New Proof Of Ancient India's Flourishing Trade With Rome

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New Proof Of Ancient India's Flourishing Trade With RomeBy Anand Parthasarathy KOCHI

6-14-2

A gruelling nine-year-long international archaeological expedition in Egypt, has

unearthed the most extensive evidence so far, of vigorous trade between India

and the Roman Empire " 2000 years ago. The project funded by Dutch and

American agencies, at Berenike, on the Sudan-Egypt border along the shores of

the Red Sea, has revealed that the location was the southern-most, military sea

port of the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. and the key transfer point

for a flourishing trade with India, whose magnitude was hitherto not known.

In major findings to be published in the July issue of the monthly scientific

journal Sahara and announced today at the archaeological database website of

the expedition , researchers report having unearthed the largest single cache

of black pepper " about 8 kg " ever excavated from a Roman dig. They were able

to establish that this variety was only grown in antiquity in South India.

Because of the drier weather of Egypt, the Berenike site preserved organic

substances from India, like sail cloth, matting and baskets dating to AD 30-AD

70, all traces of which were destroyed in the more humid climate of the

subcontinent. In one of the surprise findings, the archaeologists also report

stumbling on a Roman "trash dump'' containing well-preserved evidence of Indian

`batik' work and ancient printed textiles as well as ceramics. All this leads

archaeologists, Willeke Wendrich of the University of California, and Steven

Sidebotham of the Delaware University to conclude in next month's paper that a

"Spice Route'' from India to Rome, existed long before the better known "Silk

Route'' to China. They suggest that the goods travelled from the west coast

Indian ports to Berenike by ships in the monsoon months, and were then

transported by camel and Nile river boats, to the Mediterranean port of

Alexandria, from where ships conveyed the cargo to Rome by sea. This route

was preferred for almost 50 years because the alternative land route through

what is today Pakistan and Iran, passed through countries hostile to the Roman

Empire. "We talk about globalism as if it were the latest thing'', Wendrich

is quoted by the Associated Press as saying, but trade was going on in

antiquity on a scale that is truly impressive''. The Berenike route was

finally abandoned in AD 500 probably after a plague epidemic. The new

findings are said to establish what was long suspected - the central role that

India played in the maritime trade 2000 years ago. 2002 The

Hindu. All rights reserved. 2002 Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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[shivakrishna 0]

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