Page 168 - DILMUN NO 20

cONCLUSION ‫ﻱ‬

The mutual relationship between india and the Gulf region go back into pre­ ٩٩،"‫ﺭ‬,٠ ‫ﺽﺍ‬٠ ٣:‫ﺮ‬،‫ﺑ‬0•
history days. There is definite archeological evidence of contacts between
the ancient civilizations of both regions since the third millennium B.C. ‫ﺍ‬

These contacts included demographic movements, commercial intercourse
and probably cultural communications, The Gulf for centuries has acted as
abridge connecting lndia with the rest of the world on the west. History,
culture, and religion have all contributed to strengthen hte ties created by the
fact of geography. Moreover, the Gulf region throughout the centuries has
been a bone of contention among the powers desirous of securing of foot­
hold in lndia.

in the pre-lslamic period, there were many settlements of Arabs from Eastern
and Southern Arabia on the Malabar's coasts as a result of their commercial
adventures and their knowledge of navigation which took them far away from
their homes, On the other hand, there was also lndian immigration towards
the Gulf for a varieyt of reasons.

With the advent of lslam and its expansion beyond the Arabian peninsula,
lndo-Gulf commercial contacts deepened. And with the inclusion of Sind into
the lslamic Empire, they stretched to cover fields other than commerce. T‫ا‬e
mediaeval period is identified by many scholars as a golden age of these
relations as it witnessed enormous fruit‫ﻴ‬ul exchange between lndia and
Arabia in different fields. This was followed by a period of limited contacts due
to political and social fragmentation in both regions. The dominance over
these regions by the Portuguese during the 16th centuyr caused a further
setback. However, with hte fall of ndia and the Gulf under the British, lndo­
Gulf ties re-emerged and were encouraged by the colonial authorities. ln fact,
Britain's control over the Gulf was not for but also because of its empire in
lndia. During the British era, and until lndia‫ﻴ‬s independence in 1947, the Gulf
region was politically, economically, and administratively linked to hte lndian
Sub-continent. Its fate and entire affairs were decided in Bombay by the
British Indian Authorities. As a result, the Gulf's dependence on lndia
increased significantly in all aspects of life: This led to greater commercial
exchanges, demographic movements, and socio-cultural communications, all
which had a remarkable impact on the Gulf.