The Colas c12.74

c12.74

If we compare this evidence with that of the classical writers of the early centuries of the Christian era, we shall see that the data drawn from these two disparate sources work into one another so closely that it becomes quite obvious that they relate to the same period of history. The author of the *Periplus* says positively that the Roman merchants raised every year beautiful maidens for the harems of Indian kings and the fact is confirmed by what passes in some dramas of India.⁷⁸ The chart of Peutinger, prepared at a time when the Roman Empire was flourishing in all its power, carries on the sheet devoted to India, by the side of the names of Tyndis and Musiris, the words ‘Temple of Augustus.’⁷⁹ Large quantities of Roman coins found in the interior of the Tamil land⁸⁰ attest the extent of trade, the presence of Roman settlers in the Tamil country and the periods of the rise, zenith and decay of this active commerce. Casual statements made by the classical authors and, more decidedly, the evidence of the early Chinese annals, prove that along the sea-route from the Far-East to the West, India acted as an intermediary for many generations. The maritime trade of the Indian ocean in the early centuries of the Christian era is in itself a subject too vast, and authentic evidence on it is too extensive,⁸¹ for us to attempt anything more than to draw attention to a few of its aspects that should interest students of Cōḷa history.