why were ports important during the *mediaeval* period
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ABSTRACT. After first noting the scarcity of Indian sources that evoke the sea, the author describes a panorama of ports depicted in literary and archeological sources from Sindh to the Bengal coast by way of the Sri-Lankan ports. She highlights the economic importance of the Coromandel Coast in liaison with the politics of the Cola dynasty and the Ceylon coasts that profited from the large volume of commerce between China and the Arab world.
RÉSUMÉ. L'auteur, après avoir noté la rareté des sources indiennes évoquant la mer, donne un panorama des ports connus par les sources littéraires et l'archéologie, depuis le Sindh jusqu'à la côte du Bengale, en passant par les ports du Sri Lanka ; elle montre l'importance économique des côtes du Coromandel, en liaison avec la politique de la dynastie des Cola, et des côtes de Ceylan, bénéficiant du grand commerce entre la Chine et le monde arabe.
There are many words for ‘ocean’ in Sanskrit: besides sāgara and samudra, we come across terms like abdhi, ambu[ni]dhi, ambho[ni]dhi, arnava, udadhi, jala[ni]dhi, payodhi, vāridhi, vārirāśi, varunālaya, sindhu, and others. But the abundance of expressions to denote ‘the sea’ or a particular ocean should not make one expect a rich Indian literature on maritime themes. There is ample evidence for metaphorical references to the ocean. Ships travelling to foreign countries and coming from there to India, as well as seaports and harbours where they land, are frequently mentioned. But documents systematically dealing with several aspects of maritime life are lacking, not to speak of maps recording the spatial extension of the Indian Ocean or its segments and the location of its anchorages. Some of the texts may be lost, but indigenous historiographic or encyclopaedic works about maritime activities do not seem to have existed in premodern, or to be precise, in pre-Islamic, India. Therefore, foreign sources are of great importance. A few glimpses of maritime contacts can also be gained from Indian inscriptions. The results of maritime and coastal archaeology should, of course, be consulted as well.
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