Routes Etched out in Incense, Woven in Silk and Brewed in Tea

Naomi Dewicka

Routes Etched out in Incense, Woven in Silk and Brewed in Tea

India has always been at the forefront of trade and export with distant lands, right from the time of Indus Valley civilization. The traders organized themselves and traversed across certain 'trade routes', making successful trade that stretched beyond the entire Indian subcontinent.

Map tracing Ancient Silk route Source: samatrans.ir

India embraces a major part of the South Asian landmass and as a geographical unit, occupies a strategic position along routes of communication between East and West. It is girdled on the northwest, north and northeast by the young folding mountain chain of the Himalayas and is washed on the southwest, south and southeast by the Indian Ocean and its two main arms, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

These gateways were interlinked with the hinterland by a network of routes connecting main trade centres with the overland Silk Road. At the end of the first century BCE, there was a great boom in international trade involving five neighboring powers: the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire, the Kushan Empire, the nomadic Xiongnu confederation, and the Han Empire.

Overland transportation was done using river boats and pack animals such as camels. During this trade and travel, knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and customs also spread from one place to another. These links are reflected, for example, in the sculptural styles of Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan and northern India) and Gaul (modern-day France), both influenced by the Hellenistic style popularized by the Romans. Valuable objects traveled long distances through trade, exchange, gifting, and tribute.

The voyage relied on the prevailing winds of the Indian Ocean. A network of sea routes connected the ports of South Arabia and Somalia with the ports of the Persian Gulf and India in the east. Although we are generally aware of the Silk Route, the spice route and incense route are lesser-known trade routes.

The Ancient Tea Horse Road was another trade route that was meant to exchange tea for horses with people in Tibet. It presented its own difficulties, marked by the dangerous terrain of the Indian and Tibetan mountains. Few people in ancient times could finish the whole journey. What made the route special was that the road was created by humans and horses with their feet and hooves respectively.

Cities along these trade routes grew rich, providing services to merchants and acting as international marketplaces. This also led to a flow of ideas. Chinese legends speak of the appearance of Indian Buddhist missionaries in China. Buddhism travelled to Sri Lanka when Emperor Asoka sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to the island. A sapling of Bodhi tree at Bodh-gaya was planted at Anuradhapura. In Thailand and Indonesia, Indian cultural traditions could be found through Brahmanic and Buddhist temples. They became cultural and artistic centers, where peoples of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds could meet and intermingle.

The Incense(Royal) Route originally commenced at Shabwah in Hadhramaut, the easternmost kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and ended at Gaza. During this long journey, frankincense and myrrh were traded by South Arabian merchants. These items were highly prized in antiquity as these fragrances could be obtained only from trees growing in southern Arabia, Ethiopia and Somalia. This made the Nabataeans and the South Arabians grow tremendously wealthy through their trade in lands beyond the Arabian Peninsula. It can be said that it was Arabian commercial activities that brought Islam to Sind in the eighth century.

The Royal Road, which connected Susa (in present-day Iran) more than 1,600 miles west to Sardis (near the Mediterranean Sea in modern Turkey), was established by the Persian ruler Darius I during the Achaemenid Empire. Also called the “Persian King Road”, it is the route made by the Romans to brin