THE GLIMPSES OF NAGAPATTINAM IN MARITIME TRADE ON THE COROMANDEL COAST IN THE EARLY COLONIAL PERIOD
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/dgjb9445Keywords:
Coromandel Coast, Nagapattinam, Indian Ocean trade, Dutch East India Company, colonial encounters, cultural hybridityAbstract
The Coromandel Coast, extending along southeastern India, served as a dynamic hub of maritime exchange linking South Asia with the wider Indian Ocean world. Among its ports, Nagapattinam occupied a preeminent position as both a commercial and cultural interface during the early colonial period. This study re-examines Nagapattinam’s evolution between 1500 and 1824, tracing its transition from a Chola-era naval base to a contested colonial entrepôt. Drawing upon Portuguese and Dutch East India Company (VOC) archival materials, Tamil inscriptions, and field studies, the paper reconstructs the socio-economic and cultural transformations that shaped the town’s maritime identity. It highlights the reciprocal influences among local merchant communities, European trading companies, and indigenous political powers, revealing a pattern of negotiation rather than domination. By situating Nagapattinam within the broader framework of Indian Ocean port societies, the study underscores its role as a microcosm of creolised urbanism, where commerce, belief, and cross-cultural contact intertwined. The analysis thus contributes to Indian Ocean historiography by foregrounding indigenous agency and the enduring continuity between pre-colonial and colonial maritime systems.
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