ملخص الجهاز:
A study of India's political, cultural and commercial relations with the Arab nations of West Asia and North Africa during the past centuries is an academic task that has not only become overdue but is of great desirability to-day.
The history of India's commercial relations with the Arabs goes back to very ancient times to the days of the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt and the Himayarite civilization of southern· Arabia.
Several centuries before the rise of Islam the Arab merchants, mainly belonging to the southern coasts of Arabia or to the Persian Gulf, traded with India and acted as agents of trade between India- and the western world, i.
I have ventured to make this bold statement for it is an historical fact that with the exception of the Arab conquest of Sind during the early years of the 8th century and their shortlived rule in that region, their relations with India have by and large remained either commercial or cultural.
The ancient ports of Ubulla, Darayn and Sohar continued to play their role" and in time Basra was also developed and during the succeeding centuries acquired the significance of a Liverpool for the Arabs, where the imports and exports of the East and the West were stocked and exchanged.
Goods imported from India, China, Egypt, East Africa and other countries were stocked here and then distributed to various centres of the Arab Empire; similarly, goods of export were carried from here to another port in the Persian Gulf, called Siraf, 16 and from there loaded on boats bound for India, China and other countries of the East.