Ancient Indian ports, revisited

The Indian reader will find the portion dealing with inscriptions from the Hoq cave in Socotra interesting. In 2001, a group of Belgian speleologists from the Socotra Karst Project made a spectacular discovery on Socotra island. Ingo Strauch, professor of Sanskrit and Buddhist studies at Universite de Lausanne, in the article, details his findings which add to the earlier knowledge. According to the author, the estimated number of Indian inscriptions is more than 100, written in charcoal, chalk or mud, or scratched with a sharp instrument on the surfaces of rocks. Written in Brahmi, the script can be compared to those from the 2nd to 4th centuries C.E., of West India. This is confirmed by some newly discovered inscriptions, which mention the city of Bharukaccha, one of the most important West Indian ports then. As Strauch says, “As far as palaeological analysis allows, all Indian epigraphs can be bracketed between the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E.” It is well known that during this time, Indian sea trade was at its peak and continents were connected commercially and culturally.