The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, also known by its Latin name as the Periplus Maris Erythraei, is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice Troglodytica along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, including the modern-day Sindh region of Pakistan and southwestern regions of India. The text has been ascribed to different dates between the first and third centuries, but a mid-first-century date is now the most commonly accepted. While the author is unknown, it is clearly a first-hand description by someone familiar with the area and is nearly unique in providing accurate insights into what the ancient Hellenic world knew about the lands around the Indian Ocean.
Azania is a name that has been applied to various parts of southeastern tropical Africa. In the Roman period and perhaps earlier, the toponym has been hypothesised to have referred to a portion of the Southeast Africa coast extending from northern Kenya to the border between Mozambique and South Africa. If this is correct, then during classical antiquity Azania was mostly inhabited by Southern Cushitic peoples, whose groups would rule the area until the great Bantu Migration.
Aromata, also called the Spice Port, was an emporium and seaport in the Horn of Africa, today a part of Somalia. It lay near the tip of Cape Guardafui, which was itself called the "promontory of spices". It was notable for its produce of resins and various herbs.
Rhapta was an emporion said to be on the coast of Southeast Africa, first described in the 1st century CE. Its location has not been firmly identified, although there are a number of plausible candidate sites. The ancient Periplus of the Erythraean Sea described Rhapta as "the last emporion of Azania", two days' travel south of the Menouthias islands. The Periplus also states that the city and port were ruled by South Arabian vassals of the Himyarite kingdom, particularly a certain “ Mapharitic chieftain.”
Ormara, is a town in Gwadar District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is a port on the Makran coastal region. It is located 360 kilometres (220 mi) west of Karachi and 230 kilometres (140 mi) east of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. This port is also mentioned in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as Oraea.
Myos Hormos was a Red Sea port constructed by the Ptolemies around the 3rd century BC. Following excavations carried out recently by David Peacock and Lucy Blue of the University of Southampton, it is thought to have been located on the present-day site of Quseir al-Quadim, eight kilometres north of the modern town of El Qoseir in Egypt.
Berenice Epideires, or "Berenice upon the Neck of Land", was a town on the western shore of the Red Sea. It was located near the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, in modern-day Djibouti. The settlement's position on a sandy spit or promontory was the cause of its distinctive appellation. Some authorities, however, attribute the name to the neighborhood of a more considerable town named Cape Deirê on the Ras Siyyan peninsula. Strabon mentions the mangroves that were found there on the coast.
Abiria was the country of the Abhiras. It is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and by Ptolemy in his Geographia. The Periplus mentions it as Aberia with the coastal district Syrastrene, and Ptolemy locates it above the Indus delta.
Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its exploitation for this trade. The large size, fine color, and unusual form of the hawksbill's scutes make it especially suitable. The distinctive patterning is referred to in names such as the tortoiseshell cat, several breeds of guinea pig, and the common names of several species of the butterfly genera Nymphalis and Aglais, and some other uses.
The Erythraean Sea was a former maritime designation that always included the Gulf of Aden and at times other seas between Arabia Felix and the Horn of Africa. Originally an ancient Greek geographical designation, it was used throughout Europe until the 18–19th centuries. At times the name frequently extended beyond the Gulf of Aden—as in the famous 1st-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea—to include the present-day Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean as a single maritime area.
Minnagara was a city of the Indo-Scythian kingdom, located on the Indus river in modern Pakistan, north of the coastal city of Barbaricum, or along the Narmada river, upstream of Barygaza. There were two cities named Minnagara, one on Indus River delta near Karachi and the other at Narmada River delta near modern Bharuch.
Indo-Roman trade relations was trade between the Indian subcontinent and the Roman Empire in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Trade through the overland caravan routes via Asia Minor and the Middle East, though at a relative trickle compared to later times, preceded the southern trade route via the Red Sea which started around the beginning of the Common Era (CE) following the reign of Augustus and his conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE.
Eleazus, also Eleazar or Iliazz Yalit I was the Hadramaut king of the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, the "Frankincense kingdom", in the 1st century CE. The main harbour of the kingdom was Cana (Kanê). His capital was the city of Sabat.
The first documented relations between ancient Ancient India and Ancient Rome occurred during the reign of Caesar Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.
Tyndis was an ancient Indian seaport/harbor-town mentioned in the Graeco-Roman writings. According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Tyndis was located north of port Muziris in the country of the Cerobothra.
Barbaria was the name used by the ancient Greeks for littoral northeast Africa. The corresponding Arabic term, bilad al-Barbar, was used in the Middle Ages. The name of Barbaria is preserved today in the name of the Somali city of Berbera, the city known to the Greeks as Malao.
Nelcynda is a place in ancient Kerala. It was described in Pliny's classical work The Natural History as well as in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. It was believed to be the capital of the Ay kingdom. Nakkada near Niranam in Pathanamthitta district are often identified with Nelcynda.
Ter is a village in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra state, India. It is 17 kilometres (11 mi) from the district headquarters, Osmanabad, 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Latur.
Limyrikê is a historical region of present-day India, mentioned in the ancient Greco-Roman texts. It generally corresponds to the present-day Malabar Coast of Kerala.
Avalites was a small port in what is today Somalia that dominated trade in the Red Sea and Mediterranean.
