Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c11.s1.26

c11.s1.26

From the accounts of the travellers we get an impression that the sea coasts of India, since the beginning of the Christian era, were great exporters of cotton fabrics, and since the beginning of the 16th century the Muslim merchants of Persia and Arabia assured their distribution into the countries of the Near East, East African coast and China. Gradually, certain regions acquired the veritable monopoly of this export; Barbosa speaks of the predominance of two centres—Gujarāt with Cambay on the Western coast, and Pulicat on the Eastern coast of India.