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Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India c2: Introduction

Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India c2

Language
English

Contents

Introduction

c2.1

IN THIS book[^asterisk] Moti Chandra deals with the problems related to ancient Indian merchants, their trade, the trade regulations and the network of trade routes. In his studies he has made use of the material extending from the Vedic period to the eleventh century available in Sanskrit, Pāli and Prākrit languages. Geographical information from the Greek and the Roman sources, the accounts of the Chinese pilgrims and Indian art, by assembling the tit bits of information he has given shape to the lofty mountain of the *Sārthavāha* of whose summit the resplendent sun of Indian literature radiating in all lustre has brought to light hundreds of new facts. He has as a matter of fact laid the foundation stone of the all comprehensive history of Indian culture in the years to come. After reading the book one is bound to know where these precious historical facts lie hidden and the methodology the young historian should apply for discovering new facts and on these bases and a comprehensive style create the new edifice of Indian history and culture. While reading the book one gains the sight of the relations of India with the countries and islands lying across the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. The *Daśakumāra Charita* of Daṇḍī mentions the name of the naval captain Rāmeshu. Who knew that this word is of Syrian origin whose meaning is handsome Jesus (rāma=handsome, Īshu=Jesus)? Owing to the spread of Christianity this name had become common among the sailors from Western Asia. In the Gupta period Indian fleets were capable of defending the sea-girt coastal regions of the country and increase trade with other countries. Daṇḍī therefore observes that a battle ship named *Madgu* (sea-gull) accompanied by other boats attacked a Yavana ship.

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The word *Sārthavāha* is self explanatory. Kshīrasvāmin, the commentator of the *Amarakośa* comments "one who is the leader of travelling merchants who invested their own capital" (*sārthān sadhanān pānthān vahati sārthavāhaḥ: Amarakośa*, III. 9. 78). *Sārtha* is defined as 'the group of travellers' (*sārthodhavanavṛindam*, *Amarakośa*, II. 6. 42). In actuality *sārtha* means 'merchants who invested equal amount of capital and who carried on trade with outside market travelling in a caravan'. Their leader was known as *sārthavāha*. The nearest English equivalent to the term is caravan leader. The Hindi *sātha* has been derived from the Sanskrit *sārtha* but in original technical import has been lost. According to the author in the Sindhi the meaning of the original *sārtha* is still preserved. Some courageous merchant made himself the head of the caravan after joining it. Those who joined the caravan were governed by its own rules and regulations. The starting of a caravan was an important event for the merchant community. As for pilgrimage

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[^asterisk]: This book is the English version of Moti Chandra's *Sārthavāha*.

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*saṅgha* was organised and its head was *saṅghapati* (*saṅghavaī*, *saṅghavī*), similar was the position of *sārthavāha* in the field of trade and commerce. In the golden farm of Indian trade, the picking was done by the caravan leader. Rich in organising skill, truthful, the treasure house of courage, ready to grapple with fresh problems, replete with commonsense, liberal, bestower of alms, interested in religion and culture, expert in the knowledge of his own country and foreign lands the caravan leader rubbed shoulders with foreigners as the Yavanas, Śakas, Pahlavas, Yüe-chi etc. Masters of their languages and customs, the Indian caravan leaders extended their activities from Tāmralipti in the Bay of Bengal to Antioch in Syria, from Java to Kedah, and to the ports of Cholamaṇḍala and to Alexandria and East African ports.

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In the present book the material about *sārthavāha* and his activities has been arranged systematically in thirteen chapters which present a moving picture of the two millennia of Indian trade. In the first chapter the network of Indian trade routes with their arteries is presented. In our literature for the first time in the *Prithvī Sūkta* of the *Atharva Veda* our attention has been drawn to the *panthas* or routes of our great land.

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*Ye te panthāno bahavo janāyanā rathasya*
*vartmānascha yātave |*
*yaiḥ sañcharantyubhaye bhadrapāpāstam panthānam*
*jayemānamitramataskaram yachchhivam tena no mṛiḍ ||*  *A.V.* XII. 1. 47.

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This hymn seems to have been the keynote of the caravan leaders. It draws our attention to the following points:

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1. This land had many routes and their arteries.
2. These routes were the principal means of communication of the people.
3. On these routes the chariots plied.
4. They were principal means of communication for bullock carts for transporting goods.
5. Good or bad every one had the right to use those roads.
6. However, it was necessary to safeguard the people of those routes against the depredations of the wild animals and robbers.
7. Those well-guarded and safe routes symbolized the happiness of the earth.

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The same principles hold good for the road system of India today as in ancient times. The account of the Grand Route in northern India in this work deserves our attention because in ancient times this served as an artery for the land mass of the whole Asia extending from the Caspian Sea to China and from Bāhlika to Pāṭaliputra-Tāmralipti. Pāṇini (c. 500 B.C.) gives its contemporary name as Uttarapatha (*Uttarapathenāhṛitam*, V. 3.77). Megasthenes taking it as the northern route describes its various constituents. The Haimavatapatha of Kauṭilya indicated the Vāhlika-Taxila sector of the route. The great French savant A. Foucher has studied the history of this sector in two volumes. I am happy to note that the author has fully utilised A. Foucher’s work. The true identification of Hārahūra is with Harahvaitī modern Argandab region in South Afghanistan. The ancient Iranian name for Herat was Haraiva (S. Sārava). The name of the river Sarayū is even now preserved in the Harī Rūd. The other name for the Pārisindhu region was Pāresindhu mentioned in the *Mahābhārata*. Its exact equivalent in English would be trans-Indus. Pāṇini (VI. 2. 42) gives *pārevaḍavā* the name for the mares from the other side of the Indus. Moti Chandra has made a thorough search of Indian literature about these routes. In the Nalopākhyāna of the *Mahābhārata* standing in the Kontwar region of Gwalior (between the Chambal and Betwa) it is observed: ete gachchhanti bahavaḥ panthāno dakshiṇāpatham (Āraṇyaka *Parvan*, 59. 2). Many routes and their many arteries started from this place to the Deccan. There are also mentioned the routes proceeding to Vidarba, Dakshiṇa-Kosala and Dakshiṇāpatha. Even now the rail roads follow the same directions.

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The Vedic literature does not mention *sārthavāha*; but it names the merchant Paṇi and his business. It is worthy to note that the Hindi word *gāthā* forca pital could be derived from the Vedic *grathin* meaning a capitalist. The frequent occurrence of technical terms in the Vedic literature supports the view that the Vedic Aryans were well acquainted with the sea (*veda nāvaḥ samudriyaḥ*). From the Pāli literature of about the fifth century B.C. important information about travelling is available. In the traverllers besides the merchant community were included monks, pilgrims, pedlars, horse traders, acrobats and actors, students and tourists. Attention was paid for the safeguarding and repairing the roads. But even then they were infested with robbers known as *panthaghataka* or *paripanthin* (Pāṇini, IV. 4.36: *paripantham cha tishṭhati*). The commentary on Pāṇini V. 2.89 quotes a Vedic prayer as an example—*mā tvā paripanthino vidan* (‘God forbid that you should meet a robber on the way’). Even then the responsibility of the *sārthavāha* for protecting the caravan was great and he employed guards for that purpose. While passing through the forest leader of an aboriginal tribe took the responsibility of guarding a caravan on payment; they were known as forest guards or *aṭavīpālas*.

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The *sārtha* provided itself with provision and other necessities of life. Proper arrangement was made for desert journeys. Vaṇṇupatha, the route to Bannu from the Middle Country, passing through the desert which could be identified with the *thal* desert of Sindh to the east of the river Indus. In the same way a route from Dvārāvatī (Dwarka) passing Marudhanva in the Marwar district reached Roruka (the present Roḍi), the capital of ancient Sauvīra, and from there after many stages it reached Central Asia (Kamboja); from there it had to cross Airāvatadhanva (Gobi desert). In this desert journey the caravan was guided by the ‘land captain’ (*sthala-niryāmaka*) with the help of the stars. In the same way on the sea route the captain (*jalaniryāmaka*) commanded the ship. There was arrangement for training the crew in nautical science (*niryāmaka sūtra*) in the port of Sopara. The amount of information assembled about sea-voyages in this work was never made available before. Those who travelled together on ships were known as *sāṁyātrika*. In the *Mahājanaka Jātaka*, after the shipwreck Mahājanaka swimming for his life was addressed by the goddess Maṇimekhalā. The dialogue between the two proves the indomitable courage and power of Indian sailors.

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“Who is the fellow who in the vast ocean is ineffectively beating his hands. Depending upon whom you are making this effort.

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“O Goddess. It is my firm belief that in life one should exert as far as possible, and, therefore, even though the shore is not visible, I am continuing my effort to reach it.

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“It is useless to show your courage in the sea. You are bound to perish before reaching the shore.

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“O Goddess, why do you say like this. Even if I perish making effort then I will be saved at least from calumny. One who exerts like me has not to repent afterwards.

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“But an effort which is destined not to succeed, of which there is no end in sight, what is the use of such an effort when the death is inevitable.

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“The fellow taking it for granted that he will not be able to cross the ocean ceases his efforts then it is due to his own weakness. Whether success accrues or not a man who draws up his own programme and tries for its success then he is sure to succeed. It is evident from the fact that all my comrades have been drowned but I am still swimming and alive. So far as any energy is left in me I shall continue to exert and so far any power is left with me I shall certainly make efforts to cross the ocean.” *Mahājanaka Jātaka*, Vol. VI, no. 539, pp. 35-36).

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Maṇimekhalā was the presiding goddess of the sea travellers and sailors in South India. Her worship extended from the Cape Comorin to Kedah and in Puhar at the mouth of Kaveri, there was a big temple in her honour.

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Like Maṇimekhalā, the presiding deity of the caravan leaders in the north was Yaksha Maṇibhadra. All over northern India there were temples in his honour. The colossal statue of a Yaksha found from Parkham in the Mathura district represents him. But Pawayan (Padmāvatī in the former Gwalior state) was a great centre of the Maṇibhadra cult. Caravans passing from the north to south had great regard for him. It is mentioned in the *Nalopākhyāna* of the *Āraṇyaka Parvan* (61.125) that a very big caravan with a view to make a large profit proceeding to Chedi Janapada crossed the river Vetravatī (Betwa) and Damayantī joining it reached the Chedi country. Reaching a dense forest the leader of the caravan invoked Maṇibhadra, the king of Yakshas: *paśyāmyasminvane kashṭe amanushyanishavite, tathā no yaksharāḍ Manibhadraḥ prasīdatu* (*Āraṇyka*, 61.123).

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Fortunately, there is a very good account of a *mahāsārtha* in chapters 61-62 of the *Āraṇyaka Parvan*. That big caravan was crowded with elephants, horses and chariots (*hastyāśvaratha saṁkulam*) and the number of oxen, donkeys, camels and men on foot was so overwhelming that the caravan appeared as the moving ocean of men (*janārṇava* 62.12). The members of this prosperous *sārthamaṇḍala* (62.10), were the *sārthikas* (62.8). It included not only merchants (*vaṇijaḥ*) but also the Brahmans well versed in the *Vedas* (62.17). The leader of the caravan was known as the *sārthavāha* (*aham sārthasya netā vai sārthavāhaḥ śuchismite*, 61.122). The caravan included the young, old, children and women: *Sārthavāham cha sārtham cha janā ye chātra kechana* (62.117) *yūnaḥ sthavirabālāścha sārthasya cha purogamāḥ* (62.118).

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The caravan was also accompanied by some lascivious chaps who wanted to make fun of Damayantī, but gentlemen taking pity on her made enquiries about her condition. At this point we are further informed that the caravan had a vanguard or a labour force which cleared the roads. The *sārthavāha* was not only the leader of the caravan, but during the period of the journey he acted as its master (61.121). When evening approached and everybody was tired then with his permission the caravan encamped at a suitable place (*niveśa*, 62.4). The caravan made the mistake of encamping in the way leading to a waterpool. In the mid-night a herd of wild elephants came to drink water and trampled the sleeping members of the caravan. Some of them died and others took to their heels. There was utter confusion all round. Those who managed to escape from this calamity continued their journey. In the *Mahābhārata* this account of the pomp and glory of a big caravan in ancient India has survived.

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The caravan leaders and Indian travellers by land and sea routes, were also the carriers of Indian story literature. Seamen often related miraculous stories of Yakshas, Nāgas, demons and spirits and aquatic animals connected with the seas. These stories diverted the people during their travels; such stories were adopted by literature as motifs as well. Attention may be drawn to the *Samudra vaṇija jātaka* (Jataka, Vol. IV) which informs us that once upon a time some carpenters borrowed money for making furniture, but they could not complete their work in time. Pestered by the creditors the carpenters decided to migrate to some foreign land and after constructing a large ship they sailed. Following a favourable wind the ship reached an island rich in coconut and other edible fruit trees. Even before their arrival a traveller from a wrecked ship lived there who sang joyously: "They are simpletons, who eke out their existence by farming and the sweat of labour. They are not required in my domain. India! no, this place is far better." This account reminds us of the island described in the Odyssey of Homer where indolent men without any work known as lotus eaters lived on honey who invited Odyssus to live that kind of life with them, but the offer was declined by him. The *jātaka* seems to refer to the same kind of life.

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The author has raised a pertinent question whether at this time merchants entered into a partnership or agreement (*samaya*). From the evidence he has collected from the *Jātakas*, it is almost certain that merchants travelling with a caravan apointed one of themselves as a leader or elder (*jeṭṭhaka*). Partnership by agreement was entered by two or more than two merchants. They agreed among themselves about the distribution of profits and losses. Though it was not necessary that every member of the caravan should enter into such an agreement. Those merchants who transacted business after such an agreement, for them the literary sources appeared to have used the word *sambhūyasamutthāna*. It is possible that with a view to enter into agreement about profit and loss the caravan was divided into many units. They entered into agreements of their own choice. But the merchants sailing on the same ship under the leadership of a *sārthavāha* whether they had entered into a partnership or not were known as *sāmayātrika*: “travelling in a body”. In reality, their relationship and its limitations from the legal viewpoint is not so clear as Moti Chandra has accepted. A thorough study of *samhitās*, their commentaries and medieval legal compendiums (*nibandhas*) may throw some more light on this vexed problem. In the centuries following the foundation of the Mauryan empire many important events occurred in Indian history.

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The empire of Kanishka extending from Kapiśa to Karnatak exercised great influence on trade and commerce, literature and religion. In this connection the author has discussed Indian geography at the time of Alexander. In reality, the Indian names given by the Greek historians owing to the Hellenisation of the Sanskrit orthography appear as if they are of foreign origin. It has been possible to find out the original Sanskrit forms of some of them with the help of Pāṇini. The area occupied by Hastin near Nagarahāra is Hāstināyana of Pāṇini (IV.4.174) and Astakenoi of the Greeks situated around Purshkalāvatī. The Greek historians mention two other names Aspasioi who settled in the valley of the Kunar river were the Āśvāyana of Pāṇini (IV. 1.110) and the second Assakenoi settled in the valley of the Swat river were the same as the Āśvakāyana of Pāṇini (IV. 1.99). Their other Greek name was Assakeoi which is equivalent to Pāṇini’s Aśvakāḥ. The impregnable stronghold of the Āśvakāyanas is mentioned as Aornos, in subduing which even Alexander was put to a lot of trouble. Pāṇini (IV.2.82) names it as Varaṇa. Stein has identified Aornos with the present day Ūṇā or Ūṇarā. The heroic Aśvaka men, women and children fought to the last, but so far they were alive they did not allow Alexander to enter the hill fortress. In other name the Gourians lived on the bank of the Gauri river.

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Nyasa seems to be the *Naiśa janapada* of Pāṇini, the Greek Musicanos stood for Muchukarṇi, Oretai for Vārtteya, Arbitai for Ārabhaṭa which has given the name of Ārabhaṭī style in Sanskrit. Brāchmanoi was the Brāhmaṇa Janapada which has been mentioned by Pāṇini (V.2.72, *Brāhmaṇakoṣṇike samjñāyām; Brāhmaṇako deśaḥ yatrāyudhajīvino Brāhmaṇkāḥ santi*). They are mentioned both by Patañjali and the Kāsikā (*Brāhmaṇako nāma janapadaḥ*). The Kāsikā and Patañjali also mention *Brāhmaṇa ka nama janapadaḥ*. Patañjali also mentions Sūdrakas who lived in their neighbourhood. They could be identified with the Sodrae or Sambos of the Greeks. These and other identifications of Moti Chandra provide ample evidence that the source of the Greek names was Indian geography. For further identifications we have to probe our literature. The author’s suggestion that twenty-four and half *bhuktis* of the Jain literature probably represent the *bhuktis* of the Mauryan empire is a sound one. Kauṭilya has mentioned at length several kinds of roads and the rules governing the customs duties. *Droṇa mukha* has, however, been referred to in the Kharoshṭhī inscription from Sakardara across Ohind situated on the Indus as *Daṇamukha*. The term indicated those market towns which were situated at the end of the river valleys as serving exits for the produce of those valleys.

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Such towns could be located on the sea-coast as well for example Śurpāraka and Bharukachchha served the network of valleys lying behind them. The term *himsrikā* for pirate boat is worth noting. In the Maurya period great attention was paid to the organisation and well-being of business; the *Arthaśāstra* contains enough material about these topics. The Śuṅga period continued those rules. Whatever steps the Mauryans had taken for the propagation of sea trade, the *Sātavāhanas* improved upon them.

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The four Scythian tribes mentioned by Strabo, their equivalents have been found in the Indian literature. For instance Asii stands for Ārshika or Ṛishika tribe. In the inscritpion on the pedestal of the Bodhisattva image a woman named Amohā is called Āsi (Ārshī). In the alms house pillar inscription of Huvishka are mentioned Śaukreya and Prāchīnī which could be equated with Sacaraucae and Pasiani respectively. The Tochari is definitely Tushāra. Tokī ṭīlā on which Kanishka's *devakula* was situated at Mat is now known as Tokari tila, mound of the Tukhāras. The references to the Ṛishikas in the *Mahābhārata* have been discussed by the author. They are the Yüe-chi of the Indian history. The meaning of the Chinese word Yüe-chi as ‘moon-tribe’ supports the view of the *Ādiparvan* where the Ṛishikas are said to be descendants of the moon. According to the *Sabhaparvan*, Arjuna is said to have fought a great battle with the Ṛishikas somewhere in Central Asia. They could be located somewhere in the vicinity of the river Yarkand. If this is so then the country of the Parama-Ṛishikas should have been somewhere in the north which must have been the place of origin of the Yüe-chis.

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In the Kushāṇa period Kanishka occupied the silk routes of Central Asia and the great northern route at the same time. Before him no other ruler had the good fortune even partly to acquire those routes. As a result Indian culture, religion and trade spread with force from Termiz valley in the east and Sogdiana in the west. In this age manuscripts written in the Brāhmī script also reached that region. In the time of Kanishka Mathura was the biggest centre of art. In recent years archaeological researches found sculpture at Termiz in Sogdiana apparently influenced by the Mathura tradition.

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The Kushāṇa art also exercised influence on eastern and western routes of Centrial Asia. Kapiśa was in this age also in the dominion of the Kushāṇas, and the finding of ivory caskets from Begram show that these caskets were influenced by Mathura art, so much so that some scholars regard them of Mathura origin. In the Kushāṇa period India's trade and commerce with the Roman empire had reached its zenith, but in this sea-borne trade caravan seems to have played a great part. Ghaṇṭāsāla from where remains of a Buddhist stupa have been recovered is identified with Kaṇṭakasela of inscriptions and Kantakossul of Ptolemy. This is an important identification in Indian geography. The writer is quite correct in his estimate that the spread of Buddhism on the eastern sea coast of India which had once flourishing trade with the Roman empire enabled the followers of Buddhism to raise the magnificent stupas at Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and Jagayyapeta. Similarly, on the western sea coast the Mahā-chaityas and Vihāras at Bhaja, Karle and Kanhari were due to the munificent gifts of the Buddhist businessmen who were making huge profits from the Roman trade. In the fifth chapter the author has tried to visualize how the foreign conquerors like the Ṛishikas, Śakas and Kushāṇas with their hordes on the Grand Route of India, gradually entered northern India and the Deccan and how the Sātavāhanas keeping the spirit of national resistance finally themselves came to an end.

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The long rivalry between the Śakas and Sātavāhanas was not only due to political reasons but also due to commerce. While the Sātavāhanas were firmly established in the Kalyan-Nasik region the Śakas held sway over Sopara-Bharukachchha region and these regions exchanged hands several times depending on the strength or weakness of the rivals. In this connection a new fact has been brought to light that one of the names of Kanishka was Chandana and according to the Periplus Sandanes or Chandana exercised authority on Bharukachchha. This theory of Sylvan Levi remains unsupported by known events, but at least one fact supports his theory and it is the statue of Chashṭana along with that of Kanishka found in the Devakula at Mat. So far the relation of Kanishka with Chashṭana remains unexplained. From the assertion of the Periplus that Sandanes (Chandana or Kanishka) controlled Bharukachchha it could be suggested that there must have existed some relationship between Kanishka and Chashṭana and that Kanishka extended his control over Bharukachcha-Sopara through Chashṭana. The Mat statue of Kanishka represents him as a middle-aged man, and Chashṭana was a young man. It may be suggested that Chashṭana was a younger brother or a close relation of Kanishka. It is also possible that he was racially related with Kanishka’s family. Sylvan Levi has also suggested that between 25 and 120 A.D. the Yüe-chi were in the Deccan.

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This is as well supported by grammatical literature where Mahishaka and the Ṛishika Janapadas are shown as related (*Kāsikā Sūtra* IV. 1. 132; *Ṛishikeshu jātaḥ ārshikaḥ; Mahishakeshu jātaḥ Māhishikaḥ*). Prof. Mirashi had identified Mahishaka with South Hyderabad and Ṛishika with Khandesh. Prof. D.C. Sircar, however, disagrees with this view (*Epig. Ind.* XXXV, pp. 69 ff). As a matter of fact in this region there were located a group of five *janapadas*. The Ṛishikas were in Khandesh; Akola and Amaravati included Vidarbha; in the Aurangabad district the spur of the Sahyādri extending from Ajanta to the Godavari was the Mūlaka land, and to the south of the Godavari the region of Ahmednagar represented Aśmaka and to its south-east was situated Mahishaka. In the Nasik inscription of Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi the mention of Ṛishika, Aśmaka, Mūlaka and Vidarbha is an additional link in supporting the existence of the Ṛishikas in the Deccan. In the *Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa* of the *Rāmāyaṇa* as well Sugrīva describes the settlements in the Deccan—Vidarbha, Ṛishika and Mahishaka together (*Vidarbhānṛishikānchaiva ramayān-māhishakānapi* 41.10). The geographical references of the *Rāmāyaṇa* mention Suvarṇadvīpa and the seven states of Java probably in the Śaka-Sātavāhana period.

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The ancient capital of the Pāṇḍyas located at Kolkai (Tirunelveli) is said to have been on the Tāmraparṇī river. In this period trade in black pepper was at its zenith. Black pepper was loaded on ships in the port of Nakhon-Dharmarāḍ situated on the eastern Malay coast, and was unloaded in the sea port of Kolkai and was despatched to Rome by Indian merchants through the Arab intermediaries. The rememberance of this trade has survived in two names of black pepper namely *Dhāmapattana* and *Kollaka*. These trade names also reached northern India where the compiler of the *Amarakośa* collected them.

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The sixth chapter mentions the story of commerce between India and the Roman empire in which the author has made full use of the *Periplus* and Ptolemy. The port of Barbaricum situated between the seven mouths of the Indus was named because of its trade relation with Berber or East Africa. This port has also been named in *Takas̱hasīlādigaṇa* of Pāṇini (IV. 3.93). The name of Bāvarias of Saurashtra, however, could be derived from Vāvayia=Vyāpārika. The word Ramaṇaka in the Nasik cave inscription stands for the Romans.

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The *puṭabhedana* for emporium and *samudraprasthāna paṭṭana* for ephetarium are appropriate Sanskrit equivalents. In this chapter Moti Chandra has also pointed our attention to the *cotymba* and *trappaga* mentioned by the *Periplus* which were the boats sailing near the Broach coast. In a letter dated 9th March 1953 he informed me that other boat names also appear in Jaina *Aṅgavijjā*.¹ The Indian boats referred by the *Periplus* such as *cotymba*, *trappaga*, *sangar* and *colyndia*, so far I did not get these names in the Indian literature. But this problem has been solved by the *Aṅgavijjā*. Following is the text:

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¹ *Aṅgavijjā*, p. 166 ed. by Shri Punajavijayaji, Varanasi 1957.

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*ṇāvā poto sālikā tappako plavo kaṇḍe velu tumbo*
*Kumbho datī cheti-tattha mahāvakāsesu ṇāvi potovā*
*vinneyā-majjhimakāyesu koṭṭimbo, sālikā, saṅghāḍo*
*plavo tappako vā vinnayā. majjhimanāntaresu kaṭṭham*
*vā veluma viṇṇeyo-pachchambarakāyesu tumbo vā*
*kumbho va datī va viṇṇeyā.*

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In the Indian form they appear as under:

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| *Koṭṭimbo* | = Cotymba |
| *Tappaka* | = Trappaga |
| *Samghāṭa* | = Sangar |

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In the above account boats are divided into four categories. The larger ships (*mahāvakāsa*) are *ṇāva* and *pota*, the middle sized boats (*mujjhimakāya*) are *koṭṭimba*, *samghāṭa*, *plava* and *tappaka* and the small boats are *kaṭṭha* and *velu*, and the smallest boats are *tumba*, *kumbha* and *datī*. The same *Aṅgavijjā*² gives a list of the following Greek, Iranian and Roman goddesses:

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² *ibid.* p. 69.

c2.36

*Rambham Timissakasītti Tidhiṇī śālimaliṇī*
*Apalā Aṇādi (hi) tā vatti Airāni tti vā vade*

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Here Apalā stands for Pallas Athene; Aṇāhitā for Anahita; Timassakesī for Artemis. Airāṇi probably stands for the Greek goddess Aphrodite and Tidhiṇī probably for the Roman goddess Diana. Śālimāliṇī is probably the moon goddess Selene.

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The *Periplus* names Sri Lanka as Palesmoundu (Skt. *Pāresamudra*) which is also mentioned in the *Mahābhārata*. In this connection attention may be drawn to the silver tray found from Lampascos a village in Anatolia now preserved in the Ankara Museum, which represents Mother India. She wears an India-made perfumed chaplet; at one time exported to Rome. The Greek and Roman women wore them on their heads. Those chaplets were made of flower-shaped cotton pieces dipped in perfume and could be preserved for a long period. The statue of the Kambojikā in the Mathura Museum wears such a chaplet.

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Pliny calls India as the source of precious stones. In this connection the words of an Arab merchant Hazrat Oman several centuries later are worth noting: “The Indian rivers are pearls, the mountains rubies and trees perfumes.” In the seventh chapter basing his information on the Sanskrit and Buddhist literatures from the first to the fourth century A.D. to the eleventh century the author has solved many geographical and business problems. Its discussion on several topics in the *Mahāniddesa*, *Milindapraśna*, the *Mahābhārata* and the *Vasudevahiṇḍī* are worth following. It is astonishing to see many foreign ports mentioned by the Greek and Roman writers, for the first time mentioned in Indian literature: Vesuṅga, Tamali (Tamiling island), Vaṅga (Banka island), Gaṅgaṇa (Zanzibar) have been properly identified. The identification of Kamalapura of the *Vasudevahiṇḍī* with Khmer or the Arabic Kamar is appropriate. In the *Sabhāparvan* of the *Mahābhārata* Antākhī, Romā and Yavanapur are identified as Antioch, Rome and Alexandria respectively. These were important foreign capitals with which India had well established trade relations. The sea route from Cambodia (Kamala) to Alexandria and Rome was well known to Indian sailors. Their indomitable courage in this connection gave birth to Bāṇas dictum: “To them the earth appeared as a platform in the courtyard, and the sea as a mere channel (*aṅganavedīvasudhā kulyā, jaladhiḥ. Harshacharita*). This high mountain of the north and the wide coastline of the seas of the south offered no impediments but served as bridges for adventurous travellers. They contributed largely in bringing Central Asia and Indonesia within the fold of Indian culture. The *avadanas* of the sea-merchants Pūrṇa, Supāraga and Kotikarṇa serve as beacon light in the Indian nautical science. The lists of twenty-four guilds, twenty-two heads of guilds and thirty professions preserved in the *Mahāvastu* represent a flourishing world of trade providing the true index of the production of the goods.

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The Tamil literature of the south also gives a convincing picture of the sea trade. The description of the port of Kāveripaṭṭīnam or Puhār with its seashore godowns, foreign merchants and markets is so realistic that it is not found anywhere else. At some time the great sea ports of Barbaraka, Bharukachchha, Murichipaṭṭana, Dantapura, Tāmralipti etc., repeated the pattern of Kāverīpaṭṭinam. The statements of two Tamil poets about Muchiri is worth noting. According to them "The foreign ships bring gold to the sea port of Muchiri within the boundary of Kerala passing the frothy water of the Periyar river. This gold was transferred from larger ships to smaller boats. Bags of black pepper were brought from houses to markets and merchants loaded them on ships in exchange for gold. At Muchiri the music of the waves never stopped."

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In the ninth chapter the author has thrown light on caravan and the goods they carried basing his information on the Jaina *chūrṇis*, *bhāshyas* and *niryuktis*. Caravans were divided into four categories and the goods they carried were of four kinds. The sixteen kinds of winds mentioned in the *Āvaśyaka chūrṇi* have been adopted from the nautical terminology which appears in the later Arabic literature. The *Jñātādharmā* uses the word *potapaṭṭana* for sea port, elsewhere *jalapaṭṭana* and *velātaṭa* have also been used for sea port. It is possible that *kāliyaka* stands for Zanzibar. When some sea merchants talked to their king about the striped horses or zebras of the place, then he specially commissioned them to bring some to him. The *Jñātādharmā* also gives a list of articles loaded on ships; mention may be made of certain musical instruments, toys and skinful of perfumed oil, which formed a part of the cargo. The list of the foreign female slaves in the *Antagaḍadasāo* is also interesting as it informs us that they came from the trans-Oxus country, Ferghana, Sri Lanka, Arabia, Balkh, Iran etc., and employed in the harems for service. This list includes many countries extending from Sri Lanka to the Pamirs and from there to Greece which indicates that part of the world with which India had trade and cultural relations in the early centuries of the Christian era.

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In the Gupta period earning wealth by sea trade had got credence in the people. According to Bāṇa, Lakshmī is self drawn by sea voyage (*abhramaṇena Śrīsamākarshaṇane*, *Harshacharita* 189). A sentence in the *Mṛichchhakaṭika* gives prominence to the spirit of the age. At the instance of Chārudatta the jester went to Vasantasenā to return her ornaments. Seeing the grandeur of her palace with eight courtyards, he was surprised and he told to the *cheṭī* whether her mistress was interested in shipping business so that she had such riches (*bhavati kim yushmākam yānapatrāṇi vahanti*).

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In the Gupta period when the great sea traders returned after earning much gold and precious stones then they distributed a part of their earnings in charity. Among the sixteen great alms of the *Matsya Purāṇa* is included the *sapta-smudra mahādāna*, the water of the wells from the *saṅkalpa* was taken from the seven seas. Such wells have even now survived in great commercial cities as Mathura, Kāśī, Prayāga and Pāṭaliputra. The figure of Śrī Lakshmī standing on a boat depicted on a sealing from Bhīṭā symbolised the gainful contemporary sea trade. Moti Chandra for the first time has rightly interpreted the figure on the seal. The close intimacy of the Indian people with the seas is also evident from the contemporary literature and inscriptions. This is further supported by the name of Samudragupta and from the adjective in his inscription: *chaturadadhisvādita rasa* and in the imagery of Kālidāsa in the *Raghuvamśa* in which the four oceans are regarded as the four udders of the cow-shaped earth (*payodharībhūtachatuhsamudrām jugopa-gorūpa-dharamivorvīm* and in *nihśesha pītojjhitasindhurājaḥ*) (the sea is nothing but the symbol of Agastya who once soaked the sea and then threw it back), and raising eighteen *yūpas* in eastern archipelago (*ashṭādaśadvīpanikhātayūpāḥ*). These were the common motives of Gupta age.

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In the 7th-8th century Indian trade developed further. In the very beginning we find Bāṇa decorating the earth with the auspicious necklace (*maṅgalakamālā*) made of eighteen strands. He also imagines about *sarvadvīpāntarasañchārī pādalepa* (*Harshacharita*). By the eighth century the Arabs proved very strong competitors of Indians. The horse trade in this country passed entirely into their hands and the Sanskrit names for horses were gradually being replaced by their Arabic equivalents. Haribhadra who wrote the *Samarāichchakahā* in the eighth century, used for the first time the Arabic term *vollāha*. After him Hemachandra discusses the indigenous names of horses as adopted from the Arabic nomenclatures. He even did not know that *vollāha*, *serāha*, *kokāha*, *gīyāha* etc., were foreign words. He regarded them as Indian and tried to trace their fanciful etymologies from Sanskrit (*Abhidhana-Chintamani* IV.30.3-7). This clash between India and the Arab world increased with hurricane force and by the eleventh century it extended as far as Kāśī. In the Deccan, while the Rāshtrakūṭas were friendly to the Arabs in the 8th-9th century the Gurjara-Pratīhāras of the north faced the situation boldly and were feared by foreigners. In the 11th-12th century the Chauhāns and Gāhaḍavālas acted as bulwark against the foreign invaders, but in these wars of survival the most glorious part was played by the Hindu Shāhis of the Panjab and Kabul. With their defeat, however, the gates of northern India lay open. Even then it took almost 450 years for the Islamic forces to reach Kāśi from Sindh, while other countries fell like a house of cards before the advancing forces of Islam.

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Moti Chandra's identification of the naval battles depicted on the hero stones at Eksar near Bombay is also noteworthy. He has suggested that Bhoja of Mālavā had conquered the Konkan in about 1019 and the representations of naval battles depicted on the hero stones show his engagement with the rulers of the Konkan.

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This book also acquaints us with the terms used in the construction and building of ships. The bow is termed as *galahī*, *māthā* and *mukha*. The decoration of the bow with animal heads is termed *gilāsa* by the boatmen of Varanasi. The word could be derived from *grāsa* which in Sanskrit architectural terminology is synonymous with *simhamukha* (lion-head). The Jain literature uses the word *purao* for the bow. The other words in current use are *mathākāṭha* (outrigger), *lahartoḍa* (washtrake), *ghoḍī* (portside), *pāla kī teḍhī lakḍī* (boom), *jālī* (grate), *pichhhāḍī* (stern), *puliā* (derrick), *mattavāraṇa* (deck house), *agramandira* (cabin), *chhallī* (coupling block), *gunarakhā* (S. *guṇavṛikshaka*), *naukūpadaṇḍa*, *mastūla* (mast), *karṇadhāra*, *patvārīā* (helmsman) etc. Many technical terms used by boatmen sailing in the rivers and seas could be usefully gathered. Maiku, a boatman plying his boat on the Triveni Saṅgam of Allahabad, informed me that at one time a thousand boats such as *paṭailā*, *maheliā*, *ḍakelā*, *ulākī*, *dogī*, *bajarā*, *malhanī*, *bhaulīā*, *panasuiyā*, *kaṭar*, *bhaḍariā* etc., plied on rivers. I am indebted to him for the following terms: *bandheja* (two poles on top of the boat), *battī* (parallel wooden sticks between the two poles), *humās* (vertical poles from the bottom to *bandheja*), *battā* (horizontal wooden strips between the *humāses*), *galahī* (the bow, from where the boatman plies his oars), *baghauḍī* (the iron rings for the oars), *bāhā* (the string loops in which the oars are inserted), *pattā* (the terminating point of the oar), *sikkā* or *ginnī* (the decorative rosette on the bow), *gūna* (the long thin rope used for dragging the boat against the current), *jaṅghā* (the string tied round the ropedrawer), *phoḍī* (the box in which rolls of the rope are kept), *ghiranī* (pulley), *bhāṭī* (flow), *ujāna* (against the current), *gilāsapaṭṭī* (S. *grāsapaṭṭī*), *ukerī* (the wooden piece of the bow), etc. The terminology of the sailors on the western sea coast is even more interesting, for example Guj. *pāṭan*, Mar. *malakā* (peel), *gabhāḍā* (leak), *oṭa* (lee), Mar. *dāmanvāḍā* (leeward), Guj. *vamaṇī*, Mar. *vahaṇī* (jettison), *dhūra* (hold, hatchway; Mar. *palaṭa*), Mar. *kāṭhapāḍā* (hull), Guj. *khokū*, *chabūtaro* (bunk), *pāṭyū* (board), *talayū* (bottom), *phāradā* (break water), *bharatī* (burden), *kalphat* (caulking), *galbat* (craft), Guj. *galari* (derrick, crane), Mar. *goḍī* (dockyard), *phanna* (forward deck, forecastle), *nūra* (freight), *nūra chiṭṭhī* (bill of lading), *sukanū* (helm), Mar. *hoka yantra* (compass), *kabalā* (charter party), *pāthar* (dunnage), *chhalakā* (pier) etc.

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It is difficult to understand the story of Indian history without understanding the great achievements of Indian sailors and sea captains and their close cooperation with caravan leaders. Particularly is this true with reference to the eastern Archipelago and the Arabian Sea. According to the *Milindapraśna* a determined and dutiful sailor always thought, "I am a servant who works on the ship for wages. It is due to this ship that I earn my livelihood. I should never be idle and neglectful in my duties. I should always be busy in my work attentively." This thought was the true foundation of the ancient Indian shipping.

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The Indian caravan always extended an earnest invitation to people to come out of the safety of their houses and lead a healthy outdoor life. Travelling with a caravan was never burdensome for an individual as it was accompanied by happiness, courage, comradeship and helpfulness. The key to this happy life is found in the following dictum in the *Mahābhārata* where in answer to a question from Yudhishṭhira, the Yaksha said:

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*Sārthaḥ pravasato mitraṁ bhāryā mitraṁ gṛihasataḥ*
(*Āraṇyaka Parvan* 297.45)

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"To those who go out on a journey the caravan is a friend in the same way as wives are friends when they are residing in their homes."

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The ever flowing current of life in the caravan attracted others to join it, its spirit of comradeship being irresistibly compelling.

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The Buddhist-Jain-Brahmana and Sanskrit-Pāli-Prākrit literatures equally irrigate the vast field of Indian culture. They are linked strongly and they are full of historical references and meaningful words. The present study by Moti Chandra is an indication that for the national history of India not only the study of Indian sources is necessary, but one has to approach the Greek, Chinese and Arabic sources for its better understanding. Many studies of this nature are required. Then in years to come we will be able to raise the magnificent edifice of Indian history.

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V. S. AGRAWALA

Cites (24)