The commercial intercourse between India and West Asia can be traced from antiquity. A clear picture of this trade can be presented with continuity from 6th Century B.C. This book covers the period from 6th Century BC to 3rd Century AD. Specifically, the work examines: the forces of exchange of commerce which became an important part of the study of Indian trade history; the impact of political relations on trade, in addition to exchange of goods; the elaborate arrangement of Mauryas to gain control over trade and exchange of cultural ingredients; and the exchange of goods, market places, system of transport, and communication in commercial relations during this period.

;Proud Inheritors Of Historic Legacies, India And West Asia Have Been Friends And Neighbours Since The Dawn Of Civilisation. With The Advent Of Islam The Arabindian Contacts Were Further Strengthened. It Was The Arabs Who Attempted The First Written H

The Essays In This Volume Are Thematically Linked By The Focus On The Historical Exchange Of Ideas And Experience Among The Peoples Of India, China, Central And West Asia. The Contributors Include Distinguished Scholars From A Range Of Disciplines.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... Empire, culminated in the time of Nero, who died A. D. 68. (Hi) From this time forward the trade declined till the time of Caracalla, A. D. 217. (iv) From the time of Caracalla it almost entirely ceased. (v) The maritime activity revived again, though slightly, under the Byzantine Emperors. He also infers that the trade under the early Emperors was chiefly in luxuries; under the later ones in industrial products; and under the Byzantines the commerce was with the South-West of India and not with the interior. He moreover differs from those who find an explanation of this fluctuation in the political and social condition of India itself, and the facilities or their absence for navigating the seas; and considers that the cause is to be sought for in the political and social condition of the Romans themselves. We fully agree with this view of Mr. Sewell as is borne out by the contemporary history of Rome -about the 4th and 5th centuries A. D. CENTRAL ASIA Till comparatively recent times, the vast highlands of Asia with their glittering ramparts of eternal snow, their pasture grounds, their bleak deserts and verdant oases, were regarded with awe by the civilised nations. It seems that science in harmony with the religions and myths of so many people has succeeded in demonstrating by almost irrefragable proofs that Central Asia was the primitive home of mankind, the cradle, whence our own forefathers were sent out in the pride of youth to find out eventually a new home in Europe, while others descended into India. The mass of nebulous tradition is brought into contact with the traces of widely diverse nationalities and religions and must consult in its turn the annals of the Indians, Iranians, Greeks, Scythians, Chinese, Turks and Russians....

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

India and China are two of the most important civilizations of the ancient world. Looking at the relations between these empires before the 6th century A.D., Xinru Liu conclusively establishes the transmission of Buddhism from India to China, and describes the various items of commercial trade.

The period from the death of Alexander the Great to the rise of the Islam (c. late fourth century BCE to seventh century CE) saw a significant growth in economic, diplomatic and cultural exchange between various civilisations in Africa, Europe and Asia. This was in large part thanks to the Indian Ocean trade. Peoples living in the Roman Empire, Parthia, India and South East Asia increasingly had access to exotic foreign products, while the lands from which they derived, and the peoples inhabiting these lands, also captured the imagination, finding expression in a number of literary and poetic works. The Indian Ocean Trade in Antiquity provides a range of chapters that explore the economic, political and cultural impact of this trade on these diverse societies, written by international experts working in the fields of Classics, Archaeology, South Asian studies, Near Eastern studies and Art History. The three major themes of the book are the development of this trade, how consumption and exchange impacted on societal developments, and how the Indian Ocean trade influenced the literary creations of Graeco-Roman and Indian authors. This volume will be of interest not only to academics and students of antiquity, but also to scholars working on later periods of Indian Ocean history who will find this work a valuable resource.