Mongols speaking Malayalam – What a sunken ship says about South India & China’s medieval ties

Changsha bowls from the Belitung shipwreck.
ArtScience Museum, Singapore | Wikimedia Commons

Square-lobed gold dishes from the Belitung shipwreck.
ArtScience Museum, Singapore | Wikimedia Commons

China’s medieval ties were always too wide or too thin.

;^)

The Antkythera Mechanism, the World's first known Celestial Calculator, was found underwater in 1901 .It is believed to have been designed by Archimedes himself.

https://freerepublic.com/tag/antikytheramechanism/index

fascinating, thank you — I didn’t realize the sea lanes were there during Tang China.

I read years ago that, in that time period, the Chinese had explored as far west as East Africa and possibly the West coast of the Americas.

Then their exploration ceased.

Continual at least, if not continuous, for thousands of years.

https://freerepublic.com/tag/romantrade/index?tab=articles

The rest of the Mongols keyword, sorted:

Archaeologists Uncover an Ancient Palace That May Be the Long-Lost Summer Home of Genghis Khan's Warrior Grandson [08/02/2022]
Saved by the Wind? The Mongol Invasions of Japan [12/27/2021]
Medieval Russians hid silver hoard before Mongol invasion: They weren't hiding it from the Mongols, but an earlier, unknown enemy [09/09/2021]
The Four Black Deaths [04/12/2021]
Mystery of Genghis Khan's Death Considered Solved [02/06/2021]
Report: Xi Jinping Ordering Erasure of Genghis Khan from Chinese History [11/11/2020]
Brutal 13th-Century death pit from Russian 'city drowned in blood'...murdered by Mongols [tr] [09/06/2019]
11,000-year-old Turkish town about to be submerged forever [05/27/2019]
Details of the history of inner Eurasia revealed by new study [04/29/2019]
Vardzia Cave Monastery: Underground monastery and fortress [03/11/2019]
Russia takes a new look at an old enemy: Genghis Khan [08/20/2018]
40 Facts about Tamerlane - Timur the Lame {the Sword of Islam} [04/16/2018]
Mongol Hordes Gave up on Conquering Europe Due to Wet Weather [05/28/2016]
Vicious clash between Mongols and Iron Order biker gangs leaves one dead ... [01/31/2016]
6 Most Powerful Armies of All Time [07/08/2015]
Medieval Hoard Discovered Beneath Russian Museum [01/02/2015]
Global Warming and the Rise of the Mongolian Empire [03/12/2014]
How Climate Change Drove the Rise of Genghis Khan [03/10/2014]
Yurts: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask [06/21/2013]
Genghis Khan the GREEN: Invader killed so many people that carbon levels plummeted [04/20/2013]
Genghis Khan the GREEN: Invader killed so many people that carbon levels plummeted [01/15/2013]
Police fear turf war as biker gangs arrive in Europe [12/21/2012]
The Hunt for Genghis Khan's Tomb [12/04/2012]
Rethinking the Thundering Hordes [05/06/2012]
13th century Mongolian wreckage discovered off Japanese seabed [Kublai Khan's lost fleet?] [10/28/2011]
Genghis Kahn's Unintended Green Legacy [02/23/2011]
Carnegie Institution Study: Genocide Reduces Global Warming (All hail to Genghis Khan!) [01/28/2011]
Genghis Khan--environmentalist (Mass slaughter appears to be an environmental plus) [01/26/2011]
Was Genghis Khan history's greenest conqueror? (Mongol invasion scrubbed 700 million tons of carbon) [01/25/2011]
Was Genghis Khan history's greenest conqueror? [01/24/2011]
Mongols biker club sues the city for $11 million [07/25/2010]
Mongolia counts carcasses after harsh winter(exceptionally cold winter) [06/01/2010]
Vatican reveals Secret Archives (including letter from Genghis Khan's grandson) [01/02/2010]
Beneath the ruins of Genghis Khan's capital city in Central Asia, archaeologists discovered artif... [04/10/2009]
Restoring Order: Conquering Iraq in the 13th and 21st Centuries. Could Genghis Khan teach the US? [03/26/2009]
Recently Uncovered Skeleton Offers Clues on Chinggis Khaan Era [12/15/2008]
Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan banned gay sex, experts say [09/01/2007]
China claims Genghis Khan as its own [12/29/2006]
Gengis Khan Basecamp Found In China [12/28/2006]
Mural Of Genghis Khan's Funeral Found [12/27/2006]
Celebrating Genghis Khan's Big Year [10/13/2006]
Genghis misunderstood [10/03/2006]
China says Genghis Khan catalyst for Renaissance [07/22/2006]
How I am related to Genghis Khan [05/29/2006]
Sons of Genghis Khan roll out the red carpet for Bush [11/21/2005]
Y Chromosomes Reveal Founding Father (Giocangga) [10/25/2005]
Discovery Channel special on Ghengis Khan [10/23/2005]
CHRISTIANS AMONG MONGOL INVADERS (of Japan) [03/27/2005]
The Koryo-Mongol Allied Invasion of Japan - The Myth of Kamikaze [03/27/2005]
FReeper Canteen ~ Conclusion of The Mongols ~ January 11, 2005 [01/10/2005]
FReeper Canteen ~ Part IX of The Mongols ~ January 4, 2005 [01/03/2005]
FReeper Canteen ~ Part VIII of The Mongols ~ December 28, 2004 [12/27/2004]
FReeper Canteen ~ Part VII of The Mongols ~ December 21, 2004 [12/20/2004]
FReeper Canteen ~ Part VI of The Mongols ~ December 14, 2004 [12/13/2004]
FReeper Canteen ~ Part V of the Mongols ~ December 7, 2004 [12/06/2004]
Has Genghis' Tomb Been Found? [11/26/2004]
FReeper Canteen ~ Part II of The Mongols ~ November 16, 2004 [11/15/2004]
FReeper Canteen ~ Part I of The Mongols ~ November 9, 2004 [11/08/2004]
Archeologists Unearth Remains of Genghis Khan's Palace on Mongolian Steppe [10/06/2004]
Genghis Khan's Pen As Mighty As His Sword [08/23/2004]
Amazon Warrior Women [08/04/2004]
Free meal promotion for relatives of Genghis Khan [07/05/2004]
Genghis Khan: Father To Millions [06/22/2004]
In war on terror, Genghis Khan's rules apply [05/31/2004]
Siberian Graveyard's Secret (More Redheads) [01/08/2004]
History rehabilitates the tyrants of old in Central Asia [10/26/2003]
The Last Great Mystery: The Hunt for Genghis Khan [05/28/2003]
A Prolific Genghis Khan, It Seems, Helped People the World [02/13/2003]
Genes of history's greatest lover found? [02/07/2003]
Mongol Mysteries: Are 'Deer Stones' A clue? [08/14/2002]

In the Tang period???

I know that during the Ming period they sent sea ships to East Africa.

But not earlier — as far as I know, they preferred merchants to come to THEM - so the Malay traders to India and Indian merchants onwards.

Chinese goods arrived both in India by sea and overland, and probably via at least one intermediary was involved to get the goods there.

There had been a Chinese expedition to Mesopotamia, which alas arrived not long after the abandonment of the Roman province there (Trajan added it before his death in 117, his boy-loving adopted son gave it up by 119). The delegation is known because they gave their report to the Chinese court, and the records survive. Perhaps because the Romans weren’t in Mesopotamia, the mission was considered a failure, but the distances may have been prohibitive. Probably the reason for the effort was the loss of Chinese control over the Silk Road and western interior. There had been a Chinese embassy to Rome itself (it sez here) in 97 AD.

The Romans picked up much of their eastern Asian trade goods in ports in India, but they also stuck in a toe at least once, as a vessel from the Roman Empire during the rule of Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD) arrived and is recorded in Han Court records. By the time the Romans reached Han Court China, the dynasty was tottering, and not long after Marcus Aurelius died in the Roman Empire, uprisings started in Han China, and after decades of civil war, the former Eastern Han had been divided between three major states.

This slightly precedes the Romans’ Crisis of the Third Century.

BTW, the late Gavin Menzies basically fabricated his entire “Chinese discovery of America”.