Kalapani

Published on 22nd March, 2019, in Economic Times. Sea travel is mentioned in the Buddhist Jataka tales but not in the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, perhaps because the former was patronised by mercantile communities (vaishyas) and the latter by landed gentry (kshatriyas). Sailors from India travelled along the monsoon winds to Southeast Asia and to Arab countries to trade on fabrics and spices in exchange for gold. We do know that Indian sea trade was widespread even during the Harappan Era. The sea was used to trade with the Arab coast. India was then known as Meluha. 2000­-year ­old Tamil literature refers to merchants ..