1. A brief Historical account of the
Cotton Route & the Economic
Imperatives of its revival for India

2. • The ‘Indian Ocean Rim’
• Ancient Trade Routes in the Indian Ocean rim
• Historical account of Trade in the Indian Ocean rim
• The Cotton Trade – the Rise and the Fall
• Imperatives for India – Economic & Geo-political
• The Revival of the ancient trading relationships in the Indian
Ocean rim & Regional Cooperation
• Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

4. The Indian Ocean covers
68,536,000 square
kilometers, which is about a
fifth of the world's ocean
surface
India occupies a central and
strategic location in the
Indian Ocean area.

5. • The Indian Ocean covers 68,536,000 square kilometers, which is
about a fifth of the world's ocean surface
• The ‘Indian Ocean Rim’ touches Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica.
• Its outline extends from the East African coast north to the Arabian
Sea, down the western coast of India to Sri Lanka, and up India's
eastern coast, where it forms the Bay of Bengal.
• In the east, the region includes thousands of islands east of the Strait
of Malacca, the area between Southeast Asia and Australia that
leads to the Pacific.
• The Indian Ocean presents itself as a vital transit route among the
countries from Asia, the Pacific, Africa, and Europe, with vast cargo
traffic passing through the region.
• The world’s most important oil and gas routes traverse the Indian
Ocean, with roughly 55 % of known oil reserves and 40 % of gas
reserves.

6. And the Controls..

8. An anonymous work from around
the middle of the first century of
the Christian Era (CE/AD) written
by a Greek speaking Egyptian
merchant Indian peninsula was a
key supplier of cotton textiles and
spices among others
The first part of the work describes the maritime trade-routes following the north-
south axis from Egypt down the coast of East Africa as far as modern day Tanzania.
The remainder describes the routes of the East-West axis running from Egypt,
around the Arabian Peninsula and past the Persian Gulf on to the west coast of
India.

9. The Indian Ocean Rim
prominently features as
a part of the European
Trade routes

10. The Indian Ocean Rim
prominently features in
the trade network of
the Dutch East India
Company

11. Red is land route and the blue
is the sea/water route
The trade routes from India to
the west may be conveniently
divided under two heads: the
land routes and the marine
routes
Silk was not the only product that moved across the silk road.
Chinese consumption of cotton was significant, but remains largely undiscussed.
What used to be the silk route for Chinese silk also used to be, in the reverse direction, a cotton
route
Chinese literary texts refer to maritime and trade activity between India and China as far back as
the 7th century B.C

12. Archaeological discoveries from
sites at the Red Sea ports of
Berenice and Myos Hormos imply
that India used to export cotton
to a number of Central Asian
countries via the ancient silk
route.
A 2000 year old Cotton Route once existed between Indian and empires such as Rome, Egyypt,
Africa and Europe. These empires imported cotton cloth from the Indian subcontinent.
Barygaza (present-day Bharuch ) was the Indian port of that era, from where cotton would set
sail.
The Cotton Route, besides facilitating trade, used to serve as trade and cultural link between India
and its trading partners.

13. • The Indian Ocean trade routes connected Southeast Asia, India,
Arabia, and East Africa.
• Since 3rd century BC long distance sea trade moved across a web
of routes linking all of Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East
Africa as well as East Asia (particularly China)
• In the classical era, major empires involved in the Indian Ocean
trade included the Mauryan Empire in India, the Han Dynasty in
China, the Achaemenid Empire in Persia, and the Roman Empire in
the Mediterranean.
• Indian Ocean trade served as an important role in history, and has
been a key factor in East–West exchanges.
• Long distance trade in dhows and sailboats made it a dynamic
zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations
stretching from Java in the East to Zanzibar and Mombasa in the
West.

14. • The control of the Indian seas belong
predominantly to India till the 13th century
A.D.
• In respect of the Arabian Sea this control
meant only the freedom of navigation.
• In case of Bay of Bengal, supremacy was
both naval and political, based on an
extensive colonization of the islands
• The naval activity of the Indians was
controlled by organized corporations of
which the most important were the
Manigramam Chetties and the Nanadesis.
• The Sri Vijaya Kings maintained a powerful
navy which swept the sea of pirates.
• This supremacy ceased only with the
breakdown of Chola power in the 13th
century.
• Presently the western part of the Rim is
plagued with piracy

15. A brief history..

16. Prehistoric
Era, 90,000
BP to 5000
BCE
Ancient Era,
5000 to
1000 BCE
Classical
Era, 1000
BCE to 300
CE
Medieval
Era, 300 CE
- 1450 CE
First Global
Era, 1450
CE to 1770
CE
Industrial
and
Imperial
Era, 1770
CE to 1914
CE
Beginning of
farming and
humans on
the sea;
spread of
human
population
to all of the
continents
Trade along
the coasts
for fish,
shellfish, and
other goods
expanded to
include rare
items from
Africa such
as animal
skins,
feathers,
and ivory
Indian and
Arab ships
are known to
have sailed
directly from
Southern
Arabia to
the Malabar
coast of
India and
back
Trade
flourished in
the Indian
Ocean and
gradually
drew many
more regions
into its orbit.
Entry of
Western and
Northern
European
mariners into
the Indian
Ocean
caused
significant
changes in
trade and
other
exchanges
Takeover of
governments
by European
powers;
Extraordinar
y powers of
the East
India
Companies
were
replaced by
direct rule
from Britain

17. • There was trade within Asian waters in textiles, porcelain,
precious metals, carpets, perfume, jewellery, horses, timber,
salt, raw silk, gold, silver, medicinal herbs and many other
commodities
• Another major export item along the classical Indian Ocean
trade routes was religious thought. Buddhism, Hinduism, and
Jainism spread from India to Southeast Asia, brought by
merchants rather than by missionaries. Islam would later
spread the same way onwards 700s AD
• Economic and national security, and also cultural dominance
was ensured for that empire or imperial power which
controlled the trade routes
• The European East India Companies and later the imperial
British empire took over the trade and political control of the
Indian ocean rim, thus transforming the socio-cultural milieu of
the rim.

18. Its rise and fall..

19. • Textiles formed one of the chief items of export.
• In the early 16th century Gujarat region was a
leading center for cotton trade. Textiles from Gujarat
were exported to the Arab countries and to South-east
Asia.
• In the east Bengal was another important center for
trade in wide variety of textiles. Ibn Batuta, in the
14th century, reported of many cotton trade centers in
Bengal. Silks were also manufactured there. Textile
products included quilts of embroidered tussar, or
munga on a cotton or jute, silk and brocade edged
handkerchiefs.
• India's first cotton exports date back to the 1st century
AD

20. Textile trade in the Indian ocean region , particularly in India was
taken over by the East India companies of the European empires,
largely to meet the massive demand for Indian textiles, profitably.

21. Regaining Control over the Indian Ocean Rim Region

22. • India is fourth-largest economy in the world
• Major concern for India is meeting energy needs,
• 70% of India’s energy needs is dependent on oil import, major part of which comes
from gulf region
• China has increased its presence in ports near Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan
and its submarines have also been spotted near Sri Lanka.
• Although continental Shelf of Mumbai High, Gulf of Khambat and Krishna-Godavari
basin are rich in petroleum and natural gas. In spite of this India’s economic security
demands that all the sea lanes leading to the Indian Ocean, particularly the Suez
Canal and the Straits of Malacca be kept open at all the times.
• India’s national and economic interests are inseparably linked to the Indian Ocean
rim
• The Indian Ocean rim has to remain peaceful and free from superpower rivalry
• Increased cooperation among littoral countries in the region should be integral to
India’s foreign Policy (Look East policy, Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional
Cooperation, BIMSTECK and Ganga-Mekong Cooperation among others)

24. Formerly known as
Indian Ocean Rim
Association for Regional
Cooperation
India and Southeast Asia enjoy maritime relations that date back to ancient times.
Since trade between India and ASEAN is largely conducted through ocean, without a
stronger maritime connectivity it would not be possible to realize the full potential of
the regional free trade and cooperation agreements, which are already in place or are
currently under negotiation.

25. • A vibrant regional trading
arrangement, consisting of coastal
states bordering the Indian Ocean
• Seeks to foster regional and global
trade, cross-border investment
flows, bilateral and regional
sectoral cooperation and
harmonization of trade facilitation
and business practices
• Has seen five-fold rise in intra-
regional trade and significant
growth in the region’s global trade
experienced during the past
decade

26. Uddipan Nath
Faculty Member
IBS Business School, Kolkata
WDC Building, Plot-J3, Block-GP, Sector-V
Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091
Phone : 033-23577125
Mobile : 919830640744
Fax :0332357-
2901 Email : udnath@ibsindia.org
SSRN Author
Page: http://ssrn.com/author=2376099