Route _viâ_ the Cape to India, discovered by the Phœnicians, B.C.
610-594—Voyage of the first Eudoxus—Story of the second Eudoxus
(of Cyzicus)—Opinion of Dr. Vincent on the circumnavigation of
Africa—Remarks upon his opinion—Routes to India and to the East by
land—Origin of the caravans—Resting places—Their management—The
more important routes—Eastern—Southern—Northern—The character,
size, and discipline of the caravans—The route from Sardes to
Susa, described by Herodotus—Between Tyre and Gerrha—Length
of journey—Importance of Petra—Intercourse between Syria and
Babylon—Value of the trade of Babylon—Caravan routes from
that city—to Candahar—Cashmir—Ecbatana, and Peucela—on the
Indus—Earliest land and sea combined routes—Commercial efforts of
Alexander in the East, and the impetus he gave to the development
of the trade with India by the erection of Alexandria, B.C.
331—Time of the departure of the fleets—Residence of the merchants
and course of trade from Alexandria to the East—Value of the
trade with India—The ports through which it was conducted—Course
of the voyage to India—Outwards—Homewards—The vessels engaged in
the trade with India—The nature of their cargoes—Immense demand
at Rome for the luxuries of the East, and the enormous prices
paid for them—Imports and exports to and from Pattala—Barygaza
or Baroach—Musiris—Cape Comorin—Ceylon—Time of departure of
the fleets for Africa and the coasts of Arabia—Rhapta, or
Quiloa—Sofala—Articles of commerce—Moosa—Yemen, or Arabia
Felix—Its great wealth, and the importance attached to its
trade—Kane—Sachal—Moskha—Maskat—Omana.
[Sidenote: Route _viâ_ the Cape to India, discovered by the Phœnicians,
B.C. 610-594.]
It has been often questioned whether the ancients had really any
geographical knowledge south of the farthest point reached by Hanno,
or, speaking generally, far south of the Cape Verde Islands; but some
of the statements preserved in their writings are too definite to have
been the mere creation of imagination. We shall, therefore, briefly
examine these assertions. To take first the account in Herodotus,[193]
of the famous voyage undertaken by the orders of Pharaoh Necho. His
words are: “As for Libya, we know it to be washed on all sides by the
sea, except where it is attached to Asia. This discovery was first
made by Necho, the Egyptian king, who, on desisting from the canal he
had begun between the Nile and the Arabian Gulf, sent to sea a number
of ships manned by Phœnicians, with orders to make for the Pillars of
Hercules, and return to Egypt through them, and by the Northern sea
(the Mediterranean). The Phœnicians took their departure from Egypt by
the way of the Erythræan sea, and so sailed into the Southern ocean.
When autumn came they went ashore wherever they might happen to be,
and, having sown a tract of land with corn, waited until the grain was
fit to cut. Having reaped it, they set sail again; and thus it came to
pass that two whole years went by, and it was not till the third year
that they doubled the Pillars of Hercules, and made good their voyage
home. On their return, they declared—I for my part do not believe them,
but perhaps others may—that in sailing round Libya, they had the sun on
their right hand.”
But what Herodotus disbelieved, from ignorance of the principles of
spherical geography, affords the strongest confirmation of the report
of the Phœnician mariners; for, in sailing westwards, south of the
line, the sun would at noon appear on the right hand of the observer,
and not on his left, as in sailing westwards in the Mediterranean.
Herodotus relates a second story,[194] how one Sataspes was sent,
during the reign of Xerxes, by way of punishment, on a voyage through
the Pillars of Hercules, with orders to sail round Africa; and states
that this man, after having occupied many months in traversing unknown
seas and sailing along strange coasts, doubled a cape called Soloeis
(Cape Spartel), and thence returned to Egypt. Sataspes gave a minute
account of his journey, and of the strange, dwarfish men (probably
Bosjesmans) he had met with; but Xerxes, either not crediting his tale,
or angry because of his cowardice in turning back, ordered him to be
impaled.[195]
[Sidenote: Voyage of the first Eudoxus.]
[Sidenote: Story of the second Eudoxus (of Cyzicus.)]
A third expedition is reported by Pliny,[196] who states, on the
authority of Cornelius Nepos, that a certain Eudoxus, his contemporary,
in an attempt to escape the pursuit of Ptolemy Lathyrus, passing
down the Arabian Gulf, came at length to Gades; and further, on the
same authority, that Cœlius Antipater had seen a man who had made a
commercial voyage from Spain to Æthiopia. Lastly, we have the memorable
narrative in Strabo,[197] of Eudoxus of Cyzicus. This Eudoxus, he tells
us, was sent with sacrifices and oblations to the sacred games of
Proserpine, and travelled through Egypt in the reign of Ptolemy VII.
(Physcon). It befell that during his stay there, a certain Indian was
brought to the king, by his officers employed along the Arabian Gulf,
with the report that he had been found in a ship, alone and half dead,
and that they knew not who he was or whence he came, as he spoke a
language unintelligible to them.
Strabo further states that this Indian, when, after a certain time,
he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of the Greek language, related
how, after leaving the coast of India, he had lost his course, and
reached Egypt alone, all his companions having perished of hunger,
adding that he would point out to any persons sent with him by the
king the best and quickest route by sea to that part of India whence
he had started. Eudoxus, who had previously prevailed on the king to
attempt the exploration of the Nile, was able to carry out the wishes
of the Indian, by sailing to India in a vessel under his own charge
and with the Indian as his pilot. It appears, further, that the voyage
was successful, and that Eudoxus brought back in due time to Egypt, in
exchange for the presents he had taken with him, aromatics and precious
stones, some of which, he said, were collected among the pebbles of the
rivers, while others were dug out of the earth.
On the king’s widow, Cleopatra, succeeding him on the throne, Eudoxus
was despatched on a second voyage, with a still richer cargo, for
purposes of exchange; but his previous good fortune did not, on this
occasion, attend him; for, on his return, he was driven by adverse
winds on the south coast of Æthiopia, where he is said to have
conciliated the inhabitants by presents of grain, wine, and cakes of
pressed figs, articles the natives did not possess, receiving in
exchange a supply of water and pilots for his voyage. Before, however,
taking his departure, he had made himself acquainted with a few words
of their language, and having ascertained that the portion of a prow he
had seen on the beach, representing the head of a horse, belonged to a
vessel which the natives said had come from the west, he took it with
him to Egypt, where he exhibited it in the market-place. Some of the
Egyptian pilots, it is further stated, on examining this figure head,
recognized it as that of a vessel which had sailed from Gades (Cadiz),
beyond the river Lixus,[198] and had not returned. She was one, they
said, of a class of vessels styled “horses” (from the figure of that
animal borne upon the prow), which were employed in fishing around
Maurusia as far south as Lixus.[199]
Eudoxus, from the account of the pilots, inferred the possibility of
circumnavigating Africa, and resolved to attempt it, first visiting
various parts of Europe to procure the necessary funds. Having
succeeded in doing so, he equipped one large ship, and two swift boats
of considerable size, embarking merchandise of various kinds, as also
physicians and singing boys, no doubt to cure and delight the natives
of the places he proposed visiting. No particulars are given of this
voyage except that he unfortunately lost his ship, and returned to
Egypt. It must be added, that Strabo doubts the story of Eudoxus,
and sneers at the discovery of the head of the Spanish ship, thus
casting ridicule on a statement which has at least the merit of being
circumstantial, and which tends to confirm the general correctness of
the narrative as well as the authenticity of the voyage round the Cape
in the days of Pharaoh Necho, related by Herodotus.
But Strabo, to whom posterity is indebted for a vast amount of ancient
geographical knowledge, was in this case merely the exponent of the
ignorant prejudices of his age. Of the fact there is little doubt.
Few persons who have studied the observations of Rennell, Humboldt,
and Heeren, on this subject, without reference to the questionable
extent of the voyages of the Carthaginians under Hanno, will doubt
the accounts preserved by Herodotus and Strabo; though both these
distinguished authors treat as romance the circumstances they have
recorded.
[Sidenote: Opinion of Dr. Vincent on the circumnavigation of Africa.]
These voyages have, however, been seriously questioned by a modern
writer of no mean authority, Dr. Vincent,[200] who denies altogether
any circumnavigation of Africa previously to the expedition of the
Portuguese. “Nothing is more easy,” he says, “than to affirm the
accomplishment of these great attempts, where an author clogs himself
with neither circumstances nor particulars; but whenever we obtain
these, as we do in the journal of Nearchus, or the Periplus, we find,
indeed, that the ancients performed great things with slender means;
but we see also plainly what they could not do. We see with such
vessels as they had, they could neither have got round the Cape of
Good Hope, by adhering to the coast, where the violence of the ocean
must have been insupportable, nor could they have avoided this by
standing out to sea, as they had neither the means nor the knowledge to
regain the shore, if they had lost sight of it for a single week.” He
further asserts, that no voyages were accomplished except by coasting;
and that no vessels were accustomed to cross the stormy waves of the
ocean except, perhaps, the ships of the Veneti, in Brittany, noticed by
Cæsar.
And yet there is abundant ground for believing that the Phœnicians
as well as the Carthaginians carried on a regular trade with Cadiz,
and could hardly have failed to visit the British Isles; moreover,
they must have often done so at seasons when they would have been
liable to encounter heavy gales in the Bay of Biscay. Again, near
the commencement of the Christian era, the vessels of Crete engaged
in the commerce between Rome and Alexandria were evidently ships of
considerable dimensions; and though, from their style of build and rig,
they may not have been well adapted for long over-sea voyages, there
seems no valid reason why they should not have made a coasting voyage
round Africa. Besides, as the southern portions of that vast continent
were doubtless as thickly peopled as the north, why should the traders
on the east coast have limited their voyages and explorations to
Sofala, and those on the west coast to Cape Corrientes? Even if so
distant a trade did not prove sufficiently remunerative to encourage
constant voyages, this is no reason why such a voyage should never have
been made, or why the stories in Herodotus and Strabo should be deemed
to have no foundation in fact. The admitted coasting character of all
the early voyages in antiquity, is really one of the best arguments in
favour of the longest of these expeditions; so that what Dr. Vincent
states in support of his views, tells against the objection he raises,
and tends to confirm the probability of the stories as we have them.
[Sidenote: Remarks upon his opinion.]
He further admits that the very “inferior vessels” of ancient times
_did_ cross the Indian Ocean from Africa, and from Arabia to India,
when the nature of the monsoon winds was first fully understood,
fifteen hundred years before Vasco de Gama made his celebrated voyage;
and that long before even that early period Solomon’s ships found their
way to Sofala.
Nor does he doubt that the Carthaginians under Hanno had explored the
western shores of Africa, at least as far as the Equator. Now, if so
much be admitted, it is not easy to understand why the rest should not
be conceded also. It is true that no account has been preserved of the
size of the ships built at Ezion-geber; but, considering the length
of the voyages it is agreed they accomplished, there is no reason why
they should not, on an occasional voyage, have safely doubled even the
stormy promontory of the Cape, and also, perhaps as occasionally, have
found their way to the East Indies.
[Sidenote: Routes to India and to the East by land.]
Previously, however, to the time of Solomon, communication with
the East was, as has been incidentally noticed, chiefly carried on
by caravans, themselves in many instances vast undertakings. The
camels, or “ships of the desert,” put it in the power of many of the
ancient nomad tribes to become carriers through sandy and otherwise
impenetrable deserts; and, as Moses was forbidden to molest the sons
of Edom during the Jewish passage through the Wilderness,[201] it is
reasonable to infer that there was, even in his time, a considerable
commerce carried on through the country of Edom, or Idumea, by means
of caravans. Again, Gideon, when he conquered Midian, a few years
afterwards, found among the Midianites, an Idumean tribe, abundant gold
and camels and many other proofs of a large traffic, by which they had
evidently long flourished. He “demanded for his reward the earrings
of the men, and the chains that were about the camels’ necks;”[202]
decorations alike attesting the value of the animals, and the extent
and wealth of the commerce in which these people had been engaged.
[Sidenote: B.C. 1453.]
[Sidenote: Origin of the caravans.]
Indeed, when we consider the extent of the Asiatic continent, its
sterile deserts, and its geographical features, together with the
lawless hordes that roamed over them, it would seem to have been
impossible for any but a numerous company to conduct a trade across
it in safety and with success. Hence it became necessary to collect
companies of travellers or merchants in sufficient numbers, either to
defend themselves, or to pay for the protection of a body of guards.
Moreover, as it frequently happened that the merchants of any one
district were too few to cope with the marauders they were likely to
encounter on their journey, some central depôt or rendezvous was named
where the smaller caravans might meet. These were not a matter of
choice, but of established custom.
[Sidenote: Resting places.]
Happily, in the deserts they had to cross, Nature had allotted to
the traveller occasional spots, though few and far between, where
he could obtain rest for himself and his beasts of burden under the
shade of a cluster of palm trees, with the additional refreshment of
invigorating springs of cool, fresh water. These places of repose
naturally became entrepôts of commerce, where merchants from all parts
exchanged their commodities; and, hence, some of them, as Palmyra
and Petra, became wealthy and magnificent cities, and the sites of
temples and sanctuaries, to which the pilgrim and the merchant alike
resorted. From these and other great centres, the leading caravans took
their departure on their distant and dangerous journeys by routes as
untraceable to the eye as the track of a ship on the ocean.
[Sidenote: Their management.]
The entire management or safe conduct of the great Asiatic and Arabian
caravans was confided to the nomad tribes,[203] who provided the
means of transport and directed their movements. In their hands was
necessarily placed the important duty of breeding and rearing the
camels,[204] and, in the transport of the goods of the merchants across
the desert, they acted much as ship-owners now do in the conveyance of
goods across the ocean; such duties, then as now, forming a separate
and distinct branch of commercial enterprise. These undertakings
vast in themselves—for it would require about four thousand camels
to transport the amount of produce and manufactures constituting the
cargo of a single modern Indiaman—formed an important trust. Articles
of great value, in proportion to their bulk, such as silks, perfumes,
balsams, and rich manufactures of various sorts, besides gold and
silver, were entrusted to the care of those who had charge of the
caravan, and who had dangers even greater to encounter than the perils
of the sea. Nor was their responsibility limited to merchandise. All
classes, as well as merchants, availed themselves of these caravans, so
that arrangements had to be made on a large scale, and often for months
before the caravan started, for the means of conveyance and for the
requisite supply of water and provisions.
[Sidenote: The more important routes.]
Besides Petra and Palmyra, the cities of Sardes, Babylon, Gerrha,
Damascus, and Susa were all peculiarly well situated for carrying on
a large inland commerce; and these places, with Thebes and Memphis,
were as famous in their day as great commercial entrepôts, as London,
Liverpool, Glasgow, New York, Marseilles, or Hamburg are in our own
time. At the period to which we now refer, Arabia, including Asia
Minor, and the northern portion of Africa, may be said to have been
divided into four great caravan routes, with numerous tributaries. The
first embraced the traffic between Egypt and Palestine; the second
extended from the coast of Syria, including the trade of Phœnicia with
Babylon and Assyria, through the plains of Mesopotamia to the north,
and along the shores of the Red Sea to the south; the third traversed
Asia Minor to the north; and the fourth route lay through Africa, with
Thebes as its centre, and the Nile and ports of the Red Sea as its
outlets.
[Sidenote: Eastern.]
But Arabia, of all countries, was the most frequented by caravans. From
Petra, where vast numbers of travellers met, an important and lucrative
trade was carried on with Yemen and the fertile districts of the south,
especially with that portion of the great peninsula which lies between
the Persian and Arabian Gulfs, where it is washed by the Indian Ocean.
In a commercial point of view, Yemen was one of the most important
countries through which the caravans passed; not merely on account of
its own productions, but from being at a very early period a depôt of
Indian as well as of Ethiopian merchandise, and the principal mart in
those days for spices, perfumes, and especially frankincense.
[Sidenote: Southern.]
That branch of the caravan trade between Palestine and Egypt, mentioned
in the Mosaic records, is also noticed by Herodotus, who states that
the transport of Egyptian and Assyrian wares was the first business
carried on by the Phœnicians.[205] Tyre also sent large quantities of
wine into Egypt, receiving in exchange the “fine cotton and embroidered
work” of which Ezekiel speaks.[206]
In somewhat later times, Babylon became one of the principal places to
which the Phœnicians directed their attention, and traces are still to
be seen of the cities which marked alike the course and the extent of
this inland traffic.
[Sidenote: Northern.]
In considering the account in Ezekiel, we have already noticed the
trade between Tyre and the nations on the Black Sea such as “Tubal
and Meshech”: where a portion of the trade was probably by caravans,
especially that from “Togarmah” (Armenia), whence the Tyrians obtained
“horses of noble and common breeds, and mules for their wares.” The
same is probably true of the vessels of copper imported thence into
Tyre, the same range of mountains (the Taurus) affording at present
similar productions.
[Sidenote: The character, size, and discipline of the caravans.]
Though conducted wholly by nomad tribes, these caravans were,
nevertheless, as complete in their organization and control, as the
modern Indiamen which now occupy their place. Frequently consisting
of between one and two thousand persons, with numerous horses and
many thousand camels, they had a captain (pasha) of their own choice,
to whom all owed and gave implicit obedience. Separate officers were
likewise appointed to regulate the march, to perform the duties
of treasurers and paymasters, to superintend the servants and the
cattle, to take charge of the baggage and merchandise, and to make the
necessary arrangements for encampment. Thus the caravans had each their
captain, their pilot, their purser, and mates, who had their respective
duties to perform like those of the officers of the merchant-man of the
present day. It was a point of honour that each traveller should assist
the other; and if the humblest fell into difficulties, he had only to
claim the assistance of his companions. If a camel broke down, or even
if its load was thrown to the ground, the whole line halted until the
accident was repaired.
On the main routes, special seasons, well known to the merchants
and travellers, were appointed for the arrival and departure of the
caravans. Their departure was an animated sight. For several days,
persons destined for the journey were hourly arriving at the rendezvous
with their camels, horses, and merchandise. Provisions had to be
provided, and plans arranged for the comfort and safety of all who
were about to undertake so long and hazardous a journey. The risk of
falling short of food, or of being lost in the deserts, and the danger
of attack from the predatory tribes infesting them, required a careful
arrangement and strict discipline; but, though generally well armed,
the merchants often adopted the safer plan of paying a fixed sum to the
Bedouins, to secure a safe transit for themselves and their goods.
Some of the routes, were provided with numerous resting-places and
caravanserais, so that travelling along these lines was comparatively
safe and easy. Herodotus[207] furnishes a description of one
constructed by Cyrus, king of Persia, which was originally, it is true,
for military purposes, but which proved also to be of great importance
to the merchants trading between the leading cities of Persia, Asia
Minor, Babylonia, and India.
[Sidenote: The route from Sardes to Susa, described by Herodotus.]
Starting from Sardes, not from Smyrna and Ephesus, there appears to
have been one continuous road to Susa (a city second in importance only
to Babylon itself). “Royal stations and magnificent caravanserais,”
says Herodotus, “continually succeed each other in all parts of it,
and it passes through an inhabited and safe region all the way. First
(from Sardes) there are twenty stations through Lydia and Phrygia, or
ninety-four parasangs and a half (about two hundred and eighty-three
miles). Leaving Phrygia we come to the river Halys, near which there is
a guarded passage, necessary to be passed on our way over the river.
On the other side of the river we come to Cappadocia, and through this
country to the Cilician mountains, comprehending twenty-eight stations,
or a hundred and four parasangs. We penetrate into these mountains
through two sets of gates, at each of which there is a guard posted,
and then traverse Cilicia, a space of three stations, or fifteen
parasangs and a half. The river Euphrates, which can only be passed by
a ferry, separates Cilicia from Armenia, in which there are fifteen
stations, or fifty-six parasangs and a half. There is one place where a
guard is posted, and four rivers which are crossed in boats. The first
is the Tigris, the second and third bear the same appellation,[208]
without being either the same river or flowing from the same country,
as the first of them comes out of Armenia, and the other out of the
land of the Matienians; the fourth is the Gyndes, which Cyrus dispersed
by digging for it three hundred and sixty branches.[209] From Armenia
into the land of the Matienians there are four stations; and eleven
stations, or forty two parasangs and a half, from this country into
that of the Cissians (Khuzistan), as far as the river Choaspes, which
must likewise be passed in boats; and on the banks of this river stands
the city of Susa. Thus, in the journey from Susa to Sardes, there are
one hundred and eleven stations with the same number of caravanserais.”
Here, then, is a record, four hundred and fifty years before our era,
of a well made road of more than one thousand miles in length; and this
road is still in existence.[210]
[Sidenote: Between Tyre and Gerrha.]
The trading routes between Babylon and Tyre, and more especially
between Tyre and Gerrha[211] lay, in both cases, through long and
uninterrupted deserts; a course, some have thought, chosen as better
enabling merchants to preserve the secrecy of their business, and the
real character of the wares in which they were trading. Baalath and
“Tadmor in the desert”[212] (Baalbek and Palmyra) were, it is supposed,
founded by Solomon with the intention of obtaining for himself a share
of the commerce which the Phœnicians were at that time carrying on with
Babylon and other inland cities.
[Sidenote: Length of journey.]
Here many caravans assembled, and thence diverged to their different
destinations. Those destined for the East proceeded by way of
Palmyra,[213] and to this day, the commercial road from Damascus
to the Euphrates runs close to the ruins of that city. Seven days
were occupied in the journey from Baalbek to Palmyra, four of them
in passing through the desert which lay between that city and Emesa
(Hems), another celebrated city of Syria. From Palmyra, other four days
were required to reach Thapsacus,[214] where the caravan had the choice
either of following the course of the Euphrates, or of passing through
the plains of Mesopotamia. The southern, or rather the southern and
eastern routes, passed through Palestine (where Joseph was sold to the
caravan of Midianitish merchants) into Egypt, terminating at Memphis
on the Nile. The eastern route diverged from it to Petra,[215] a place
perhaps more celebrated than any other in the inland trade of ancient
times. From Petra, there were two great routes to the East, both
terminating in Gerrha on the Persian Gulf. Opposite to this place, and
about fifty miles distant, lay the island of Tylos,[216] a settlement
of the Phœnicians, as already stated. One of the routes lay along the
line of the eastern shore of the Arabian Gulf, but at some distance
from it, except where it touched Leuke Kome, and, most probably,
Mecca also, till it reached Saba or Saphar, perhaps, as already
suggested, the Ophir of Solomon, a distance of twelve hundred and sixty
geographical miles from Petra, or a caravan journey of seventy days;
thence the route lay through a great desert to Gerrha. The other route
was almost a straight line through a more northern desert, from Gerrha
to Petra, and was probably that by which Europe was first supplied with
the produce of India.
[Sidenote: Importance of Petra.]
While Gerrha was the chief commercial city of Arabia to the east,
Petra,[217] the capital of the Nabathæans, may be considered as
occupying a similar position in the north-west of that country. A city
equal in opulence to Gerrha, it constituted the chief western mart of
the Arabian spices and frankincense, of which immense quantities were
consumed in Egypt. Here important fairs were periodically held for the
exchange of different commodities; and here the traders from the south
met the merchants of Syria, and bartered the luxuries of the East for
the manufactures of Tyre, and of the other cities of Phœnicia and Syria.
According to the testimony of Ezekiel, the whole of this trade was
carried on by barter, being an exchange of merchandise for merchandise,
in which even the precious metals were included.
[Sidenote: Intercourse between Syria and Babylon.]
Many of the caravans of the northern route unloaded their merchandise
on the banks of the Euphrates, whence it was shipped for Babylon
and Susa, or conveyed through the canals, some of which were of
considerable magnitude.[218]
[Sidenote: Value of the trade of Babylon.]
Situated between the Indus and the Mediterranean, with a productive
soil, and commanding, by means of the Euphrates and Tigris, every
communication with the interior, and, by the Persian Gulf, with India
and the eastern shores of Arabia, the Babylonians, until they were
brought under the yoke of Persia, carried on a commercial intercourse
with surrounding nations which for many ages was second only to that of
the Phœnicians. Babylon stood in its relations with the East somewhat
as Tyre in its dealings with the West. Hence the traffic between these
two great centres of ancient commerce was necessarily of an important
character. Nor indeed was it ever seriously interrupted, except when
the ambition of Nebuchadnezzar vainly prompted him to attempt the
capture,[219] if not the destruction, of Tyre. Each had its own
spheres of commerce and its own means of usefulness, and those of
Tyre must have been materially impaired, if not annihilated, by the
siege of thirteen years, whether the Babylonian monarch did or did
not succeed. While Tyre increased in strength and wealth, spreading
her colonies over the west, Babylon continued her dealings with her
and with the nations dwelling on the Euxine and the Caspian Seas. By
means of her caravans, canals, and rivers, Babylon became also the
chief entrepôt for Western Asia, where the merchants of many countries
assembled to exchange their merchandise; and such it remained for
ages. Neither the heavy yoke of Asiatic despotism, nor the devastating
sword of conquering nations, could destroy, though they might for a
time overshadow, its splendour. It was only when the Persians, feeling
no interest in sea-borne commerce, and dreading the incursions of the
maritime powers, blocked up the Tigris, that its commercial greatness
began to decline.
[Sidenote: B.C. 604.]
Although Babylon did not reach the zenith of its power till
Nebuchadnezzar made it his capital, everything leads to the supposition
that, for many ages, it had been the seat of science and civilization,
and had carried on an extensive intercourse with distant as well
as with neighbouring nations. Highly skilled in astrology and in
astronomical observations, to which the clearness of the sky and the
brightness of the stars offered every encouragement, the Babylonians
were, however, not familiar with either the science or practice
of navigation; but that they, in connexion with the Chaldeans,
possessed an over-sea maritime commerce when their power was at its
height, may be inferred from the writings of Isaiah:[220] “Thus saith
the Lord, your deliverer; For your sakes have I sent to Babel, and
thrown to the ground all obstacles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is
in their ships.” While however they carried on a large inland trade
in vessels of their own, their oversea commerce was most probably
conducted by the Phœnician ships of Tylos, or by the Arabians. Indeed,
Heeren,[221] quoting Agatharchides, shows that the merchants of Gerrha
sent to Babylon in _their own ships_ the produce of India, as well
as frankincense and other perfumes from Arabia Felix. Of these the
consumption must have been enormous, for Herodotus states that no fewer
than a thousand talents were annually consumed by the Chaldeans in the
temple of Belus alone.[222] Besides, there was a large overplus, which
was conveyed up the Euphrates to Thapsacus, and then distributed by
caravans over the whole of Western Asia.
[Sidenote: Caravan routes from that city, to Candahar,]
While Babylon constituted the emporium on the river Euphrates, the
city of Opis,[223] on the Tigris, a few miles above Baghdad, formed
another centre of commerce, to which the merchants of Gerrha had, with
much success, directed their navigation from very early times, until
interrupted by the Persians. From Opis, an important caravan route
lay across Mesopotamia to Aradus, near Tyre; while from Susa, taking
first a northerly direction, there diverged another route almost due
east to Candahar, and thence by one of the branches of the Indus into
Cashmir,[224] running almost in a continuous line with the road through
Asia Minor mentioned by Herodotus. This great eastern route has been
fully described by both Strabo and Pliny, who derived their knowledge
chiefly from the writings of the companions of Alexander.
[Sidenote: Cashmir, Ecbatana, and, Peucela, on the Indus.]
According to these accounts, it appears to have gone directly east in
about 36° N. latitude to Ecbatana, the capital of Media, and thence
to the Caspian gates, through which everything coming from the west
necessarily passed. On the north lay the Hyrcanian mountains; on the
south an impenetrable desert; and on one portion of the route there
was the narrow defile, about eight Roman miles in length, which Pliny
describes as having been cut through the rocks.[225] From the Caspian
Pass, the road led with various considerable turns till it reached
Peucela on the Indus. From Alexandria in Ariis (Herát), and Ortospanum
(Kâbul), other routes turned off into Bactriana, and thence proceeded
into Great Tatary and Central Asia.[226] As there was considerable
commercial intercourse between the neighbouring inhabitants of the city
of Bactra (Balkh) and of Upper India, another route ran due north to
Marakanda (Samarcand); and Heeren is of opinion that caravans traversed
the desert from Badakhshan to Serica (China), and from that country to
the Ganges.
[Sidenote: Earliest land and sea combined routes.]
Herodotus relates that from the Greek establishments on the Black
Sea there were commercial routes through Central Asia, over the Ural
Mountains to the country of the Calmucks of Great Tatary.[227] These
different highways will be found laid down on a map, which has been
prepared for reference (see Frontispiece), wherein will also be found
the courses adopted by the vessels of ancient times in the navigation
of the Asiatic seas, which, as far as can now be ascertained, was
chiefly confined to the Arabian and Persian Gulfs, and the Indian
Ocean. The periodical winds in these gulfs when once ascertained,
rendered navigation comparatively easy, but, in navigating the Indian
Ocean at the time of Alexander’s expedition, the monsoons were either
not generally known to extend across the Indian Ocean, or were not
made available to any great extent. Voyages, in the days of Herodotus,
and for three centuries afterwards, were almost wholly of a coasting
character.
[Sidenote: Commercial efforts of Alexander in the East, and the impetus
he gave to the development of the trade with India, by the erection of
Alexandria, B.C. 331.]
Although Alexander endeavoured, when he took possession of Babylonia,
to remove the obstructions by which the Persians had blockaded the
river Tigris, and, by this and other means, hoped to restore the
maritime commerce they had destroyed, he was only partially successful;
hence, subsequently, the great bulk of the sea-borne trade between the
Western and Eastern world reverted to the Arabian Gulf, and, with a few
unimportant deviations, continued in that route until the Portuguese
successfully doubled the Cape of Good Hope. For some time, however,
after his death this new trade was materially retarded by the anarchy
which occurred on that event; nor did it thoroughly revive until
Ptolemy Philadelphus established an embassy on the coast of Hindustan,
and, at the same time, built the port of Berenice, on the Red Sea, at
the eastern end of the great commercial road from Coptos on the Nile.
Ptolemy, son of Lagos and father of Philadelphia, as soon as he had
taken possession of Egypt, established the seat of his government in
Alexandria, entering readily into the schemes which had led Alexander,
a few years before, to lay the foundations of that city. With a
rapidity truly astonishing, merchants from all parts flocked to the
new city, so that in a space of time incredibly short the commerce of
the East came to be carried on in the channel which the sagacity of
Alexander had anticipated for it.
By a prudent exercise of authority, by many acts of liberality, and,
above all, by the fame of a mild and judicious administration, Ptolemy
drew so many inhabitants to this place that it soon became one of the
most populous and wealthy cities in Egypt. Ptolemy had possessed, as
he well deserved, the confidence of the great conqueror more perfectly
than any of his other officers; hence he knew better than any of them
that Alexander’s chief object in founding Alexandria was to secure the
advantages arising from the trade with India. His long and prosperous
reign enabled him to carry out this purpose with great success; while
his general attention to the requirements of a wide maritime commerce
is exemplified by his construction of the celebrated Pharos, at the
mouth of the harbour of Alexandria, of which mention has already been
made.
From Alexandria the course of trade with the East seems to have at
first passed to Arsinoe, the present Suez, but the difficulties and
dangers of the navigation of the northern extremity of the Red Sea, led
to the formation by Ptolemy Philadelphus, on its western shores, of
the harbour of Myos Hormus, as well as the more important roadstead of
Berenice, whereby direct communication with the outer ocean was greatly
facilitated, and due advantage could be taken of the prevailing winds
within the Straits. Goods were conveyed by the Nile to Coptos, and were
thence transported over land by caravans to Myos Hormus, or Berenice.
To render these routes more easy and endurable during many days’ march
through torrid deserts, Philadelphus sought out the needful springs,
and established caravanserais at these necessary halting places.
Pliny[228] and the Itinerary of Antonine[229] give a list of them; and
it is worthy of record, that Belzoni recognized traces of many of these
routes when he visited that country.[230]
[Sidenote: Time of the departure of the fleets.]
From both Myos Hormus and Berenice the fleets appear to have sailed in
the month of September for Arabia, as well as for various ports on the
coast of Africa; and in July for India. These periods, from the course
of the prevailing winds, were the best adapted for proceeding upon
such voyages. In the first instance, clearing, as we may presume they
would do, the Straits in the month of November, they would probably
fall in with a wind during that month which would carry them down the
coast of Africa, and enable them to return with equal facility in the
course of the following months of May and June. By sailing in July from
Berenice, or Myos Hormus, they would reach Bab-el-Mandeb before the
1st of September, and would thus have a fair wind for nearly three
months. Thence they could easily reach the shores of Malabar, even by
adhering to an almost strictly coasting route, in the forty days, in
which, as we learn from Pliny, that portion of the voyage was usually
performed.[231]
[Sidenote: Residence of the merchants, and course of trade from
Alexandria to the East.]
The merchants who carried on these important trades, both under the
Ptolemies and the Romans, resided chiefly, if not altogether, at
Alexandria; and though the Ptolemies, for their own interest, were
willing to extend, as far as possible, mercantile privileges, the law
of Egypt still required (as in the case of Naucratis) the employment of
an Alexandrian factor for the transaction of the merchant’s business:
a custom which in a great measure accounts for the immense wealth of
Alexandria.
It is clear that the prevailing winds must now have been studied with
care, and the intercourse between West and East so arranged as to admit
of the utmost possible advantage being derived from them. Towards the
latter end of July the annual, or Etesian (north), wind commences its
influence and extends from the Euxine Sea to Syene in Upper Egypt.[232]
As a northerly wind, prevailing at the time of the year when the
Nile is at its greatest height, it affords an excellent opportunity
of advancing against the stream. Hence the voyage from Alexandria to
Coptos, a distance of three hundred and eight Roman miles, was usually
performed in twelve days.[233]
The Canopic branch of the Nile (the nearest to Alexandria) was then the
chief navigable approach to Egypt from the sea. From its entrance a
canal had been formed connecting it with Alexandria, so that traders
from Coptos could pass through it without landing their cargoes at
Alexandria, and without paying the custom-dues exacted from other
vessels.
It is worthy of remark, that though Berenice was built by Philadelphus,
the real value of its position was not at first recognised; nor was
it fully appreciated till the discovery of the regular uniformity of
the winds at certain seasons of the year gave a special impetus to the
trade with the far East.
It is needless to inquire when the monsoons were first noticed: it is
enough to know, that even if the principle of them was ascertained at
a remote period, little or no use was made of this knowledge by the
Alexandrian merchants till about the reign of Claudius, and of the
successful voyage of Hippalus.[234] The Romans perceiving the great
advantage Hippalus had made known by his adventurous voyage justly
named the monsoon wind after him.
These winds, now so familiar, extend with a variety of modifications
over all the seas of India, from Japan to Madagascar. Their general
course is north-east and south-west, with some fluctuations, and they
commence blowing from the north-east in October, though it is not till
November that they blow steadily from that quarter, and continue to do
so for four months. They begin again to fluctuate about the month of
March, and do not blow steadily from the south-west till April or May,
when they often increase to a strong gale. Previously to the discovery
of the monsoons, commercial adventure with the more remote regions of
the East had been generally carried on in comparatively small vessels,
that crept cautiously along the windings of the coast. As soon however
as Hippalus had shown the uniformity of these periodical winds, vessels
of a larger and of an improved description were constructed; and so
great was the impulse thus given to the trade between Europe and India,
that it soon became a subject of apprehension at Rome, lest the empire
should be drained of its specie to maintain the commerce with India.
According to Pliny,[235] silver, to the value of nearly a million and
a half sterling was annually required to pay for the spices, gems,
pearls, and silks then imported through Egypt.
[Sidenote: Value of the trade with India.]
From the earliest historic period, the productions of India have,
indeed, been in almost incessant demand by the nations of the West, and
from even the mysterious reign of Semiramis, the queen of Assyria, to
our own time, the possession of India has been in turn the envy of them
all. To Great Britain, India has perhaps been of less special value
since the differential duties were abolished and its ports thrown open
to the shipping and commerce of the world; but still that empire is a
prize she would not readily relinquish. To her merchants it has been a
source of immense wealth, and among her people its produce, either as
articles of necessity or luxury, is now as eagerly sought after as it
was in the palmy days of Tyre, of Rome, or of the Italian republics.
Vast quantities of silver are still gathered from all parts of the
Western world, for export to the East, in exchange for the products
of India; and complaints have been frequently made, even in our own
times, of the quantity of the precious metals sent from Europe to pay
for these commodities. Yet, so far from this being a just grievance,
nothing can be more certain than the prosperity of a people, who have
thus at their disposal, from one source or another, vast superabundant
stores for exportation and exchange for the raw material or even the
luxuries of the East.
[Sidenote: The ports through which it was conducted.]
[Sidenote: Course of the voyage to India.]
When Rome came into possession of Egypt, its commercial intercourse
was conducted chiefly through the port of Berenice, while the port
of Myos Hormus was in a great measure abandoned. Yet some trade was
still carried on from this port as also from Leuke Kome, on the
north-western coast of the Red Sea, near the entrance to the Gulf
of Akabah. The whole of these ports being in possession of Rome,
there were custom-houses established at each, with Roman officers to
collect the duty of twenty-five per cent. imposed on _all_ articles
of import and export, as well as Roman garrisons to enforce its
payment, where necessary. Caravans from Petra and from the shores of
the Mediterranean, brought to Leuke Kome the manufactures and other
produce of the North, destined for shipment to the East, while Berenice
became the chief port for the manufactures of Rome and of the West,
which were conveyed up the Nile, by the route described, to Coptos,
and thence forwarded by caravan. Caravans also, from Thebes and other
places in Upper Egypt, were the agents of an extensive trade through
Berenice and Myos Hormus. Pliny, as has been stated, when compared with
Arrian, gives a clear account of the length of time required to make
the voyage from Berenice to the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, a distance
between of five and six hundred miles; and the whole of this question
has been fully examined by Dr. Vincent.
[Sidenote: Outwards.]
It would seem that the chief anxiety of the fleets of those days arose
from the intricacy and consequent danger of the navigation, even
with a favourable wind, within the Straits, and hence that vessels
invariably anchored during the night when an opportunity offered. But
after passing Bab-el-Mandeb, the steady influence of a favourable
monsoon enabled the pilots to make a continuous and comparatively rapid
passage. Those ships destined for the more distant voyage to Malabar
remained at Okelis (the modern Ghella or Cella), near Aden, for a
longer time than those whose destination was only Guzerat. The pilots
had observed from the commencement of this new route to India, that the
interval between the change of the monsoons was invariable, not merely
fluctuating, but that in June and July the weather sometimes proved so
tempestuous as to render the navigation of the Indian Ocean perilous,
if not almost impracticable; that in August and September the winds
become more settled, and that by the month of October fine weather,
with steady breezes, could be depended upon. Accordingly, one portion
of the fleet, which left Berenice about the 10th of July, arriving at
the mouth of the Arabian Gulf within a month, remained at Okelis for
a week, ten days, or a fortnight, and by this arrangement the vessels
bound for the coast of Malabar reached their destination at the best
season of the year.[236]
[Sidenote: Homewards.]
The homeward voyage was regulated by the same experience. Remaining on
the coast of India from the end of September, or beginning of October,
to the early part of December, two months of the finest weather were
thus obtained for the discharge of the vessels and the disposal of
their cargoes, as also for taking on board the return lading in
exchange. The 13th of January was fixed as the latest date for leaving
the coast; and it is here worthy of remark, that the original order for
the fleets of Portugal, fifteen centuries afterwards, was subject to a
similar regulation. Quitting the coast of India on or about the 10th of
January, they would easily reach Aden in twenty or thirty days, where
they would most probably remain until they could derive the benefit of
the Gunseen winds, which, from about the middle of March, blow steadily
from the south for fifty or sixty days, and thus have a fair wind
to carry them to Berenice. Thus the winds prevailing in the Gulf at
different seasons of the year were as valuable to the ancient ships as
the true monsoons in the Indian Ocean.
[Sidenote: The vessels engaged in the trade with India.]
It is much to be regretted that no descriptions exist of the character
of these fleets, of the men by whom they were navigated, or of their
merchant owners. It seems, however, a reasonable conjecture that they
were in many respects similar to the vessels the Romans employed in the
grain trade between Alexandria and Egypt, of which St. Paul’s ship may
be considered as a type. In all likelihood they were chiefly owned by
the merchants of Rome and of Alexandria, and commanded by men from the
Grecian and other maritime states of the Roman empire; the crew, on the
other hand, were probably Arabians, as the natives of Arabia are known
to have been from remote times settled on the western shores of India.
Indeed, we learn the same fact from the historian of Vasco de Gama’s
celebrated voyage, who speaks of the vast number of Arabians whom the
Portuguese found settled at Calicut, and engaged in commercial and
maritime occupations.
[Sidenote: The nature of their cargoes.]
[Sidenote: Immense demand at Rome for the luxuries of the East, and the
enormous prices paid for them.]
The products of India were at no period sought after with greater
avidity than when Rome became mistress of the world. Tyre, in the
plenitude of her power, or Babylon in her greatest magnificence, were,
compared with Rome, moderate in their expenditure upon luxuries. It
was this extravagance which led Pliny to make the complaint to which
we have just referred, of the drain of precious metals to the East;
in itself just, because they were sent to purchase articles of luxury
as expensive as they were superfluous, instead of necessaries and raw
materials capable of conversion for the wants of the people, or of
re-exportation to other countries. Enriched by the spoil and tribute
of nearly every portion of the then known world, the inhabitants of
Rome had acquired a taste for every kind of luxury, and had resolved to
obtain it, regardless of the cost. Whatever was rare commanded fabulous
prices. To supply their demands, new and extraordinary efforts became
necessary to obtain from the East the articles they required. Silks,
precious stones, and pearls, were eagerly sought after, but spices and
aromatics were even greater objects of solicitude. Fortunes expended
upon frankincense had, they thought, the combined effect of raising
them in the estimation of their neighbours, and of securing the favour
and friendship of the gods. The greatest extravagance was displayed on
the funeral pile, which, as well as the body about to be consumed by
the flames, was frequently covered with the most costly spices. Nero is
reported to have burnt at the funeral of his wife Poppæa, a quantity
of cinnamon and cassia greater than the countries from which it was
imported were capable of producing in one year;[237] and two hundred
and ten burdens of spices are said to have been strewed upon the pile
which consumed to ashes the body of Sylla.
Among the precious jewels brought from the East, pearls were most in
demand, and for the finest and rarest of these the most extraordinary
prices were given. Julius Cæsar is said to have presented the mother of
Brutus with one for which he had paid 48,457_l._; and if we may credit
the statement of Pliny, the famous pearl earrings of Cleopatra were
valued at 161,458_l._ sterling.[238] That silk was an article greatly
prized is not a matter for wonder, when we consider the variety of
elegant fabrics into which it may be fashioned, and how much it must
have added to the splendour of dress so eagerly sought after by the
luxurious inhabitants of Rome. Its price was so exorbitant that women
of eminent rank and opulence alone could afford to use it; but this
did not render the demand for it less eager. Contrary to what usually
happens in the ordinary operations of trade, an increased demand for it
had not the effect of increasing the quantity imported to a sufficient
extent to materially reduce the price, for in the reign of Aurelian,
more than two hundred and fifty years from the time of its being first
introduced into Rome, silk continued to be valued at its weight in
gold. No doubt this arose in a great measure from the fact that the
merchants of Alexandria, by whom the silk was imported, had no direct
intercourse with China, the only country in which the silkworm was then
reared, while the place of production was too remote, and the means of
increasing the supply then too limited, to meet the greatly increasing
demand.
[Sidenote: Imports and exports to and from Pattala.]
Arrian[239] has left the fullest information now obtainable with
reference to the commodities in his time, which constituted the chief
articles of commercial intercourse between Europe and India. Pattala,
on the river Indus, was then the first mart for the vessels arriving
from Egypt, and from Leuke Kome. He states that the outward cargoes
consisted of woollen cloth of a light fabric, linen in chequer work,
glass vessels, wine, and aromatics of a sort unknown in India, besides
some precious stones, wrought silver, coral, borax, and specie. For
these were received cotton cloths, silk thread, and silk stuffs of
different sorts, black pepper, sapphires, and other gems, as well as
various kinds of spices.
[Sidenote: Barygaza or Baroach.]
[Sidenote: Musiris.]
Barygaza, on the same coast, soon, however, became a more important
mart than Pattala; and, by the minute description Arrian has given of
its position, that port would seem to correspond with Baroach, on the
great river Nerbudda, by means of which it had navigable communication
for many hundred miles into the rich interior of India. The articles
of import and export were much more various and abundant at Barygaza
than at Pattala. Besides those already mentioned, Arrian enumerates
among the former, Italian, Greek, and Arabian wines, brass, tin, lead,
girdles or sashes of curious textures, white glass, red arsenic, black
lead, and gold and silver coin. Among the exports were the onyx and
other gems, ivory, myrrh, various fabrics of cotton, both plain and
ornamented with flowers, and pepper. At Musiris, the port Hippalus
reached when he first took advantage of the monsoons, the articles
imported were much the same as at Barygaza; but, as it lay nearer to
the eastern parts of India, the commodities exported from it were
more numerous and more valuable. Pearls are specified as being there
obtainable in great abundance and of extraordinary beauty, besides
a variety of silk stuffs, rich perfumes, tortoise-shell, different
kinds of transparent gems, especially diamonds, and pepper of the best
quality.
[Sidenote: Cape Comorin.]
[Sidenote: Ceylon.]
Although Arrian, from the accurate description he has given of it,
would seem to have sailed along the coast as far as Cape Comorin, the
southernmost point of the Indian peninsula, the ships from Berenice
do not appear to have traded with any place on the coast south of
Musiris, where, however, various Egyptian commodities were to be found.
Probably these articles were received in exchange for the produce of
the East, brought by native vessels from the countries near the Ganges,
or from Malacca and China to Ceylon. Many native vessels were, however,
evidently confined, in their trading operations, exclusively to that
coast. Although the island of Ceylon was the great mart or depôt, where
the manufactures and produce of the West were exchanged for those of
the then far distant and almost unknown East, it is probable that the
ships from Egypt did not, at least during the early portion of their
operations, proceed as far as that island, but that their cargoes were
transported thither in the native coasters, and there bartered for silk
and for other commodities produced in Ceylon, or in the countries to
the eastward of it. In all likelihood the merchants of Alexandria were
deterred from sending their ships as far as Ceylon, through fear of the
dangers of which Pliny has preserved a report. “The sea,” he remarks,
“that lies between the island and the mainland, is full of shallows,
not more than six paces in depth; but in certain channels no anchor
has ever found a bottom. For these reasons,” he adds, “the vessels are
constructed with prows at each end, so that there may be no necessity
for tacking in channels which are extremely narrow.”[240]
[Sidenote: Time of departure of the fleets for Africa and the coasts of
Arabia.]
[Sidenote: Rhapta, or Quiloa.]
While the fleets for India sailed in July, the vessels destined for the
various ports on the coast of Africa or Arabia took their departure
with equal regularity in the month of September. By clearing the
gulf before November, they made certain of a favourable wind down
the eastern coasts of Africa, and had ample time to transact their
business, and to return with the change of wind by the following
May. Abdooli, contiguous to Orine, was the first port of call for
the African traders. Here large quantities of ivory and horn were
shipped, brought from Axume, an inland town eight days’ journey from
the coast, and an important mart for their collection and sale, as it
lay in the central part of the district, where both the elephant and
the rhinoceros were killed in great numbers. From Abdooli, the fleets,
after passing through the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, reached Malao,
Moondus, Mossulon, and Daphnon, four harbours, or rather roadsteads,
of some commercial importance, which lay not far from each other on
the line of coast extending to the eastward. At all of these places
boats or rafts had to be used for the transport of goods and produce
between the ships and the shore, as no attempt had been made to
construct wharves. After rounding Cape Aromata, the extreme eastern
point of the African continent, they shaped their course to the south,
steering about S.S.W., along the coast of Azania, calling at various
places, including Melinda, until they reached Rhapta or Quiloa, in
about nine degrees south latitude. The merchants of this place had many
ships of their own employed in the trade, on board of which they had
Arabian commanders and factors, employing such only as had experience
of the country, or as, having contracted marriages with the natives,
understood the language, and were familiar with the navigation.[241]
Arrian gives a picture of these people, and of their habits, resembling
much that presented to the Portuguese, fifteen centuries afterwards,
when they first cast anchor off Quiloa. Here, too, as well as from
the more northern port of Melinda, a trade seems, though we have no
positive knowledge of the fact, to have been carried on with India in
ages before Hippalus. Corn, rice, butter or ghee, oil of cinnamon,
cotton in the web, and in the flock for stuffing, sashes, and “honey
from the cane called sugar,” had, long before Arrian, been articles of
commerce imported thence. “Many vessels,” he says, “are employed in
this commerce, expressly for the importation of these articles; and
others, which have a further destination, dispose of part of their
cargoes on this coast, and take in such commodities as they find
here in return.” The cargoes specified are just such as could be now
imported from India.
[Sidenote: Sofala.]
[Sidenote: Articles of commerce.]
From Quiloa the Egyptian fleets appear to have traded as far south
as Sofala, obtaining thence the produce of Æthiopia as well as of
Abyssinia, and rhinoceros horns, tortoise-shell, myrrh, and odoriferous
gums, frankincense, cinnamon of a common description, and slaves of
a superior order, principally for the Egyptian market. In exchange,
Alexandria sent cloths of various kinds, and linen, glass, porcelain,
white copper for ornaments and for coin; brass for the manufacture of
culinary vessels, bracelets and ornaments for the legs, such as are
still worn in Abyssinia; iron for weapons of all sorts, as well as
hatchets, adzes, knives, and daggers, manufactured and ready for use.
The invoices also mention drinking vessels of brass, large and round;
denarii or Roman specie, for the use of the merchants resident on the
coast; Laodicean (or Syrian) and Italian wines; gold and silver plate,
according to the fashion of the country, as presents for the native
kings; jackets, watchcoats, coverlids, Indian cotton, besides cotton
in its raw state; sashes of variegated colours, and cloths with the
nap on, of various sorts, suited for the barbarian coasts. Tin, the
produce of the British mines, formed likewise an article of export
from Berenice and Leuke Kome, to the coast of Africa, although only
in small quantities. Plated silver, and flint glass, or crystal, were
shipped to a considerable extent; while corn from Egypt constituted one
of the most bulky articles of export to the more populous of the places
we have named.
[Sidenote: Moosa.]
The merchants of Alexandria, likewise, carried on an extensive and
valuable commerce with various ports in Arabia, especially with Moosa,
at the entrance to the Red Sea, a place believed to have had a very
ancient trade with India. Moosa also imported large quantities of
coffee from Africa, and, mixing it with the coffee of Arabia, sold the
adulterated article as the produce of the latter country. Its imports
from Egypt consisted, among other manufactures, of various descriptions
of cloths, and of clothes made up after the Arabian fashion, with
sleeves plain and embroidered. Its merchants gave in exchange the
produce of their own country, and that of India, imported in their own
vessels from Baroach.
[Sidenote: Yemen, or Arabia Felix.]
[Sidenote: Its great wealth, and the importance attached to its trade.]
There are few lands more extolled in ancient history for their natural
richness, both as regards its mines and the productiveness of its
soil, than Yemen, or Arabia Felix, the country of the Queen of Sheba,
of which Moosa was the chief port. Though separated from India by an
open sea, it was yet intimately connected with it by nature; a sky of
great serenity enabling its mariners to make full use of the stars as
their guides, and thus sparing them the labour and anxiety of slowly
creeping along the coast, as was elsewhere necessary. Arabia was above
all others the native country of frankincense, of myrrh, and of other
aromatic perfumes, productions then held in such repute, that scarcely
one of the then most civilized nations of the world would have dared to
offer a gift to their gods without them.
Greek and Hebrew writers alike speak of the country of the Queen of
Sheba as one of the richest of the ancient world. The Hebrew poets
cite the names of its various cities and harbours, and their writings
overflow with descriptions of its many treasures. No sooner had the
Greeks obtained a knowledge of these regions than they extolled to
the utmost the boundless riches concealed in Arabia Felix. “Its
inhabitants, the Sabæans,” remarks Diodorus[242] quoting from
Agatharchides, “not only surpass the neighbouring barbarians in wealth
and magnificence, but all other nations whatever. In buying and selling
their wares they maintain among all nations the highest prices for the
smallest quantities. As their distant situation protects them from
foreign plunderers, immense stores of precious metals have accumulated
among them, especially in the capital. Curiously wrought gold and
silver drinking vessels in great variety, couches, tripods with silver
feet, and an incredible profusion of costly furniture in general,
abound there.”
The whole of this vast wealth would seem, by the remarks of Diodorus,
to have been derived, not from war and plunder, but by the prosecution
throughout many ages of peaceful commerce and unwearied industry.
“Before merchants,” observes Arrian, “sailed from India to Egypt, and
from Egypt to India, Arabia Felix was the staple both for Egyptian and
Indian goods, much as Alexandria is now for the commodities of Egypt
and foreign merchandise;” a testimony fully borne out by abundant
statements in Holy Scripture. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all speak
in glowing terms of the great wealth of Arabia Felix. Nowhere, too,
were the civilizing effects of commerce more noticeable than in Arabia
Felix. Although Dr. Vincent remarks that “the importance of this
commerce, as it appears in the “Periplus,” is manifestly far inferior
to the representation of it in Agatharchides,” he adds, “still it is
evident that the manners of the people in this quarter of Arabia were
civilized, that the government was consistent, and that the merchant
was protected. This character, as we learn from Niebuhr, Yemen still
maintains, in preference to the Hijar and the whole interior of the
peninsula. The same security is marked as strongly by the “Periplus”
in Hadramaut; and the whole coast on the ocean being commercial,
_the interests of commerce have subdued the natural ferocity of the
inhabitants_.”[243]
It would appear that, before the settlements at Moosa and Okelis, the
ships from Persia, Caramania, and the Indus came no farther than the
coast just outside the straits, near the modern Aden, and that here
the fleets of Egypt met them and exchanged their articles of commerce.
Many writers, too, on this subject, have maintained that the fleet of
Solomon, though fitted out with the view of going as far as Sofala, did
not proceed beyond the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, and that they there
exchanged the produce of the West for that of India, Yemen, and Africa.
We, however, adhere to the opinion already expressed, that at least a
portion of Solomon’s fleet visited both the Indus and the eastern coast
of Africa. It is not, in itself, likely that seamen so enterprising
and adventurous as the Phœnicians, would have failed in accomplishing
any voyage wherein the ships of other nations had been successful;
nor, viewing the profits the Arabians derived from their intercourse
with the East, can it be supposed that the merchants and shipowners
of Phœnicia would have cut short their voyages at the Straits of
Bab-el-Mandeb, knowing too, as they could not fail to have known,
many commercial reports about a vast country to the east abounding
in riches, which the Arabians had reached by sea. It seems also more
than probable that they had, at the same time, learnt something of the
character of the winds which favoured such voyages, and their reasoning
must have been, “What the inhabitants of the sea coasts of Arabia
and Africa can perform by vessels in every way inferior to those of
Phœnicia, we can accomplish so much the more successfully by means of
our well appointed fleets.”
[Sidenote: Kane.]
[Sidenote: Sachal.]
The Arabians had also a considerable intercourse with the East from
Kane,[244] a port on the south-western shores of Arabia, in Hadramaut,
a place enjoying a direct intercourse with Sana, and thence by the
great caravan route with Saba. The merchants of Kane traded, on the
one hand, with Baroach, Sindh, Ormus, and Persia, and on the other,
with Egypt, whence they imported wine, corn, cloths suited for the
Arabian market, salt, brass, tin, resin, specie, wrought plate, carved
images, and horses, and exported various commodities common to the
country, and especially frankincense and aloes. From Kane the Arabian
vessels, and afterwards some of the Egyptian traders in the time of
Arrian, proceeded along the coast to the north-east until they reached
Sachal, on the shores of Hadramaut, their chief trade being incense,
which, according to Arrian, was there “collected by the king’s slaves,
or by malefactors condemned to this service as a punishment.” Most of
the incense, however, was sent through Thomæra, the capital of the
Gebanites, to Gaza, on the coast of Palestine, by way of Petra, by
the important caravan route already noticed, and continued in a great
measure to find its way to Egypt by this inland route even after the
merchants of Alexandria had established a regular maritime commerce
with the East.
[Sidenote: Moshka.]
[Sidenote: Maskat.]
[Sidenote: Omana.]
From Sachal the traders on the coast proceeded to Moskha, where
vessels from Baroach and Larike, on the Gulf of Cambay, if too late
for the favourable monsoons, usually endeavoured to exchange their
Indian muslins for the frankincense of the place. From this place,
also, native vessels made a coasting voyage till they reached Maskat
and Kalaiso. Near these ports they were able to cross the gulf at its
narrowest parts, and steered nearly due north, or about N.N.E. for the
port of Omana, which evidently takes its name from Oman in Arabia, and
was, doubtless, a colony of Arabs, established on the coast opposite
to their own, for the purpose of approaching nearer to Western India.
From Omana they steered almost due east along the coast of Beloochistan
until they reached their destination at the mouth of the Indus or in
the Gulf of Cambay.
Although Omana was the centre of commerce between Arabia and India, and
afterwards became a place of great commercial importance, no produce
of the latter country appears to have been shipped from it at the time
of Arrian. Dates in large quantities were then, as they were long
afterwards, its chief articles of export; as also, coarse cloths, wine,
slaves, some gold, and many pearls. Here were built for the Arabians
the vessels they employed in the Persian Gulf, and along the whole line
of the coast, their hulls consisting of planks sewed together, without
nails. To this day similar vessels, known as _frankees_ and _dhows_,
may be seen in great numbers, engaged in much the same trade their
ancestors followed two or three thousand years ago.
We have now given a brief outline of the routes by land and by sea, by
which commerce was conducted with the East, before the commencement of
the Christian era, and the map we have prepared (see frontispiece) may
assist our readers in tracing the different routes. Of the maritime
commerce of India itself, and of the trade and shipping of the East
during the earliest periods of history, we shall attempt to furnish an
outline in the following chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[193] Herod. iv. c. 42.
[194] Herod. iv. c. 33.
[195] It is probable that Sataspes got as far as the Gulf of Guinea,
and was then stopped by the south-east trade-winds. It is to avoid
these that our ships, bound to India _via_ the Cape of Good Hope, stand
across to South America.
[196] Plin. ii. 169.
[197] Strab. ii. 81.
[198] Larachi or Al Arish, on the coast of Marocco.
[199] Humboldt, in confirmation of this statement, quotes the case of a
counterpart for the horse’s head belonging to the Gades-ship, referred
to by Eudoxus, as having occurred in the remains of a ship of the Red
Sea, which was brought to Crete by westerly currents, according to
the account of the trustworthy Arabian historian Masudi.—Humboldt’s
“Cosmos,” vol. ii. p. 389.
[200] Periplus of the Erythræan Sea, vol. ii. p. 189 et seq.
[201] Numbers xx. 14.
[202] Judges viii. 24-26.
[203] Macpherson, i. pp. 7, 8.
[204] Heeren, Gen. Introd. p. xxv.
[205] Herod. i. 1.
[206] Ezek. xxvii. v. 7.
[207] Herod. v. 52.
[208] These are the greater and lesser Záb.
[209] Referring, probably, to the numerous canals this great conqueror
cut, for purposes of irrigation as well as navigation, between the
Euphrates and Tigris.
[210] “Royal stations” were the abodes of the king’s couriers. Cf.
Herod. viii. 98. These couriers were very rapid, like the Indian
_harkâreh_ of the present day. Strabo (xv. p. 725) states that
Alexander’s order for the execution of Parmenio, given near Herât, was
conveyed eight hundred and fifty miles in eleven days, to Ecbatana.
The present route from Smyrna to Baghdad, is nearly the same as that
described by Herodotus, from Sardes to Susa; it turns a little to
the N., to avoid the arid deserts about the Upper Euphrates and the
Upper Tigris, and passes Sart (Sardes), Allah Shehr (Philadelphia),
Kaisariyeh, Malatiyeh, Diarbekr, Mosul, Arbil (Arbela), and Kerkuk
(Circesium). If Herodotus went to Babylon, he would have gone by this
route as far as the river Gyndes (Diyala), where the route from Babylon
to Ecbatana crossed it, as is clear from the account of the march of
Cyrus. (Herod. i. 189.)
[211] Strabo, xvi. 766.
[212] 1 Kings ix. 18.
[213] Plin. v. 87. Procop. Bell. Pers. ii. 5. Gibbon, c. xi,
[214] Xenoph. Anab. i. 4, 11.
[215] Plin. vi. 144.
[216] Plin. vi. 28.
[217] Strab. xvi. 779. Diod. Sic. xix. 98.
[218] See note on principal canals of Babylonia, by Sir H. C.
Rawlinson, in Rawlinson’s Herodotus, i. p. 571.
[219] It is not distinctly stated anywhere that Tyre was actually
taken; but the inference from Ezek. c. xxvi. is that it was—or the
prophecy has remained unfulfilled.
[220] Isaiah, xliii. 14.
[221] Heeren, i. p. 438.
[222] Herod. i. 183.
[223] Arrian, vii. 7.
[224] Arrian, iii. 16.
[225] Pliny, vi. 17.
[226] Strabo, p. 782.
[227] Herod. iii. chap. 24.
[228] Plin. vi. 102.
[229] Itin. Antonin. p. 172.
[230] Belzoni, “Travels,” ii. p. 36.
[231] Plin. vi. 104.
[232] Herod. ii. 20, compared with vi. 140; vii. 168. Plin. vi. 102.
[233] Pliny, ibid.
[234] Hippalus is believed to have lived in the reign of the Emperor
Claudius.—Vincent, i. pp. 47-49.
[235] Plin. vi. 101.
[236] Dr. Vincent’s “Periplus,” p. 288.
[237] Plin. xii. 83.
[238] Plin. ix. 119-121. Gibbon, ch. 3.
[239] Arrian, the merchant, must not be confounded with the famous
Arrian of Nicomedia; nothing is, however, known about him.
[240] Pliny, vi. 82.
[241] Dr. Vincent’s “Periplus,” vol. ii. p. 170.
[242] Diodorus, iii. 46.
[243] “Periplus,” vol. ii. p. 317.
[244] Pliny, vi. 104, identified by Welsted with Hisn Ghorab, ii. p.
421.