To Egypt and the Roman Empire

From present day perspective, it is astonishing how far west Buddhism had spread, as William Dalrymple describes in The Golden Road. Most of us probably didn’t know that were such gigantic statues of Buddha in Afghanistan until the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas. But Buddhism had spread even beyond Afghanistan at its peak.

 

In 2022, archaeologists in Berenike on the Red Sea found the head and torso of a magnificent Buddha in the storeroom of an Isis temple (Egyptian god). The statue hadn’t been transported from India – it was made of stone found in Turkey and was in a combo of styles – part Indian, part Roman-Egyptian. In that same temple, they found a stone memorial of the trinity of Hindu gods. There were also bilingual inscriptions in Greek and Sanskrit. Indian influence had spread very wide indeed.

 

The trade between Egypt and India was enormous. How do we know this? From the tax records of the Romans (who ruled Egypt). While sea travel and trade had its dangers, it was still far more economical, faster and safer than land routes. Which is why Roman trade with India (via Egypt) was far higher than any Roman trade with China (which needed a land route). Most of that trade involved the flow of goods from India, very little to India. As early as emperor Nero (he of the fiddling while Rome burnt fame), there were complaints that far too much gold was flowing to India.