Ancient trade in Ivory and Elephant-tusks

There are several references in the Vedas which indicate towards a commercial contact between India and the neighbouring countries in 10^th century BCE. And Arabs probably acted as intermediaries. In this century Indian merchants through this Arabian intermediaries sent sandal wood, precious stones, ivory, monkeys and peacocks to King Solomon. Ivory was called Shenhabbin in Hebrew which was derived from Sanskrit word Chaddanta.^[1] In the early historic phase Jātaka narratives refer to great demand for Indian ivory in Sri Lanka. Mahābhārata (2-47, 12-14) has references to export of ivory handles to Central Asia from Assam.^[2] In this context it is worth mentioning that Assam also was famous for elephants besides rhinoceros. A silver dish from Lampsacos, according to Rostovetzeff, belonging to third century CE, shows a female figure seated on the chair whose feet are made of ivory.^[3]

The Mahāvastu^[4] gives some relevant information regarding how many kinds of guilds existed in Buddhist literature. It mentions about master chank-cutter (śaṅkha-valayakāramahattara) who could work in chank-shell and ivory in a very expert way. He made from these materials pegs, collyrium sticks, caskets, ewers, bracelets, bangles and other ornaments.^[5] It also mentions the guilds of Kapilāvastu where ivory carvers or dantakāras are referred in the ordinary guilds.^[6] It must be indicate towards luxury articles made by ivory. The āvaśyakacūrṇi refers that India was also known for its trade in ivory which was exported to foreign countries. For getting the ivory, merchants advanced money to the Pulindas in the same way they advanced money to divers for getting chank-shells.^[7] The Taṅgaṇas of the northern region who could be identified with the Taṅgaṇas of Tarai came to the Deccan for selling ivory and gold. As they did not know any Indian language they transacted business only by the sign language. They heaped their goods and covered them with their hands and did not take them off till they got their desired price.^[8]

In the Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra a person who brings a pair of tusks of an elephant who has died naturally should be given a reward of four paṇas and a quarter (Book 2, Chapter 2, v. 9).^[9] This was definitely an added incentive to the original price of the pair of tusks. But it is absurd to notice the absence of the mention of ivory in the Chapter 11 under Book 2, where Kauṭilya mentions the precious articles to be received into the treasury and the skill of examination of them.^[10] This reflects that though ivory was precious but its receipt in to the treasury was not done. It probably was received by some other officer and stored separately as ivory might have belonged to the king. In this context a very late inscription can be cited. The Sonpur plates of Kumāra Someśvaradeva states that the donees of this charter, were given all sorts of liberalities including the freedom of enjoying the tusks of elephants, which were the monopoly of the king.^[11] Thus the monopoly of the ivory was retained by the king and hence we do not get its reference among precious goods to be entered into the treasury in Arthaśāstra as discussed above. Elephant tusk was used for the hilt of swords (Book 2 Chapter 18, v. 12)^[12]. Kauṭilya states about one armour of fabrics and combinations of skin, hooves and horns of dolphin, rhinoceros, dhenuka, elephant and bull, and one kind of shield namely Hastikarṇa (Book 2, Chapter 18, verses 12, 16, 17).^[13] Arthaśāstra mentions that the custom duty levied on ivory varied from one tenth part to one fifteenth part (Book 2, Chapter 22, verse 6).^[14] Though Arthaśāstra does not elaborate on 1/10^th or 1/15^th of what? However in case of this absence of mention one might assume that it was 1/10^th or 1/15^th of the price of the ivory.

The inscription at the Susa palace, which was built by Darius I (c. BCE 522-486) of Iran mentions various objects brought by Darius’s subjects from different parts of the world for decorating the palace. For this purpose ivory was brought from Ethiopia, Sind and Arachosia^[15]. Sind probably was not a place well known for its elephants hence in all probabilities it was only the place which was exporting this product which was procured from other places in the subcontinent which produced elephants or the ivory came through trade network to Sindh which sold it to the Achaemenid Empire. This is a direct evidence of India exporting ivory as early as the 6^th Century BCE.^[16]

Moti Chandra shows a reference of elephant carpet mentioned in the Mahābhārata. These are mentioned as being manufactured at Magadha.^[17] This probably is a reference to a carpet made out of ivory flakes which was a unique craft practiced by experts in eastern India. A similar carpet belonging to the medieval period is still preserved in the Bangladesh National Museum. However if this hypothesis is accepted then the antiquity of the tradition of making such ivory carpets is pushed back from medieval to early historic phase. However we require more corroborative evidence to substantiate this. In the early historic times not only Magadha but Tosāli in Kaliṅga (Puri district, Southern Odisha) was also famous for its ivory works.^[18]

For entering India from Balkh, Hindukush had to be crossed. After that passing Kabul, Peshawar, Taxila and Mathura the route proceeded to Pāṭaliputra (Kumrahar District, Bihar). But those merchants who transacted business with Indian merchants only, they, taking the grand routes turned to the south of Merv, thereafter by merchants reached Herat and from there proceeded to Kandahar. From Kandahar there were three routes to India, viz. 1) southeastern route which crossing the mountains entered India through the Bolan or Mula pass, 2) north-eastern route which passing through Kabul joined the silk route and 3) the Lasbela route which either following the river or the sea routes reached the Bay of Sonmiani and from there proceeded by the land or sea route to India. From these land routes at least in the time of Augustus several Indian embassies reached Rome. One of these embassies from the Pāṇḍya country in far south is mentioned to carry with it precious stones, pearls and an elephant.^[19]

Moti Chandra refers to the export of Indian animals for amusement to the Roman world which also included elephants besides tiger, rhinoceros etc. The Romans also liked Indian ivory along with other materials for making ornaments and inlaying furniture.^[20] There was a great demand for Indian ivory in the west. This is corroborated by the Vienna papyrus. Federico Romanis in his article, “Playing Sudoku on the Verso of the “Muziris Papyrus”: Pepper, Malabathron and Tortoise Shell in the Cargo of the Hermapollon”^[21] discusses in detail the commodities which were shipped for trade. Here besides ivory he also mentions schidai which has been explained by him as small pieces of ivory. We are aware that 1/3^rd portion of the tusk of elephant was cut regularly every year and this was also in high demand is proved from this source. The Papyrus Vindobonesis G 40,822 or “Muziris Papyrus” of first century CE mentions specially about three items exported from Muziris were Gangetic nard, good quality ivory and schidai those had some monetary values of a set of items. Unfortunately due to the fragmentary condition of the papyrus, only the data of three cargo items are easily legible. One of these three items was “sound” ivory and other one is schidai.^[22] The quantities and values of these three items are as follows^[23] :

[Table 4: Comparative chart showing three specific commodities and their values (Gangetic Nard, ‘Sound’ Ivory and Schidai)]

Item	Quantity	Value
Gangetic Nard	60 containers	45 talents
“Sound” Ivory	78 talents 54 ¾ minae	76 talents 5,275 drachmas
Schidai	13 talents 9 ¾ minae	8 talents 5,882 drachmas 3 obols
Total	60 containers,92 talents 4 ½ minae	130 talents 5, 157 drachmas 3 obols 157 drachmas 3 obols

We cannot find any clear evidence in the loan contract whether carved ivory products were exported or only raw tusks were shipped. According to Ranabir Chakravarti^[24] there is a possibility that may be both were shipped on the board of Harmapollon as Casson and Romanis mention to “ivory” and “tusk” as export items^[25]. Ivory carving being exported seems to be a difficult as this was not done in the Malabar Coast. No doubt there was a huge demand for Indian ivory. The best quality Indian ivory came from Dosarene in eastern Deccan (probably Veṅgi), that ivory was labelled as Dosarenic^[26]. Veṅgi region was well connected with the Coromandel coast.

An inscription found in the temple of Pan at Benenice near Rhodesia there was an Indian traveller named Subāhu who sailed between India and Alexandria. But as far as travel to Rome proper is concerned except for envoys, slaves, māhuts and acrobats no other Indians travelled.^[27] The presence of māhuts or elephant trainers reflects that large numbers of elephants were exported and to train them these elephant trainers were in great demand.

As far as the Indian markets are concerned we get reference to the markets of Ujjain filled with horses, elephants, chariots, soldiers and all kinds of goods during the time of the Guptas in the Padmaprābhṛtakaṃ. The Pādatāḍitakam describes Ujjain as an urban centre, and its markets were filled with heaps of foreign goods.^[28] The Kuvalayamālā of Udyotana Sūri written in 779 CE gives us many travel stories. It refers to a merchant to visited Kosala country sold horses to the king of Kosala who provided elephants in exchange by selling which he gained huge profits. It is noteworthy that these elephants have been mentioned as gaja potas i.e. the elephants who are aged 12 to 20 according to the Mātaṅgalīlā. There is a reference to another merchant from Taxila named Lobhadeva who went to Sopara for trading, he received an invitation from merchants to this deśiya-vāṇika melīya or trade fair. In this fair the merchants exchanged their personal experiences. In this course of exchanging their knowledge of goods in trade and exchange the above mentioned reference to selling of horses and getting elephants in return is mentioned. However there are references to procurement of ivory from Africa as well. African elephants were also quite famous. A merchant sold cloth to the Berber sea coast (East Africa) and from there he bought pearls and ivory.^[29] Here often we find reference to exchange of goods for goods and rarely do we find reference to monetary transactions. Even in the early medieval Tamil inscriptions there are references to elephants being sold to distant places. A Tamil; inscription found from Loboye Toyba in Sumatra throws light on the sea trade. From a stone inscription of Mysore we come to know that foreign merchants” trade carried on trade with Cera, Coḷa, Pāṇḍya, Malaya, Magadha, Saurāṣṭra, Nepal and other countries. The merchandise consisted of horses, elephants, precious stones, spices, aromatic herbs and medicines. Some of these merchants were so powerful that they could bestow special powers to the villages of their own choice.^[30]

The above text also provides interesting information on the training of craftsmen or vocational training to students on ivory working in the Vijayapur region. In the travel account of Kuvalayacanda who was traveling to Vijayapura, the description of a college (Maṭha) is a new trend in the Indian literature. He came across a college in Vijayapura. Hoping to get some information about Kuvalayamālā from its students he entered the college there he met students from Lāṭa, Karṇāṭaka Mālava, Kānyakubja, Godāvarī, Mahārāṣṭra, Saurāṣṭra, Dacca, Śrīkaṇṭha and Sindh they were busy in practising archery, wielding weapons and doing gymnastics. Among the various types of education imparted the author also describes subjects like Nimitta-Śāstra, Mantra, Yoga, interpretation of dreams, chemistry, etymology, prosody, cutting patterns, magic etc. along with ivory carving (Dantakarma) were taught.^[31] Thus ivory carving was among an art and a craft taught in the college in 8^th century CE.

The Hudūd-e-ālam (982-983 CE) of Sayyad Suleman Nadvi informs us that in the tenth century CE Arabians imported chank-shell and ivory from Orissa.^[32] Regarding the ivory trade, Kalpanāratna [Kalpanāratnam] a text composed by the Gaṅga king Śivamāra^[33] who ruled over parts of Karnataka in the 8^th and 9^th centuries CE, sheds new light on the preservation of elephants and their ivory. The word “Kalpanā” here indicated the art of cutting the tusks of elephants so that the ivory could be used for making useful and beautiful articles, without harming the pachyderms. In the light of this, it was necessary to know the proper time to cut the tusks of elephants and also the proper method of preserving the ivory. This is also corroborated by several epigraphs which bear reference to ivory carvers, their guilds, donation of ivory tax to donees and the royal monopoly on ivory.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Moti Chandra. Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India, New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1977, p.45.

[2]:

Moti Chandra. Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India, p.67.

[3]:

Rostovetzeff, The Economic History of the Roman Empire, Oxford, 926, the description of plate no. 17.

[4]:

John James Jones. tr. The Mahāvastu, Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Pt. II, London: Luzac, 1949, pp. 463477.

[5]:

Moti Chandra. Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India, p.149.

[6]:

John James Jones. tr. The Mahāvastu, Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Pt. II, London: Luzac, 1949, pp. 113, 442-443.

[7]:

Moti Chandra. Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India., p.167.

[8]:

Ibid., p.167.

[9]:

R.P. Kangle. tr. The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra, Part II, p. 68.

[10]:

Ibid., pp. 111-120.

[11]:

Inscriptions of Orissa, Vol.IV, p.275.

[12]:

R.P. Kangle. tr. The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra, Part II, p. 152.

[13]:

Ibid., p. 152.

[14]:

Ibid., p. 167.

[15]:

V.P. Dwivedi. Indian Ivories (a survey of Indian Ivory and bone carvings from the earliest to the modern times), Delhi: Agam Prakashan, 1976, p. 16.

[16]:

Ibid., p. 16.

[17]:

Moti Chandra. Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India, p.68.

[18]:

Ibid., p.101.

[19]:

E.H. Warmington. The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928, pp. 6-37.

[20]:

Moti Chandra. Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India, pp.111-112.

[21]:

Federico De Romanis. “Playing Sudoku on the Verso of the “Muziris Papyrus”: Pepper, Malabathron and Tortoise Shell in the Cargo of the Hermapollon”, Journal of Ancient Indian History, Volume XXVII, pp. 75101.

[22]:

According to Rathbone 2000: 45 and Morelli 2011:221-222, schidai must be referred to a lower quality, broken or spoiled ivory.

[23]:

Frederico De Romanis. “Playing Sudoku on the Verso of the “Muziris Papyrus”: Pepper, Malabathron and Tortoise Shell in the Cargo of the Hermapollon”, Journal of Ancient Indian History,Volume XXVII, pp. 75-101.

[24]:

Ranabir Chakravarti. “Examining the Hinterland and Foreland of the Port of Muziris in the Wider Perspective of the Subcontinent: Long–distance Network”, Imperial Rome, Indian Oceans Regions and Muziris: New Perspectives on Maritime Trade, ed. by K.S. Mathew, New York: Routledge, 2017, p.329

[25]:

Casson. “New Light on Maritime Loan”, in Chakravarti (ed.):236; Romanis.”Playing Sudoku on the Verso of the “Muziris Papyrus”: Pepper, Malabathron and Tortoise Shell in the Cargo of the Hermapollon”, Journal of Ancient Indian History,Volume XXVII, pp.99-100.

[26]:

Ranabir Chakravarti. “Examining the Hinterland and Foreland of the Port of Muziris in the Wider Perspective of the Subcontinent: Long–distance Network”, Imperial Rome, Indian Oceans Regions and Muziris: New Perspectives on Maritime Trade, p.330.

[27]:

E.H. Warmington. The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India, pp. 76-78.

[28]:

Moti Chandra. Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India, p.172.

[29]:

A.N. Upadhye, ed. Kuvalayamālā: Prakrit Text & Various Readings (written by Udyotan Sūri), Part I, Bombay: Adhisthata, Singhi Jain Sastra Siksapitha, 1959, pp.64ff.

[30]:

A.K. Nilakanta Sastri. The Colas, Madras: University of Madras, 1935, pp.535ff.

[31]:

A.N. Upadhye, ed. Kuvalayamālā: Prakrit Text & Various Readings, Part I, pp.150ff.

[32]:

V. Minorsky. tr. Hudūd-al-‘ālam, a Persian Geography, 372 A.H.(A.D. 982), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1937, pp.86ff.

[33]:

H.V. Nagaraja Rao, ed. Kalpanāratnam of Śri Śivamāra Bhūpāla, Bangalore: Poornaprajna Samsodhana Mandiram, 2009.