288 Appendix. 



and to the vicinity of Cape Comorin. There the exchange 

 of the products of the East was made with those of the 

 West. ( Vide Appendix, No. 40, A.) 



In the 4th century A.D., the commercial relations between 

 the East and West had become frequent and regular. In 

 the nth century, the Romans had formed settlements at 

 Aden, Arabia Felix, and on the Isle of Socotra, then in- 

 habited by colonies of Arabs and Greeks, besides the 

 indigenous people. The commercial activity of the Romans 

 spread to the Persians, and from the very commencement of 

 the Christian era, ships from India converged towards the 

 Tigris and Euphrates. 



Of course, with all these riches on the seas, the profession 

 of pirates also came into existence, in which it is said the 

 Indians of the West coast were not slow in taking part. 



The Arabs naturally took an active part in this lucrative 

 commerce. At first it was the Arabs who formed the greater 

 part of the crews. Everything goes to show that, in com- 

 bination with the Persians, they exercised from that time the 

 same ascendancy, along those coasts, as the Portuguese in the 

 sixteenth century did, after doubling the Cape. The influ- 

 ence of the Arabs and Persians increased as the prestige of 

 the Romans diminished. 



When, however, Mahomet came on the scene, the atten- 

 tion of all was turned towards him, and two years after his 

 death, Syria, Mesopotamia, and shortly after, Egypt and 

 Persia, fell into the power of Sectarians. Then followed 

 religious troubles, and intestine wars, and all commercial re- 

 lations became entirely upset thereby. But in the midst of 

 the most rapid and astonishing conquests, in the sixteenth 

 year of the Hegira (637 A.D.), under the Khalifate of Omar, 

 a fleet starting from the coasts of Oman, went to ravage the 

 countries at the mouths of the Indus, and the coasts of the 

 peninsula of India. Before the end of the seventh century, 

 a colony of Mahomedan merchants had already established 

 themselves in Ceylon. 



In the year 758 A.D., the Arabs and Persians were suffi- 

 ciently numerous in Canton to get up a tumult in the town, 

 and plunder it. 



Towards the end of the seventh century, a Mahomedan 



