Rome to Kabul, ancient India was a global player in trade. Kautilya’s Arthshastra tells all

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It is clear that Roman trade with India far surpassed the much-heralded trade via the Silk Route. Dalrymple further observes: “Contrary to popular ideas about the overland ‘Silk Roads,’ it is now clear that historians have been looking at entirely the wrong place when they thought about ancient trade routes. It was India, not China, that was the greatest trading partner of the Roman Empire.” Recent historical and archeological studies have revealed the enormous volume and value of ancient Indo-Roman maritime trade via the Red Sea. Summarising some of the conclusions of these studies, the writer and historian William Dalrymple...