The great trading corporation of the peninsula, named for Aihole where it began, whose Five Hundred hold charters, markets and temple endowments from the Deccan to the Tamil land and Lanka and carry their own armed guards.
Its writ runs on the roads and at the market towns of the Yadava, Kakatiya and Silahara countries (cloth, iron, steel, horses, pepper, salt); kings protect it because they need its tolls and it can take its goods elsewhere. Inscriptions record its gifts to temples in the Telugu country. It governs itself and answers to no king: real power without castles.
Who he is
- Name
- not known (the guild's heads and its guards are not named for 1200)
- Title
- Merchant corporation of the Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavole (Aihole)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Corporation of itinerant merchants, with its own banners, armed guards, charters and temple gifts; the guild of the Deccan and the Tamil land (with the Nanadesi, Manigramam and Anjuvannam)
- Confidence
- low
General knowledge from memory of Karashima, Spencer and the epigraphists; no source on 1200 read this session.
What it holds
- The merchant towns and market rights granted by kings; temple endowments; armed escorts
Allies and rivals
Served by the kings it supplies; rival of other guilds in the same markets.
How things stand that morning
At the height of its reach.
Places of note
- Aihole: Birthplace and cult centre of the guild (coordinates from memory).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: From memory; no source read this session carries a dated Ayyavole record for 1199-1200. Treat the existence as thick and the 1200 detail as thin.
Sources and studies
- General knowledge of the medieval Deccan (Bhandarkar, Altekar, Sastri, B. R. Gopal, Suryanath Kamath): from memory, not re-read
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.