The Hindu : Life & Style / Kids : Connecting with the Romans
Coins help archaeologists and historians discover the history, culture, economy and religious importance of a bygone era.
The Government Museum of Chennai, the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, New Delhi and the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chennai, have organised an exhibition on Roman Coins and other Roman antiquities found in South India.
The tale of trade between India and the Roman empire highlights the mood of the exhibition. The journey was arduous and filled with many adventures. But for the traders, it was a journey that brought them riches and they risked their lives to get it. Just before and after the Christian era, Romans began to trade with India. They watched out for the trade winds of the monsoons and landed in the west coast of India. They travelled through the jungles of the Western Ghats and then by crossing the Palghat pass reached the region of Coimbatore. Here they bought the varied spices and precious gems. But gradually they learned to sail round the Southern tip of India and reach the ports of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on the East coast.
While the relationship between the two countries began with trade, there were more connections to come — diplomatic ties, exchange of art and culture, so much so that many aspects of Roman politics, society and culture mingled with Indian traditions and beliefs.
The exhibition hall displayed the different coins that were found in many parts of Tamil Nadu. Imitations of the Roman coins were found too in many sites in India, and these were produced in India. It is believed that when there was a shortage of genuine coins from the West, the imitations wee produced here.
Displayed also were precious stones, the terracotta in Arikamedu, beads, fragments of figurines and armlets of Cornelian. Roman coins were also used as jewellery. they were hung round the neck and looked similar to the “Kasu malai” of Tamil Nadu. These special coins were found in Gumada in Andhra Pradesh and in Sooriyapattu in Tamil Nadu.
The importance of Arikamedu as the main trade site, was highlighted in the exhibition. While there were other sites in South India like Pattanam in Kerala and Karur and Alagankulam in Tamil Nadu, it is Arikamedu in Pondicherry, that is properly identified and documented. This 34-acre ancient Roman trade centre was declared a protected site in the 1940s and in 2003 was owned by the ASI 9Archeological survey of India.) Mortimer Wheeler's excavation in 1945 inspired other excavations in India. and the methods and principals of Stratigraphy-based (the study of rock layers and the layering process (stratification); the layering of deposits, with newer remains overlaying older ones, forming a chronology of the site.During excavation, archaeologists are not just concerned with what is at the bottom of their unit. They are also keenly interested in their sidewalls, where they can get a profile view of the stratigraphy in the archaeological deposit.)
That were used in Arikamedu are still in use today.
The largest amount of Mediterranean amphora (long conical jars with handles on both sides) jars has been found in Arikamedu. These came to India filled with — wine, olive oil, fish sauce and apples. The goods that the Romans came for were — gems, silk, cotton, ivory, spices, sandalwood and peacocks.
There were shards of pottery, carefully housed in the glass displays. These fragments of pottery bore inscriptions in Tamil language and in Tamil Brahmi script, of the 2nd century B.C. – 3rd century A.D. They also had pieces of pottery that had Prakrit, old Sinhalese and Lain.
Another interesting aspect of the exhibition was the focus on ancient Tamil epic poems and Greaco Roman literary works that threw light on the trade between the countries.
For example in the Tamil Sangam (composed at the Sangam or the “confluence of Tamil scholars” in Madurai, capital of the Tamil Pandiya kingdom) poems, especially the “Ahananuru” and the “Purananuru” there are references to the rising and successful trade. These foreign traders were known as “Yavanas.”
A verse in the “Ahananuru” describes the Malabar port of Muziris, where the Yavanas paid gold for pepper.
‘When the town where the good ships,
Masterpieces of the Yavanas,
Stirring the white foam of the Periyar, river of the Cheras,
Sail in with gold and sail off with pepper
When this Muziris overflowing with posperity
Was besieged with the din of war…”
There is information how the Yavanas were in great demand in Tamil Nadu for the technical abilities and were employed as builders, carpenters and blacksmiths. Tamil kings made them build war weapons like “siege engines.” As they were strong, they made excellent gatekeepers and bodyguards.
The poems describe the Yavana lamps that had steady flames and burned without flickering. They were described to be in shapes of a swan and very similar to the “Pavai Villaku” of Tamil Nadu.
In Greaco Roman literature of Pliny, Ptolemy and otheres, detailed and accurate accounts are given of the trade ties between the Roman Empire and India.
The Curator, Numismatics Section of the Museum, says this exhibition is a boon to students as it brings alive their lessons. It documents the commercial and the cultural ties and the ancient maritime heritage and monopoly of trade.
The Government Museum of Chennai, the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, New Delhi and the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chennai, have organised an exhibition on Roman Coins and other Roman antiquities found in South India.
The tale of trade between India and the Roman empire highlights the mood of the exhibition. The journey was arduous and filled with many adventures. But for the traders, it was a journey that brought them riches and they risked their lives to get it. Just before and after the Christian era, Romans began to trade with India. They watched out for the trade winds of the monsoons and landed in the west coast of India. They travelled through the jungles of the Western Ghats and then by crossing the Palghat pass reached the region of Coimbatore. Here they bought the varied spices and precious gems. But gradually they learned to sail round the Southern tip of India and reach the ports of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on the East coast.
While the relationship between the two countries began with trade, there were more connections to come — diplomatic ties, exchange of art and culture, so much so that many aspects of Roman politics, society and culture mingled with Indian traditions and beliefs.
The exhibition hall displayed the different coins that were found in many parts of Tamil Nadu. Imitations of the Roman coins were found too in many sites in India, and these were produced in India. It is believed that when there was a shortage of genuine coins from the West, the imitations wee produced here.
Displayed also were precious stones, the terracotta in Arikamedu, beads, fragments of figurines and armlets of Cornelian. Roman coins were also used as jewellery. they were hung round the neck and looked similar to the “Kasu malai” of Tamil Nadu. These special coins were found in Gumada in Andhra Pradesh and in Sooriyapattu in Tamil Nadu.
The importance of Arikamedu as the main trade site, was highlighted in the exhibition. While there were other sites in South India like Pattanam in Kerala and Karur and Alagankulam in Tamil Nadu, it is Arikamedu in Pondicherry, that is properly identified and documented. This 34-acre ancient Roman trade centre was declared a protected site in the 1940s and in 2003 was owned by the ASI 9Archeological survey of India.) Mortimer Wheeler's excavation in 1945 inspired other excavations in India. and the methods and principals of Stratigraphy-based (the study of rock layers and the layering process (stratification); the layering of deposits, with newer remains overlaying older ones, forming a chronology of the site.During excavation, archaeologists are not just concerned with what is at the bottom of their unit. They are also keenly interested in their sidewalls, where they can get a profile view of the stratigraphy in the archaeological deposit.)
That were used in Arikamedu are still in use today.
The largest amount of Mediterranean amphora (long conical jars with handles on both sides) jars has been found in Arikamedu. These came to India filled with — wine, olive oil, fish sauce and apples. The goods that the Romans came for were — gems, silk, cotton, ivory, spices, sandalwood and peacocks.
There were shards of pottery, carefully housed in the glass displays. These fragments of pottery bore inscriptions in Tamil language and in Tamil Brahmi script, of the 2nd century B.C. – 3rd century A.D. They also had pieces of pottery that had Prakrit, old Sinhalese and Lain.
Another interesting aspect of the exhibition was the focus on ancient Tamil epic poems and Greaco Roman literary works that threw light on the trade between the countries.
For example in the Tamil Sangam (composed at the Sangam or the “confluence of Tamil scholars” in Madurai, capital of the Tamil Pandiya kingdom) poems, especially the “Ahananuru” and the “Purananuru” there are references to the rising and successful trade. These foreign traders were known as “Yavanas.”
A verse in the “Ahananuru” describes the Malabar port of Muziris, where the Yavanas paid gold for pepper.
‘When the town where the good ships,
Masterpieces of the Yavanas,
Stirring the white foam of the Periyar, river of the Cheras,
Sail in with gold and sail off with pepper
When this Muziris overflowing with posperity
Was besieged with the din of war…”
There is information how the Yavanas were in great demand in Tamil Nadu for the technical abilities and were employed as builders, carpenters and blacksmiths. Tamil kings made them build war weapons like “siege engines.” As they were strong, they made excellent gatekeepers and bodyguards.
The poems describe the Yavana lamps that had steady flames and burned without flickering. They were described to be in shapes of a swan and very similar to the “Pavai Villaku” of Tamil Nadu.
In Greaco Roman literature of Pliny, Ptolemy and otheres, detailed and accurate accounts are given of the trade ties between the Roman Empire and India.
The Curator, Numismatics Section of the Museum, says this exhibition is a boon to students as it brings alive their lessons. It documents the commercial and the cultural ties and the ancient maritime heritage and monopoly of trade.
