Monsoon Trade Winds: India’s Ancient Maritime Links

Along the banks of the Indus River dwelt an elderly gymnosophist named Mandanis. Clothed only in a simple loincloth, the sage emerged from his bath, and took his seat on the riverbank. As Mandanis glowed with the evening sun, the young Macedonian emperor and his band of soldiers approached him.
Alexander spoke the following: “Days ago, I sent a messenger to bring you to my camp. I am Alexander of Macedon, the undisputed conqueror of the world. I have the power to grant you riches and power beyond your imagination. Why have you refused my invitation?
Mandanis replied: “Why should I come to meet with you? I am content. I desire neither gold, nor power.”
Intrigued, Alexander asked: “Why do you live in such poverty, neglecting the luxuries of the world?”
Mandanis: “I have no thirsts left to quench, nor do I fear death. You, on the other hand, are a slave to your desires, and are ruled by fear. You seek to conquer others, yet you cannot even control your own self.”
Alexander drew his sword and boasted, “I am Alexander the Great, and I could slice off your head with a single stroke! Do you not fear me?”
With remarkable composure Mandanis replied, “If you cut off my head, you will only separate the soul from this body. But who I am is eternal and cannot be destroyed. And as for this body, it is one day destined to perish anyways, whether by your sword or by the action of time. Why should I fear that which is inevitable?”
Alexander withdrew his sword, and continued to listen…
(Megasthenes, Indica c. 290 BCE)

When the Greeks first came to India during the time of Alexander of Macedon, they sensed that they had arrived in a very ancient place. After observing the many similarities between the Indic culture and their own, the Greeks felt the two must have been connected at one time.

In regard to the ancestral history of the Greeks, the Vedic literatures tell a very interesting account. According to texts such as the Manu-saṁhitā and the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, the Yavanas¹ were a warrior clan who were driven from ancient Bhārata by Sāgara Mahārāja after they strayed from ethical principles (A). Crossing beyond the Sindhu (Indus) River, the Yavanas settled in the Middle East, Central Anatolia, and as far west as modern-day Italy and Greece.²

1. *The ancient name for Greece, ‘Ionia’, is etymologically linked to ‘Yavana.’
2. *The Greeks gave the name ‘Indica’ to the Asian subcontinent.

The notion that western civilisation was seeded by the east, is a controversial topic. Eurocentric scholars have long dismissed this idea, and maintain the theory that India was invaded in ancient times (B). The Greek ambassador Megasthenes, who wrote ‘Indica’ in the 3rd century BCE may have been the first to propose this.

Dionysus was the first to invade India, and he subdued the whole land. He reigned there for many years, and after his return, he left behind him many things related to his expedition. Herakles also came and ruled there. The Indians say that they were visited by these gods thousands of years before Alexander’s time… (Megasthenes, Indica)

Herakles is held in special honour by the Sourasenoi, an Indian tribe who possess two large cities, Methora (Mathura) and Cleisobora, and through whose country flows a navigable river called the Jobares… (Megasthenes, Indica)

Referring to the god Dionysus as Śiva, and the god Herakles (Hercules) as Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa), Megasthenes attempted to connect the Vedic pantheon of gods to Greece (C). Trying to understand how so many cultural connections could be present so far from Greece, Megasthenes concluded a western invasion must have been responsible for civilising India.

There is ample evidence to show that India and the West were connected before the Greeks arrived – none of it, however, supports the idea of an invasion. Rather, India’s unique geographical position placed the subcontinent at the centre of trade and cultural influence in the ancient world. As author William Dalrymple explains:

Every summer, the heating of the Tibetan plateau creates an area of low pressure which sucks in moist, cool winds from the Bay of Bengal. Every winter, cold dry winds rake out from the snows of the Himalayas to the warm seas beyond. The Indian peninsula sits in the middle of this vortex of winds which blow one way for six months a year, then reverse themselves for the next six. The regularity and predictability of these winds generate monsoons that have allowed millennia of Indian sailors to raise their sails and propel themselves at speed across the oceans that surround them; then, when the winds reverse, safely back again. (William Dalrymple, ‘The Golden Road’)

Trade was being conducted between ancient Mesopotamia and India as far back as five-thousand BCE (D). Evidence of this can be found by Indus Valley seals, or trademarks left by Indian merchants left throughout Mesopotamia, as well as the shipyards of the Persian Gulf (E). Vessels coming from India arrived in Magan (Oman), and the goods were passed up the Euphrates River to cities like Ur and Akkad, reaching their final destinations in ceremonial temples called ziggurats.

Commodities passing from the Indus Valley Civilisation into Mesopotamia have also been well documented on Sumerian and Akkadian trade receipts,

• Boats from Meluhha (India) loaded with timber, carnelian, and ivory, docked at Akkad.
  (Royal Inscriptions of Sargon of Akkad – 2,300 BCE)
• 10 minas of lapis lazuli, from Meluhha, delivered to the temple of Inanna.
  (British Museum tablet BM 116259)
• Wood from Meluhha for the temple of Ningirsu.
  (Gudea Cylinder A)
• Copper from Magan, ivory and carnelian from Meluhha – received at the quay of Ur.
  (Royal inscriptions of Gudea of Lagash)
• A monkey from Meluhha was brought as tribute to the ziggurat of Ur.
  (Ur III administrative texts)

Records from the 3rd millennium BCE describe generations of merchants from the Indus Valley settling in villages near shipping ports on the Euphrates River. Migrant Indian merchants were known as the ’Meluhha’ people. Their villages were leading producers of barley and wheat crops, and they even brought native deśi (Indian) cows and water buffaloes to the region (F). Corresponding Indus Valley shipyards from this time period have also been discovered along the Indian coastline, in Lothal, Gujarat.³

3. *Ceremonial conch shells recovered in Sumerian and Akkadian temples also originate from India’s western coasts.

In the 1970’s archaeologists made a discovery on the Minoan island of Thera⁴, located on the southern Aegean Sea. Painted on the walls of the site are numerous frescos depicting blue coloured langur monkeys playfully leaping to and from trees. Other frescos found at the Palace of Knossos, Crete show monkeys picking saffron spice, another popular Indus Valley import. These paintings speak volumes to the remarkable reach had by these ancient cultures.

4. *The island of Thera is nearly 5,000 kilometres from the western coast of India

Five-thousand years ago in Egypt, carnelian beads, lapis lazuli, and blue-dyed textiles⁵ originating from the Asian subcontinent were arriving on the shores of the Red Sea. Saw marks, and drill cores found on pyramids along the Nile River suggest that Egyptians also imported diamonds⁶, the only material strong enough to cut through rose-granite, and diorite stone (G). Additionally, Indian black peppercorn was discovered inside the nose of the mummified pharaoh Rameses II (c. 1279 – 1213 BCE) as part of the embalming process.

5. *The Greek word ‘indigo’ (meaning – ‘from India’) refers to a valuable blue dye from the native Indian ‘indigofera’ plant. Indigo, cotton textiles, black peppercorn, and various types of incense were popular imports going all the way back to the pre-dynastic Egypt.
6. *Until the 1800s, India was the only known source of the world’s diamonds.

Both then and now, Egypt has played an integral role in connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Today we recognise the importance of the Suez Canal for trade. In bygone ages, the ancient Egyptians referred to this passage as the ‘Canal of the Pharaohs’. Aristotle writes how this waterway was reestablished in 600 BCE by Pharaoh Necho II, and further improved under Persian occupation (c. 6th century BCE). By the time of Emperor Darius, the Phoenician Navy came under the full control of the Achaemenid Empire, and trade between India and the Mediterranean world flowed steadily on.⁷

7. *Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, and Arwad all became Persian satrapies under the reign of Darius I.

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras (c. 570 – 495 BCE) was born to a Phoenician merchant from Tyre. As a number of historians have suggested, Pythagoras likely travelled to India where he studied with the gymnosophists (H). This is certainly plausible when we consider how familiar Pythagoras’ father would have been with maritime routes around the Indian Ocean.

The philosophy of Pythagoras shares many parallels with the Sāṅkhya Yoga philosophy of ancient India, including his emphasis on self-purification and the power of numbers. The Pythagoreans practiced a form of asceticism which featured a vegetarian diet⁸, celibacy, and contemplation on the nature of consciousness.⁹

8. *Imported rice was a popular food item in Greece during the time of Sophocles (c. 497–406 BCE). The Greek word for rice, ‘oryza’ is nearly identical with the Tamil word ‘arisi’. (I)
9. *Pythagoras is considered the most important influence on the philosopher Plato (c. 428 – 338 BCE)

Another influential Greek philosopher, Parmenides (515 – c. 450 BCE) taught a school of monism that closely resembles concepts found in the Vedānta Sūtra. The philosopher Democritus (460 BCE – c. 370 BCE) taught the philosophy of ‘atomism’ which mirrors the Vaiśeṣika philosophy of Kanāda Muni. Whether or not these individuals ever travelled to India, living on the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas under Persian satrapy certainly would have exposed them to Indian merchants, and exotic philosophies.

In 334 BCE Alexander of Macedon led his eastward military campaign to conquer the known world. After defeating the Persian Empire, Alexander’s troops made it all the way to modern-day Pakistan/Punjab. In the city of Ṭakṣaśilā, Alexander encountered many yogis whom the Greeks called, ‘gymnosophists’ meaning literally, ‘naked philosophers.’

One gymnosophist named Kalanos even joined Alexander’s party and accompanied them on their long return journey to Greece. Along the way, Kalanos became incurably ill, and performed self-immolation (entering into fire) in order to cast off his mortal form. Diaries of Kalanos’ worldly indifference and determination so much impressed the Greeks that Zeno of Citium, cited him as a major influence on his philosophy of Stoicism (J).

Pyrrho of Elis, an advisor to Alexander, was also deeply impressed by the gymnosophists of Ṭakṣaśilā and their philosophies. When Alexander’s troops returned to the west, Pyrrho is credited for founding the first philosophical school of ‘Skepticism’.

Near the end of the 4th century BCE, Emperor Ptolemy I established Alexandria in Egypt as the foremost centre of learning in the western world.¹⁰ His successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus inaugurated the Library of Alexandria, and further improved the ‘Canal of the Pharaohs’ with a system of locks. This enabled Eastern trade to surge through the Nile River, and onwards to Greece and Rome.

10. *Ptolemy I was a general who accompanied Alexander of Macedon on his explorations

Meanwhile in India, Buddhism flourished under the patronage of the Mauryan Emperor Aśoka. After converting to the new religion himself, Aśoka sent emissaries far and wide to spread Buddhist teachings and ethics. A Greek and Aramaic inscription found in Afghanistan describes envoys being sent to Egypt and Greece (Ionia).

The conquest by Dharma has been won here… even among the Yona (Ionian) king named Antiyoka (Antíochos), and among the kings who are neighbours of that Antiyoka, such as Turamaya (Ptolemy II Philadelphus), Antikini (Antigonus II Gonatas), Maka (Magas of Cyrene), and Alikyashudala (Alexander of Epirus)… (Aśoka’s Major Rock Edict XIII)

As Buddhism spread, the prominence of Vedic culture waned. Prior to Aśoka’s era, the cultured sections of India generally did not venture beyond the land of the sacred rivers. Under the new administration, however, many wealthy merchants converted to Buddhism, and more ships sailed westward than ever before.

Alexandria quickly became the cultural hub of the western world. Various branches of knowledge gathered from Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, and India were analysed, transcribed, and catalogued at the library of Alexandria. Politics, Metaphysics, Alchemy, Astrology, and Botany were core subjects taught in the city’s universities. Empirical sciences pioneered by the philosopher Aristotle such as Astronomy, Physics, Biology, and Zoology also became subjects of increasing interest for Hellenistic Greeks.¹¹

11. *Alexander of Macedon was a pupil of the philosopher Aristotle from the age of fourteen years old.

In 250 BCE in Alexandria, the Greek translation of the Jewish Torah known as the ‘Septuagint’ was composed by Hellenistic scholars, and fully synthesised with the philosophies of Platonism, and Stoicism. Around 150 BCE early forerunners to Christianity such as Gnosticism, and Essene Judaism also began to emerge from Alexandria. The influence that Vedic philosophy and Buddhism brought into these religions is undeniable.

Following the defeat of Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony in the battle of Actium in 31 CE, the Romans took full control of Alexandria and its surrounding ports. By this time, nearly one-hundred and twenty Roman ships were sailing to India each year.

(Pictured above: Found at the Isis Temple in Berenike, Egypt in 2022 are a teakwood head of Serapis dating to about 100 CE, the Berenike Buddha from 90-140 CE and a relief depicting three Vedic gods that dates between the first and third century CE) Inscribed in Brahmi: ’In the 6th year of King Philip’s reign, the Kṣatriya Vasula placed this stele dedicated to Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa), Saṁkarṣaṇa (Baladeva), and Ekānaṁśā (Subhadrā) for the welfare and happiness of all beings’)

Indian commodities such as diamonds, rubies, amethysts, onyx, ebony, ivory, teak, sandalwood, red coral, tortoiseshell, cotton, rock crystal cook-wear, furniture, cinnamon, cardamon, incense, perfume, dyes, and massive quantities of black pepper were regularly purchased by the Romans. So excessive was Rome’s spending on luxury goods that Pliny the Elder, Rome’s naval commander (c. 79 CE), once complained:

India is the sink of the world‘s precious metals… There is no year which does not drain our empire of at least fifty-five million sesterces… So great is the labour employed, and so distant is the region drawn upon, to enable the Roman matron to flaunt see-through clothes in public … Thus is India brought near: by greed, and women’s decadent need to follow fashion. (Pliny the Elder ‘Naturalis Historia’, Book VI, chapter 26)

During the era of peak trade with Rome, it is estimated that India absorbed nearly 30% of Rome’s annual gold output. Although much of the gold was melted down, several thousand Roman coins still line the coffers of many ancient temples in South India. Aside from precious metals, Indians also imported Roman wine by the case. Numerous fragments of terracotta wine jugs have been found in the coastal regions of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.

Greco-Roman influence on India can also be found in the seven-day week based on the speed of planets, and twenty-four equal hours (horas) of the day. These concepts were first codified by the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in 150 CE, and began to diffuse into the subcontinent during this era (K).^12-13

12. *Claudius Ptolemy also generated one of the first maps of India in his ‘Geographica’, written in Alexandria c. 150 CE.
13. *Prior to the Hellenistic era, Vedic astrology/astronomy was primarily based on a lunar calendar, with divisions of lunar tithis (phases), nakṣatras (lunar mansions), pakṣas (fortnights), māsas (months), and yugas (ages). Intercalary months (adhika māsa) synchronised lunar months with the seasons of the year.’

Varahāmihira, (c. 505 CE), one of the foremost authorities on Vedic astrology, gives credit to the competence of the Greco-Roman astronomers in his Bṛhat Saṁhitā.

mlecchā hi yavanās teṣu saṁjñā-grahana-kovidāḥ
te’pi yadyapi mlecchās taj-jñā jñeyā na saṁśayaḥ

The Yavanas (Greeks) are mlecchas (outsiders), but among them are those well-versed in the science of astronomy and terminology. Even though they are mlecchas, they must be regarded as learned in that discipline, without doubt. (Bṛhat Saṁhitā, Chapter 2, Verse 15)

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Hellenistic sciences continued to impact the work of Indian astronomers during the Middle Ages. In the planetary motion models of Āryabhaṭa I (c. 497 CE), he draws directly from the concepts of Claudius Ptolemy (L). In 550 CE, Varāhamihira catalogued the calculations made by Roman astronomers under the name, Romaka-siddhānta in his Pañca-siddhāntikā treatise. Several centuries later, the work of Indian astronomers such as Brahmagupta and Bhāskara were translated by Islamic scholars in Baghdad, and eventually entered Europe in the form of Algebra and Calculus.¹³

14. *See ‘Vedic Knowledge in the Golden Age of Islam’

A number of common words we still use today carry Indic roots, such as ginger – (zingiberis, Greek – śṛṅgavera, Sanskrit); rice (rýzi, Greek – arisi, Tamil), and black peppercorn (piper, Latin – pippalī, Sanskrit). These ‘trade words’ came into the western lexicon during the height of Indian commerce with Greece and Rome. Other words such as fire – (ignus, Latin – agni, Sanskrit), mother – (mater, Latin – mātṛ, Sanskrit), eye – (oculus, Latin – akṣi, Sanskrit), sky-god (Jupiter, Latin – Dyauḥ Pitā, Sanskrit), knowledge/ignorance (gnōsis/ágnōia, Greek – jñāna/ajñāna, Sanskrit) and death/immortality (mortus, immortalis, Latin – mṛtyu, amṛta, Sanskrit) paint a far more fascinating picture.

The ancient Greek poet Hesiod (c. 700 BCE) writes in his work ‘Theogony’ about four cosmic epochs, wherein the quality of humanity gradually diminishes with each passing age. Corresponding to the four yugas of Vedic cosmology – Satya (Golden Age), Tretā (Silver Age), Dvāpara (Bronze Age), and Kali (Iron Age) – Hesiod also mentions a brief interlude between the Bronze and Iron Ages called the ‘Heroic Age,’ or the age of mythic heroes like Herakles and his twelve labors.

Some researchers have suggested that the name ‘Herakles’ could be derived from ‘Hari-kūla-iśa’, a name referring to Vāsudeva/Kṛṣṇa. Although this etymology may be a stretch, the parallel between Kṛṣṇa’s chastising of the Kāliya serpent and Herakles’ battle with the Hydra does give one pause for thought.

One need only pick up a rudimentary book on Greek mythology to notice how nearly all the Greek gods have their Vedic counterparts. A few prominent examples include – Indra, or Zeus as the thunder-wielding god of heaven who slays a mighty dragon; Tvaṣṭṛ, or Hephaestus, as divine craftsmen who forged the thunderbolt/vajra weapon; The Nāśatya (Aśvini Kumaras), or Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), divine horseman twins whose medical expertise is sought after by the gods; and Narada Muni, or Hermes as the divine messenger whose intervention and tricks help to steer the course of destiny.¹⁴

15. *In 1906 an Akkadian cylinder seal from 1380 BCE was found in Anatolia (modern day Turkey) which lists the Sanskrit name ‘Nāśatya’ along with other Vedic divinities ‘Indra’, ‘Mitra’, and ‘Varuṇa’.

The myth of Orpheus, and the tragic death of his lover Eurydice also has its near exact parallel in the Mahābhārata in the story of Ruru and Pramadvārā. Both Orpheus and Ruru descend to the underworld to beg for their lover’s return. Orpheus is permitted by Hades, so long as he does not turn back to look at his wife. Ruru is allowed to return by Yamarāja provided he offers up one half of his life as compensation.

In the Orphic hymns, the universe is described as a cosmic egg known in Greek as ‘hēchrysēsphaira’, (meaning ‘the golden orb’) from which emerged Phanēs, the first created being and engineer of the universe.¹⁵ In Vedic cosmology, Hiraṇyagarbha (also meaning ‘the golden embryo’) is a name for Brahmā, the first created being and universal progenitor. The name for the universe in Sanskrit is brahmānda which means ‘egg shaped’.

16. *The legendary bard Orpheus originated in Thrace (modern day Turkey). Whatever is known of the Orphic mysteries has been gathered from the Pythagoreans (followers of Pythagoras).

With all of this in mind, we can understand why the Greeks were intimidated when they came to the banks of the Indus River. Not only were Alexander and his troops stopped dead in their tracks by the armies of King Porus, but the intellectual prowess of the gymnosophists, and the striking similarities between Greek and Indian cultural traditions must have forced them to reconsider the origins of their own civilisation.¹⁶

16. *Following Alexander’s encounter with India was the Hellenistic renaissance, or the fusion of all branches of wisdom (both East and West), into a unified culture of knowledge in Alexandria, Egypt.

It is impossible to ignore the signature of Vedic culture found throughout the ancient world. Mesopotamia depended on India’s exports for adorning the insides of their grand ziggurats. Egyptian kings, and elites acquired their royal blue gowns and textiles from India. Ceremonial conch shells (chank), incense, and priceless gems needed in ritual performances such as lapis lazuli, red carnelian, and diamonds were all exclusive imports from India. How much more can be said of what impact texts like the ‘Laws of Manu’, and Artha-śāstras may have had on Sargon of Akkad, Hammurabi, Plato or other great civilisers of the ancient world. Certainly luxury goods were not the only items to have sailed West along the monsoon winds…

Notes:

1. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 4.3, Harivamsa 14.1-15, Manu Smṛti 10.43–44
2. The Myth of the Aryan Invasion by Swami B.V. Giri
3. Geography, Book XV, Chapter I, Section 58 (circa 20 CE). In this passage, Strabo reports that Megasthenes noted the mountainous peoples worshipped Dionysus (identifying him with Śiva) and those of the plains worshipped Herakles (Kṛṣṇa). Translation adapted from the Loeb Classical Library edition.
4. Moorey, P. R. S. Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994.
5. Ratnagar, Shereen. “The Story of an Ancient Dock: Lothal in the History of the Indian Ocean.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History, January 21, 2025.
6. Lenstra, Johannes A., and Richard P. M. A. Crooijmans. “On the History of Cattle Genetic Resources: Evidence for Zebu Presence in Mesopotamia.” Diversity 6, no. 4 (2014): 705–28.
7. Dalrymple, William, and Anita Anand. Koh‑i‑Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.
8. Ammianus Marcellinus. The Later Roman Empire (A.D. 354–378). Translated by Walter Hamilton. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1986.
9. R.A.S., 1898, on the Early Commerce between India and Babylon
10. McEvilley, Thomas. The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. New York: Allworth Press, 2002.
11. Yano, Michio. “Indian Calendrical Systems.” In Astronomy Across Cultures (Kluwer, 2000).
12. Clark, Walter Eugene, trans. The Āryabhaṭīya of Āryabhaṭa: An Ancient Indian Work on Mathematics and Astronomy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1930

• What is a human? by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura