ABSTRACT
Geography has made Iran and India neighbours accessible to each other both by sea as well as land routes. In view of this it is hardly surprising that over two millennia, the two countries developed intimate cultural, diplomatic and economic contacts. Sasanian Iran carried on maritime trade with India1 and trade relations did not wither away when the Arabs captured Sindh in ad 711. V.K. Jain quoting Abu Said (ad 916) writes, ‘Hindu merchants visited Siraf in large numbers and maintained cordial relations with Muslim merchants’. 2 He also asserts on the basis of the writings of sea captain Buzurg (tenth century) that Hindu traders travelled to the Persian Gulf.3 A Jain merchant Jagdu of Gujarat had agents at Hormuz.4 His ships carried his goods to Iran.5
