A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c18.33

c18.33

The maritime trade of South India in the early centuries of the Christian era has been briefly described in Chapter VII. In the Chinese annals of the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, all the products of Ceylon and India are classed, with those of Arabia and Africa, as products of Persia. The direct sea-route between India and China, however, is known to have come into common use by the fifth century; Fa Hien travelled from Ceylon in a merchantman which carried no fewer than two hundred Indian and Ceylonese merchants; and I-tsing mentions the names of thirty-seven of his contemporaries who took this route to India at different times. There were Brahmin temples and merchants in Canton in A.D. 750.