ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the links between the west coast of India and the African continent dating back to two millennia. The early inhabitants of India were fully aware of the existence of the African continent, which was referred to as the Dark Continent. The evidence suggests that merchants from Gujarat must have undertaken sea voyages on the Indian Ocean in antiquity. The clay seals excavated in ancient Mesopotamia provide evidence of the organisation of this trade. There is concrete evidence of a network of trade linking up the Tigris to the Indus and its extension west of the Euphrates as far as the Nile. This Indian Ocean trade involved movement of goods as well as people. Terracotta models of ships found in excavations at Indus sites in Western India suggest that there existed the technical skills and knowledge to construct ships, which were sea worthy. Drawing from the findings of recent archaeological excavations, this chapter describes the ancient maritime trade relations along the Indian Ocean and the exchange of goods and ideas. It also provides a description of the original homelands of the Africans who settled in India including Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia and the Swahili Coast.
