Posted on 06/15/2007 3:44:26 PM PDT by blam
Q&A: 'Ancient India was in the middle of global trade'
15 Jun, 2007 l 0142 hrs IST
S P Gupta, former director of Allahabad Museum and current chairman of Indian Archaeological Society, is credited with excavating several Indus Valley sites. He spoke to Rohit Viswanath on recent developments in marine archaeology:
What are the latest advancements in marine archaeology? We do not use the term marine archaeology anymore. It is called underwater archaeology. That is because the term merely denotes oceanic and deep-sea archaeology. However, underwater archaeology has a wider scope. Fresh-water sources have been historically conducive to human habitation. Many ancient port cities and towns were located at the mouth of rivers or estuaries, where ships could be anchored. S R Rao has done great work in Dwarka. Vast discoveries have also been made in Lakshadweep and Elephanta islands. Several port sites have been found on the east coast in Andhra Pradesh.
What is the significance of these findings?
Rao asserts that the remains excavated by his team from the mouth of the Gomti river in the Gulf of Kutch are part of Krishna's Dwarka, on the basis of a seal found at the site. At the Elephanta islands, 2,000-year-old Roman pottery has been discovered, indicating rich trade with the late Roman Empire between the 4th century AD and 7th century AD. The findings establish it as a significant port of the period. Further, on the west coast, at Chaul, a team from Deccan College has found evidence of trade with Oman from the 1st century AD to 13th century AD. Evidence of trade has also been traced right up to Japan from the west as well as the east of the country. We now know that India had contacts all over the ancient world, right from the Red Sea in the west to South China Sea in the east. India was right in the middle of global trade.
What were the commodities of trade?
In those days, the two important trade routes were the Silk Route and the Spice Route. The Silk Route was an interconnected series of routes through various regions connecting Xi'an in China, with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. Indian silk, ivory and many other goods went to Rome and other great empires through this very route.
At Bagram in the north-west of Kabul, a city on this ancient Silk Route, a shop has been excavated with boxed Indian ivory dating back to between 1st century BC and 3rd century BC. Spices were some of the most valuable items of trade in ancient and mediaeval world. A couple of years ago, 60,000 Roman coins belonging to 1st century BC were found along Cauvery river which was on the Spice Route.
There are anecdotes in ancient literature about how Egyptian and Roman wealthy used to splurge money on buying spices and condiments.
Ancient is a technical term from the early Renaissance historians meaning pre-Christian. Rome had extensive trade with India, which extended into SE Asia, Cambodia, etc. When Rome collapsed, so did India. So did half the world.
You know what I love about our Subcontinental neighbors?
They can out-Brit the Brits when it comes to criticizing the questioner before answering the damn question.
Probably some type of worldwide event caused it. Volcano, asteroid impact, etc.
Nothing more nor less than the collapse of a single city. That’s the last time a city ruled half the world.
ping.
India ping.
HG Wells said he thought that King Ashoka 300 BC was the greatest
king in history. He had a great empire. Some say his father met
Alexander the Great. He sent thousands of buddhist monks to the
west. Around 300 BC there were hundreds of buddhist monks
in Alexandria ,Egypt. Influenced the early Christian teachings.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Please stick to historical facts. Don't repeat nonsense.
He/she might have referred to this:
http://www.amazon.com/Original-Jesus-Buddhist-Sources-Christianity/dp/1852306289
Compares Christian teachings and Buddhist teachings:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_Buddhism
Roman leaders used to complain about all the silver that was leaving the Republic/Empire in exchange for the spices coming eastward.
They did! I remember reading that. Was it Tacitus?
I don’t remember; could of been Cicero - he hated everything.
I got it from reading in a history book on spices (and modern uses - and recipes!). One of the big imports was “long pepper”, a seasoning we don’t use much anymore.
That’s true, always finding fault. But then, he was an attorney.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.