Indo-Roman trade relations
Indo-Roman trade relations (see also the
The southern route so helped enhance trade between the ancient
Background
The
The
Aden – Arabia Eudaimon was called the fortunate, being once a city, when, because ships neither came from India to Egypt nor did those from Egypt dare to go further but only came as far as this place, it received the cargoes from both, just as Alexandria receives goods brought from outside and from Egypt.
— Gary Keith Young, Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy
The Ptolemaic dynasty had developed trade with Indian kingdoms using the Red Sea ports.[1] With the establishment of Roman Egypt, the Romans took over and further developed the already existing trade using these ports.[1]
Classical geographers such as
Early Common Era
Prior to Roman expansion, the various peoples of the subcontinent had established strong maritime trade with other countries. The dramatic increase in the importance of Indian ports, however, did not occur until the opening of the Red Sea by the Greeks and the Romans' attainment concerning the region’s seasonal monsoons. The first two centuries of the Common Era indicate a marked increase in trade between western India and the Roman east by sea. The expansion of trade was made possible by the stability brought to the region by the Roman Empire from the time of Augustus (r. 27 BCE–14 CE) which allowed for new explorations and the creation of a sound silver and gold coinage.
The west coast of present-day India is mentioned frequently in literature, such as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The area was noted for its strong tidal currents, turbulent waves and rocky sea-beds were dangerous for shipping experience. The anchors of ships would be caught by the waves and quickly detach to capsize the vessel or cause a shipwreck. Stone anchors have been observed near
Since the discoveries at Bet Dwarka are significant for the maritime history of the region, archeologists have researched the resources in India.[
Since one must sail against the narrow gulfs of western India, special large boats were used and ship development was demanded. At the entrance of the gulf, large ships called trappaga and cotymba helped guide foreign vessels safely to the harbor. These ships were capable of relatively long coastal cruises, and several seals have depicted this type of ship. In each seal, parallel bands were suggested to represent the beams of the ship. In the center of the vessel is a single mast with a tripod base.
Apart from the recent explorations, close trade relations, as well as the development of ship building, were supported by the discovery of several Roman coins. On these coins were depictions of two strongly constructed masted ships. Thus, these depictions of Indian ships, originating from both coins and literature (Pliny and Periplus), indicate Indian development in seafaring due to the increase in Indo-Roman commerce. In addition, the silver Roman coins discovered in western India primarily come from the 1st, 2nd, and 5th centuries. These Roman coins also suggest that the Indian peninsula possessed a stable seaborne trade with Rome during 1st and 2nd century AD. Land routes, during the time of Augustus, were also used for Indian embassies to reach Rome.
The discoveries found on Bet Dwarka and on other areas on the western coast of India strongly indicate that there were strong Indo-Roman trade relations during the first two centuries of the Common Era. The 3rd century, however, was the demise of the Indo-Roman trade. The sea-route between Rome and India was shut down, and as a result, the trading reverted to the time prior to Roman expansion and exploration.
Establishment
The replacement of Greek kingdoms by the Roman Empire as the administrator of the eastern
The trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE kept increasing according to Strabo (II.5.12.):[12]
At any rate, when
Ptolemies, only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise.— Strabo
By the time of Augustus up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos to India.[12] So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the Kushan Empire (Kushans) for their own coinage, that Pliny the Elder (NH VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:[13]
India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million
sesterces from our empire per annum at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what fraction of these imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the spirits of the dead?— Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.[14]
-
Gold coin of Claudius (50–51 CE) excavated in South India.
-
Gold coin of Justinian I (527–565 CE) excavated in India probably in the south.
Trade of exotic animals
There is evidence of animal trade between Indian Ocean harbours and the
Ports
Roman ports
The three main Roman ports involved with eastern trade were Arsinoe, Berenice and Myos Hormos. Arsinoe was one of the early trading centers but was soon overshadowed by the more easily accessible Myos Hormos and Berenice.
Arsinoe
The Ptolemaic dynasty exploited the strategic position of Alexandria to secure trade with the subcontinent.[3] The course of trade with the east then seems to have been first through the harbor of Arsinoe, the present day Suez.[3] The goods from the East African trade were landed at one of the three main Roman ports, Arsinoe, Berenice or Myos Hormos.[17] The Romans repaired and cleared out the silted up canal from the Nile to harbor center of Arsinoe on the Red Sea.[18] This was one of the many efforts the Roman administration had to undertake to divert as much of the trade to the maritime routes as possible.[18]
Arsinoe was eventually overshadowed by the rising prominence of Myos Hormos.
Myos Hormos and Berenice
Myos Hormos and Berenice appear to have been important ancient trading ports, possibly used by the
The site of Berenice, since its discovery by
In Berenike in March 2022 an American-Polish archaeological mission excavating the main early Roman period temple dedicated to the Goddess Isis uncovered in the forecourt of the temple a marble statue of a Buddha, the Berenike Buddha, suggesting the presence of Buddhist merchants from India in Egypt at that time.[20][21]
Major regional ports
The regional ports of
Barigaza
Trade with Barigaza, under the control of the
There are imported into this market-town (
sweetclover, flint glass, realgar, antimony, gold and silver coin, on which there is a profit when exchanged for the money of the country; and ointment, but not very costly and not much. And for the King there are brought into those places very costly vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thin clothing of the finest weaves, and the choicest ointments. There are exported from these places spikenard, costus, bdellium, ivory, agate and carnelian, lycium, cotton cloth of all kinds, silk cloth, mallow cloth, yarn, long pepperand such other things as are brought here from the various market-towns. Those bound for this market-town from Egypt make the voyage favorably about the month of July, that is Epiphi.— Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (paragraph 49).
Muziris
According to the Periplus, numerous Greek seamen managed an intense trade with Muziris:[22]
Then come Naura and Tyndis, the first markets of
Kingdom of Cerobothra; it is a village in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same Kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twenty stadia"— The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (53–54)
Arikamedu
The
Cultural exchanges
The Rome-subcontinental trade also saw several cultural exchanges which had a lasting effect on both the civilizations and others involved in the trade. The
Decline and aftermath
Roman decline
Trade declined from the mid-3rd century during
Ravaging of the Gupta Empire by the Huns
The Gupta Empire had been benefiting greatly from Indo-Roman trade. They had been exporting numerous luxury products such as silk, leather goods, fur, iron products, ivory, pearl or pepper from the ports of Bharutkutccha, Kalyan, Sind and the city of Ujjaini.[44]
The Alchon Huns' invasions (496–534 CE) are said to have seriously damaged the Gupta's (c.319-560 CE) trade with Europe and Central Asia.[45] Soon after the invasions, the Gupta Empire, already weakened by these invasions and the rise of local rulers, ended as well.[46] Following the invasions, northern India was left in disarray, with numerous smaller Indian powers emerging after the crumbling of the Guptas.[47]
Arab expansion
The Arabs, led by
Tamil speaking south India turned to
The Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in the 15th century (1453), marking the beginning of Turkish control over the most direct trade routes between Europe and Asia.[52] The Ottomans initially cut off eastern trade with Europe, leading in turn to the attempt by Europeans to find a sea route around Africa, spurring the European Age of Discovery, and the eventual rise of European Mercantilism and Colonialism.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Shaw 2003: 426
- ^ a b c d Young 2001: 19
- ^ a b c d Lindsay 2006: 101
- ^ a b c d Curtin 1984: 100
- ^ Potter 2004: 20
- ^ a b Parker 2008: 118.
- ^ a b c Young 2001: 29.
- ^ Mawer 2013: 38.
- ^ William H. Schoff (2004) [1912]. Lance Jenott (ed.). ""The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century" in The Voyage around the Erythraean Sea". Depts.washington.edu. University of Washington. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- ^ Lach 1994: 13
- ^ Young 2001: 20
- ^ a b "The Geography of Strabo published in Vol. I of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1917".
- ^ "minimaque computatione miliens centena milia sestertium annis omnibus India et Seres et paeninsula illa imperio nostro adimunt: tanti nobis deliciae et feminae constant. quota enim portio ex illis ad deos, quaeso, iam vel ad inferos pertinet?" Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.
- ^ Original Latin: "minimaque computatione miliens centena milia sestertium annis omnibus India et Seres et paeninsula illa imperio nostro adimunt: tanti nobis deliciae et feminae constant. quota enim portio ex illis ad deos, quaeso, iam vel ad inferos pertinet?"
- ^ Archived 13 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Il Blog sulla Villa Romana del Casale Piazza Armerina". villadelcasale.it. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ O'Leary 2001: 72
- ^ a b c Fayle 2006: 52
- ^ a b Freeman 2003: 72
- ^ "Garum Masala;Dramatic archaeological discoveries have led scholars to radically reassess the size and importance of the trade between ancient Rome and India". New York Review. 20 April 2023.
- ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Parker, Christopher. "Archaeologists Unearth Buddha Statue in Ancient Egyptian Port City". Smithsonian Magazine.
- ^ a b c d Halsall, Paul. "Ancient History Sourcebook: The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century". Fordham University.
- ^ a b "Search for India's ancient city". BBC. 11 June 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ George Menachery (1987) Kodungallur City of St. Thomas; (2000) Azhikode alias Kodungallur Cradle of Christianity in India
- ^ "Signs of ancient port in Kerala". telegraphindia.com. Calcutta (Kolkata): The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ a b Huntingford 1980: 119.
- ^ a b c Lach 1994: 18
- ^ a b Ball 2016: 152–53
- ^ Hill 2009: 27
- ^ Yule 1915: 53–54
- ^ An 2002: 83
- ^ Harper 2002: 99–100, 106–07
- ^ O'Reilly 2007: 97
- ^ Schoff 2004 [1912]: paragraph #64. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ Suárez (1999): 90–92
- ^ Yule 1915: 25–28
- ^ Lieu 2009: 227
- ^ Ball 2016: 153–54.
- ^ a b c Kulke 2004: 108
- ^ Farrokh 2007: 252
- ISBN 978-9069847153.
- ISBN 0226742210.
- ISBN 0226742210.
- ^ Longman History & Civics ICSE 9 by Singh p. 81
- ^ The First Spring: The Golden Age of India by Abraham Eraly pp. 48 sq
- ^ Ancient Indian History and Civilization by Sailendra Nath Sen p. 221
- ^ A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India p. 174
- ^ a b Meri 2006: 224
- ^ Holl 2003: 9
- ^ Kulke 2004: 106
- ^ Luttwak 2009: 167–68
- ^ The Encyclopedia Americana 1989: 176
References
- An, Jiayao (2002). "When Glass Was Treasured in China". In Annette L. Juliano and Judith A. Lerner (ed.). Silk Road Studies VII: Nomads, Traders, and Holy Men Along China's Silk Road. Brepols Publishers. pp. 79–94. ISBN 2-503-52178-9.
- Ball, Warwick (2016). Rome in the East: Transformation of an Empire (2nd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-72078-6.
- Curtin, Philip DeArmond; el al. (1984). Cross-Cultural Trade in World History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-26931-8.
- ISBN 0-7172-0120-1.
- ISBN 978-1-84603-108-3.
- Fayle, Charles Ernest (2006). A Short History of the World's Shipping Industry. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28619-0.
- Freeman, Donald B. (2003). The Straits of Malacca: Gateway Or Gauntlet?. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 0-7735-2515-7.
- Harper, P.O. (2002). "Iranian Luxury Vessels in China From the Late First Millennium B.C.E. to the Second Half of the First Millennium C.E.". In Annette L. Juliano and Judith A. Lerner (ed.). Silk Road Studies VII: Nomads, Traders, and Holy Men Along China's Silk Road. Brepols Publishers. pp. 95–113. ISBN 2-503-52178-9.
- Hill, John E. (2009). Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE. BookSurge. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
- Holl, Augustin F. C. (2003). Ethnoarchaeology of Shuwa-Arab Settlements. Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-0407-1.
- Huntingford, G.W.B. (1980). The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Hakluyt Society.
- Kulke, Hermann; Dietmar Rothermund (2004). A History of India. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-32919-1.
- Lach, Donald Frederick (1994). Asia in the Making of Europe: The Century of Discovery. Book 1. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-46731-7.
- Lieu, Samuel N.C. (2009). "Epigraphica Nestoriana Serica". Exegisti monumenta Festschrift in Honour of Nicholas Sims-Williams. Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 227–46. ISBN 978-3-447-05937-4.
- Lindsay, W S (2006). History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 0-543-94253-8.
- Luttwak, Edward (2009). The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03519-5.
- Mawer, Granville Allen (2013). "The Riddle of Cattigara". In Nichols, Robert and Martin Woods (ed.). Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia. National Library of Australia. pp. 38–39. ISBN 9780642278098.
- ISBN 0-415-96690-6.
- ISBN 0-415-23188-4.
- O'Reilly, Dougald J.W. (2007). Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia. AltaMira Press, Division of Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7591-0279-8.
- Parker, Grant (2008). The Making of Roman India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-85834-2.
- Potter, David Stone (2004). The Roman Empire at Bay: Ad 180–395. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10058-5.
- Schoff, Williamm H. (2004) [1912]. Lance Jenott (ed.). ""The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century" in The Voyage around the Erythraean Sea". Depts.washington.edu. University of Washington. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- ISBN 0-19-280458-8.
- Suresh, S. (2004). SYMBOLS OF TRADE Roman and Pseudo-Roman Objects found in India (PDF). Manohar.
- Young, Gary Keith (2001). Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC–AD 305. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24219-3.
- Yule, Henry (1915). Henri Cordier (ed.). Cathay and the Way Thither: Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol I: Preliminary Essay on the Intercourse Between China and the Western Nations Previous to the Discovery of the Cape Route. Vol. 1. Hakluyt Society.
Further reading
- Lionel Casson, The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text With Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. ISBN 0-691-04060-5.
- Chakrabarti D.K. (1990). The External Trade of the Indus Civilization. Delhi: Manoharlal Publishers Private Limited
- Chami, F. A. 1999. “The Early Iron Age on Mafia island and its relationship with the mainland.” Azania Vol. XXXIV.
- McLaughlin, Raoul. (2010). Rome and the Distant East: Trade Routes to the Ancient Lands of Arabia, India and China. Continuum, London and New York. ISBN 978-1-84725-235-7.
- Miller, J. Innes. 1969. The Spice Trade of The Roman Empire: 29 B.C. to A.D. 641. Oxford University Press. Special edition for Sandpiper Books. 1998. ISBN 0-19-814264-1.
- Sidebotham, Steven E. (2011). Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24430-6.
- Van der Veen, Marijke (2011). Consumption, Trade and Innovation. Exploring the Botanical Remains from the Roman and Islamic Ports at Quseir al-Qadim, Egypt. Frankfurt: Africa Magna Verlag. ISBN 978-3-937248-23-3
- Raith, M. – Hoffbauer, R. – Euler, H. – Yule, P. – Damgaard, K. (2013). “The view from Ẓafār –An archaeometric study of the Aqaba late Roman period pottery complex and distribution in the 1st millennium CE”. Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 6, 320–50. ISBN 978-3-11-019704-4.