus, a rare document discovered about two decades back reveals, the trade between Muziris and Alexandria was well worked out and traders from both sides went to great lengths to secure it. A wharf complex with a dugout canoe made from a single log of wood and several wooden posts/bollards were found during excavations in 2007. Carbon dating fixed the date of the canoe to 1st century BCE. A large quantity of botanical remains such as pepper, rice, cardamom, frankincense and grape seeds belonging to the same period were also discovered. It clearly emerged that Pattanam was once a thriving link in the Indian Ocean trade. Evidences pointed out that it was a site of continuous habitation pre-dating the Roman phase. The earliest strata so far unearthed dates back to the Iron Age 10th to 5th century BCE.