Traders, Kings and Pilgrims Chapter talks about traders, kingdoms along the coasts, silk route, the spread of Buddhism, pilgrims and beginning of Bhakti. About traders, students will get to learn how traders used to carry fine potters from the places they were made, how new routes were explored by them, etc. New kingdoms were set up along the coasts and how the silk route came into existence. How Buddhism was widely spread and at the conclusion, it describes the beginning of Bhakti.
Sangam poems mention the muvendar, a Tamil word meaning three chiefs, used for the heads of three ruling families, the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas. They became powerful in south India around 2300 years ago.
Each of the three chiefs had two centres of power: one inland, and one on the coast. Among the six cities, two were important: Puhar or Kaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas, and Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas. Instead of regular taxes, the chiefs demanded and received gifts from the people.