Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

Also called: Periplus, Periplus Maris Erythraei · Topic: Economy of Early India: Agriculture, Trade, Guilds, Coinage · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"

Meaning

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a Greek trader's handbook, written by an anonymous Greek sailor around the 1st century CE. It describes the ports along the sea route to India one by one and lists the goods bought and sold at each port. It matters because it is a working merchant's own record of Indo-Roman trade. It shows that India sold plants, gems and cloth and was paid mostly in coin, so India earned more from this trade than it spent.

Explanation

Background: why such a handbook was written

• The name explained:
• periplus means "sailing around". It is a guide that goes from one stretch of coast to the next.

• Erythraean means the Red Sea. The Romans reached India through Egypt and the Red Sea.

• The monsoon opened the sea route.

• 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 journey was slow, and every local middleman took a share of the profit.
• After this, ships sailed straight from Cana to the Malabar coast, where black pepper grew.

• As a result, the price of spices in the Roman Empire fell by more than half [3].

• More ships meant traders needed a guide. Sailors had to know which port to call at, and what to sell and buy there. The Periplus filled that need.

Main features: what the text records

• A list of ports down the Indian coast. These include Muziris (Cranganore), Colchi (Korkai), Poduca and Sopatma [3].
• Imports into India on the Malabar coast:
• a great quantity of coin
• topaz, antimony (a metal-like mineral), coral
• crude (unworked) glass

• copper, tin, lead

• Exports out of India from the Malabar coast:

• pepper
• malabathrum (an aromatic leaf, possibly cinnamon)
• fine pearls, ivory, silk cloth

• transparent stones, diamonds and sapphires, tortoise shell

• It is a practical book, not a story. It reads like a price list and route map for merchants.

Results: what the lists tell us

• India ran a trade surplus (it earned more from selling than it spent on buying).
• India sent out plants, gems and cloth.
• Rome sent back metals and, above all, money.

• This is why Roman coins pile up in India, but Indian coins do not pile up in Italy.

• Malabar became very important. Whoever controlled the pepper ports, especially Muziris, made the biggest profits.

• It matches what Rome specially wanted from India: pepper, textiles and medicinal plants.

Time, place and evidence

• Time: about the 1st century CE. The date is approximate.
• Author: an anonymous Greek sailor. His name is not known.
• Route covered: from the Red Sea, across the Arabian Sea, to the ports of the Indian coast.
• Key region: the Malabar coast, with Muziris (Cranganore) as the pepper port [3]. Other ports named are Colchi (Korkai), Poduca and Sopatma [3].
• Archaeology that supports the text:
• Roman coin hoards across south India. Rome never ruled this region, yet its coins are found there in large numbers. This fits the Periplus report of a "great quantity of coin" coming in.
• Arikamedu (near modern Puducherry) was a Roman trading settlement. Finds include Roman pottery, beads, intaglios (carved gem seals), lamps, glass and coins. Textiles were made to Roman specification (to Roman orders) there [3]. The ASI report on it is An Indo-Roman Trading Station on the East Coast of India, in Ancient India Vol. 2 [2].
• Arretine ware (red, polished Roman pottery) found at such sites was made at Arretium (modern Arezzo) in about 30 BCE – 30 CE [3]. This helps date the Indian layers where it turns up, so these sites can be placed in the same broad age as the Periplus.
• Kodumanal (Tamil Nadu) was a bead-making centre. Its beads probably went to the ports for export.

• Satavahana coins show two-masted ships. This is a sign of the sea trade the Periplus describes.

• Indian words for merchants from the same age: masattuvan (Tamil), and setthi and satthavaha (Prakrit).

Don't confuse with

• Indica of Megasthenes is an account by a Greek ambassador at the court of Chandragupta Maurya, written in the Mauryan age. It describes Indian society and government. The Periplus is a 1st-century CE trader's sea guide by an anonymous sailor.
• Hippalus is the Greek name for the southwest monsoon, said to come from a sailor. It is not the author of the Periplus, and it is not a text.
• Silappadikaram is a Tamil epic. It names land routes from Kanchipuram to Poompuhar and to Kanyakumari. The Periplus is a Greek guide to sea ports.
• Arikamedu is an archaeological site (near Puducherry) with Roman material. It is physical evidence. The Periplus is written evidence. Together they confirm Indo-Roman trade.

Prelims Hooks

• Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: written by an anonymous Greek sailor, c. 1st century CE.
• Periplus = "sailing around"; Erythraean = Red Sea.
• Periplus Malabar exports: pepper, malabathrum (possibly cinnamon), pearls, ivory, silk cloth, diamonds, sapphires, tortoise shell. Imports: coin, topaz, antimony, coral, crude glass, copper, tin, lead. Trap: coral and glass were imports into India, not exports.
• Ports named include Muziris (Cranganore), Colchi (Korkai), Poduca and Sopatma [3].
• The Greeks called the southwest monsoon Hippalus. Direct sailing cut Roman spice prices by more than half [3].
• Arikamedu (near Puducherry) = Roman trading settlement. ASI report: An Indo-Roman Trading Station on the East Coast of India (Ancient India Vol. 2) [2].

Mains Points

• A text that archaeology confirms:
• The Periplus says India took in "a great quantity of coin".
• Roman coin hoards across south India, and the Roman pottery and glass at Arikamedu, back this up [3].

• Rome never ruled south India, so this shows that trade crossed political borders. An empire was not needed for an economy to grow.

• New technology changed the pattern of trade:

• Knowing the monsoon (Hippalus) let ships sail across the open sea instead of along the coast.
• Fewer middlemen meant spice prices in Rome fell by more than half [3], and more goods were traded.

• Profit moved to whoever held the Malabar ports, such as Muziris. This explains why the Periplus focuses on them.

• Evidence against the idea of closed, self-sufficient villages:

• The Periplus export list (pepper, pearls, ivory, cloth) came from inland farms, forests and workshops.
• Beads from Kodumanal, cloth made to Roman specification [3], and the Silappadikaram road-to-port routes show that production, transport and export formed one connected chain.

Related concepts

• Trade routes
• Uttarapatha
• Dakshinapatha
• Indian Ocean trade
• Hippalus
• Indo-Roman trade
• Pliny's Natural History
• Ptolemy's Geography
• Muziris
• Arikamedu

Read more

• Trade routes, ports and Indo-Roman commerce