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Barbarikon

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Former name of a sea port near the modern-day city of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

History of Karachi
Part of a series on the

Prehistoric period
Mulri Hills
Ancient period
Allahdino Pir Shah Jurio
Classical period
Krokola Minnagara Barbarikon Debal Banbhore
Islamic period
Muhammad bin Qasim
Local dynasties
Samma dynasty Kalhora dynasty Talpur dynasty
British period
Sind Division Sind Province
Independent Pakistan
Federal Capital Territory Sindh Province 1972 labour unrest Demographics Violence
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Barbarikon (Ancient Greek:Βαρβαρικόν) was the name of asea port near the modern-day city ofKarachi,Sindh,Pakistan, important in the ancient era of the Indian subcontinent inIndian Ocean trade. The port is considered one of the premiere ports regarding the interaction betweenancient India with theMiddle East andMediterranean world.^[1] It comes from theGreek word of the term (also inLatin,barbaricum), designating areas outside theGreco-Roman world.

It may have been a translation from Sumerian wordMeluhha for theSindh from which the Sanskrit word for barbarian,Mleccha derives.

Barbarikon as mentioned inPeriplus of the Erythraean Sea

Barbarikon is mentioned briefly in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea:

"This river [theIndus] has seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are not navigable, except the one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town, Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis ofScythia,Minnagara; it is subject toParthian princes who are constantly driving each other out."

"The ships lie at anchor at Barbaricum, but all their cargoes are carried up to the metropolis by the river, to the King. There are imported into this market a great deal of thin clothing, and a little spurious; figuredlinens,topaz,coral,storax,frankincense, vessels of glass,silver andgold plate, and a little wine. On the other hand there are exportedcostus,bdellium,lycium,nard,turquoise,lapis lazuli,Seric skins,cotton cloth, silk yarn, andindigo. And sailors set out thither with the Indian Etesian winds, about the, month of July, that is Epiphi: it is more dangerous then, but through these winds the voyage is more direct, and sooner completed."

Its principal function beyond supplying its immediate hinterland was as atransshipment port for supplies of Persian turquoise andAfghan lapis lazuli, to be carried overland toEgypt.^[2]