The first documentedrelations betweenAncient India andAncient Rome occurred during the reign ofAugustus (27 BC – AD 14), the firstRoman Emperor.
The presence of Europeans, includingRomans, in the region known at the time as "India" (modernSouth Asia, includingIndia,Bangladesh,Pakistan and eastern-Afghanistan), during the period of theRoman Empire, is poorly documented. Before theconquests ofAlexander, there are no surviving accounts by contemporaries or near-contemporaries of contact between Europe and the South Asia, so modern understanding depends on more abundant literary, numismatic, and archaeological evidence, mainly relating to the trade between them. The Romans were referred as रोमकRomaka in Sanskrit, while the Romans called the Indians in LatinIndī.
Indo-Roman relations were built on trade.Roman trade in India began with overland caravans and later by direct maritime trade following theconquest of Egypt byAugustus in 30 BC.
According toStrabo (II.5.12), not long after Augustus took control of Egypt, while Gallus was Prefect of Egypt (26–24 BC), up to 120 ships were setting sail every year fromMyos Hormos to modern-day India:
"At any rate, whenGallus was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended theNile as far asSyene and the frontiers ofEthiopia, and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to India, whereas formerly, under thePtolemies, only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise."
— Strabo II.5.12.[2]
Augustus maintained thePtolemaic Red Sea ports and the picket service from the Red Sea to the Nile, whence goods could be carried downstream to the ports ofPelusium andAlexandria. He also replaced the Ptolemaic patrol fleet on the Red Sea to keep piracy in check. He received embassies from Indian kings in 26 and 20 BC and, although little specific is known about them, as Carey puts it: "These missions were certainly intended for something more than an exchange of empty compliments."[1]
By the time of Augustus, if not before, a sea-captain namedHippalus had "discovered" (or, rather, brought news to the West of) the relatively safe and punctual contact over the open sea to India by leaving fromAden on the summer monsoon and returning on the anti-trade winds of winter. This would be made safer and more convenient by the Roman sack of Aden in a naval raid c. 1 BC.[2]
Cassius Dio (d. sometime after AD 229 ) in hisHist. Rom. 54.9 wrote:
Many embassies came to him (Augustus), and the Indians having previously proclaimed a treaty of alliance, concluded it now with the presentation, among other gifts, of tigers, animals which the Romans, and, if I mistake not, the Greeks as well, saw for the first time. . . .[3]
The overland caravans would gain more convenient access into India after the expansion of theKushans into northern India during the 1st century AD, and then down theGanges Valley in the early 2nd century.[4]
"From those land routes at least in the time of Augustus several embassies reached Rome. At least four such embassies are mentioned in the Latin literature, namely 1) the embassy fromPuru country (the territory between theJhelum andBeas) took with it to Rome serpents,monals, tigers and a letter written in Greek language, 2) the embassy fromBroach was accompanied by a Buddhist monk named Germanos, 3) an embassy from theChera country. It was reported in Rome that atMuziris (nearCranganore) was built a temple in honour of Augustus and 4) an embassy from the Paṇḍya country (Pandya Kingdom) brought with it precious stones, pearls and an elephant. We know that in the time of Augustus commercial relations between India and Rome grew but in this the balance of trade was in favour of India from the very beginning and as a result of this Roman gold poured into the country."[5]
ThePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea, written by an anonymous sea-captain in Greek, can now be confidently dated to between 40 and 70[6] and, probably, between AD 40 and 50.[7]
The author of the Periplus lists ports fromBarbarikon at the mouth of the Indus in the west near modernKarachi, right around the southern tip of the Indian peninsula and north as far as the mouth of theGanges near modernKolkata (Calcutta). In contrast to the wealth of information on some of the west coast ports, the author gives no political information on the ports up the east coast of India,[8] perhaps indicating that he had not personally visited them. In fact the text seems to imply that western vessels normally did not travel beyond the tip of the Indian peninsula, probably leaving onward trade to local boats as the passage between India and the northern tip of Palaisimundu orTaprobanê (Sri Lanka) was very shallow for trans-oceanic vessels, while the route around the island was long[9] and may have forced skippers to pass another season in the region before the winds were right for the return to Egypt.
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23–79), generally known asPliny the Elder, writing c. AD 77, left probably the most important account of India and its trade with Rome that has survived in Classical literature. He gives quite a lot of detail about India, albeit not all accurate, but his observations do more than just outline the bare bones of history, and help give us some picture of how intimately Indian culture and trade was becoming known:
"Coral is as highly valued among the Indians as Indian pearls. It is also found in the Red Sea, but there it is darker in colour. The most prized is found in the Gallic Gulf around the Stoechades Islands, in the Sicilian Gulf around theAeolian Islands, and aroundDrepanum. . . . Coral-berries are no less valued by Indian men than specimen Indian pearls by Roman ladies. Indian soothsayers and seers believe that coral is potent as a charm for warding off dangers. Accordingly they delight in its beauty and religious power. Before this became known, theGauls used to decorate their swords, shields and helmets with coral. Now it is very scarce because of the price it commands, and is rarely seen in its natural habitat." Pliny.Natural History (AD 77) (XXXII, chaps. 21, 23).[10]
Although his estimate of the value of Rome's trade to the East at some 100 millionsesterces annually (Pliny, NH, VI, 26, 6 & NH, XII, 41, 2) has often been thought to be an exaggeration but, if it is interpreted as referring to the total value of the trade rather than as coinage, it becomes quite believable:
"For example, just one documented consignment fromMuziris (Chera kingdom, modern-daySouth India) toAlexandria consisted of 700-1,700 pounds of nard (an aromatic balsam), over 4,700 pounds of ivory and almost 790 pounds of textiles. This has been calculated as worth a total value of 131talents, enough to purchase 2,400 acres of the best farmland in Egypt. When it is borne in mind that an average Roman cargo ship would have held about 150 such consignments, Pliny's figure becomes entirely plausible. With such staggering profits it is little wonder that the Roman government in Egypt encouraged – and profited by! – the trade: a 25 per cent tax on all goods from India was levied by the Romans at the Red Sea port ofLeuce Come."[11]
After the Roman EmperorTrajandefeated theDacians and annexed theNabataean Arabs centered inPetra c. AD 105, he returned to Rome where:
"...ever so many embassies came to him from various barbarians, including the Sindi [people of theIndus Valley]. And he gave spectacles on one hundred and twenty-three days, in the course of which some eleven thousand animals, both wild and tame, were slain, and ten thousand gladiators fought."[12]
Trajan later defeatedParthia and, sailing down theTigris River (115–16), reached the northern shores of thePersian Gulf.[13] "Roman troops had beaten the might of Parthia from the field and had reached the Persian Gulf; and their victoriousImperator, Trajan, had dreamed of repeating Alexander's march to the northwestern subcontinent, only to acquiesce in giving up the project on account of his age."[14]
ThePeutinger Table, a medieval copy of a 4th or early 5th century map of the world, shows a "Temple toAugustus" atMuziris, one of the main ports for trade to the Roman Empire on the southwest coast of India.[15] This and evidence of agreements for loans between agents, one of whom most likely lived in Muziris, and a rather oblique reference in the Periplus, all seem to point to a settlement of Roman subjects living in the region.[16]
Embassies are recorded as arriving from the "Indians of the East" at the court ofConstantine the Great (r. 306–337):
"Ambassadors from the Indians of the East brought presents . . . . which they presented to the king (Constantine the Great) as an acknowledgment that his sovereignty extended to their ocean. They told him, too, how Princes of India had dedicated pictures and statues in his honour in token that they had recognised him as their autocrat and king."Eusebius of Caesarea (fl. early 4th century)Vita Constantini IV. 50.[17]
More embassies are mentioned from "the Indian nations" in AD 361:
"Embassies from all quarters flocked to him (theEmperor Julian in 361 A.D.), the Indian nations vying with emulous zeal in sending their foremost men with presents, as far as from the Divi (Maldives) and the Serendivi (Ceylonese) [sic]."Ammianus Marcellinus.History XXII.vii.10.[18]
Finally, Johannes Malala orJohn Malalas (fl. mid-6th century), p. 477, records that, in AD 530, "an ambassador of the Indians was sent toConstantinople."[17]
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The best archeological record of Roman presence can be found in southern India, specifically atArikamedu.
Arikamedu was aTamil fishing village which was formerly a majorChola port dedicated to bead making and trading withRoman traders. It flourished for centuries until the Romans left in the 5th century AD.
Various Roman artifacts, such as a large number ofamphorae bearing the mark of Romanpotter schools VIBII, CAMURI and ITTA, have been found at the site, supporting the view on a huge ancient trade betweenRome and theancient Tamil country, which today include Tamil Nadu, Kerala and regions of Sri Lanka.
Another place full of archeological records isMuziris, in theKerala region. Muziris was a major centre of trade in Tamilakkam between theChera Empire and the Roman Empire. Large hoards of coins and innumerable shards of amphorae found in the town ofPattanam have elicited recent archeological interest in finding a probable location of this port city.[19]
A statue of the Buddha, theBerenike Buddha, made locally and dated to the 2nd century AD, was discovered in the Egyptian harbour ofBerenike.[20]
Numerous hoards of Roman gold coins from the time of Augustus and emperors of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD have been from southern India. Attention may be drawn to the large number of Romanaurei anddenarii of Augustus toNero spanning approximately 120 years, found all along the route from aboutMangalore through theMuziris area and around the southern tip of India to the south eastern Indian ports.
Under the rule of Augustus, (63 BC–AD 14) the silver content of the denarius fell to 3.9 grams. It remained at nearly this weight until the time of Nero (AD 37–68).[21][22] This would also indicate that the land route from theWest coast to theEast coast via the Palghat pass in theWestern Ghats was much more popular than the risky or circuitous sea route rounding the Cape or Sri Lanka.[21]
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