Arikamedu

Topic: Economy of Early India: Agriculture, Trade, Guilds, Coinage · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"

Meaning

Arikamedu was a Roman trading settlement on the Coromandel (east) coast of India, near modern Puducherry. Excavation there found Roman pottery, beads, intaglios, lamps, glass and coins [3].

It matters because it is hard physical proof of trade between south India and the Roman world. Arikamedu shows that this trade ran across political borders, because Rome never ruled any part of south India.

Explanation

Background: why Roman traders came to south India

• Rome wanted Indian goods. Above all it wanted pepper, textiles and medicinal plants.
• The sea route opened up once sailors understood the monsoon winds. The Greeks called the southwest monsoon Hippalus, after a sailor said to be the first to sail straight from the Gulf of Aden to the Indian peninsula [3].
• Before this, ships stayed close to the coast. The voyage was slow, and every local middleman took a share.

• After it, ships sailed direct across the open sea, and spice prices inside the Roman Empire fell by more than half [3].

• Ports grew up on both coasts. Muziris was on the west (Malabar) coast. Arikamedu was on the east (Coromandel) coast and faced the Bay of Bengal.

What was found at Arikamedu

• Roman pottery. This included Arretine ware, a red, polished Roman pottery found at such sites.
• It was made at Arretium (modern Arezzo) in Italy, in factory-style potteries working c. 30 BCE – 30 CE [3].

• The dates fall in a narrow band, so this pottery helps archaeologists date the Indian layers where it turns up.

• Intaglios, which are gems with a design carved into them and used as seals.

• Beads, lamps, glass and coins [3].
• Local copies of Roman items. Indian workers made imitations of Roman objects. This shows that local people lived alongside the traders and learned from them [3].

How the settlement worked

• People lived there over a long period. The mix of finds shows continuous occupation. Arikamedu was not a camp used for one season [3].
• Goods were made for Roman buyers. Textiles were made to Roman specification, meaning to the designs Romans asked for, and then exported from settlements like this one [3].
• It was one link in a long chain.
• Inland craft villages, such as the bead-making centre at Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu, most likely supplied goods to the ports.
• Roads and rivers carried those goods to the coast.
• Ships carried them overseas.

Results

• Money came into India. India sent out plants, gems and cloth. Rome paid mostly in metal and coin. India therefore ran a trade surplus, which means it sold more than it bought.
• Roman coins piled up in south India. Roman coin hoards are found across the peninsula, even though Rome never ruled there.
• Local crafts changed. Workers copied Roman items and made cloth to Roman designs. The trade shaped what Indian craftsmen produced.

Time, place and evidence

• Place: near modern Puducherry, on the Coromandel (east) coast, facing the Bay of Bengal.
• Period: the time of active Indo-Roman trade. The Arretine ware found at such sites was made c. 30 BCE – 30 CE [3]. This is the same broad age as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (c. 1st century CE).
• Evidence:
• Archaeology: excavation uncovered Roman pottery (including Arretine ware), beads, intaglios, lamps, glass, coins and local imitations of Roman objects [3].
• Official record: the classic ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) report is titled An Indo-Roman Trading Station on the East Coast of India, published in Ancient India, Volume 2 [2].
• Supporting texts: the Periplus is a Greek sailor's guide to the coasts. It lists ports down the Indian coast and records that a great quantity of coin came into India. This matches the coins found at sites like Arikamedu.

Don't confuse with

• Muziris is on the Malabar (west) coast and is the pepper port of the Periplus, also called Cranganore [3]. Arikamedu is on the Coromandel (east) coast, near Puducherry.
• Kodumanal (Tamil Nadu) was an inland bead-making centre that supplied the ports. Arikamedu was the coastal trading settlement where the Roman material was found.
• Kaveripattinam (Puhar or Poompuhar) was the Chola port at the mouth of the Kaveri. Arikamedu lies near Puducherry and is famous for Roman finds rather than for being a royal port.
• Gottiprolu is in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. It is an early historic trade centre known for its brick enclosure wall and a Pallava-period Vishnu image (c. 8th century CE) [4]. Arikamedu is known for Roman pottery and beads.

Prelims Hooks

• Arikamedu is near Puducherry, on the east (Coromandel) coast. It is not on the Malabar coast.
• Finds at Arikamedu include Roman pottery, beads, intaglios (carved gem seals), lamps, glass and coins [3].
• The ASI report on Arikamedu is An Indo-Roman Trading Station on the East Coast of India, in Ancient India Vol. 2 [2].
• Arretine ware was made at Arretium (modern Arezzo), Italy, c. 30 BCE – 30 CE [3]. It is used to date the Indian layers where it is found.
• At Arikamedu, textiles were made to Roman specification, and local workers made imitations of Roman items [3].
• Trap: Rome never ruled south India. Arikamedu was a trading settlement, not a Roman colony or province.

Mains Points

• Trade does not need conquest. Rome never ruled south India, yet Arikamedu has Roman pottery and glass, and Roman coin hoards are spread across the peninsula [3]. Use this to show that India's early overseas links ran far beyond political borders.
• Contact changed local production. Local workers copied Roman goods and made textiles to Roman specification [3]. Foreign demand shaped Indian crafts. Combine this with Kodumanal's beads to argue that early Indian villages were not closed, self-sufficient units. They were part of one chain from inland craft village to coastal port.
• Archaeology checks the texts. The Periplus says a great quantity of coin flowed into India. Arikamedu's coins and Roman goods, dated with the help of Arretine ware (c. 30 BCE – 30 CE) [3], confirm what the text says. This is a good example for answers on the sources of ancient Indian history.

Related concepts

• Trade routes
• Uttarapatha
• Dakshinapatha
• Indian Ocean trade
• Hippalus
• Indo-Roman trade
• Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
• Pliny's Natural History
• Ptolemy's Geography
• Muziris

Read more

• Trade routes, ports and Indo-Roman commerce