Ancient India was heavily thriving on trade. There was trade on every coast of India wherever it was possible. As early as the time of Mahabharata, the presence of Romans or the country of Yavanapuri is mentioned. Though this may not have indicated sea travel, it definitely would have hinted at land travel. Somewhere in the first century of the Christian era, a European named Hippalus discovered the importance of the winds of monsoon in trade to the Indian subcontinent. This helped the sailors identify the favorable season to set sail for trade in Indian seas which would enable them to reach faster.
How do we know about this enormous trade? Simple. There is a branch of archaeology that deals specifically in marine archaeology which requires the experts to dive in the seas to look for answers. Another way is surface finds and excavations near ports and towns on coast.
Let me give you the most astonishing example in history of India. Andhra-Telangana’s abundance in Roman coins findings of different timelines stretched from a period of few centuries. Nellore, a city on the south-eastern coast of Andhra has not only been an important port of ancient Indian trade, but it has also yielded the largest number of Roman coins. These Roman coins were majorly exchanged when the Roman sailors came to Andhra for their supplies of trade. Usually they would purchase ether, amphorae (jars), spices, gemstones, silver etc. In return the Satavahana dynasty, the then ruling dynasty of Andhra-Telangana region took gold and wine from the Romans.
The trade of Roman with the Satavahanas or the Andhra dynasty was so well established that the remains of their trade relations are still found in places like Karimnagar, Nalagonda, Nellore, Nagarjunakonda, Peddabunkur, Veerapuram and Krishnapatnam. You’d wonder how the coins traveled far in the hinterland of Andhra-Telangana? It was the inland trade via rivers is what brought them so far.
No other Andhra-Telangana dynasty other than the Satavahanas had such extensive trade relations with Rome. To an extent Ikshavakus dynasty had trade relations with Rome, but nothing could surpass the Satavahanas. It is often said that after the collapse of Andhra dynasty in the 2nd Century CE, the trade with Rome nearly collapsed and it was not until the Pallavas and Cholas who came to power revived. Any ideas on why this trade collapsed? During this extensive trade, the Roman wise man Pliny grew wary of the coins that they were paying to India which approximated to 800,000 pounds. The Roman senators were so depended on goods and trade with Satavahanas and other parts of India that people in Rome began to lose all their money.
Yajnasri Satakarni, of Satavahana fame, issued coins with ship marks on it to show the greatness and importance of trade to the Satavahana dynasty.
Finally, the senate convinced the Emperor and the trade came to standstill and also the battle of Constantinople that gave an uncertain control over the Europe’s passage to India.
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