Chapter Eight
Contact and Interaction
Chapter 8 Slide 1
Learning Objectives
1. What were the different types of contact
and interaction that took place in
ancient India, China and Southeast
Asia?
2. What were the impact of these contact
and interaction on the ancient people?
3. How did the ancient people respond to
contact and interaction?
Chapter 8 Slide 2
Talk to your partner!
1. Have you travelled to other countries?
2. What was the purpose of your travel?
3. What did you learn or observe during your travel?
4. Do you notice that there is increased contact and interaction among
people today?
5. Why do you think this is so?
Despite the dangers of travelling in the
Gobi Desert people still continued to
do so.
1. Why do you think they did so?
2. What do you think are the
different ways in which they did so?
Chapter 8 Slide 3
Despite the dangers of travelling in the
Gobi Desert people still continued to
do so.
1. Why do you think they did so?
- No other alternative route
- Need to travel to new lands to gain
goods and knowledge
Chapter 8 Slide 3
DIFFERENT WAYS OF TRAVEL
IN ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS
What Is …?
Overland Trade
Maritime Trade
Chapter 8 Slide 4
What Is …?
Overland Trade
Trade conducted by those who travel across land
Maritime Trade
Trade conducted by those who travel by sea
Chapter 8 Slide 4
Advantages
1. Able to obtain scarce resources by
traveling to other countries.
2. Able to return home with new ideas
and goods from different cultures.
3. Able to obtain scarce resources by
traveling even further to other
countries.
Risk
1. Wild animals and armed robbers
are a threat to the traders and the
livestock.
Overland
Trade
Advantages
1. Able to obtain scarce
resources by traveling even
further to other countries.
2. Able to return home with
new ideas and goods from
different cultures.
3. If you decide to build a port,
ships will stop there and
trade with the local people.
This will improve the
economy of your country.
Risk
1. Pirates may attack and
rob ships at sea
Maritime
trade
What Is…?
Territorial Expansion
Diplomacy
Chapter 8 Slide 5
What Is…?
Territorial Expansion
Waging war on other kingdoms to
control more land or trade routes
and obtain more wealth
Diplomacy
Forming peaceful relations with
other countries
Chapter 8 Slide 5
Advantages
1. Able to obtain scarce
resources.
2. Able to expand empire
Risk
1. May fail and lose your own
empire.
2. Need to spend precious
resources building an army
and buying weapons.
Territorial expansion
Advantages
1. Able to obtain scare
resources without investing
resources to build an army.
Diplomatic relations
2. Able to gain the protection of
other countries when your
territory is under attack.
3. Goods and ideas will be
exchanged freely amongst
the countries with diplomatic
ties.
Risks
1. Countries may not honour their diplomatic ties during a war.
2. Need to invest precious resources ensuring diplomatic ties
(for example, paying your diplomats.)
Source A: An excerpt from an Indian history book about the Chola Empire
Under his son Rajendra Chola I, the dynasty became a military, economic
and cultural power in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Its power spread to the
eastern world by the expedition to the Ganges which Rajendra Chola I
undertook, by overthrowing the empire of Srivijaya through naval wars and
by sending ambassadors repeatedly to China. He sent a victorious
expedition to North India and defeated the Pala ruler of Pataliputra,
Mahipala.
Study Source A. What can Source A tell you about the
contact and interaction of the Chola empire in the 10th
century CE?
Source A tells me :
1.) The Chola empire established contact and interaction with other
civilisations through territorial expansion.
Evidence: ‘overthrowing the empire of Srivijaya through naval wars’ and
‘defeated the Pala ruler of Pataliputra, Mahipala’.
2.) Trade was also a form of contact and interaction with other
civilisations.
Evidence: ‘military, economic, and cultural power in South Asia and
Southeast Asia’ and ‘by sending ambassadors repeatedly to China’.
This suggests that the Chola empire had great influence in the maritime
sea routes in Southeast Asia.
The empire also sent ambassadors to China and was likely to pay tribute
to China in order to trade with China freely.
OVERLAND TRADE IN INDIA
Pearls, corals and timber
were found near the
Indus Valley.
In other parts of India,
copper tools and cotton
cloth from the Indus
Valley were found.
Q: What does this show?
Overland Trade in India
1) Archaeologists have found evidence that the Indus
Valley Civilisation traded with other parts of India,
exchanging their copper tools and cotton textiles for pearls,
coral, or hardwood.
2.) Indus people traded with other people from the
Indian subcontinent.
Chapter 8 Slide 6
2.) No proper roads
Overland trade was
dangerous as traders
had to endure rough
and rocky roads, and
threats from wild
animals as well as
robbers.
Q: What did traders do?
2. No proper roads
They learned to band
together in groups of
500 men in order to be
able to protect
themselves as they
travelled along the
rough roads.
2.) No proper roads
By the Mauryan
Dynasty(c332-185BCE),
there was an extensive
network of trade routes
between India and the
Middle East, and the
Mauryans and Guptas
ensured that the roads
were well-maintained for
the comfort of the
traders.
2.) No proper roads
Because of the large
number of traders using
the protected routes,
the towns along the
way prospered (e.g.:
Jaisalmer), as overland
trade continued in the
18th century CE.
Look at pg. 127 fig 8.2 of your
textbook. Why do you think
Jaisalmer was surrounded by
such walls? What can you infer
about the town and its people
from this?
Overland Trade in India

The Indus people traded with other parts of
India, but the routes were difficult and
dangerous.
 By the Mauryan period, proper roads covered
the whole of India; there were also overland
routes between India and the Middle East.
 Towns along overland routes grew and
prospered.
Chapter 8 Slide 6
MARITIME TRADE IN INDIA
Q: What common features do you see?
Mesopotamian seal
Source A: Seal from
Mesopotamian (Present day Iran)
Indus seal
Source B: Seal from Indus Valley
Q: What can you infer from this source about the route they
took for maritime trade? Look at the map on page 126 (fig 8.1)
From Source C: A BBC website on trading in the Indus
Valley civilisation.
Sargon of Akkad (2334 to 2279 BC) was a king in
Mesopotamia. This was one of the first ancient civilisations.
Sargon's scribes kept written records of ships from other
lands. So we learn that the Mesopotamians bought gold,
copper and jewellery from 'Meluhha'. Was Meluhha the
Mesopotamian name for the Indus civilisation? Or was it the
Indus Valley people's own name for their land?
To reach Mesopotamia, Indus ships sailed west. They
probably kept close to land. Bits of old Indus pottery found on
beaches in Oman, in the Gulf, came from storage jars left
behind by traders.
Q: What can you infer from this source about the route they
took for maritime trade ? Look at the map on page 126 (fig 8.1)
From Source C: A BBC website on trading in the Indus
Valley civilisation.
Sargon of Akkad (2334 to 2279 BC) was a king in
Mesopotamia. This was one of the first ancient civilisations.
Sargon's scribes kept written records of ships from other
lands. So we learn that the Mesopotamians bought gold,
copper and jewellery from 'Meluhha'. Was Meluhha the
Mesopotamian name for the Indus civilisation? Or was it the
Indus Valley people's own name for their land?
To reach Mesopotamia, Indus ships sailed west. They
probably kept close to land. Bits of old Indus pottery found
on beaches in Oman, in the Gulf, came from storage jars left
behind by traders.
Maritime Trade in India
1.) Indus people used sail boats to travel along the
coastlines of Persia (Iran), Arabia and India
 An ancient port was found near the Indus Valley,
with docks for ships to load and unload their
goods.
 Seals from Indus Valley were found in
Mesopotamia (present day Iraq)
 Seals from Mesopotamia were found in Indus
Valley sites
 Indus people might have borrowed the idea of
using seals to mark goods from Mesopotamians
Chapter 8 Slide 7
Maritime Trade in India
2.) Sea routes began around 1 CE
Seasonal monsoon patterns of the Indian
Ocean were discovered by Greek ship
captain Hippalus
Group activity
1. You are to fill in, with the help of your
textbook, the answers to the questions.
2.
Join the pieces together in a map.
3. Trace out the route taken by Indian
traders.
Chapter 8 Slide 8
The Monsoon Patterns
http://www.rgs.org/webcasts/activities/monsoonindia.html
Chapter 8 Slide 9
Maritime Trade in India
3a.) Sea travel aided by monsoon winds
 From April to October :
Southwest Monsoons propel
ships from East Africa, Arabia
and the Persian Gulf to India
 From November to March:
NE monsoons carry the ships
back to their home ports.
Chapter 8 Slide 8
Maritime Trade in India
3b.) Sailors later discovered similar wind patterns
in the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea,
which greatly enhance trade between India and
China.
 The journey between India and China could not
be completed in a single monsoon season.
Chapter 8 Slide 8
Q: How would maritime trade have affected Southeast Asia?
Maritime Trade in India
3b.) Sailors later discovered similar wind
patterns in the Bay of Bengal and the South
China Sea, which greatly enhance trade
between India and China.
 The journey between India and China could not
be completed in a single monsoon season.
 SEA ports prospered as the ships had to stop
there. They traded with Southeast Asian traders as
well.
Chapter 8 Slide 8
Maritime Trade in India
4.) Maritime trade increased greatly between
the Roman Empire, India, Southeast Asia and
China.
Q: What problems would the traders encounter while
travelling across the seas?
Chapter 8 Slide 8
Maritime Trade in India
4.) Maritime trade increased greatly between
the Roman Empire, India, Southeast Asia and
China.
In 1025 CE, King
Rajendra of the
Chola Dynasty sent
a fleet of armed
ships to Sumatra,
Myanmar and the
Malay Peninsula in
order to keep the
ships safe from
pirates.
Chapter 8 Slide 8
Maritime Trade in India
1. The Indus people sailed along the coast of Persia to
trade with the people of Mesopotamia.
2. The Indus people may have borrowed the idea of
using seals to mark ownership from the
Mesopotamians.
3. The monsoon patterns allowed Indian maritime trade
to expand to Rome, China and Southeast Asia.
4. The problem of piracy forced some rulers to send
naval expeditions to suppress piracy.
Chapter 8 Slide 8
Territorial Expansion in
India
 Aryans moved into Ganges Plains
c. 1500 BCE
 Consequence: Sanskrit language
and culture gradually spread to
other parts of India
Chapter 8 Slide 10
 Indus Valley conquered by Alexander
the Great in 326 BCE
 Consequences:
1. Chaos and disorder in northern India
allowed Chandragupta to establish rule
2. Direct trade contact between India and
the eastern end of the Mediterranean
Sea was established
Chapter 8 Slide 11
Diplomacy
 Diplomatic relations with kingdoms and
empires outside India
 E.g. Greek Ambassador named
Megasthenes stationed at Pataliputra,
capital of the Gupta empire
Chapter 8 Slide 12