[muawiyah]

It's actually not all that hard to sail by Dhow from Haifa to Suez, into the Red Sea, and from there cross the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and then to the Malabar Coast.

In earlier times, no doubt, there was a bit of overland to get to the Red Sea, but there was no reason to have to take the whole trip on foot.

Alexander the Great did it backwards upon leaving India.

http://nabataea.net/ships.html provides a brief on this ancient Indian ship design popularized by Arab traders.

[D-fendr]

interesting.. thanks for the link.