ABSTRACT
From ancient times, India had had active maritime trade relations with many countries around the Indian Ocean. In the medieval period, South Indian states were particularly involved in this trade. Kings used to get a good deal of their income from trade and could thus afford to maintain a large army and to build a powerful navy without exhausting their land revenue base, which was mostly confined to the fertile core area of their dominion. The peasantry enjoyed a great deal of local autonomy, while the king’s power grew nevertheless.
