Trade
Overland Networks
- Groups that invaded India after the Mauryan rule expanded trade to new regions
- Central Asian nomads told Indians about the Silk Roads
- After hearing about this they realized they could make a profit by acting as middlemen by acting as go-betweens in transactions
- To aid their role as middlemen Indians built trading stations along the Silk Roads
Sea Trade
- Traders used coastal routes up the Persian Gulf and around the Arabian Sea to
bring goods from India to Rome - Traders would sail to Southeast Asia to collect spices, they brought back the spices and sold them to merchants who were from Rome
- India imported African gold and ivory, exported cotton cloth, and rice and wheat went to Arabia in exchange for horses and dates
- After trade with Rome declined sea trade with China and islands of Southeast Asia increased
Effects of Trade
- Increased trade led to increased banking
- Commerce became quite profitable
- Bankers would lend money to merchants and charge them interest on the loan, interest rates varied on how risky the business was
- Indian merchants went to live abroad and brought the Indian culture with them, people in Asia picked up and adapted a variety of traditions from India
- Indian influence was strong in the Indonesian island of Java, Cambodia, and Thailand
- Traders brought Indian religion to new regions
- Hinduism spread northeast to Nepal and southeast to Sri Lanka and Borneo
- Buddhism spread because of traveling Buddhist monks and merchants