Archive · 8 Oct 2026
Indian Ocean Merchants Crossed Caste, Religious and Regional Boundaries
For many centuries, merchants from South Asia travelled by sea to trade with distant places.
They came from different religions, regions and social groups.
Some Buddhist and Jain traders competed, while others shared routes and trading connections.
Groups called Banias could include Hindu, Jain or Muslim traders.
Chettiyars, Lohanas and many Muslim merchant communities also traded across the seas.
Monasteries sometimes helped traders by offering places to rest and supporting exchanges.
Merchants carried goods as well as religious ideas and cultural practices.
Their networks crossed boundaries, but competition and conflict did not disappear.
From the 11th to 16th centuries, merchants from the subcontinent built trade networks across the Indian Ocean.
Buddhist and Jain traders competed for influence and connected South Asia with Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
Communities called Banias or Vanias included people of different religions and varied backgrounds.
Lohanas, Chettiyars and Muslim merchant groups traded across coastal, regional and overseas routes.
Shared commercial networks crossed social boundaries, though rivalry and religious conflict also occurred.
- Who
- Buddhist, Jain, Hindu and Muslim merchants, along with other trading communities from the subcontinent.
- What
- They built coastal and transoceanic trade networks that crossed religious, regional and caste boundaries.
- When
- The article focuses mainly on the 11th to 16th centuries, while also discussing earlier and later examples.
- Where
- Across the Indian Ocean, linking the subcontinent with Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Arabia and Africa.
- Why
- To trade goods and develop commercial connections; some networks also supported religious, cultural and diplomatic exchanges.
- Main period discussed
- 11th–16th centuries
- Trade routes
- Coastal and transoceanic routes across the Indian Ocean
- Regions connected
- The subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Arabia and Africa
- Merchant communities discussed
- Among others, Jains, Buddhists, Banias, Lohanas, Chettiyars, Bohras, Khojas and Mappilas
- Trade and exchange
- Merchants traded goods and, in some cases, supported religious, diplomatic and cultural exchanges
- Key qualification
- Cross-community networks coexisted with competition and religious conflict
- Source
- Excerpt from Indians in the Ocean: Cultures of Trade and Travel ca. 1000-1500 CE by Mahmood Kooria