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Robert E. Gross
Colleftion

A Memorial to the Founder ^

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Business Administration Library
Los Angeles


A N


HISTORICAL

DISQUISITION

CONCERNING

The Knowledge which the Ancients had of
INDIA;

A N D T H E

PROGRESS of TRADE with that COUNTRY

prior to the Difcovery of the Paflage to it by the

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,

With an APPENDIX,

CONTAINING

Otfervatlons on the Civil Policy — the Laws and Judicial Proceedings—
the Arts — the Sciences — and Religious Inftitutions,
of the INDIANS.


By WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D. D. F. R. S. Ed.

PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY, AND HISTORIOGRAPHER
TO HIS MAJESTY FOR SCOTLAND.


LONDON:

PRINTED rOR A. STRAHAN, AND T. CADELL IN THE STRAND}

AND E. BALFOUR AT EDINBURGH.

M DCCXCI,


PREFACE.


THE perufal of Major Rennell's Memoir for
illuftrating his Map of Indoftan, one of the
moft valuable geographical treatifes that has appeared
in any age or country, gave rife to the following
work. It fuggefted to me the idea of examining
more fully than I had done in the Introdudlory
Book to my Hiftory of America, into the know-
ledge which the Ancients had of India, and of
coniidering what is certain, what is obfcure, and
what is fabulous, in the accounts of that country
which they have handed down to us. In un-
dertaking this inquiry, I had originally no other
objed than my own amufement and inftrudtion :

a But


vl PREFACE.

But in carrying it on, and confulting with care the
authors of antiquity, fome fadls, hitherto unob-
ferved, and many which had not been examined
with proper attention, occurred ; new views
opened ; my ideas gradually extended and became
more interefting ; until, at length, I imagined that
the refult of my refearches might prove amufing
and inftruftive to others, by exhibiting fuch a view
of the various modes in which intercourfe with
India had been carried on from the earlieft times,
as might fhew how much that great branch of
commerce has contributed, in every age, to in-
creafe the wealth and power of the nations which
pofTefled it.

Thus the Hiftorical Difquifition which I now
lay before the Reader was begun and completed.
What degree of merit it poffeffes, the Public mufl:
determine. My grateful recolle(ftion of the fa-
vourable manner in which my other works have
been received, naturally increafes the folicitude with
which I wait for its decifion concerning this which
I now publifh.

When


PREFACE. yii

When I firft turned my thoughts to this fub-
je6t, I was fo fully aware of the difadvantage under
which I laboured in undertaking to defcribe coun-
tries of which I had not any local knowledge, that
I have been at the utmoft pains to guard againft
any errors which this might occalion. I have con-
fulted, with perfevering induflry, the works of
all the authors I could procure, who have given
any account of India ; I have never formed any
decided opinion, which was not fupported by re-
fpedlable authority ; and as I have the good for-
tune to reckon among the number of my friends
fome Gentlemen who have filled important fta-
tions, civil and military, in India, and who have
vifited many different parts of it, I had recourfe
frequently to them, and from their converfation
learned things which I could not have found in
books. Were it proper to mention their names,
the Public would allow that by their difcern-
ment and abilities they are fully entitled to the
confidence which I have placed in them.

a 2 In


viii PREFACE.

In the progrefs of the work, I became fenfible
of my own deficiency with refped: to another
point. In order to give an accurate idea of the
imperfedlion both of the theory and pra6lice of
navigation among the Ancients, and to explain with
fcientific precision, the manner in which they afcer-
tained the pofition of places, and calculated their
longitude and latitude, a greater portion of mathe-
matical knowledge was requifite, than my attention
to other ftudies had permitted me to acquire. What
I wanted, the friendfliip of my ingenious and re-
fpedlable Colleague, Mr. Play fair, Profeflbr of Ma-
thematics, has fupplied, and I have been enabled by
him to elucidate all the points I have mentioned, in
a manner which, I am confident, will afford my
Readers complete fatisfad:ion. To him, likewife,
I am indebted for the conflrudlion of two maps
neceffary for illuftrating this Difquifition, which
without his afliftance I could not have under-
taken.

I HAVE adhered, in this work, to an arrangement

I followed in my former compofitions, and to

1 2 which


PREFACE.

which the Public has been long accuftomed. I
have kept hiftorical narrative as much feparate as
poflible from fcientific and critical difcuflions, by
referving the latter for Notes and Illuftrations. I
flatter myfelf that I may claim, without prefump-
tion, the merit of having examined with diligence
what I fubmit to public infpeftion, and of having
referred, with fcrupulous accuracy, to the authors
from whom I have derived information*


College of Edinburgh,

May loth, 1791.


IX


O N T E N T S.


SECTION I.

Page


TNtercourfe with India^ from the ear lief Times ^
until the Co?iqueJl of Egypt by the Romans, i

S E C T I O N II.

Intercourfe with India^ from the Kfahlipment of
the Roman Dominion in Egypt, to the Co?tqtcef
of that Kingdom by the Mahomedans, 43

SECTION III.

Intercourfe with India, from the Conqueft of Egypt
by the Mahomedans, to the Difcovery of the-
Pajfage by the Cape of Good Hope, and the
Efablipment of the Portuguefe Dofni?tion in
the Eajl, - - » oi


xii CONTENTS.

SECTION IV.

Page

General Obfervatioits. - - 149

Notes and Illustrations. - 180

APPENDIX. - - 255

Notes to the Appendix. - 337


A N


A N


HISTORICAL DISQUISITION


CONCERNING


ANCIENT INDIA.


SECTION I.

Intercoiirfe with Ind'ia^ from the earliejl Tlmes^ until the Conquejl
of Egypt by the Romans,

WHOEVER attempts to trace the operations of men SECT,
in remote times, and to mark the various fteps of
their progrefs in any line of exertion, will foon have .the mor-
tification to find, that the period of authentic hiftory is ex-
tremely limited. It is little more than three thoufand years
fmce the Books of Mofes, the moft ancient and only genuine
record of what pafled in the early ages of the world, were

B compofed.


AN HISTORICAL DISQUISITION

compofed. Herodotus, the moft ancient Heathen hiftorlaii
whofe works have reached us, flourifhed a thoufand years
later. If we pufli our inqumes concerning any point beyond
the aera where written hiftory commences, we enter upon the
region of conjedure, of fable, and of uncertainty. Upon that
ground I will neither venture myfelf, nor endeavour to condud:
my readers. In my refearches concerning the intercourfe be-
tween the Eaftern and Weftern regions of the earth, and con-
cerning the progrefs of that great branch of trade, which, in
every age, has contributed fo confpicuoufly towards raifing the
people who carried it on, to wealth and power, I fhall con-
fine myfelf within the precinds I have marked out. Whei-e-
ever the infpired writers, intent upon higher objeds, mention
occafionally any circumftance that tends to illuftrate the fubjed
of my inquiries, I fhall attend to it with reverence. What-
ever other writers relate, I fhall examine with freedom, and
endeavour to afcertain the degree of credit to which they are
entitled.

The original ftation allotted to man by his Creator, was in
the mild and fertile regions of the Eaft. There the human
race began its career of improvement ; and from the remains
of fciences which were anciently cultivated, as well as of arts
which were anciently exercifed in India, we may conclude
it to be one of the firft countries in which men made any
confiderable progrefs in that career. The wifdom of the Eaft
was early celebrated % and its produdions were early in re-

» I Kings, Iv. 30.

quefl


CONCERNING ANCIENT INDIA. 3

queft among diftant nations ''. The intercourfe, however, be- SECT.

tween different countries was carried on at firft entirely by

land. As the people of the Eaft appear foon to have acquired

complete dominion over the ufeful animals % they could

early undertake the long and toilfome journies which it was

neceflary to make, in order to maintain this intercourfe ; and

by the provident bounty of Heaven, they were furnilhed with

a beaft of burden, w'ithout whofe aid it would have been im-

poffible to accomplifh them. The Camel, by its perfevering

flrength, by its moderation in the ufe of food, and the

Angularity of its internal ftrudure, which enables it to lay in a

ftock of water fufEcient for feveral days, put it in their power

to convey bulky commodities through thofe deferts, which

rnuft be traverfed by all who travel from any of the countries

weft of the Euphrates towards India. Trade was carried on

In this manner, particularly by the nations near to the Arabian

Gulf, from the earliefl period to which hiftorical information

reaches. Diftant journies, however, would be undertaken at

firft only occafionally, and by a few adventurers. But by

degrees, from attention to their mutual fafety and comfort,

numerous bodies of merchants affembled at ftated times, and

forming a temporary alTociation (known afterwards by the

name of a Caravan), governed by officers of their own choice,

and fubje
them the utility, they performed journies of fuch extent and

duration, as appear aftoniftiing to nations not accuftomed to

this mode of carrying on commerce.

•" Gen. xxxvii. 25. ' Ibid. xii. 16. xxiv. 10, 11.

B 2 But


AN HISTORICAL DISQUISITION

But notwkhftanding every Improvement that could be made
In the manner of conveying the produdions of one country
to another by land, the inconveniences which attended it were
obvious and unavoidable. It was often dangerous; always
expenfive, and tedious, and fatiguing. A method of commu-
nication more eafy and expeditious was fought, and the inge-
nuity of man gradually difcovered, that the rivers, the arms
of the fea, and even the ocean itfelf, were deftined to open and
facilitate intercourfe with the various regions of the earth,
between which they appear, at firft view, to be placed as
infuperable barriers. Navigation, however, and fhip-building,
(as I have obferved in another w^ork ^ ) are arts fo nice and
complicated, that they require the talents, as well as experience
of many fucceffive ages, to bring them to any degree of per-
fedlon. From the raft or canoe, which firft ferved to carry a
favage over the river that obftrudled him in the chace, to the
conftrudion of a veffel capable of conveying a numerous
crew, or a confiderable cargo of goods, to a diftant coaft, the
progrefs of improvement is immenfe. Many efforts would be
made, many experiments would be tried, and much labour as
well as ingenuity would be employed, before this arduous and
important undertaking could be accomplifhed.

Even after fome improvement was made in fhip-building,
the intercourfe of nations with each other by fea was far from
being extenfive. From the accounts of the earlieft hiftorians,
■we learn that navigation made its firft efforts in the Medlter-

^ Hift. of , America, vol. i. p. 2.

ranean


CONCERNING ANCIENT INDIA.

ranean and the Arabian Gulf, and in them the firft a£llve
operations of commerce were carried on. From an attentive
infpedion of the pofition and form of thefe two great inland
feas, thefe accounts appear to be highly probable. Thefe^ feas
lay open the continents of Europe, Afia, and Africa, and
fpreading to a great extent along the coafts of the moft fertile
and moft early civilized countries in each, feem to have been
deftined by nature to facilitate their communication with one
another. We find, accordingly, that the firft voyages of the
Egyptians and Phenicians, the moft ancient navigators men-
tioned in hiftory, were made in the Mediterranean. Their
trade, however, was not long confined to the countries bor-
dering upon it. By acquiring early pofleffion of ports on the
Arabian Gulf, they extended the fphere of their commerce,
and are reprefented as the firft people of the Weft who opened
a communication by fea with India,

In that account of the progrefs of navigation and difcovery
which I prefixed to the Hiftory of America, I confidered with
attention the maritime operations of the Egyptians and Phe-
nicians ; a brief review of them here, as far as they relate to
their connedion with India, is all that is requifite for illuftrat-
ing the fubjed: of my prefent inquiries. With refpedl to the
former of thefe people, the information which hiftory affords is
Ilender, and of doubtful authority. The fertile foil and mild
climate of Egypt produced the neceftaries and comforts of life
in fuch profufion, as to render its inhabitants fo independent of
other countries, that it became early an eftablifhed maxim in
their policy, to renounce all intercourfe with foreigners. In
2 * onfequence


6 AN HISTORICAL DISQUISITION

SECT, confequence of this, they held all fea-faring perfons in detefla-
tion, as impious and profane ; and fortifying their harbours,
they denied ftrangers admiffion into them '.

The enterprifing ambition of Sefoftris, difdainlng the re-
ftraints impofed upon it by thefe contradled ideas of his fub-
jedls, prompted him to render the Egyptians a commercial
people ; and in the courfe of his reign, he fo completely ac-
complifhed this, that [li we may give credit to fome Hiftorians)
he was able to fit out a fleet of four hundred fliips in the
Arabian Gulf, which conquered all the countries ftretching along
the Erythrean fea to India. At the fame time, his army,
led by himfelf, marched through Afia, and fubjedled to his do-
minion every part of it as fsx as to the banks of the Ganges ;
and, crofling that river, advanced to the Eaftern Ocean ^
But thefe efforts produced no permanent effefl:, and appear
to have been fo contrary to the genius and habits of the
Egyptians, that, on the death of Sefoftris, they refumed their
ancient maxims, and many ages elapfed before the commercial
connedlion of Egypt with India came to be of fuch importance
as to merit any notice in this Difquifition ^.

The hiftory of the early maritime operations of Phenlcia are
not involved in the fame obfcurity with thofe of Egypt. Every
circumftance in the charader and fituation of the Phenicians,

• Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. p. 78. edit. Weflelingi. Amft. 1746. Strab. Geog.
lib. xvii. p. 1142. A. edit. Cafaub. Amft. 1707.

' Diod. Sic. lib. i. p. 64. « See NOTE I.

7 was


CONCERNING ANCIENT INDIA.

was favourable to the commercial fpirlt. The territory which
they poflefled, was neither large nor fertile. It was from
commerce only, that they could derive either opulence or
power. Accordingly, the trade carried on by the Phenicians
of Sidon and Tyre, w^as extenfive and adventurous ; and, both
in their manners and policy, they refemble the great com-
mercial dates of modern times, more than any people in the
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