Page 192 - DILMUN NO 20

Historical Links between lndia and the Gulf

possible that, along with these trade relations, some cultural exchange
occurred. Based on archaeological evidence, there is a resemblance
between a number of methods used in certain activities, such as fishing, boat
construction, measuring and weighing, in both civilizations. 9

Historians went on to say that these relations received a setback in the mid-
18th centuyr B.C. as a result of the decline in commercial ties between
Mesopotamia and lndia during the post-Hamurabi era in which the
Babylonian kings lost control over their southern ports and consequently
showed less interest in conducting trade with the lands located in the south.
10 However, there is much evidence that trade exchange between
Mesopotamia and india, and therefore between india and the Gulf region,
regained its strength during the Assyrian era in the first millennium B.C.

INDO-GULF RELATIONS BEFORE AND AFTER
THE AD٧ENT OF ISLAM

Long before the advent of lslam, india and indian commodities were known
to the
tribes of Arabia and were admired by them to the extent that they called their
daughters "Hind", the Arabic name for lndia. Moreover, Arabian poems
written in the pre-lslamic era (or Jahiliyah) contain many words praising or
referring to indian swords, silk, musk, and ambre.] For example, the word
"Muhannad', which means from "Hind" or lndia, was repeatedly used in these
poems as one of the many Arabic names for sword, The fact that many words
of lndo-European stock were used in the Ouranic versions and in ancient
Arabian poetry, the wto most important sources of Arabic philolog,y "is in itself
evidence of the long process of social and commercial intercourse that must
have taken place between lndia and the West Asian countries in the
centuries immediately preceding lslam'.١١

According to the Abu-Chacra, Ouraysh, the noble tribe in Western Arabia to
which Prophet Muhammed belonged, ran caravan trade from Mecca to lndia
through Central Arabia and the Gulf or through the Red Sea and lndian
Ocean utilizing seasonal winds (Monsoon). 12 However, since there is no
evidence that quraysh had shipping of their own it is more correct to say that