EVIDENCE OF TRADE AND TRADERS
You read about the Northern Black Polished Ware in Chapter 8(VITAL VILLAGES, THRIVING TOWNS). This fine pottery, especially bowls and plates, were found from several archaeological sites throughout the subcontinent. How do you think it reached these places? Traders may have carried them from the places where they were made, to sell them at other places.
South India was famous for gold, spices, especially pepper, and precious stones. Pepper was particularly valued in the Roman Empire, so much so that it was known as black gold. So, traders carried many of these goods to Rome in ships, across the sea, and by land in caravans. There must have been quite a lot of trade as many Roman gold coins have been found in south India.
Traders explored several sea routes. Some of these followed the coasts. There were others across the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, where sailors took advantage of the monsoon winds to cross the seas more quickly. So, if they wanted to reach the western coast of the subcontinent from East Africa or Arabia, they chose to sail with the south-west monsoon. And sturdy ships had to be built for these long journeys.
A poem about trade
We can find evidence of the trade in the Sangam poems.
Here is one which describes the goods brought into Puhar, an important port on the east coast:
“(Here are brought)
Swift, prancing horses by the sea in ships,
Bales of black pepper in carts,
Gems and gold born in the Himalayas,
Sandalwood born in the western hills,
The pearls of the southern seas
And corals from the eastern oceans
The yield of the Ganga and the crops from the Kaveri,
Foodstuffs from Sri Lanka, pottery from Myanmar,
And other rare and rich imports.”
Activity:
1. Can you think of how and why these reached India?
2. Make a list of all the things that are mentioned. What would they be used for?
3. List five things that you buy from the market. Which of these are made in the city/village in which you live, and which are brought by traders from other areas?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK