Erythrean Sea. From the second century AD
Internal Trade
There is some archaeological evidence for internal trade. In Ayodhya shreds
of rouletted ware (typical Roman pottery mainly found in the trans- Vindhyan
zone) have been found in levels assignable to the first-second century AD.
This is perhaps the most inland context in which this ware has been found in
northern India, and it may well have reached here from Tamralipti through
the Ganga and then through the Sarayu rivers. Similarly a couple of the
shreds of the red polished ware (typical of western India and also of the
Kushanas) with incised Kharoshti inscriptions have been found in the lands
belonging to the first-second centuries AD in Satanikot in Kurnool district,
which might indicate trade between Andhra and northern India. Red polished
ware found at several Satavahana sites suggests local trade but it may have
been sent to northern India. There are several instances of long distance trade
in glass objects and semi-precious beads. We have clear evidence of trade
contacts between Mathura and Gandhara. The Mathura image of a goddess is
made of blue schist of Gandhara and shows the style of the Graeco-Buddhist
shawl.
    The real cause of development of the west coast was the coconut. This
coconut tree, which forms the basis of the whole coastal economy today,
seems to be an import from Malaysia. It was being propagated on the east
coast about the middle of the first century BC and reached the west coast a
century later. By AD 120 the Saka Ushavadata, son of Dinika and son-in-law
of the reigning king Nahapana, began to give away whole plantations to
Brahmins, each one containing several thousand coconut trees. Ushavadata
was generous to the Buddhists as well.
    Under foreign dynasties like the Indo-Greeks, Sakas, and Kushanas,
several trade centres in India prospered. The Indo-Greek King Menander
patronised trade emporiums of Sagala (Sakala) where traders from different
places assembled. Similarly, in the territory of Sakas, there were trade centres
at Kapisa, Taxila, Pushkalavati and Mathura. Under the Kushanas, Indian
trade made considerable progress and Kushana traders established trade links
among the different regions of India as well as with foreign countries. In the
early centuries of the Christian era, trade centres of Vidisa, Ujjain,