Thread by @themaritimelad

Merchant Guilds of Kalinga(Odisha)

Odia merchants(Sadhabas) who traded across SE & East Asia created institutions called Guilds(Srenis), the cooperative corporatised merchant org & were financed by temples.
They operated under contracts(Samaya) & code of conduct(Banaju-dharma).

The traders were known by various terms across the regions of
Tri-Kalinga.

Such as:
*Vanika- Dakshin Kosala, Khinjali
*Purashreshthi- Khijjing
*Shreshthin- Utkal
*Vanijara, Vyapari, Setti- Kalinga

Commercial centres of Tri-Kalinga evolution timeline:

8th cen- Hatta
Late 9th cen- Pattana
Early medieval period- Tirtha, Nagara

Also seen is the nature of a commercial township & its structure.

Eastern Ganga era list of trade guilds, showing the various communities/castes involved in the mercantile occupation & merchant guilds. Hence it shows the nature of socio-economic life of medieval Odisha(12th/13th cen)

List of Trade guilds from inscriptions/records:

Sonepur guild-
Kamalavana Vanika Sthana

The only major merchant guild organisation found in Odisha as per records. Mentioned in Sonepur plates of Somavanshi ruler Janamejaya

Agrahara:
These type of guilds were common across Tri-Kalinga, but were smaller & diffused in operations unlike the massive mercantile corporations of Tamil guilds.
They operated in villages, hattas, pattanas.

Kalinga agraharas
*Dantapura agrahara of merchant Sri Erapa Nayaka

*Kendupatna copper plate guilds- Tucada, Kanthipadi hatta, Purusotamapura hatta, Vedapura, Jayanagara hatta

*Alalpur guild

*Puri copper plate guild hattas

Donations by merchants and their families to temples, esp the grants of perpetual lamps.
Also includes donations of gold & land for maintenance. Rulers also gave grants esp villages to merchant guilds.

Major ports operational during the medieval period- Ganga/Suryavamsa Gajapati era includes-
*Khalkatapattana
*Manikapattana
*Palur
*Dantapura

Different types of taxes levied by Odia kingdoms during medieval period(about one-third of taxes collected were related to commercial/mercantile activities)

Ref:
*Trade & traders: An exploration into trading communities & their activities in early medieval Odisha- Bhairabi Prasad Sahu, 2019
*Merchants, Guilds & Trade in Ancient India: An Orissan perspective- Benudhar Patra, 2008, p 147
*The Ocean of Churn- Sanjeev Sanyal, 2016, p 134