native trade
It is clear from the literature of this period that Indian traders bought goods from every part of the country and delivered them to the places where there was demand for them. It is written in an inscription of Ahad (Udaipur) of 953 AD that traders from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Lat, and Takk (the region between Chenav and Ravi) used to gather to pay cess on their goods. A similar agreement is mentioned in an inscription from Pehoa dated 882-883 AD where traders selling horses came from every part of the country. Medhatithi has written that Vaishya traders should know where rice can be found in large quantities at what time, where barley is available in large quantities, what is the tradition of trade in each state, what is the nature of the people there, What are the benefits and difficulties in which state and he should know the languages of the states like Bhalwa, Magadha, Dravid, etc. so that he can explain his point properly. It is clear from the above discussion that successful traders must have all this information.
In the first half of the seventh century, Chinese emperors extended their sphere of influence to Iran. We know from Chinese sources that between 650 AD and 750 AD, there was a struggle between the four powers for control over Central Asia. These four powers were the Turks, the rulers of Tibet, the Arabs, and the Chinese. During this period, Kashmir was under the control of the Chinese, hence he adopted an aggressive policy. The Chonis were very afraid of the growing power of Tibet, so in 787 AD the Emperor of China sought help from the Uighurs, the rulers of India, and the Caliph of Baghdad against Tibet.
It is known from Chinese sources that during this period the trade between China and India through the Central Asia route reduced considerably. Now most of the trade started happening through sea route. The main reason for this was that the emperor of China could not maintain his influence on the states of Central Asia.
In the eighth century AD, the route from Kamarupa to China via northern Burma became widely used because of political chaos in northwestern India. Qiantan (785- 805) has given a detailed description of the route from Tonkin to Kamarupa in his route. This means that many travelers used to go from India to China via this route.
Another route went from Bihar to China via Tibet. When the power of the rulers of Tibet increased, this route must have been used more. It is written in Tabaqat-e-Nasiri that many traders used to bring horses through this route.
Many traders used to go to Iran through North-Western India, but when the Arabs took over Sindh, close cultural relations were established with the Caliphs of Baghdad. Ibn Khordadbah, Al-Masudi, Al-Idrisi, and Al-Biruni have mentioned this passage in their narrations.
foreign trade
Till the Gupta period, traders from four countries i.e. Iran, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka were mainly participating in foreign trade. But when the Arabs captured Sindh in 710 AD, they had a strong desire to expand their trade in the east. In this race, Iranians were left behind and Arabs went ahead. In the middle of the ninth century, the Arabs became the major participants in this trade. But in the tenth century, they had to leave some part of this trade to the sailors of Sumatra, Java, and Malaya. There is evidence from a story in the Kathakosh that the government of Indonesia used to protect the interests of the traders there and from the description of Abu Zaid (916 AD) it is clear that the government of Java had a lot of prestige during his time. Even till the end of the eighth century, Chinese sailors did not have complete knowledge of the sea. But by the end of the tenth century, the Chinese made great progress in sea trade. In the twelfth century, the Chinese became more powerful than the Arabs. Their ships were better, bigger, and stronger than the ships of other countries. That is why most of the traders used to carry their goods in Chinese ships.
Musk, agar, kahuna, camphor, various types of pearls, diamonds, coral, and medicines were sent from India to Arabia. Khurdadwah also mentions sandalwood, nutmeg, cloves, kebabs, sugar, coconut, flax cloth, fine cotton cloth, and ivory among the items exported from India. According to Benjamin, the biggest export from India was spices.
According to Ibn Durddah, cane and bamboo were sent from Sindh and according to Chou Jukuo, indigo, gooseberry, foreign cotton cloth from Gujarat, fine swords, cotton cloth, and cotton from the kingdom of Rashtrakutas were sent to foreign countries. Slaves were also exported to Iran from the coast of Gujarat. Fine cotton clothes, rhinoceros horns, chauris, gold, and silver were exported from Bengal. Gold and silver were available in southern Burma and not in Bengal. This means that the export goods of the Arab travelers included exports from both Bengal and Burma.