Colonial discourse, Indian Ocean Trade and the Urbanisation of the Western Deccan

Abstract

• A plethora of data attest to the importance of connections across the Indian Ocean during the first millennium BC. Literary and archaeological evidence indicate that an Indian Ocean trade network had been established that facilitated the exchange of diverse goods between East Africa, Egypt, Arabia, South East Asia and South Asia.1 The same period witnessed the development of urban centres and empires in South Asia. In the Western Deccan the emergence of the Satavahana Empire and the growth of settlements like Paithan, Junnar and Sopara occurred at roughly the same time as long distance trade intensified. This article seeks to determine whether there was a causal relationship between these processes.