The Colas c12.79

c12.79

Before turning to a study of the internal trade and industry of the Cōḷa country, mention must be made of a unique example, in the second or third century A.D., of the working of Indian influence on the art and culture of the Roman Empire. The wide sway of Greco-Roman influences in India in Gāndhāran art and the art of Amarāvati is now generally admitted. A silver dish found at Lampsacus, partly inlaid with gold and partly enamelled,⁹³ ‘furnishes a valuable proof of the excellent knowledge which the Romans possessed about India and of the interest which they took in that country.’ The dish figures a ‘personification of India seated on a peculiar Indian chair, the legs of which are formed by elephant tusks. Her right hand is lifted in the gesture of prayer, in her left she holds a bow. Around her are grouped Indian animals—a parrot, a guinea hen and two pet monkeys. Under her feet are two Indians leading a pet tiger and a pet panther, ready to fight, and making the gesture of adoration.’⁹⁴ It is possible that the animals represented on the dish formed the chief objects of trade by the land route from India to the Roman Empire.