"Indosphere" Extends East
As the Roman empire fell apart, Indian traders started to look east. Sanskrit place names in South East Asia like Takkola (Market of Cardamom) and Karapurdvipa (Island of Camphor) indicate there were important ports attracting Indian merchants, explains William Dalrymple in The Golden Road . Since the intent of trade with South East Asia, whether by India or by China, was trade and not religious evangelism, a “free mixing of Hinduism and Buddhism is a striking feature of South-east Asian religion”. The Buddha, Hindu gods and local religious practices all intermingled. The “Indosphere” now didn’t end in Tamil Nadu, but extended to the other side of the Bay of Bengal. South East Asia was becoming a “Sanskritic union of monsoon Asia” (the monsoon winds were what powered the ships). Cultural and religious transformations were underway. How much trade was happening though? Was it tiny? Or large? How can we know? A 10 th century shipwreck just 25o feet deep ...