Question

How can you say that Rome had a flourishing trade with South India?

Answer 1

Hint: We need to know that, when Augustus ruled India, Land and sea routes were made by Indian embassies to reach Rome. The evidence found on the western coast of India strongly states the Indo-Roman trade relations. Mangaluru or Mangalore in Karnataka is also known as the Rome of India. Several Numismatic reports have also given evidence of Roman trade relations with South India. Therefore, several pieces of evidence show Rome had a flourishing trade in South India.

Complete answer:
1. Indo-Roman trade relationship was carried through caravan routes via the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Gold coins were the medium of exchange then. Roman gold coins were excavated in Pudukottai, Tamilnadu that proves the existence of trade transactions between Rome and South India.
2. Arikamedu, a coastal site in Puducherry had warehouses made of bricks where ships from Rome unloaded goods. Roman lamps and pottery from the Mediterranean Sea were also excavated from these sites.
When Augustus ruled India, Land routes were used by the Indian embassies to reach Rome. Excavations found on Bet Dwarka (like the stone anchors) and several nearby places strongly indicate that there were strong Indo-Roman trade relations.
3. The remains of the seven amphoras were made of a thick, rough, and coarse fabric that was used for trading olive oil and wine from the Romans. Therefore, a lot of Excavations found in South India state the Indo-Roman trade relations.
4. The earliest evidence of this trade was found in Kerala. Literary sources like the texts from Periplus- a Greek guide, present major historical evidence related to the Indo-Roman trade relations, flourishing in South India, during the early centuries of the Common Era.

Note: We need to remember that The Indo-Roman trade was mainly in luxury items and gold coins were the medium of exchange. So, several gold coins with Roman seals have been excavated from the Southern part of India. The Indo-Roman trade started in the first century BCE and grew in the early two centuries of the common era.