Gwadar to China:- Trade lessons from the 5000 yr old Pakistani Indus Valley Civilization: The Harrappan Trade Corridor within the IVC (Dilmin, Mekan) and beyond is now being resurrected again

Posted on 27 November 2007. Tags: Gwader, Indus Valley Civilization, Moenjodaro, Pakistan, South Asian History

…Excerpt from Moin’s book

Pakistani has a FTA with China and the trade routes Today:

5000 Years ago:

HARAPPAN TRADE WITHIN THE IVC AND WITHOUT
IVC Harappan Trade during Ravi Phase:

IVC Harappan Trade during Integration Phase:

IVC Harappan Trade during Late Harappan:

Peeking into the Harappan IVC era we see Taxilans up the river traded with people down the river. People up in the mountains traded with people down in the plains. For thousands of years, Kashmiris cut down trees and threw them into the river. In Sarhad and in Punjab, the trees were caught and exchanged for food. The teak was sometimes exported to areas beyond the IVC. This was trade at its best. As a result of new research in economic anthropology done by the likes of, Clark, John E. and William J. Parry , we have discovered that there were extensive trade networks, (specially in Metals and Minerals) at least as far perhaps as the southern Arabian peninsula and perhaps as far as Anatolia and maybe to Ur.

New research also indicates pre-Sargonic contact and trade between the Harappan Civilization and Mesopotamia and Sumaria. Steve Whittet says that:

the Harrapan and Indus Valley cultures were in contact with Mesopotamia, through Dilmun, and Egypt through Maakan and Punt.

The Harappans participated in trade with other civilizations that existed outside the subcontinent. According to Yvette Rosser (a graduate researcher at the University of Texas) Shireen Ratnakar in her book “Encounters: The Westerly Trade of the Harappa Civilization” claims:

that there were long term and sophisticated social and economic interactions between the different regions of this vast area stretching roughly from Egypt to Gujerat.

In this book the author proposes the exotic theory that the development of the Harappan culture was the result, at least in part, of a crisis that developed in Mesopotamia regarding the availability of lapis lazuli. She successfully argues that this outside trade when superimposed on the existing social organization of chieftains helped to create the impetus for urbanization and centralized distribution based on a dendritic pattern and commercially oriented organization of power.

Whether all of Ratnakers theories are proven by actual finds remains to be seen. This much is known, that the Moenjadaro was a way station for trade with Taxila and Sumaria in the East.

This is what Steve Whittet says about the pre-Sargonic contact between Sumer and the IVC.

By the third millenium there seems to be a lot of evidence for trade by sea between the Indus Valley Civilization, and Mesopotamia by way of Makkan and Dilmun, but there is also evidence for trade through the Gulf of Aden to Yemen and Punt, Egypt and Ophir. Going the other way there was trade with Indonesia and possibly even China and Polynesia. The net effect was to create a region called Meluhha in the Indian Ocean, which basically seems to be defined as “and points beyond”.

The most notable artifacts of this trade are metals, mother of pearl and pearls, spices, furniture inlaid with exotic woods, gemstones, fragrences, language, customs, science, technology and attitudes and values.

Steve Whittet also talks about the open borders between peoples during that era

There seems to have been less of a division among peoples into catagories like Greek and Egyptian prior to the early 2nd millenium BC. Most people would have thought of themselves as part of a family, or clan, tribe, army, business, or village, rather than as Greek.I would also draw the distinction between sea people and landfolk. Those who lived on islands and made their living from the sea by fishing, trade or piracy had much less in common with those engaged in agriculture or the domestication of animals on the adjacent mainland, than they did with other sea people a days sail away.The Phoenicians were strongly connected to the Phillistines or as the Egyptians called them, the Peleset. The Peleset had a strong presence on Crete from c 1700 BC and so were in a sense neighbors to the Minoans. The Minoans were strongly associated with the Mycenians and the Mycenians had a presence as far east as Anatolia and Crete.

Central to all this was the copper trade which was transported in boats from the 3rd millenium BC.When the sea peoples began to war with the Egyptians, Hittites, Mycenians, etc; c 1200 BC and to make their presence felt everywhere around the Mediterranean, the question has to be asked where did these people come from?There is some suspicion that it was a result of the movement of people from the Erythrian Sea (Herodotus) who had begun to move west and north in the 3rd millenium and having passed through Egypt and the Red Sea to reach the Mediterranean, represented a connection between their point of origin and every culture they contacted on their journey.That begins with Mesopotamia engaged in trade with Dilmun, Maakan and the Indus Valley.

The trade extended from the Indus Valley and the Rahn of Kuch to Meluuha, (Indonesia and points beyond) the bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Aden to Punt and Ophir.Indonesian provided a connection to Tin which was itself probably developed as a source by the first Bronze Age Asians from Vietnam and China. At that point Egypt became involved and the trade moved into the Red Sea.The western Techno complex traded across the Red Sea with Egypt from Elat to Elim and farther south from Yanbu, the Wadi Hammaat and Punt. The sea was central to a good deal of this trade which comprised an empire of sea trading islanders, with advanced technology like a monopoly on metals and business connections throughout and area larger than Libya and Asia combined.

In the 6th millenium BC metallurgy developed somewhere to the southeast of the Caspian in western Asia and at about the same time in south east Europe. The rest of Europe, Asia and North Africa aquired this knowledge from these centers between 4000 and 2000 BC.Centers of metallurgy in the 3rd millenium including both copper and bronze made by adding some tin to the copper, stretched continuously from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Sites included, Iberia, the Mitterburg area, Ajbunar south of the Balkans, Kozlu on the south of the Black Sea, Mazerayeh and Chale gar in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, Lothal at the head of the gulf of Cambay, Ban Kao and Nong Chae Sao on the Andaman Sea. Bukit Tengu Lembu, Gua Bimtong, Gua Cha, Gua Musang, Gua Kechil, Kelang Hilr, and Dengkil in Malaya, Gillmanuk Bali in Indonesia, and a number of sites on the Yellow River in Northwestern China.

“The earliest metal in South East Asia is found on the mainland dating to the late 3rd millenium BC. Bronze drums, many from the region of Dong Son in Northern Vietnam have been found throughout most of southeast asia. In southern Tailand and Malaya a group of sites contain remanants of the same style of pottery (the pottery tripod complex), suggesting that there was some level of cultural cohesion within this area.”

“The Times Atlas of Archaeology“, Hammond, London, 1988 pages 120-150 with a further bibliography under the title ‘metallurgy’ on page 286 In discussing where metals came from Whitiet says:

“Most people think that tin came to western asia from
Iran and perhaps Afganistan, mostly by land.”

Some did, but the article I cited on the manufacture of Bronze in Lothal seems to indicate that a much purer and higher grade metal was imported from the south.

“We have detailed records of tin trade from Mari from the 17th century. These are letters, and now accounts, of tin coming from Elam by land to Mari, on the Euphrates,
and then on to Aleppo, Qatna and Hosor in the west.”

And how did the tin come to Elam?Yes, Mari seems to have been an early industrial town specialising in producing finished goods from raw materials which were imported from all over the known world. As I said earlier, Centers of metallurgy in the 3rd millenium stretched continuously from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Mari was one of them. It was by no means the only such center. Elat at the head of the wadi Arabah on the gulf of Aquaba was another such industrial town, and so was Elim located near the mines
of the wadi hammaat.

….. outside of Mesopotamia there are people working bronze from Iberia to China, I rather doubt the information is as scarce as you suppose, since I can easily find reference to it in my sources some of which date back more than a decade.

“Moreover, there is such a thing as indirect trade, and this tin could have come from anywhere.”

I would not dispute that tin came from several sources, what I would suggest is that the Indus Valley was as likely to make its bronze with tin from Kozlu as Mari was to make its bronze with tin from Iberia.

When Lothal started making higher quality goods than Mari it got some of the business because of the well established trade routes through the gulf. Painted grey ware from Tamluk on the bay of Bengal is found in Lothal on the Gulf of Cambray south of the Rann of Kutch. Along with the pottery it probably got some tin. The key appears to have been the island of Ceylon which controlled the trade from southeast asia to India into modern times.

Also, there is now good evodence for tin mining in Anatolia. I don’t doubt some trade existed between Mari and Anatolia, as I mentioned earlier there are copies of the epic of Gilgamesh in the Hittites capital. I don’t know of any deposits of tin in Anatolia. In the 3rd millenium whatever tin came to Maris probably came from farther east around Tashkent and Muminabad in Turkestan or Lake Urmia or from Lothal.

“The sea was central to a good deal of this trade which
comprised an empireof sea trading islanders, with advanced
technology like a monopoly on metals and business connections
throughout and area “larger than Libya and Asia combined”.
No one doubts that there was maritime trade in antiquity, but this does not
imply any “empire of sea trading islanders”!!! Another invention!

In fact there is considerable evidence that small islands close to larger islands or a mainland were prefered as settlement sites by the people of the sea, (Gerard Herm) by whom I mean those who made their living off the oceans instead of agriculture.

They were well connected by family and business ties and there are many commercial correspondances which exist to prove that people from the Erythrian sea were in communication with their colonies in Siseon and Tyre. And of course we have the descriptions of such classical sources as the Periplus of the Erythrian Sea, Herodotus and Plato.

I suppose you think that absolutely nothing happened in the way of trade between India and its neighbors, despite the evidence that the trade around the gulf with Mesopotamia was quite brisk?

This is what Steve Whittet says about the proto-old world and how it interfaced with the Indus Valley Civilization:

“I would also draw the distinction between sea people and landfolk. Those who lived on islands and made their living from the sea by fishing, trade or piracy had much less in common with those engaged in agriculture or the domestication of animals on the adjacent mainland, than they did with other sea people a days sail away.”

The Phoenicians were strongly connected to the Phillistines or as the Egyptians called them, the Peleset.

The Peleset had a strong presence on Crete from c 1700 BC and so were in a sense neighbors to the Minoans.

The Minoans were strongly associated with the Mycenians and the Mycenians had a presence as far east as Anatolia and Crete.

Central to all this was the copper trade which was transported in boats from the 3rd millenium BC.

When the sea peoples began to war with the Egyptians, Hittites, Mycenians, etc; c 1200 BC and to make their presence felt everywhere around the Mediterranean, the question has to be asked where did these people come from?

There is some suspicion that it was a result of the movement of people from the Erythrian Sea (Herodotus) who had begun to move west and north in the 3rd millenium and having passed through Egypt and the Red Sea to reach the Mediterranean, represented a connection between their point of origin and every culture they contacted on their journey.

That begins with Mesopotamia engaged in trade with Dilmun, Maakan and the Indus Valley. The trade extended from the Indus Valley and the Rahn of Kush to Meluuha, (Indonesia and points beyond) the bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Aden to Punt and Ophir.

Indonesian provided a connection to Tin which was itself probably developed as a source by the first Bronze Age Asians from Vietnam and China.

At that point Egypt became involved and the trade moved into the Red Sea.

The western Techno complex traded across the Red Sea with Egypt from Elat to Elim and farther south from Yanbu, the Wadi Hammaat and Punt.

The sea was central to a good deal of this trade which comprised an empire of sea trading islanders, with advanced technology like a monopoly on metals and business connections throughout and area “larger than Libya and Asia combined”.

As Bernal put it:

“A generation later. According to both [Thucydides and Herodotus], Pelasgians formed the bulk, though not the whole of the early population of Greece and the Aegean and most of them were gradually assimilated by the Hellenes. Herodotos saw this transformation as having taken place after the invasion by Danaos, which he envisioned around the middle of the second millenium BC, and he described the Egyptian Danaids as having taught the Pelasgians the worship of the gods.

I agree that the Egyptians invented and developed religion and philosophy, including natural philosophy or science, art, culture and the unity of nations as the modern western world came to know them. The Greeks borrowed what the Egyptians invented and added on a bit more besides.

Supporting the theory of commercial cvilization Terence W.E. Moran provides the following references to trade between Pre Sargon Sumer and the IVC :

A Maritime History of India – Commander K.Sridharan – 1965 – Pg.7&8 -
Sea trade with Sumer and Elam as early as 3,000 BPE
The Sumerians – C.L.Woollley – 1965 – Pg 8 & 9 ‘identical rectangular stamp seals identical in form, similarities in terra-cotta figures, building methods & ground-plans all point to extensive contact’
The Sea Craft of Prehistory – 1980 – P.Johnstone – Pg173 – refering to 3d millennia trade’ It is now quite clear that the Harappans engaged in highly organised sea-trading ventures to the west, and that it is at least possible that as well as Mesopotamia and the Arabian Gulf area, the southern coasts of Iran, Arabia and possibly even the east coast of Africa could have been involved in the sea trading activities of the Harappan period.’
Pg. 183 Ur-Nanshe of Lagash (2450 BPE) records ships of Dilmun bringing wood. Gudea 300 yrs. later makes the same claim, he also quotes Kramer translating an Ur tablet as ‘May the land Meluhha bring you tempting previous cornelian, mes-shagan wood, fine sea-wood, sailors’ and quotes Hourani as saying that all timber for hulls built anywhere east or south of Suez nearly always came from India and its islands, the only exceptions being the fleets of Sennacherib and Alexander – Johnstone concludes that the Sumerians built wooden hulls after IVC teak became available.
Civilizations before Greece and Rome -1989-H.W.Saggs-Pg140 – ‘ 3d
Millennium links between Mesopotamia and the Indus valley are Indisputable.’ He notes that hump backed bull seals are found in Mesopotamia as well as south-west Iran and that seals from Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf are found at Mohenjo-daro and Lothal. Saggs on Pg. 142 mentions that the Dilmun weight standard was used in the Indus valley and that Indus ivory combs have been found at Dilmun.
Since Sumer imported almost everything except mud, things that grew in mud, and things that ate the things that grew in mud it should be no suprise that her exports of grains, wool, leather and oils would not leave a record. The IVC’s exports of teak, other wood, cotton & exotic animals likewise leaves few artifacts. The records of the traders may be the only clue’s left. ‘Lu-enlilla has received as goods for the purchase of copper, 60 talents of wool, . . . 70 ushbar garments, . . 6 kur of good linseed oil, . . .180 leather goods . . . put in a ship for Magan’ this 3d Dynasty document from Ur post dates Sargon and is destined for Magan rather than Meluhha but shows the types of materials exported – all destined to leave no remains.