The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s8.t2.9

v1.c19.s8.t2.9

Taking Tāmralipti as the centre, we find radiating from it three principal routes of overseas trade. The first led in a south-easterly direction past the coast of Arakan to Burma and beyond. Most of the early voyages from Tāmralipti to Suvarṇabhūmi were probably made along this route. But there was a second line of overseas trade with the Malaya Peninsula and the Far East. Ships came along the coast up to Paloura, near modern Chicacole, and then proceeded right across the Bay of Bengal. This was known to Ptolemy in the second century A.D. By the seventh century ships sailed directly from Tāmralipti to the Malay Peninsula. An interesting account of this route is preserved by I-tsing in his biography of Hiuen-ta, who made a direct voyage from Keddah to Tāmralipti.¹