Indo-Mediterranean trade and Western Deccan ports

Abstract Indo-roman trade has been the subject of extensive investigation since the 1928 study “Commerce between the Roman Empire and India” by E.H. Warmington, based mostly on classical sources on the topic. The many findings of Roman gold coins from South India and Sri Lanka confirmed the existence of thriving Indo-Mediterranean exchange during the first centuries CE. The discovery of ceramic fragments identified as amphorae from archaeological contexts in the Deccan, South India and Sri Lanka, while adding to our knowledge, have hardly contributed to shed light on the dynamics and agents involved in Indo-Roman trade. We continue to know very little about the underlying forces involved in this exchange, partially because the archaeology of Indian ports is still very much in developing stages. One problem is that the Indian shores are susceptible to major river floods that have radically altered the coastal landscape. All ancient ports on the West coast of India were situated within river estuaries; they were often hard to access in antiquity due to the rapid sedimentation processes associated with the intense monsoon rains. The Peryplus Maris Erythrei dated to the first century CE conveys the hardships in accessing an Indian port by ship during the summer monsoon. A review of data from archaeological explorations conducted at the ancient ports of Sopara in Maharashtra and Pattanam in Kerala sheds further light on the organization of Indo-Roman trade, its agents, and the practices regulating access to coastal water in ancient India.