ABSTRACT
Indo-Russian contact is first of all a geographic fact. The two countries are contiguous at least at one point on the border line. Naturally, human intercourse which defies all barriers and obstacles and always strives forth is bound to exist between two such lands from times immemorial. Direct contact between Indian and Russian traders in the old towns of the Volga basin went back to the early 10th century and probably much earlier. Later, Russians and Indians did business together in Bukhara and other Central Asian markets. Even much earlier, Russian folk epic and oral tradition seemed to reflect tenuous but real contact with India and Indian products. Hindu merchants frequenting Central Asian centres also visited new Russian towns established along the expanding frontier of Russian influence. Some of this contact was more than casual because individual anecdotes about such encounters show that the Indians in question frequently spoke fluent Russian.
