COMMERCE OF INDIA. 



215 



of Vasco da Grama at Kalikut, together with the discovery of 

 America, a few years earlier, altered the whole direction of 

 commerce, until by the reinstitution of the Overland mail, and 

 more so still by the successful termination of the Suez canal, 

 the old time-honoured road to India and China via the 

 Mediterranean and Red Sea has been again revived. 



Modern inventions have done much to lessen the distance 

 between the East and the West, but apart from this, the 

 nature of the trade is not materially changed. Though it is 

 now a matter of no difficulty to perform the sea- voyage from 

 any part of the world to India, the Central Asian caravan 

 trade which beginning in China, passed to India, and went 

 to Babylon, to Egypt and so forth, is, owing to the depre- 

 dations and wars of the barbarous hordes, and the existence 

 of half barbarous states in regions which were formerly the 

 sites of nourishing realms, no more of the importance it once 

 enjoyed, even in the remotest times. 



Having in the above commented on the commerce of the 

 Hindus with foreign nations up to the appearance of the 

 Portuguese in this country, we must now turn our attention 

 to the integrant part of commerce, to the merchandise 

 itself. 



With respect to the inland trade of India our information 

 is again very scarce. Indian sources supply only scanty 

 reports. The second book of the Makabharata contains in the 

 description of the Rajasuya sacrifice a list of the presents 

 received by king Yudhishthira ; other accounts can be 

 derived from some Buddhistic Sutras. Thus we read in the 

 former, that the king of Kamboja brought horses, for which 

 that country was very famous, female camels, woollen cloaks 

 embroidered with gold, and skins of Kabul cats and antelopes. 

 The Paradas, who inhabited Cedrosia (Beluchistan) and the 

 Abhira of Ophir fame presented cows, goats, sheep, donkeys 

 and camels, woollen coverings, and an intoxicating beverage 



33 



