Indo-Roman Trade and Maritime Contacts

At a Glance

• Peak First two and a half centuries AD
• Key factor Monsoon winds
• West coast ports Broach, Sopara, Muziris
• East coast ports Arikamedu, Tamralipti, Puhar
• Chief import Gold and silver coins
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Post-Mauryan Period and Early South India

Where Does It Fit?

This is the eleventh topic of the category on the post-Mauryan period. The previous topic covered crafts and towns, and this one covers the overseas trade that fed them. The next topic covers money and coinage. Previous topic: Milinda Panho Guilds Shrenis; at least two…">Crafts, Commerce and Urban Growth (200 BC to AD 250).

How Did the Trade Reach Its Peak?

In short: the monsoon route and Rome’s wealth made sea trade with India boom from the first century AD.

The most important economic development of the period was the thriving trade between India and the eastern Roman empire. Initially, a substantial amount was overland, but movements of the Shakas, Parthians and Kushans disrupted it. Though the Parthians imported iron and steel from India, they posed great obstacles to trade further west, so from the first century AD trade went mainly by sea. Around the beginning of the Christian era the monsoon was understood, which let sailors cross directly from the east coast of the Arabian Sea to the west coast of India and call at ports. The discovery of the pattern of monsoon winds is credited to an Egyptian sailor, Hippalus, in the first century CE. Rome had by then become the superpower of the Mediterranean, becoming an empire under Augustus in 27 BCE, and its wealth increased demand for Indian spices and textiles. Ships sailing to India rose from about twenty a year to nearly one a day. Trade had existed even earlier; Roman coins and artefacts have been excavated at Arikamedu near Pondicherry, said to be an Indo-Roman trading station. The southern kingdoms that gained are in Sangam Age – The Three Early Kingdoms of the Deep South.

What Routes and Goods Were Involved?

Within India, the Shakas and Kushans used two routes from the north-west to the western sea coast, converging at Taxila and linked to the Silk Route. One ran from Taxila to the lower Indus and on to Broach. The uttarapatha, in more frequent use, ran from Taxila through the Punjab to the Yamuna, then to Mathura, Ujjain and Broach, where Ujjain also met a route from Kaushambi. The trade was in luxury goods, called articles of aristocratic necessities. The Romans first traded with the Tamil kingdoms, where their earliest coins are found, and imported spices, especially pepper, muslin, pearls, jewels and precious stones, with iron goods, especially cutlery, an important export. India also served as a transit point for Chinese silk, which went by the Silk Route or by sea to east-coast ports. In return the Romans sent wine, wine amphorae and pottery found at Tamluk, Arikamedu and other sites, lead which the Satavahanas used for coins, and above all coins.

Roman goods are found south of the Vindhyas in the Satavahana kingdom and further south more than in the north, though at Begram, 72 km north of Kabul, large glass jars from Italy, Egypt and Syria were found, and Taxila has Graeco-Roman bronzes. A papyrus agreement between a merchant of Muziris and one of Alexandria shows large consignments carried by individual merchants. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a first-century Greek account, is the most reliable source on the ports and trade of the Indian coast. Yavana merchants lived in earmarked quarters at Puhar, and the Tamils were reserved towards them.

What Was the Balance and the Decline?

The most significant Roman export was coin, invariably gold and silver, though some copper. About 150 find-spots of Roman coins appear in the subcontinent, mostly south of the Vindhyas, and the number of gold and silver coins found does not exceed 6000, though the real number was probably larger. This supports Pliny, who wrote Natural History in AD 77 and believed Rome was being drained of gold by trade with India. As early as AD 22 there were complaints of excessive expenditure on pepper, called yavanapriya in Sanskrit. Roman nobles also paid very high prices for Indian steel cutlery. One complaint put the annual drain at 55 million sesterces, and Emperor Vespasian passed laws to curb luxury consumption. India was a gainer in trade, and eventually Rome had to ban trade with India in pepper and steel goods. Roman traders played the major role in shipping and some lived in south India, while a few potsherds with Tamil graffiti suggest Tamil merchants in Egypt. The Satavahanas profited most among Indian states. Trade fell in the third century, taking town prosperity with it.

As an analytical point, the surplus of exports and the inflow of coins show that the Indian economy gained, yet the trade was in luxuries and did not change daily life directly, so it enriched merchants, ports and kings more than peasants. The coin story is continued in Money Economy and Coinage in Early India, and the urban side in Crafts, Commerce and Urban Growth (200 BC to AD 250).

Why Is This Topic Important?

• High-yield topic Ports and goods
• Economic interpretation Balance of trade
• Sources Periplus, Pliny

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the money economy and coinage in early India. Next topic: Money Economy and Coinage in Early India.

Key People and Terms

• Yavanapriya Pepper, loved by Westerners
• Periplus Sailing guide to the Erythraean Sea
• Hippalus Credited with the monsoon route
• Arikamedu Indo-Roman trading station
• Muziris Port on the Chera coast
• Sesterce Roman coin

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for patterns and impact of Indo-Roman trade. These points add depth.

• Routes Overland to sea
• Goods Luxury trade
• Impact Prosperity and decline