The Penguin History of Early India

by Romila Thapar

  The establishment of brahman settlements in the south, probably coinciding with the rise of kingdoms, gradually introduced Sanskrit into the local language. But it also meant that Sanskrit speakers had to learn Tamil and use it professionally, which some did. That it was a two-way process is seldom commented upon, yet this is central to analysing acculturation. More was involved than language change and the incorporation of deities and rituals, and it should therefore be seen as an ongoing process, similar to that occurring in many other parts of the subcontinent.

  Networks of Routes and Trading Centres

  The subcontinent presents a mosaic of political identities during this period. Each mosaic varies in size. Some are small but the patterns of others give an impression of large states, however loosely they might have been pulled together. The pattern is further variegated by the inclusion of distinct kinds of political systems – kingdoms, oligarchies and chiefships. It is therefore rather difficult to make historical generalizations about the subcontinent as a whole. But the one feature that threaded its way through all this variation was exchange and trade. Again this was not of a uniform pattern, but nevertheless it is striking how activities and political identities in many pans of the subcontinent were involved. This was done through the evolving of trading centres of various kinds, linked by far-reaching routes.

  Earlier, items had been manufactured close to the sources of raw material or where a tradition of a particular craft existed, and artisans would gather there from surrounding areas. Now there was a greater dispersal of craftsmen, with many gathering in centres where there were markets. The proximity of sources or of distribution possibilities often determined the location of smaller exchange centres, whereas the larger markets were in towns. The dispersal was also occasioned by the raw material having to be transported long distances. The spinning and weaving of cotton and silk involved various regional techniques. It was said that cotton had to be as fine as the slough of a snake, so that the yarn could not be seen. The use of the cotton carder’s bow – an implement which is still in use in many places – improved the quality of cotton. Iron was available in mines scattered in various places, or from the iron-bearing soils of some areas. Copper was mined in Rajasthan, the Deccan and the foothills of the Himalaya. Semi-precious stones were available in many hilly and forested regions of the peninsula. The Himalayan slopes provided the much-used musk and saffron. The Salt Range of the Punjab remained the major source of salt. South India provided spices, gold, precious stones and pearls, together with sandalwood and ebony.

  Numerous routes now traversed the subcontinent, some continuing further into central and western Asia. The political control of the Shakas and Kushanas linked central Asia to India. Once the connections had been made trade would continue, provided there were goods to exchange. Chinese traders imported fur and horses, and the horse trade was also of interest to Indian traders. The decline of the Kushanas was contemporary with the decrease in Roman commercial interests in central Asia. This affected commercial interests in north-western India, but not for an extensive period. Elsewhere, for example along the coasts of the peninsula, the trade with the eastern Mediterranean flourished, the eastern trade with south-east Asia becoming more profitable.

  Routes tended to follow the highways and the river valleys. Rivers were not bridged, but ferries were common. Travel was restricted to the dry summers and winters, the rainy season being a period of rest. Caravans were large, and often several banded together for greater safety. Oxen and mules were the caravan animals, although in the desert camels were used. More nimble-footed asses were the pack animal in rough hill terrain. Kautilya advised that in the south roads running through the mining areas should be taken, as these traversed the heavily populated regions and were therefore safer than the more isolated routes. Mining activities seem to have expanded, especially the mining of gold and semi-precious stones. Buddhist sources refer to long-distance routes being regularly frequented, such as the north to south-west route from Shravasti to Pratishthana, and those that followed the river valleys of the north. Deserts tended to be avoided where possible except for short distances.

  Coastal shipping was common, water routes being many times cheaper than land routes. But the former were not without drawbacks. There is an interesting passage in the Arthashastra comparing the advantages of land and water routes. At one point it says that although sea travel is cheaper the danger of pirates and the cost of losing ships to them makes it expensive. Pirates, throughout history, were to be the bane of coastal areas involved in maritime trade, and were no less of a nuisance than brigands on land. A coastal route is obviously safer than a mid-ocean route and it also affords greater opportunities for local trade. But where profits were guaranteed and time was of the essence, mid-ocean routes were faster. Goods were transported by light coastal vessels, larger ships constructed from single logs tied together, and yet larger ones for long-distance voyages to the Red Sea or to south-east Asia. According to Pliny, the largest Indian ship was 75 tons but other sources estimate ships that could hold up to 700 passengers.

  Among potts, Barbaricum on the Indus Delta served as a port for the north-west, but the silting up of the estuary led to a relocating of its ports and its eventual decline. Its hinterland went as far north as Gandhara. Bhrigukachchha/Bharukachchha or Barygaza in Greek sources, the modern Bharuch, continued to be a major port for the western sea trade, as in earlier centuries, with its hinterland reaching the Ganges Plain. Ships arriving at Bhrigukachchha were conducted to their berths by pilot boats. At least one Jataka story refers to communication with Baveru (Babylon). The Gulf of Cambay remained the destination for much shipping from the Arabian Gulf, even up to recent times. But a large amount of trade was handled by other ports further down the western coast, such as Sopara and Kalyana, serving the western Deccan, and Muziris, linked to the centres in the south. Ports along the east coast were initially close to river estuaries, with the largest being in the Ganges Delta, for example, Tamralipti/Tamluk. The latter had access to the river trade along the Ganges, as well as the trade routes coming from the north-west through the Ganges Plain. Sherds with kharoshthi inscriptions which surface at sites in the Ganges Delta are an indication of these connections, as well as those with graffiti in Sinhala brahmi, found both here and as far afield as the island of Bali.

  The Mauryas had built a Royal Highway from Taxila to Pataliputra, a road that was almost continuously rebuilt in some approximation to the original during the period of Sher Shah, the Mughals and the British. The British referred to it as the Grand Trunk Road and its current revival is in the National Highway No. 1. Pataliputra was connected by both road and river with Tamluk, which was also linked by sea to Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Routes to the south developed rapidly in post-Mauryan times due to intensified trade demands. Land routes followed river valleys where possible, the elevations in the Deccan plateau discouraging direct north-south communication, but allowing for some east-west routes along valleys such as those of the Godavari and the Krishna. As with the Ganges Plain, the plateau was thickly wooded and therefore unsafe compared with the clearings and settlements along the valleys.

  Nevertheless the Deccan was a hive of market centres, production centres and Buddhist monasteries at places such as Ter, Bhokardan, Karad, Kondapur, Dharanikota and Amaravati, not to mention the more northerly centres in Vidarbha and the north-western Deccan. Ujjain was linked via Bhokardan, Kotalingala, Dhulikatta and Peddabunkur to Amaravati, some of which had megaliths or stupas or were fortified settlements. Buddhist sites were sometimes close to megalithk sites. The arrival of Buddhist monks in these areas would have required the support of settlements that could provide alms. The sanctity of a megalithk burial site would bestow sanctity on a stupa as well – both being essentially burials or symbolic of burials, even if of a different kind. Another route linked Bhrigukachchha, Nasik, Kondapur, Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati. The archaeology of such sites suggests that they were not isolated staging-points alon
g a route but had connections with cultivators, pastoralists and hunter-gatherers in the neighbourhood. This encouraged their function as markets.

  Gaps and breaks in mountains were always utilized, as in the peninsula where a major line of communication was the route from the Malabar coast on the west, through the Palghat Gap, along the Kaveri Valley to the east-coast settlements, traversing sites such as Kodumanal and Karur, before arriving at Arikamedu, Korkai or Alagankulam. Sites on the east coast had contact with settlements in Sri Lanka. Coastal routes developed faster and became the basis of north-south links along each coast, sometimes preferred over land routes. It was earlier thought that the cargo from Roman ships was offloaded at the western ports to be transported overland to the east coast, where places such as Arikamedu became trading stations. Incoming cargo was received for further distribution and exports were specially packed for transmission to Red Sea ports. It is now thought that perhaps ships sailed to the ports of the east coast despite the dangers of the seas between south India and Sri Lanka.

  Routes within India were actively used, and this activity increased through contacts with more distant places in west and central Asia that were linked to the Hellenistic world. In the north the most widely used highway westwards was from Taxila to Begram, where roads branched off in various directions. The northern route was via Bactria, the Oxus, the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus to the Black Sea. A more southerly route went from Kandahar and Herat to Ecbatana, after which it was linked to the ports on the eastern Mediterranean. Another important highway connected Kandahar with Persepolis and Susa. These routes brought a vast variety of goods to towns such as Begram, where the merchandise included delicately carved ivory from India and Chinese silk. Margiana, adjoining Bactria, was a transit point for silk coming from the east that was intended for the Mediterranean. Not unexpectedly, it has a number of Buddhist monasteries. Gandhara also became a nodal point for overland trade tapping the Silk Route and the eastern Byzantine trading centres. Its links to the Ganges Plain extended its hinterland to the delta. Gandhara was an old hand at surviving empires -that of the Achaemenids and the Mauryans, and even as part of the many diverse kingdoms of the north-west – yet it retained its cultural presence. Its array of items included some from India such as pepper, textiles of various kinds, metals, rhinoceroses and elephants, and some such as tortoise-shell from the west.

  Although activity in central Asia was politically directed by the raids and migrations of the nomads, this was paralleled in the historically more significant emergence of the Silk Route and the trade that it carried. The Taklamakan desert was ringed round with oases which became staging-points on the route. From Loyang and Chang’an in China the route came to Dunhuang, where it bifurcated: the northern route went through Turfan, Qarashahr, Kucha to Kashgar; and the southern route through Niya and Khotan to Kashgar. From Kashgar it went to the town of Bactra/Balkh and from there either to Iran and the eastern Mediterranean or southwards to India.

  This was not a single linear route for it incorporated a number of branches that led off from oasis towns. The politics of the Silk Route were determined by those who controlled its various segments. The oases were the places where animals for the caravans could be replaced or replenished, and armed escorts recruited. The roads were rough, traversing mountains and deserts, and travelling in the area involved having to face bandits as well as severe climatic conditions.

  Indian traders were establishing trading stations and merchant colonies in places such as Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, Miran, Kuchi, Qarashahr and Turfan, remote regions which were soon to be opened up not only by Indian merchants but also by Buddhist missionaries. The attraction of profits kept the traders going, while the propagation of Buddhism galvanized the monks. As a result of this activity in central Asia communication with China further improved. In a sense Kushana rule was a link between India and China, and Buddhist missionary activities made the connections even closer. Traders from Roman territories occasionally ventured as far as the Gobi Desert, but Indian traders were quick to see the advantage of being middlemen in a luxury trade between the Chinese and the centres of the eastern Mediterranean and Byzantium.

  Because of the Roman conflict with the Parthians, Chinese merchandise was sometimes diverted to Taxila and Bhrigukachchha, thus adding to the prosperity of north-western India. Overland trade with the Yavanas and central Asia went through the mountain passes of the north, with the cities involved in this trade, such as Taxila or Ai-Khanoum, acquiring enormous wealth, as is evident from the high standard of living revealed by their excavation.

  A southerly route to west Asia went through the Persian Gulf to Seleucia, with ships travelling up the coast towards Babylon and the Tigris-Euphrates Delta. The inland towns of Palmyra in Syria and Petra in Jordan linked the west Asian routes with the ports of the eastern Mediterranean. Alternatively ships could cross the Arabian Sea to Aden or to Dioscurides – the island of Socotra – and from there the voyage was continued up the Red Sea. Indian vessels brought rice, wheat and textiles to Socotra and carried back tortoise-shell, among other items. There appears to have been an embargo on their going to the Red Sea ports. Goods brought back from India by Alexandrian sea-captains were offloaded at ports on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea, such as Berenice or Myos Hormus, then sent overland to the Nile where they were taken downstream to Alexandria, which was an entrepot of the Mediterranean world.

  The southern areas of Arabia boasted of agricultural wealth due to careful irrigation, as well as gaining an income from trade. The Indian merchandise was copper, sandalwood, teak and ebony, and exports to India included pearls, dyes, wine, dates, gold and specially trained slaves. Some of these ports may well have been used prior to this period. On the Indian side Barbaricum was much frequented, importing linen, topaz, coral, storax (a fragrant gum resin used for incense), frankincense, glass, silver, gold-plate and wine; and exporting a variety of spices, turquoise, lapis-lazuli, muslin, silk yarn and indigo. The Barygaza of Greek sources – Bhrigukachchha – was among the largest entrepots on the western coast and handled the bulk of the maritime trade with west Asia. It imported an assortment of cargo, including wine, tin, lead, coral, topaz, gauze, storax, sweet clover, glass, realgar (red arsenic), antimony, medicinal ointments and gold and silver coin. Presents received by local rulers included gold and silver trinkets, singing boys, maidens, wines and textiles of a superior quality. Exports from Barygaza consisted of the usual variety of spices, spikenard, mala-bathrum (used in preparing ointments), diamonds, sapphires and precious stones. It appears from these items that there was a regular exchange of medical information.

  The coastal route from India to western Asia was tedious and was retained for a looping trade in essential commodities. Mid-ocean routes across the Arabian Sea were facilitated by the use of the monsoon winds that blew from the south-west across the Arabian Sea in summer. These winds made mid-ocean travelling speedier than the coastal route. The Arabs were probably the first to use the winds for this purpose. In the mid-first century BC other traders from the Mediterranean world realized their usefulness. Greek sources mention that the discovery of Hippalus introduced a radical change in navigation as ships could use the monsoon winds for a mid-ocean crossing. Hippalus was thought to be the person who discovered the winds, but it is now being suggested that Hippalus was actually the name given to the wind. Ships sailing from the southern end of the Red Sea would wait for the south-west monsoon to pass its peak before they set sail, using the now less ferocious wind. The returning north-east monsoon from across India in the winter would bring the ships back. The use of the winds for navigation may have made it necessary for seamen and traders from Egypt to stay a short while on the Indian coast before returning to their Red Sea ports, increasing contact between local Indians and the visiting Yavanas.

  It was once argued that the initiative for the Roman trade with India came from the west and that this continued. At the time when the trade was first noticed the sources referr
ing to it were in Greek and Latin, which gave the impression of an overly major participation by the Roman Empire. Since then the economic map of peninsular India, particularly the evidence on trade, has been filled in. The earlier statement has now been replaced by evidence of a substantial Indian participation. Given the pre-existing exchange networks in the peninsula, trade with west Asia and Egypt would not have been a radical innovation. Potsherds with the names of Indians inscribed on them, some in Tamil brahmi and some in Prakrit, have been found in recent excavations of the ports on the Red Sea, providing evidence of their activity in the trade. The discovery of hoards of Roman Imperial coins, the evidence of Indian products and their exchange, and of Yavana donors at some of the Buddhist sites in the Oeccan, all go towards underlining a qualitative difference in the Indian presence in this trade. The centres and peripheries of trading circuits are not permanent. If initially the thrust towards an eastward trade came from the markets of Alexandria, the Indian networks were not slow to take advantage of these interests and control the Indian side of the trade.

  A Greek maritime geography of the mid-first century AD, the Periplus, is a compendium of ports and routes along the Red Sea and the Indian coast, their hinterlands and the commodities exchanged in trade. There is some indirect reference to political conditions as well. Of the items traded, textiles, pepper, semi-precious stones and ivory were exchanged in the peninsula for high-value Roman coins, as the main import, together with coral and wine. Sherds of amphorae bases with wine sedimentation have been found in excavations. Elsewhere, the discovery of a distilling mechanism points to the consumption of wine and alcohol by both the local people and the vistors. Early Tamil literature describes Yavana ships arriving with their cargoes at ports such as Muziris, and is enthusiastic about the quality of the wine that they bring, not to mention the profitable exchange of the local black pepper for Roman gold coin.