The Coromandel Coast: Madras (Chennai), A Case Study

Antiquity & Early Modern

India's exchange networks with the west are as old as the Indus Valley Civilization. Southern India, the west coast of the Bay of Bengal, had established coastal trading and maritime trade links with the west from the first millennium. Archaeological evidence dates Black and polished Red ware found in sites in Tamil Nadu from 1000 BCE. Trade with the Middle East, Europe (Greece and Rome) as well as China, flourished in the first century CE and continued to do so even later. Due to the maritime configuration of the region the Coromandel coast ports probably served as collecting centers for the transhipment of goods between the west and east Asia, specifically the Malay penisula and the spice islands of Molucccas.

An anonymous Greek travel narrative, the Periplus Maris Erythraei ("Circumnavigation of the Erythrean [i.e., Red] Sea"), written in the 1st century CE, lists a series of ports along the Indian coast. The text refers specifically to Chola lands of south India and mentions Masalia (Masulipatttinam). Trade articles between India and the west were noted to include ivory, spices, cotton, muslin, silk, colored lac, pearls, and different plants. The Periplus cites harbors on the Coromandel coast, noting "Into these harbours sailed great ships because of the bulk and quality of pepper and malabathrum" [ingredient for perfume prized by Imperial Rome]. Excavations at Pompeii provide evidence of Indian trade articles.

The Roman historian Pliny in his Natural History protested that the luxury trade with India was draining the Roman Treasury (creating a balance of payments problem for the Empire). Roman gold coins were generally smelted for bullion or overstruck, but coin hoards from the 4th-5th century CE found on the Coromandel coast suggest they were also circulated.

Roman Aureus of Augustus (ruled 27 BC-CE 14) - slashed/overstruck*
Description	Obverse	Reverse
Roman coin hoards in South India
Roman coin hoards in South India
Byzantine Find in South India

* Selections from the Reserve Bank of India Monetary Museum

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