Ports of West coast of India

5.1 Do you know

Description Image Source India has a long history of maritime trade which goes back to the Harappan period and established trade centres and settlements overseas.

Lothal, Prabhas, Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Bharuch, Somnath,

Mahuva and Diu were the well-known ports of Gujarat. Bharuch was one of the important ports of Gujarat as well as the west coast of India.

Bharuch had maritime contacts with Babylonia, Persian Gulf, Egypt, Arabian countries, Suvarnabhumi (Burma) and Yavadwipa (Java) and Sri Lanka.

Sopara was also one of the administrative units under the Satavahanas, was a busy trade centre and a principal seat of Buddhism.

Karnataka has a long coastline bordering the Arabian Sea with many ports and trade centres.

Archaeological and literary evidence suggests that Karnataka had overseas trade contacts with Egypt, Socotra

Island, Malaysia, Java and Sumatra, Cambodia, Champa and China from the beginning of the Christian era.

Kerala had many ancient ports, namely Naura, Muzuris,

Nelcynda, , Balita and Comari.

Like the ports of the east coast of India, west coast had many ports which contributed to the growth of maritime trade and spread of Indian culture.

5.3 Web links

Web links http://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/the-ancient-ports-of-india/article18198307.ece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_maritime_history https://www.geospatialworld.net/article/ancient-ports-of-gujarat/ http://www.indiamarks.com/ports-of-india-the-oldest-seven/ http://www.ycmglobal.com/trade_and_commerce_in_ancient_india

5.3 Bibliography

Bibliography Apte, B. K., 1973. A history of the Maratha Navy and merchantships. Maharashtra State Board for Literature and Culture, Bombay. Cherian, P. J., 2015. Pattanam Represents the Ancient Urban Periyar RiverValley Culture: 9th Season Excavation Report (2014‐15). Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Vol. 3: 738‐759. Gaur, A. S., Sundaresh., and Vora, K.H., 2008. Underwater Archaeology of Dwarka and Somnath (1997-2002). Aryan Books International, New Delhi. Gaur, A. S., Sundaresh., Vora, K. H., 2005. Archaeology of Bet Dwarka Island: An Excavation Report.Aryan Books International, New Delhi and NIO, Goa. Ghosh, A.,(Ed.), 1989. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. Vol. I and II, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi. Gupta, S. P., Dalal, K. F., Dandekar, A., Nanji, R., Aravazhi, P., and Bomble, S., 2004. On the footsteps of Zoroastrian Paris in India: Excavations at Sanjan on the West coast - 2003. Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology, Vol. 1: 93-106. Gupta, S. P., Gupta, S., Garge, T., Pandey, R., Geetali, A., Gupta, S., 2004. On the fast track of the Periplus: Excavations at Kamrej- 2003. Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology, Vol. 1: 9-33. Hebalkar, S., 1999. Ancient Indian Ports. Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi.Hourani, G. F., 1975, Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in ancient and early medieval times. Octagon Books, New York. Kumar, A., Rajesh, S. V., Abhayan, G. S., Vinod, V., Stephen, S., 2015. International maritime trade: Evidences from Vizhinjam excavations, South . Imperial Rome, Indian Ocean Regions and , (Ed.), K. S. Mathew, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi: 297-306. Mookerji, R. K., 1912. Indian shipping: A history of the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of the Indians from the earliest times. Longmans, Green & Co, Bombay. Rajendran, P., 2014. Antiquities from the Seabed at , District, Karalam, South India.Puratattava, No. 44: 58-62.

Rao, S. R., 1973.Lothal and the Indus Civilization. Asia Publishing House, Bombay.

Rao, S. R., 1987.Progress and Prospects of Marine Archaeology in India.NIO, Goa.

Selvakumar, V., 2015.Ancient ports of Kerala: An Overview. Imperial Rome, Indian Ocean Regions and Muziris, (Ed.), K. S. Mathew, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi: 269-296. Sila Tripati., A. S. Gaur and Sundaresh., 2014. Maritime Archaeology and Shipwrecks off Goa. Kaveri Books, New Delhi. Sila Tripati., Saxena, M.K., Sundaresh., Gudigar, P., and Bandodker, S.N., 1998. Marine archaeological exploration and excavation of Vijaydurg - a naval base of the Maratha Period, Maharashtra, on the west coast of India. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Vol. 27 (1): 51-63. Sridharan, K., 1982. A Maritime History of India. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi. Sundaresh., 1991. Preliminary exploration of south Kanara coast of Karnataka. Journal of Marine Archaeology, Vol. 2: 55-59. Swamy, L. N., 2012. Some aspects of south Indian shipping. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, New Delhi.