The Indian Ocean - Michael Pearson [41]
The anonymous author of the famous Periplus, dating from about the middle of the first century BCE, operated from the west coast of the Red Sea and went at least as far as Malabar. He travelled by the direct passage straight across; by this time this route had been sailed for some centuries. Most likely Indian or Arab sailors instructed Greeks and Romans in its use. Roman trade is also notable in the Indus Valley area long after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation, where traders, not necessarily or even mostly from 'Rome', imported manufactures like silver plate, glass vessels and wine, and took off goods even from Afghanistan and China. There have been other Roman finds at Kolhapur, at Begram, north of Kabul, and of course at Arikamedu in Coromandel.26 However, it could be that much trade which has been identified as Roman was really Greek, as indicated maybe by the many Peripluses, which are of course Greek.
While the old notion of a trade dominated by Romans is certainly incorrect, this is not to deny that there were extensive connections, regardless of who was involved. What is interesting, as showing a pattern which continued until very recent times, is the way India exported much, but took in little except precious metals, as writers in Rome at the time pointed out and objected to. In return for Mediterranean bullion, India sent a vast variety of people and goods. These included spices, perfumes, jewels, textiles, ivory, and basic products like rice, sugar and ghee, and dyes like lac and indigo. Indian iron was considered to be very hard and pure. Exotic live animals arrived for the circuses, or to use as pets. Most of these goods had passed through many hands before they reached Rome, but some Indian people did make it that far, though most of these were specialists rather than traders. Mahouts often went with their elephants to Rome, along with Indian fortune tellers, conjurers and prostitutes.27
Contrary then to foreign dominance, a more correct picture would see India acting as fulcrum for a very widespread trade, in which many different routes were sailed, and many different people participated, including Greeks, Egyptians, Arabs and Indians. An early centre linking trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean was Berenike, an Egyptian port on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was founded in the third century BCE, and was abandoned some time after the sixth century CE. This ancient port city had an extensive trade with India. Even the preliminary excavation done so far by teams from Leiden University and the University of Delaware has found seeds, peppercorns, bamboo, glass and stone beads, coconut husks, teak wood, textiles, sail cloth and pottery dating back to a century either side of the beginning of the Common Era. There is a common Indian source for cloth found at Berenike and along the Silk Road to China. Berenike, then, was part of a very elaborate trade network.28
Two other ports flourished around the beginning of the Common Era. The first was Hormos, in the Red Sea, from which, so Strabo tells us, up to 120 vessels sailed each year to India. By this time at least, long-distance sailing was routine, covering this long passage of close to 3,000 nautical miles direct. The second, though there no doubt were many others, was Barygaza, in the Gulf of Cambay on the Narmada river. This great centre was, like all ports in this treacherous Gulf, difficult of access, so that local fishermen were appointed to go up the coast