AHMEDABAD: The oldest written record of Gujarat's Maritime history is found in a Greek book named 'The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century'.
The work is considered as the most pioneer in maritime history. Bharuch was mentioned as Barygaza in this book. The book tells us many interesting facts about the port and also throws some light on the 2,000 year old maritime business in the state.
The book describes an episode of a foreigner bringing costly gifts for kings, saying, "And for the King there are very costly vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thin clothing of the finest weaves, and the choicest ointments."
But the king also took immense care of the port. The access to Bharuch port was very difficult for which the king made a very unique piloting system. "The gulf is very narrow at Barygaza and very hard to navigate for those coming from the ocean. Because of this, native fishermen in the king's service, stationed at the very entrance in well-manned large boats called tappaga and cotymba, go up the coast as far as Saurashtra, from where they pilot vessels to Bharuch. And they steer them straight from the mouth of the bay between the shoals with their crews; and they tow them to fixed stations, going up with the beginning of the flood, and lying through the ebb at anchorages and in basins."
Business historian Prof Makrand Mehta quotes Italian naval administrator Pliny and says, "the pearls exported from Bharuch were highly prized by Roman ladies. The exports amounted to such a size that it led Pliny to warn the Romans against the drain of their wealth to India." Pliny wrote a book Naturalis Historia in Latin in the first century.
He added, "Roman merchants exported silver and gold besides slaves and pretty women. Such comparisons can be traced back as far as the Mauryan period when the Romans supplied young slave singing girls to Indian princes."
The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang (629-640) observed that the prosperity of Bharuch rested on its export trade. The great port city began to decline after the seventh century and Cambay rose.