Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.59

v2.c13.59

Maritime communications between India and China underwent a major transformation with the rise of new port cities like Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai) under the British colonial power in India, and with the rapid expansion of the tea trade between China and the West, especially Britain. Initially, Indian textiles and spices, and later Indian raw cotton and opium were shipped to China to pay for the export of tea to the West. The establishment of Hong Kong as a British outpost off the China coast, the opening of numerous ports in China to foreign trade under the impact of the unequal treaties following the Opium Wars, the rise of Shanghai, the introduction of steamships, the telegraph and railways in the 19ᵗʰ century CE along with the growth of diaspora communities of Indians and Chinese in each other’s countries and in Southeast Asia, all affected the nature and forms of interaction between China and India.