Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome c6.52

c6.52

The general effect of this intercourse upon any of the countries concerned was not very great. Articles of commerce, bearing their Indian names, reached, as we have already seen, the western world from time to time. Indian ivory became widely known in the Mediterranean at an early date. The Egyptian word *ebu*, like the Italian *ebur*, is clearly the Sanskrit *ibha*. The Greek root *ἐλεφαντ-*, like the Hebrew word, appears to represent *ibha-danta*, perhaps with the Arabic prefix *el*². If this is so, the word is an interesting hybrid, betraying an Indian origin and Arabian conveyance to Europe. The word is found in Homer, as is also *κασσίτερος*, the Sanskrit *kastīra*. Tin and ivory reached Greece at an early period from India. The “ape,” like the ivory of Solomon, also found its way to Egypt, if the Egyptian *kafu*, like the Hebrew *koph*, comes from *kapi*. Among substances which originally came from Dravidian ports, we may mention rice, which, like ivory, was originally brought to Europe by Arab traders. The Tamil *arisi* become *aruz* in Arabian and *ὄρυζα* in Greek¹. Other articles of trade which reached Europe at various dates from Dravidian ports are aloes (Tamil *aghil*, Hebrew *ahal*); cinnamon (Tamil *karppu*, Greek *κάρπιον*, first mentioned by Ktesias); ginger (Tamil *inchiver*, Greek *ζιγγίβερις*); pepper (Tamil *pippali*, Greek *πέπερι*); and the beryl-stone (Tamil and Sanskrit *vaidūrya*, Greek *βήρυλλος*). The presence of the African Baobab (*Adansonia digitata*) in the Tinavelly district has been traced to early traders from Africa².