(History) Chapter 10: Traders, Kings, and Pilgrims

Trade, traders, silk route

Northern Black polished ware were fine pottery with wide collection of plates and bowls. Traders have carried them to far of places to sell them. South India was famous for gems, precious stones, spices like pepper. Pepper was valued so much in Roman Empire that it was given the status of black gold. Traders carried the goods in demand across seas via ships and across lands in caravans. Trades flourished so much that the Roman gold coins were found in South India.

Traders explored Different sea routes. There were coasts like Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. Sailors took the advantage of monsoon winds to reach to the destination quickly.

Coastal kingdoms

Among all the river valleys, Kaveri was the fertile of all. Chiefs and king’s who controlled the coasts became rich and powerful. The poem Sangam, mentioned about Muvendar. It means three chiefs, used for the heads of the three ruling family, the cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas.

Their powerful centres were on the inland and on the coast. Of the 6 cities, 2 were very important. Puhar or kaveripattinam, the port of the cholas and the Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.

The chiefs did not collect taxes. Instead they demanded and received gifts from the people. The received tributes from the neighbouring areas.

Around 200 years later, a Dynasty known as the Satavahanas, became powerful in Western India. The most important ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Shri satakarni. Satakarni and other Satavahana rulers were known as the lords of the Dakshanipatha.

Silk route

The rich glossy texture of the silk made it the highly valued and most wanted fabric all over. Although making silk is a complicated process. The raw silk has to be extracted from the cocoons of the silkworm, spun into thread and then woven into cloth. The technique of making silk was first invented in China. However, the method of making silk was kept secret was thousands of years. The people from China went to distant lands with the silk products on foot, or horseback or camels. The route which they followed came to be known as the silk route

 At times, Chinese rulers sent silk gifts to the rulers in Iran and West Asia. In no time, wearing silk was  in fashion among rich people in Rome. It was very expensive. It has to be brought from dangerous routes, deserts, mountains. Although the people often demanded money to let them pass .

Many rulers tried to control the route, so that they get benefits of taxes,tributes and gifts brought by the traders. The best ruler who controlled the route was the kushanas. Their main centres of powers were Peshawar and Mathura. Taxilla was the another one. The kushanas were the first one to issue gold coins. These were used by the traders along the silk route.

Trade, traders, silk route

Northern Black polished ware were fine pottery with wide collection of plates and bowls. Traders have carried them to far of places to sell them. South India was famous for gems, precious stones, spices like pepper. Pepper was valued so much in Roman Empire that it was given the status of black gold. Traders carried the goods in demand across seas via ships and across lands in caravans. Trades flourished so much that the Roman gold coins were found in South India.

Traders explored Different sea routes. There were coasts like Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. Sailors took the advantage of monsoon winds to reach to the destination quickly.

Coastal kingdoms

Among all the river valleys, Kaveri was the fertile of all. Chiefs and king’s who controlled the coasts became rich and powerful. The poem Sangam, mentioned about Muvendar. It means three chiefs, used for the heads of the three ruling family, the cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas.

Their powerful centres were on the inland and on the coast. Of the 6 cities, 2 were very important. Puhar or kaveripattinam, the port of the cholas and the Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.

The chiefs did not collect taxes. Instead they demanded and received gifts from the people. The received tributes from the neighbouring areas.

Around 200 years later, a Dynasty known as the Satavahanas, became powerful in Western India. The most important ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Shri satakarni. Satakarni and other Satavahana rulers were known as the lords of the Dakshanipatha.

Silk route

The rich glossy texture of the silk made it the highly valued and most wanted fabric all over. Although making silk is a complicated process. The raw silk has to be extracted from the cocoons of the silkworm, spun into thread and then woven into cloth. The technique of making silk was first invented in China. However, the method of making silk was kept secret was thousands of years. The people from China went to distant lands with the silk products on foot, or horseback or camels. The route which they followed came to be known as the silk route

 At times, Chinese rulers sent silk gifts to the rulers in Iran and West Asia. In no time, wearing silk was  in fashion among rich people in Rome. It was very expensive. It has to be brought from dangerous routes, deserts, mountains. Although the people often demanded money to let them pass .

Many rulers tried to control the route, so that they get benefits of taxes,tributes and gifts brought by the traders. The best ruler who controlled the route was the kushanas. Their main centres of powers were Peshawar and Mathura. Taxilla was the another one. The kushanas were the first one to issue gold coins. These were used by the traders along the silk route.

Beginning of Bhakti, Buddhism and pilgrimage

The most important kushanas ruler was Kanishka. He organised Buddhist Council, where people could meet and decide over important matters. Ashvaghosha, a poet start writing the biography on Buddha, known as Buddhacharita.

A new form of Buddhism, known as Mahayana Buddhism began to develop. It has 2 distinct features. Initially, the Buddha's presence was shown in the form of sculptures with other signs. His enlightenment was shown in the sculpture of peepal tree.

Now, the statues of Buddha were made . Some in Mathura, while some in Taxilla.

The second distinct feature was in the belief of Boddhisattvas. These are actually the people who have attained enlightenment. They may remain in isolation and meditate in peace. But in actual these people remained in the world of people to help them. The teaching of Boddhisattvas became very popular and spread to central Asia, China, Korea and Japan.

Various caves were dugged in where monks could live in. Some were made on the orders of kings and queens, while some by the merchant and traders. These were made connecting with the ports where traders could also stop while passing by.

The spread of Buddhism was also noted in Srilanka, Thailand, Indonesia. The older form of Buddhism known as Theravada Buddhism , was also popular in these countries.

Pilgrims

When the traders used to travel in ships and caravans, pilgrims also travelled with them.

To know

Pilgrims are the men and women who travel to holy places to offer worship and prayers.

The most popular one was the Chinese Buddhist Pilgrim, Fa Xian, Xuan zang, I- Quing. They could visited Buddhist places and Monasteries.

Each time the travellers visited, They left an account of their visit, where they mentioned about the hurdles they faced while their visit, the places they visited.

Xiang Zang , who took land route to China carried with h the statues of Buddha made of Gold, silver and sandalwood. He also carried some about 600 manuscripts on 20 horses. He lost over 50 manuscripts as the boat on which he was travelling was capsized. He spend the rest of his lives in translating the manuscripts from sanskrit to Chinese.

Nalanda

Xiang Zang studied in Nalanda in Bihar. It’s one of the most popular Buddhist Monastery of the time.

The teachers were men and of high quality knowledge and ability. The rules of the monasteries were strict and everyone were bound to follow them. The old and the young started together and helped each other.

Beginning of Bhakti

During this time, the worship of other deities like Vishu, lord Shiva, and Goddess Durga gained importance. These deities were worshiped through Bhakti. The meaning of Bhakti was understood as person's devotion to his or her chosen deity. Any body could follow the path of Bhakti irrespective of his caste, social status, gender.

The idea of Bhakti was explained in Bhagwad Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, which also narrated the whole of Mahabharata. Here, lord Krishna guides Arjuna his devotee and friend to abandon every comforts and Dharmas and embrace him, as only he could set him free from every evils of the world. Those who embraced Bhakti system of worship, followed devotion and worship of One God or Goddess rather than elaborate devotion.

Hindu

The word Hindu like India came from the word Indus which was used by the Arabs and the Iranians to refer to the people living nearby the East of the river.