ABSTRACT
It is well known that over a period of several centuries prior to the fifteenth, a fairly wide-ranging and sophisticated network of maritime trade had emerged in Asia. This network linked ports in the Arabian Sea to those in the South China Sea via a whole range of ports in the Bay of Bengal. India played a fairly central role in this network both in a purely geographic as well as in a more intrinsic sense. By virtue of her relatively advanced structure of manufacturing production and her capacity to provide large quantities of a basic manufactured consumption good such as inexpensive cotton textiles at highly competitive terms, India significantly enhanced the basis of trade in the Asian continent. She not only made available the textiles and, on a more modest scale, the foodgrains and other provisions in great demand in the neighbouring societies, but also provided an important outlet for their specialized agricultural, vegetational, mineral and other products. Trade thus satisfied in part different kinds of needs for India as opposed to her trading partners, and this by itself provided an excellent basis for a significant and growing level of trade.
