Ancient Economy: Overseas trade

Overseas trade

From the 1st century BCE, Greek sailors used the monsoon winds (credited by tradition to Hippalus) to sail straight from the Red Sea to India. The monsoon works like a seasonal conveyor belt: in summer the wind blows from the south-west towards India, and in winter from the north-east back towards Arabia and Africa. Ships that once hugged the coast could now cross the open sea in weeks. Trade with Rome boomed. The Roman writer Pliny complained that India drained Rome of gold every year, putting the loss at no less than fifty million sesterces (Roman coins) a year.

A voyage, step by step

Pliny describes the timing. Ships left Egypt in midsummer and sailed down the Red Sea to its mouth. From there the south-west monsoon carried them across the Arabian Sea to the Indian coast in about forty days. Traders sold their goods, loaded pepper and cloth, and set off home in December or January, when the north-east wind turned to help them. So one round trip fitted neatly into a single year, and merchants planned their business around the winds, just as farmers plan around the rains.

The main ports

What went out and what came in

Pepper was the star export. Romans used it in cooking and medicine, and it is often called ‘black gold’ even today. In return, India took mostly gold and silver, which is why Roman coins turn up in Indian soil today.

How we know

Hoards of Roman coins in south India prove the trade; many hold coins of the early emperors Augustus and Tiberius, when the trade was at its height. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE), a Greek guidebook for sea traders, lists ports, goods and sailing seasons. At Arikamedu, digs found Roman amphorae (tall clay jars for wine and oil) and fine red Roman pottery. A papyrus (an old paper document) from Egypt records a loan for a cargo shipped from Muziris, and pottery with Tamil-Brahmi writing has been found at Berenike, a Red Sea port in Egypt.

Trade to the east

Trade with Southeast Asia (Suvarnabhumi, ‘land of gold’) spread Indian culture there. Ships from Tamralipti and the eastern coast carried cloth, beads and ideas across the Bay of Bengal. Over time, Indian scripts, Sanskrit words, Hindu and Buddhist faiths and temple styles took root in the region. That is the background to India’s Act East policy.

Why it faded

Roman trade declined after the 3rd century CE as the Roman empire faced troubles at home. Indian merchants then turned more towards Southeast Asia and China.

What UPSC asks

Prelims: Barygaza, Muziris, Arikamedu, Periplus. Mains: Indo-Roman trade. Next likely: Act East, maritime heritage.