Traders, Kings and Pilgrims

South India was famous for gold, spices, especially pepper, and precious stones.
In the Roman Empire, Pepper is known as black gold.
traders carried many of these goods to Rome in ships, across the sea, and by land in caravans.
sailors took advantage of the monsoon (South-west monsoon) winds to cross the seas more quickly.
Roman gold coins have been found in south India.

The southern half of the subcontinent is marked by a long coastline, and with hills, plateaus, and river valleys.
Chiefs and kings who controlled the river valleys and coasts became rich and powerful.
Sangam poems mention the muvendar (tamil word meaning three chiefs).
- These are the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas (2300 years ago in southern india).
- The chiefs did not collect regular taxes.
- They demanded and received gifts from the people.
Two important city: Puhar or Kaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas, and Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.

Around 200 years later a dynasty known as the Satavahanas became powerful in western India.
Important ruler: Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni.
An inscription composed on behalf of his mother, Gautami Balashri.
He and other Satavahana rulers were known as lords of the dakshinapatha (route leading to the south).

Silk Route: A network of trade routes connecting India, China, Central Asia, and Europe.
Chinese silk was in great demand in Rome and other parts of the world.
Traders carried silk from China to India and then further west.
Kushanas (around 2000 years ago) controlled parts of the Silk Route.
- Famous ruler: Kanishka.
- Important city: Peshawar and Mathura.
- Important for the spread of Buddhism.

Techniques of making silk were first invented in China around 7000 years ago.
Raw silk has to be extracted from the cocoons of silk worms, spun into thread and then woven into cloth.

The most famous Kushana ruler was Kaniska (1900 years ago).
Kanishka organized the Fourth Buddhist Council.
Ashvaghosha, a poet composed a biography of the Buddha, the Buddhacharita (Sanskrit).
Two major forms of Buddhism emerged:
- Hinayana: Followed Buddha’s original teachings.
- Mahayana: Believed in Buddha as a god; introduced idol worship.
Bodhisattvas: persons who had attained enlightenment.
Bodhisattvas became very popular, and spread throughout Central Asia, China, and later to Korea and Japan.

Pilgrims are people who travel to religious places.
Famous Chinese pilgrims who visited India:
- Fa Xian
- Xuan Zang
- I-Qing
They visited Buddhist centers like Nalanda, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and wrote about Indian culture and life.

Bhakti Movement: Devotion to a personal god (Bhagavan or Bhagavati).
Bhakti Comes from the Sanskrit term bhaj meaning ‘to divide or share.’
Stressed individual devotion and love towards God, rather than rituals.
Devotees could choose their deity (Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, etc.).
According to this system of belief, if a devotee worships the chosen deity with a pure heart, the deity will appear in the form in which he or she may desire.
Anybody, whether rich or poor, belonging to the so-called ‘high’ or ‘low’ castes, man or woman, could follow the path of Bhakti.
The idea of Bhakti is present in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred book of the Hindus, which is included in the Mahabharata.

The word ‘Hindu’, like the term ‘India’ is derived from the river Indus.
It was used by Arabs and Iranians to refer to people who lived to the east of the river, and to their cultural practices, including religious beliefs.

About 2000 years ago, Christianity emerged in West Asia.
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, which was then part of the Roman empire.
Christ’s teachings were that He was the Saviour of the world. He also taught people to treat others with love and trust others, just as they themselves wanted to be treated.
spread through West Asia, Africa and Europe.
The first Christian preachers came from West Asia to the west coast of the subcontinent within a hundred years of Christ’s death.
The Christians of Kerala, known as Syrian Christians because they probably came from West Asia, are amongst the oldest Christian communities in the world.