Indo-Roman trade

Links between Red Sea and India existed prior to 1st century BC and numerous numismatics and archeological evidences found along the many excavated sites in South India support the maritime trade between the Romans and Indians.

Goods traded

The demands of peppers, pearls, semi-precious stone and textiles brought the Romans to India and south Asia that were exchanged for high value coins. The Roman state did not participate in the trade activities but exercise control by collecting substantial taxes on the cargo and protecting the routes from the Red Sea to Alexandria with forts, garrisons and military camps. During the trade the South Indian traders participated in equal footing is variable from the recent discovery of a papyrus document in Vienna, recording an agreement between an Alexandrian Greek and the Tamil merchant for a large cargo of Indian goods to be shipped from Muziris and the terms of exchange. The ultimate destinations were Rome.

Traders

Roman trade being a long distance maritime trade was for limited periods. It is hard to say whether the Indo-Roman trade was uniformly an active trade for all places in the Indian subcontinent. Shifts and new circuits were occasioned by the availability of and demand for particular items. On the Roman sides the trade was done by the Greek and Jewish merchants of Egypt and of Syria. Large fleets of ship piled each year and were armed with archers as a protection against piracy with mercenaries employed by the merchants or ship captains. The Roman demand increased the volume of productive and other activities but it did not require a major re-orientation of the local economies. Roman trade declined towards the end of 2nd century AD. Many theories had been added to explain it but with little assistance.