Ancient trade routes
Posted on 08/03/2015 10:34:58 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Remnants of ancient Indian pottery, beads and even Indian DNA found in human bones point to thriving trade and social contacts between India and Bali dating back to more than 2,000 years.
Besides trade, Indian merchants brought with them their language -- Sanskrit -- and the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism...
The major Indian port of connect with Bali in Indonesia and other places in Southeast Asia was Arikamedu, a thriving port located seven kilometres from Puducherry from where archaeologists have unearthed Roman artefacts too.
The influence of Sanskrit and the ideology of Hinduism and Buddhism which the Indian traders brought along "stimulated the rise of early state formation of kingdoms (in Bali) with an Indian base", said Ardika, a professor of archaeology at Udayana University in Bali.
He said Julah, located near Sembiran and Pacung, was a thriving port from between the 2nd century BC and 12th century AD -- for 14 centuries.
Archaeologists have found evidence of Sanskrit in the local script of the late 9th century AD...
The burial sites at Julah (from late 2nd century BC to 12th century AD) showed up Indian DNA on the human remains...
The inscriptions on the pottery also had the names of places located in India like Nalanda, Amravati and Varanasi.
In those early times, high functionaries or priests in the Balinese kingdoms named their residences after Indian names like Nalanda, Varanasi, Senapati and Amravati, Ardika added...
According to Ardika, the Indian influence in Bali came in two surges -- in the 2nd century BC and later in 8th century AD, which also brought with it Buddhism...
Ardika said the finds in Sembiran, Pacung and Julah show that Balinese were in contact with not only India but China also.
(Excerpt) Read more at zeenews.india.com ...
Ancient trade routes
That explains where people in India obtained their Bali buttons
;’)
Makes sense considering Bali is still predominately Hindu.
There’s a nice segment about BC-era trade in the east:
http://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Ancient-World/dp/B0002PUGYI
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