Answer all the questions given under each caption:

Non - Tamil Sources (Foreign Accounts)

a. What does the presence of the non-Tamil sources reveal?

b. Name the classic work of the Mauryan period that makes mention that the pearl and shells came from Pandya country.

c. What is a chronicle?

d. Who speaks about the pepper trade between the Roman Empire and India?

a. Non-Tamil literary sources offer information on early Tamil society. The presence of the non-Tamil sources reveals the extensive contacts and interactions, engagements, trade and other exchanges of tamilakam with the whole world.

b. Arthashastra is an ancient Indian discourse on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy. The book is written in Sanskrit. It is written by several authors over centuries, like Kautilya, Vishnugupta and Chanakya.

c. A chronicle is a record (a series of events) in a factual and detailed way. By definition, chronicle is ‘a factual written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence.’

d. Pliny the Elder, the Roman speaks about pepper trade between India and Rome. Pliny the Elder was a Roman author, naturalist, natural philosopher and commander of the early Roman Empire.

• He explains not only about the trade but also about the features of pepper.