Post-Mauryan Period: Contact with Outside World

Post-Mauryan Period: Contact with the Outside World

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The five centuries between roughly 300 BCE and 300 CE witnessed an extraordinary expansion of trade — both within the Indian subcontinent and between the subcontinent and the wider world, from the Mediterranean to China and Southeast Asia. Far from being an isolated “dark period,” as it is sometimes characterised, the post-Mauryan era saw a flourishing money economy, sophisticated trade routes by land and sea, deep engagement with Roman, Chinese, and Southeast Asian commerce, and a rich cultural exchange that left its mark on religion, art, and coinage alike. For UPSC History Optional aspirants, understanding the mechanisms, routes, and cultural consequences of this contact with the outside world is essential to assessing the true character of the post-Mauryan centuries.

Trade and Traders

• The period c. 300 BCE–300 CE saw a significant expansion of trade activity, both within the subcontinent and between the subcontinent and other lands.

The Money Economy

• Trade was facilitated by the expansion of the money economy, and the issuing of small-denomination coins by the Kushanas and Satavahanas paved the way for the use of coins in small-scale transactions.
  • Literary works of the time refer to the dinara (a gold coin), the purana (a silver coin), and the karshapana (a copper coin).
  • In the far south, apart from northern coins and locally made punch-marked coins and Roman denarii, there is evidence of die-struck coins issued by the Chera, Chola, and Pandya kings.
• Most coins in ancient India were issued by the state, though there are a few examples of city coins and guild coins; barter and the use of cowrie shells (the shell found in the waters off the Maldive islands) as a unit of exchange continued alongside money-based transactions.

The Dharmashastra Texts on Trade

• The Dharmashastra texts lay down various prescriptions concerning taxes, profit, and interest rates on loans — though they need not necessarily reflect the way trade and markets actually functioned in practice.
  • The Yajnavalkya Smriti, for instance, states that the king should fix the price of goods, allowing a 5 per cent profit on indigenous goods and 10 per cent on foreign goods, keeping in mind the interests of both consumer and merchant when fixing prices.
  • The Manu Smriti adds that the cost of transportation, retention, and perhaps also outlay should be taken into account; it suggests that traders should be taxed on their profit rather than their capital outlay, proposing a 5 per cent tax rate.
• These texts also lay down punishments for adulteration, cheating, and fraudulent measures. The prescribed interest rates are notably high — the Manu Smriti states that interest rates should vary according to the risk factor involved, and also according to the varna of the borrower.

The Jatakas on Trade and Caravans

• The Jatakas give accounts of long caravan journeys, mentioning people travelling on foot and by bullock cart, and the wealthy travelling in chariots and palanquins; they refer to wells and tanks along the roads, and rest houses where weary traders and travellers halted for rest and refreshment. They also mention city gates being closed at night.
  • There are Jataka stories of bodhisattvas who served as sarthavahas (caravan leaders), guiding their caravans with calm and wise judgement.
• Ports were often important manufacturing centres in their own right, or were connected to such centres in their hinterlands; texts such as the Jatakas also refer to partnerships among merchants.

Sangam Texts on Markets and Traders

• Sangam texts give vivid literary sketches of the markets and traders of Tamilakam, describing the markets of Puhar and Madurai and their sellers of flowers, garlands, aromatic powders, betel leaf, shell bangles, jewellery, cloth, garments, wine, and bronze.
  • The poems mention caravans (chattu) of itinerant traders who carried goods such as paddy, salt, and sometimes pepper to interior regions, and perhaps also brought goods from those regions back to the ports.
  • There are descriptions of difficult journeys undertaken by caravans of salt traders (umanachchattu), their goods laden on bullock carts equipped both with provisions for sustenance and with bows and spears for protection.
• The paravatar were inhabitants of the sea coasts, initially involved in fishing and the making of salt and toddy, who gradually diversified into pearl diving and long-distance trade in pearls, chank bangles, tamarind, fish, precious stones, and horses — becoming quite prosperous in the process.
  • Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions mention merchants dealing in cloth, salt, oil, ploughshares, gur (unrefined sugar), and gold.

Trade Routes

• Trade continued along the Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha. The Uttarapatha connected Taxila in the north-west with Tamralipti in the Ganga delta, while other important routes included the sea route connecting Sindh and Gujarat, and the route from Rajasthan to the Deccan, which followed the western foothills of the Aravalli hills.
  • From Mathura, an important route followed the Chambal valley to Ujjain in the Malwa region, and from there to Mahishmati in the Narmada valley. From Mahishmati, after crossing the Satpura hills and the Tapi river, one route crossed the Western Ghats to Surat, while another continued into the Deccan.
  • Routes connected Ujjayini in Malwa with Bharukachchha and Supparaka on the western coast, while another route connected Kaushambi with Vidisha in eastern Malwa.
  • The long-used routes of South India followed the rivers, including those connecting Manmad and Masulipatam, Pune and Kanchipuram, Goa and Tanjavur-Nagapattinam, and Kerala and Cholamandala.
• Important trade termini in northern India included Pushkalavati in the north-west, Patala and Bhrigukachchha in the west, and Tamralipti in the east.
  • The Periplus refers to market towns of western India such as Paithana (Paithan), Tagara (Ter), Suppara (Sopara), and Calliena (Kalyan); Strabo talks of boats sailing up the Ganga from the sea as far as Pataliputra. Further south, the port of Muziris (Muchiri) was of great importance.

Coastal Trade

• There was active coastal trade as well; ports on the eastern coast gradually emerged as a significant factor in India–Mediterranean maritime trade in the late first or early second century CE.
• Literary sources mention various items traded between different regions of the subcontinent — cotton textiles from the east, west, and far south; steel weapons from Aparanta in the west as well as from eastern regions; horses and camels from the north-west; and elephants from the eastern and southern regions. Pepper was another important commodity of trade.

Famous Merchandise Cities

• The Jatakas mention the specific merchandise for which certain cities were renowned — for instance, the silk, fine muslin, and sandalwood of Varanasi; the red blankets of Gandhara; the woollen textiles of the Punjab; and the cotton textiles of Kashi.
  • The Arthashastra refers to the textiles of the south; Kanchi and Madurai, in particular, were renowned for their fine cotton cloth.
• Archaeological evidence from sites across the subcontinent helps construct a more detailed and specific inventory of the goods traded during this period.

Long-Distance Trade

• The Indian subcontinent formed part of a larger Indian Ocean world from proto-historic times onwards. Historian H.P. Ray suggests a broader approach to maritime history — one that examines the “social practice of maritime technology,” looking not only at commodities and trade routes, but also at boat-building and sailing techniques, the organisation of shipping, and the fishing and sailing communities alongside the traders themselves.
  • This approach also involves identifying the close connections between maritime activity and the broader structures of political, economic, social, religious, and cultural history. The flourishing long-distance trade of c. 200 BCE–300 CE comes alive in numerous texts, and is also well documented in archaeology.

Marine Archaeology

• Marine archaeology has brought to light important evidence of ancient coastal cities swallowed up by the sea. Excavations at Dwarka and Bet Dwarka, off the Gujarat coast, have revealed remains of structures, stone images, objects of copper, bronze, and brass, iron anchors, and a wrecked boat belonging to c. 200 BCE–200 CE — sites clearly oriented towards maritime trade.

The Jatakas on Overseas Voyages

• The Jatakas mention long-distance journeys over land, river, and sea; Indian traders are described venturing into Suvarnadvipa (Southeast Asia), Ratnadvipa (Sri Lanka), and Baveru (Babylon).
  • There is also reference to ports on the western coast, such as Bharukachchha, Supparaka, and Suvara, and on the eastern coast, such as Karambiya, Gambhira, and Seriva; there are stories of voyages, difficult journeys, and shipwrecks.
  • The Jatakas also refer to sailors organised into guilds, the head of which was known as the niyamakjettha.

Sangam Texts on Maritime Trade

• Sangam poems speak of yavanas bringing goods by ship into the ports of South India; the ports of the Coromandel coast were especially important for trade with Southeast Asia, and there is mention of merchants speaking many different languages at Kaveripattinam.
  • Another port mentioned is Perimula (or Perimuda), located at the mouth of the Vaigai, near Rameswaram; excavations here revealed Roman pottery and coins, along with locally made imitations of Roman pottery and local coins.

Stimulus of Trade

• The demand for Chinese silk in the Mediterranean region was a major stimulus to trans-regional and trans-continental trade in this period. The arrival of Central Asian peoples established intimate contact between Central Asia and India.
  • The existence of the Kushana empire itself stimulated trade, since it spanned parts of both silk routes and probably offered traders a degree of safety along with a reduction in tariff posts.
  • India received a great fund of gold from the Altai mountains in Central Asia, and may also have received gold through trade with the Roman Empire; significantly, the Kushans were the first rulers in India to issue gold coins on a wide scale.
• The maritime route from India’s western coast to the Persian Gulf was known from proto-historic times, becoming increasingly important in the early centuries CE once traders began taking advantage of the south-west monsoon winds to sail directly across the Indian Ocean.

Shipbuilding and Sailing Practices

• The crew of a large ship included the captain (shasaka), the pilot (niryamaka), a person responsible for manipulating the cutter and ropes, and a bailer of water.
  • Like other ancient mariners, Indian sailors used special birds to help identify land — when released from the ship, these birds would fly towards land if it lay nearby, but would otherwise return to the ship.
• The ancient Greeks often remarked on the differences between Indian boats and those of the Mediterranean world.
  • Onesicritus (who is supposed to have sailed to the mouth of the Indus during Alexander’s campaign) is cited in Strabo’s account as attributing the poor seaworthiness of Indian boats to their peculiar construction and the inferior quality of their sails.
  • Pliny likewise mentions the peculiar construction of Indian boats, but describes them as well suited to the seas on which they sailed.
  • The distinctive feature of these boats was that their planks were not held together with nails, but stitched together with coir rope — such “sewn boats” were probably considered better suited to withstanding the impact of strong waves and beaching on shore.
• Apart from Chinese silk, numerous other commodities featured in the vibrant trade networks connecting the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, West Asia, China, Southeast Asia, and Mediterranean Europe; given the enormous distances involved in transporting some of these goods, it is unsurprising that these networks involved many different groups of traders from different lands.

Trade with East and Southeast Asia

• The period c. 200 BCE–300 CE saw an intensification of trade contacts between the Indian subcontinent and East and Southeast Asia.

Trade with China

• Given its proximity to Central Asia and the Chinese military garrisons in the Pamirs, the area around Gandhara was of special interest to the Han emperors of China; initial military and political interests, however, soon gave way to trade and religious exchange with the Indian subcontinent, with commercial exchanges dominated by silk.

The Great Chinese Silk Route

• The Great Chinese Silk Route connected India with Central Asia, West Asia, and Europe, stretching some 4,350 miles from Loyang on the Yellow River in China to Ctesiphon on the Tigris river in West Asia.

• From Loyang, the route continued to Ch’ang and Tunhuang, near the source of the Yellow River, before bifurcating into a northern and a southern segment: the northern route passed through the oases lying between the northern edge of the Takla Makan desert and the Tienshan mountains, while the southern route ran along the southern edge of the desert and the Kunlun mountains.
• The two routes met at Kashgar, only to split again into two: the northern route, continuing to the Caspian Sea, formed the main route to Persia, while the southern route passed through Bactria (northern Afghanistan) and rejoined the northern route at Merv in Turkmenistan.
• From Afghanistan, a route ran through the Kabul valley to the north-western cities of the subcontinent, such as Purushapura, Pushkalavati, and Taxila, and onward to cities further inland; another route from Kashgar ran through Gilgit in Kashmir.
• North-west India became an important junction for trade between China and the Roman Empire; the cost and risks of overland and overseas transportation across such long distances must have added significantly to the cost of Chinese silk.

Items of Trade and the Role of the Kushans

• Frankincense and styrax were two fragrances obtained by the Chinese from Central Asia and then exported westward; these and other Chinese and Central Asian items were imported into India and then shipped west from ports such as Barygaza (near the mouth of the Narmada) and Barbaricon (at the mouth of the Indus). Superior animal hides were also among the Central Asian products traded.
  • The important items transported from or through India to China during this period were pearls, coral, glass, and fragrances; silk remained the major Chinese export to India.
• The Kushans controlled the Silk Route, which ran from China, through their empire in Central Asia and Afghanistan, to Iran and western Asia — territory forming part of the Roman Empire’s eastern Mediterranean zone.
  • This route was a source of substantial income for the Kushans, who built a large, prosperous empire on the strength of the tolls levied from traders passing through it.

Disturbance in Trade

• Trade between China and the West was disturbed during the third and fourth centuries CE, owing to political factors: after the end of the Han dynasty in 220 CE, China remained divided; this was also the period when the Byzantine Empire broke away from Rome, and when the Kushana empire itself collapsed, with some cities along the Oxus becoming deserted.
  • Trade between China and India, however, did not come to an end, although the routes involved underwent some changes.

Trade with Southeast Asia

• For a long time, Indian historians tended to view India’s relations with Southeast Asia through the lens of a political and cultural “colonisation” of the latter; more sober reassessments have since examined the reciprocal links between India and Southeast Asia from a more objective, long-term perspective.

Literary Evidence

• Ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts refer to a land known as Suvarnadvipa or Suvarnabhumi — “the land of gold,” associated with riches, and usually identified with Southeast Asia.
  • The Arthashastra refers to an incense called kaleyaka from Suvarnabhumi, and to aloeswood that came from beyond the sea; the Milindapanha likewise refers to Suvarnabhumi in the context of shipping ports, while the Jatakas mention sea voyages from Varanasi and Bharukachchha to this land.

Archaeological Evidence

• There is archaeological evidence of maritime links between India and both coastal and inland Southeast Asia from around 500/400 BCE onwards. The evidence of Indian artefacts consists chiefly of beads of coloured glass, faceted carnelian, and etched agate at metal-age sites, in contexts dated c. 500 BCE–1500 CE.
  • Etched carnelian beads have been found as surface finds at sites such as burials in west-central Thailand, with a few also discovered through excavations in Malaysia. Glass beads of different shapes and colours — some of South Indian origin — have been found at Southeast Asian sites in contexts ranging from c. 300 BCE to the seventeenth century CE.
• In the first century CE, there was a marked increase in the quantity and variety of Indian items exported to Southeast Asia — a change linked to the emergence of kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia, an increasingly ranked society, the expansion of craft production, and greater inter-regional trade.
  • Indian artefacts were found in Iron Age burials in the Malay peninsula and on the south-east coast of Thailand, and were also discovered in emerging urban centres in the valleys of the Chao Phraya, Irrawaddy, and Mekong rivers.
  • Since coinage was absent in Southeast Asia until the middle of the first millennium CE, trade with India must have been conducted via barter or the use of cowrie shells.

Traded Items

• On the basis of literary and archaeological evidence, the following exports from Southeast Asia to India can be compiled: gold, spices such as cinnamon and cloves, aromatics, sandalwood, and camphor — some of which were shipped onward to Western markets from India, given the demand for them in the Mediterranean region as well.
  • India, in turn, brought spices from the territories of the East Indies and exported them to European countries.
• Exports from India to Southeast Asia included cotton cloth, sugar, beads, and certain kinds of pottery; it is also possible that tin was exported to the subcontinent from the Malay peninsula. The trade, evidently, was not confined solely to luxury goods.

Changes in International Trade Patterns in the Third and Fourth Centuries

• These changes included the splitting up of long-distance trade networks into smaller regional and local circuits, a southward shift in Roman trade interests, and an expansion of India’s trade with West Asia.
  • The ports of Sri Lanka, meanwhile, grew in importance with the development of a direct route between Sri Lanka and China.

Indo-Roman Trade

References to the Yavanas

• The term yavana was initially used in ancient Indian texts to refer to the Greeks, but soon came to denote all foreigners arriving from regions west of the subcontinent. In Ashoka’s inscriptions, the yavanas appear as a people living on the north-western borders of the Maurya empire; during c. 200 BCE–300 CE, they instead appear as “westerners” involved in trade.
• Early Tamil literature refers to them frequently:
  • Sangam poems mention their large ships sailing on the Periyar river, bringing in gold and wine and sailing away laden with cargoes of black pepper.
  • A poem in the Pattuppattu compares the noise made by the weavers of Madurai to that made by workers loading and unloading merchandise onto yavana ships at midnight.
  • A poem by Nakkirar refers to the Pandya king Nanmaran drinking perfumed, cold wine brought by the yavanas.

The Course of Indo-Roman Trade

• The period between the second century BCE and the second century CE saw flourishing trade between India and the Roman Empire; the Kushans and the Satavahanas especially benefited from this trade, and the overall balance of trade generally favoured India.
  • Apart from exporting Indian goods to the Mediterranean, India also played an important role in the Chinese silk trade. From the time of the Roman emperor Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE), traders tended to avoid the section of the Silk Route passing through Parthia in Central Asia, owing to turbulent political conditions there — part of this trade was consequently diverted overland to India, and onward from Indian ports to the Roman Empire by sea. Chinese silk, too, found its way to Europe via India, since the Parthian rulers of Iran obstructed its more direct passage.
• This trade declined after the time of Marcus Aurelius, in the late second century CE, partly owing to the internal difficulties of the Roman Empire — though it did not come to an end altogether.
  • The Periplus provides a list of goods exported to the Roman Empire from Indian ports on the Indus delta and the Gujarat coast; Pliny and Dio Chrysostom both refer to the resulting drain of Roman gold into India.
  • The Vienna Papyrus, recording the terms of a business deal between two shippers of Alexandria and Muchiri (Muziris), refers to a loan for the acquisition of goods including nard (an aromatic balsam), ivory, and textiles.

Discovery of Roman Coins

• The large number of Roman coins discovered in India comprises almost 170 finds from about 130 sites; most belong to the reigns of the emperors Augustus (31 BCE–14 CE) and Tiberius (14–37 CE), alongside imitations of these coins.
  • There are silver coins known as denarii and gold coins known as aurei; the silver coins are more numerous, in both Rome and India.

Regional Distribution

• South India: there is a concentration of finds in the Coimbatore area of Tamil Nadu and the Krishna valley in Andhra Pradesh.
• West India: though some Roman coins have been found at sites such as Sholapur, Waghoda, Vadgaon-Madhavpur, and Kondapur, they remain relatively few in number.
• North India: apart from a handful of finds at sites such as Taxila, Manikyala, and Mathura, scarcely any Roman coins have been found in the north.
  • The Kushan rulers, encouraged by their Roman connections, issued new coins of the same design as the “dinar” — though these coins were not used in day-to-day transactions, which were carried on instead with coins made of glass, copper, and potin.
  • While the Kushanas may well have melted down and re-minted Roman gold coins, this does not fully explain the virtual absence of silver coins in the north.
• East India: only one coin hoard of gold aurei has been reported in eastern India (in Singhbhum).
• Some Roman coins in India are marked with slash marks and small countermarks, including dots, stars, and curves — possibly ownership marks.
  • In regions with well-established currency systems already in place — such as the Kushana and Satavahana kingdoms — Roman coins may have been melted down for bullion, whereas in the eastern Deccan, where indigenous currency systems were weaker, they may instead have circulated as currency in their own right.
• Roman coins made their way to India well after the reigns of the kings under whom they were originally issued: finds of Roman copper coins in Gujarat date to the second half of the third century CE, while Roman bronze coins found at several places in India — mostly in Tamil Nadu — date from the latter half of the fourth century CE (thousands of similar coins have also been found in Sri Lanka), clearly reflecting the southward shift of maritime trade networks.

Discovery of Roman Pottery

• Apart from coins, valuable information regarding Indo-Mediterranean contact comes from pottery. The two types of Roman pottery found in India are amphorae jars and terra sigillata.
  • Amphorae are jars with a large oval body, a narrow cylindrical neck, and two handles. Terra sigillata is a red, glazed pottery decorated by being pressed into a mould, including both moulded, decorated wares and undecorated, wheel-made pieces made in Italy, or their imitations.
• Rouletted ware and red polished ware: rouletted ware has a smooth surface, usually with a metallic lustre, and concentric bands of rouletted design; pottery of this type, found at several Indian sites — especially in eastern and south-eastern India, both coastal and inland — was once thought to be of foreign origin, but is now considered to have been produced locally.
  • Red polished ware, found at many sites in Gujarat, was likewise once considered a foreign import, but is now regarded as locally made.

Arikamedu

• Valuable evidence of India’s maritime trade links comes from the site of Arikamedu, near Pondicherry, on the right bank of the Ariyankuppam river. Excavations here revealed an occupation stretching from the end of the first century BCE through the first and second centuries CE.
  • A brick structure was identified as a warehouse, while two walled courtyards, associated with tanks and drains, were tentatively identified as dyeing vats where muslin cloth was dyed and prepared for export.
  • Locally produced pottery was found alongside some Mediterranean wares — amphorae and arretine ware (terra sigillata) — as well as a rouletted black ware showing some foreign influence. Other finds included over 200 beads of shell, bone, gold, terracotta, and semi-precious stones, along with a Graeco-Roman gem bearing what could be an intaglio carving of the emperor Augustus, and a fragment of a Roman lamp made of fine red ware.
  • On the basis of these discoveries, Mortimer Wheeler concluded that Arikamedu was Poduke, one of the yavana emporia (trading stations) mentioned in classical accounts.

Roman Pottery at Other Sites

• Apart from Arikamedu, Mediterranean amphorae and terra sigillata have been found at other southern sites, such as Uraiyur, Kanchipuram, and Vasavasamudram (both in Chingleput district); they have likewise been found at sites in Gujarat and western India, including Dwarka, Prabhas Patan, Ajabpura, Sathod, Jalat, and Nagara.

Discoveries of Other Roman Objects

• Other objects possibly of Roman origin have also been reported — terracotta objects, glassware, metal artefacts, and jewellery — though many of these appear to be local imitations of Roman objects rather than genuine imports.
  • Clay bullae, made in clay moulds imitating Roman coins, are quite common across the subcontinent; these bullae have a loop or perforation, suggesting they were worn around the neck.
  • Brahmapuri, in the western part of Kolhapur town (Maharashtra), yielded a large hoard of “Roman” bronzes, including a statuette of Poseidon, the Roman sea god.
• The distribution pattern of Roman artefacts in India indicates that while trade was initially concentrated on the western coast, the Coromandel coast soon grew more important.
  • Excavations at Berenike, on the Egyptian coast, have yielded black pepper and beads of South Indian and Sri Lankan manufacture in a fourth-century CE context, reflecting the flourishing east–west trade of the period.
• Indo-Roman trade was not a direct trade between Indians and Romans, but involved the participation of middlemen from many regions, including Arabs and the Greeks of Egypt.

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

• Ancient Greek and Roman geographers referred to the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf collectively as the Erythraean Sea. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a unique handbook, written in Greek by an unknown author from Egypt, intended for traders engaged in mercantile activity between Egypt, East Africa, southern Arabia, and India.
  • The book must have been genuinely useful to traders of the time, and it likewise offers historians a valuable source of detailed information on trade in the Indian Ocean. Certain references within the text, and its level of detail, indicate that its author wrote from personal experience rather than hearsay — evidently a merchant writing for the benefit of fellow merchants.
• The Periplus provides details of sailing schedules, routes, trade, ports, and merchandise, along with information about the rulers whose control extended over various ports.
  • Its author was a curious and observant man, adding numerous remarks on flora and fauna, and on the appearance, life, and customs of the peoples of different lands — one notable omission, however, is any substantial discussion of religion.
• The Periplus describes trade conducted along two main routes originating from the Red Sea ports of Egypt — one following the African coast, the other heading to India — along with references to other routes as well.
  • The wealth of detail in the book has enabled historians to compile a detailed inventory of items traded at various ports within the Indian Ocean trade networks of the early centuries CE.

The Wider Roles of Trade and Traders

• Merchants appear as donors in inscriptions from various parts of the subcontinent during this period. The growing affluence of sections of the merchant community coincided with the increasing institutionalisation and organisation of religious establishments, and patronising such institutions through financial support was simultaneously an expression of devotion and piety, as well as a means of validating social status.

Seafaring Merchants in Art

• Seafaring merchants can be identified in sculptures at several religious establishments.
  • A railing medallion from Bharhut, for instance, depicts a huge sea monster on the verge of swallowing a boat and its crew — an inscription suggests that this depicts the Jataka story of the merchant Vasugupta, who was saved from disaster by meditating on the Buddha.
  • A Mathura sculpture depicts a bodhisattva in the form of a horse, saving shipwrecked sailors from ravenous yakshis.
• A more graphic reflection of the perils faced by mortal seafarers can be found in the hero stones of the Konkan coast, sculpted with scenes of sea battles and set up by survivors in honour of those who had lost their lives.

Buddhist Monasteries, Traders, and Guilds

• A close relationship soon developed between Buddhist monasteries, traders, and guilds. As monasteries expanded and received increasing gifts, they were drawn into various kinds of financial activity, forging a reciprocal relationship between monks and traders — passing traders provided donations to monasteries, which, in turn, provided services for traders.
  • For example, the residue of what may be wine sedimentation (or medicine) was found in amphorae sherds at the monastic site of Devnimori in Gujarat; at Pushkalavati, a workshop or storeroom containing what appears to be a liquor-distillation apparatus was found within a Buddhist monastery.
  • The evidence from these two sites suggests that Buddhist monks may have engaged in the liquor trade, and may also have traded in items such as incense and precious stones, possibly used for liturgical purposes.
• On the whole, however, the evidence for direct links between Buddhist monasteries and trade is not especially substantial — the mere location of monasteries along trade routes does not, in itself, constitute conclusive evidence.
  • The hypothesis of connections between Buddhist monasteries and guilds in ancient India appears to rest more on analogies with patterns that emerged in East Asia during a later period.

The Cultural Impact of Trade

• There exist important connections between long-distance trade, urbanisation, developments in Buddhist theology, and the spread of Buddhism to China. The demand for relics, images, and ceremonial objects played an important role in sustaining Sino-Indian trade.
  • Attention may also be directed to possible Buddhist symbols and legends found on coinage, seals, and pottery, and to the emergence of the idea of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara as the saviour of travellers and seafarers.
• It has been argued that trade networks between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia were initially dominated by trading groups owing allegiance to Buddhism, and that Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia largely through these trading channels.
  • While trade was undoubtedly an important vehicle of cultural transmission, however, it was not the only one — the activities of Chinese and Indian monks form an important part of the story of Buddhism’s spread to China, while the fact that rituals in Southeast Asian courts were dominated, as in India, by Brahmanical practices points to the presence of Brahmana ritual specialists in those courts as well.

Related Practice Questions

• Justify Pliny’s statement that Rome was being drained of its gold by India during the first century of the Christian era.
• “Foreign invasions have been one of the features of the post-Vedic period.” Briefly discuss these invasions and their impact on contemporary India.
• How justified are we in characterising the post-Mauryan five centuries as the “Dark Period” of Indian history?

Conclusion

Far from being a “dark period” of isolation and decline, the five centuries following the fall of the Maurya Empire were, by every measure of trade and contact, among the most outward-looking in ancient Indian history. A thriving money economy at home was matched by deep commercial and cultural engagement abroad — with China along the Silk Route, with Southeast Asia through both maritime and overland networks, and with Rome through a trade so extensive that Pliny himself lamented the drain of Roman gold to India. The archaeological record — from Arikamedu’s warehouses to Roman coin hoards across the peninsula — together with literary sources ranging from the Jatakas to the Sangam corpus and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, reveals a subcontinent thoroughly enmeshed in the wider currents of Eurasian trade, religion, and culture. For UPSC History Optional aspirants, this evidence forms the essential basis for critically assessing — and ultimately challenging — any characterisation of the post-Mauryan period as a historical “dark age.”