The Indian subcontinent was recognised as a commercial zone of vital importance in ancient times, as evidenced by early Indian trade dating back nearly 3,500 years. Trade and crafts are developments of surplus agricultural production, which first appeared in India with the rise of urban centres in the Indus Valley Civilisation (2600-1900 BCE).

From the earliest times, Indian trade flourished in all forms, whether limited to internal (domestic) trade or long-distance external trade, and whether by land or by water. The Harappans have been well recognised as accomplished sea-farers, as evidenced by the depiction of boats on seals, tablets, or amulets.

The dockyard discovered at Lothal in Gujarat is strong evidence of maritime trade practised during that time. Harappans established contact with Oman, Bahrain, and other places in Western Asia.

There is evidence that maritime trade continued on a significant scale in the Vedic (1500-800 BCE), Mauryan (c. 324-187 BCE), Kushana (circa 30 CE-circa 375) and Gupta periods (3rd century CE-543 CE), and also in the subsequent periods of South Indian dynasties like Pallavas, Chalukyas, and Cholas. “May our ship embark to all quarters of the earth” is mentioned as the motto of Rig Vedic seafarers.

Similarly, Buddhist literature, including Jataka stories, is also replete with accounts of sea voyages, shipwrecks, and missionaries going overseas. There were feeder land routes for transporting goods from production to export points, i.e., seaports, and vice versa. The feeder land routes served as supporting channels for collection and distribution during trade.

Textiles have consistently been one of the key items of Indian trade ever since the Harappan period. Like many other materials of perishable nature, textiles as trade items do not survive as evidence, but the few available ones are enough to speak volumes about their commerce. Evidence of textile trade is sometimes implicit in other sources. For instance, the scroll headdress on a clay figurine from Harappa closely resembles the symbol of a Babylonian Goddess, suggesting trade relations between the two territories. Babylon was a city in ancient Mesopotamia (present-day parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey)

There are references indicating that clothing, along with other items such as medicinal plants, incense, and fragrance materials, was regularly sent to Mesopotamia from the eastern countries of Meluhha, the Sumerian name for the Indus Civilisation.

These items continued to be in trade in subsequent periods also. Atharva Veda indicates that a kind of woollen cloth called dursha formed an article of trade. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a manual written in the 1st century CE by a Greek for mariners trading between the Red Sea and the Bay of Bengal, also refers to the trade in clothing from India. This book discusses very fine-quality muslin (cotton fabric of plain weave, ranging from sheer to coarse sheets) as an export item of the Ganga or Vanga country. This was probably from the Tamluk (ancient Tamralipti) port in Purbi Medinipur district and Chandraketugarh in the 24 Pargana district of West Bengal.

It is believed that this territory’s maritime trade relations existed with Peninsular and Western India, Sri Lanka, and parts of Southeast Asia. There might have been indirect trade of this region with China and the Roman Empire. A Chinese work from the 1st century CE mentions that sailing by boat for about two months from Burma, one will reach Kanchi (Kanchipuram, India), and sailing for the next eight months, one will reach the Malayan peninsula in Southeast Asia. It further informs us that Kanchi produced large, lustrous pearls and rare stones, which were exchanged for gold and silk products. Thus, Chinese silk was imported to Kanchipuram and also exported from there to Malaya. Kanchipuram was also a centre of indigenous silk production, and as such, it can reasonably be inferred that local silk might have been included in the itinerary exported to Malaya. It indicates that silk textiles formed an essential part of Indian trade.

Notably, South India is still known for its quality silk clothing, one of which is Kanchipuram silk. By about the 10th century CE, diversification in markets and trading patterns at Kanchipuram led to the emergence of specialised trading groups of weaver-traders known as saliya nagaram. The Saliyas (pattasalin) and the Kaikkolas were two weaver communities producing varieties of silk and cotton cloths for inland and overseas markets.

The Saliyas gained considerable influence in Kanchipuram as the chosen weavers of royal garments in the 10th century CE. The Kaikkolas, the larger of the two communities, were apparently weavers who had no economic influence, being dependent on trades for organising the marketing of textiles.

With the knowledge of the south-westerly monsoon winds, which followed an annual cycle with a fixed direction and timing, becoming established in the 1st century CE, India’s trade with the Roman world expanded rapidly. This led to the development of numerous seaports on the western coast—in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala—as well as on the eastern shore in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal.

These ports, along with their feeder channels, created a network of trade routes at the turn of the Christian era and facilitated the brisk movement of a wide range of merchandise at a volume never before seen in inland or overseas trade. Textile was a significant component of this trade. The ports of Barbaricum (seaport near the modern-day city of Karachi, Pakistan) and Bharukachchha (Bharuch, Gujarat) became trading centres of muslin and other thin or coarse clothing. Wool of both goats and sheep, especially from the Kashmir region and woollen shawls were also an essential article of trade at that time, as they continue to be today.

In the Mauryan period, much has been elaborated on the trading system, including land and sea routes and a comparison of their relative importance of the two. Arthashastra of Kautilya refers to the fact that the state had enacted rules and regulations on trade movement, including the appointment of a superintendent of shipping (naukadhyaksha) to control waterborne trade, mudradhyaksha (Superintendent of travel documents) for overseas trade and a Superintendent of trade and customs (panyadhyaksha) for overall regulation of trade, including the collection of duties on commodities.

The Uttarapath (northern land routes) and Dakshinapath (southern land routes) together constitute “ the Grand route of India,” which became the arterial trade routes, along with their feeder channels, for the silk trade, especially during the Kushana period (300 CE-375 CE), which connected China, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the European countries.

According to ancient Sangam literature (3rd century BCE-3rd century CE), silk from China entered the internal exchange of Tamilakam (Tamil territory) as transit goods to the Roman Empire. The Periplus also points out that China was the region from which silk reached the Ganges valley, from where it may have reached Tamilakam down the east coast to Tamil ports and then was sent to the west. Silk entered the internal circuit of exchange through gifts from rulers to panar (bards) and as a luxury item in the attire of the ruling and urban elite. The Tamil sources refer to silk as pattu.

The duty chargeable on linen, dakula silk yarn (Muga silk from Assam), silk cloths, cotton, and animal products of goats was between 1/25th and 1/10th of their values. The Arthashastra states that many of the woven and embroidered shawls came from Kashmir and Punjab. Nepal supplied woollen goods. Bengal and Suvarnakudya (in present-day Assam) were famous for Dakula silk, and Kasi for linen. Magadha, Paund, Ra, and Suvarnabhumimi provided a kind of wild silk textile. The chief centres of the cotton goods were Mathura, Kasi, Aparanta (Konkan), Kalinga (Odisha), Bengal, Vamsa (Kaushambi), and Mahishmati (Mahesar near Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh)

In the Mauryan period, the routes were also classified by specific activities. According to Kautilya, Haimavatamarga (the route from Balkh to India via the Hindukush) was used only for trade in horses, woollen cloths, hides, and furs, to the exclusion of all other goods. The Dakshinapath or Deccan route also traded in other items such as diamonds, precious stones, pearls, and gold.

In the Gupta period (3rd century CE- 543 CE), commercial activities increased, resulting in an improved banking system headed by a nagara shreshthi (chief banker). Taxes were collected at a relatively higher rate. Printers and weavers were perhaps forced to pay half of the price of their goods as a tax. The Jambudvipa prajnapti, a text datable to the Gupta period, mentions 18 traditional guilds, including those of silk weavers (pattailla), sellers of napkins (ganchhi), calico-printers (chhimpa), and tailors (sivaga).

In the final analysis, it can be reasonably asserted that cotton, woollen, and silk textiles consistently remained popular articles of trade throughout the ancient period, both in domestic and international markets. India can rightfully claim a place of pride as an essential and integral part of the global Silk Route, a historic trade network that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 14th century CE.