Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/43

Rh the Kaviri river, which was then a broad and deep stream into which heavily laden ships entered from the sea without slacking sail. The town was divided into two parts, one of which was called Maruvur-Pâkkam and adjoined the sea coast, and the other, which was situated to the west of it, was called Paddinappâkkam. Between these two portions of the city was a large area of open ground, planted with trees at regular intervals, where the great market was held. The principal streets in Paddinap-pâkkam were the Royal Street, the Car Street and the Bazaar Street. The merchants, Brahmins, farmers, doctors and astrologers resided in separate streets. Surrounding the palace were the houses of charioteers, horse and elephant riders and soldiers who formed the body-guard of the king. Bards, minstrels and panegyrists, actors, musicians and buffoons, chank-cutters and those skilled in making flower garlands and strings of pearls, time-keepers whose duty it was to cry out the number bf each nàlikai or division of time, as it passed, and other servants of the palace, also resided within the limits of Paddinap-pâkkam. Near the beach in Maruvur-Pâkkam were raised platforms and godowns and warehouses with windows shaped like the eyes of the deer, where the goods landed from ships were stored. Here the goods were stamped with the tiger-stamp (the emblem of the Chola kings) after payment of customs duty, and passed on to the merchants’ warehouses. Close by were the settlements of the Yavana merchants, where many attractive articles were always exposed for sale. Here were also the quarters of foreign traders who had come from beyond the seas, and who spoke various tongues. Vendors of fragrant pastes and powders, of flowers and incense, tailors who worked on silk, wool or cotton, traders in sandal, aghil, coral, pearls, gold and precious stones, grain merchants, washermen, dealers in fish and salt, butchers, blacksmiths, braziers, carpenters, coppersmiths, painters, sculptors, goldsmiths, cobblers and toy-makers, had their habitation in Maruvur-Pakkam.

The palace of the Chola king in Kaviripaddinam is described as a magnificent building. “Skilled artisans from Magadha, mechanics from Marâdam, smiths from Avanti, carpenters from