Southwestern route[edit]
The southwestern route is believed to be the
Ganges/
Brahmaputra Delta, which has been the subject of international interest for over two millennia. Strabo, the 1st-century Roman writer, mentions the deltaic lands: "Regarding merchants who now sail from Egypt...as far as the Ganges, they are only private citizens..." His comments are interesting as Roman beads and other materials are being found at
Wari-Bateshwar ruins, the ancient city with roots from much earlier, before the
Bronze Age, presently being slowly excavated beside the Old Brahmaputra in
Bangladesh. Ptolemy's map of the
Ganges Delta, a remarkably accurate effort, showed that his informants knew all about the course of the Brahmaputra River, crossing through the
Himalayas then bending westward to its source in
Tibet. It is doubtless that this delta was a major international trading center, almost certainly from much earlier than the Common Era.
Gemstones and other merchandise from
Thailand and
Java were traded in the delta and through it. Chinese archaeological writer Bin Yang and some earlier writers and archaeologists, such as Janice Stargardt, strongly suggest this route of international trade as
Sichuan-
Yunnan-
Burma-Bangladesh route. According to Bin Yang, especially from the 12th century the route was used to ship bullion from Yunnan (gold and silver are among the minerals in which Yunnan is rich), through northern Burma, into modern Bangladesh, making use of the ancient route, known as the 'Ledo' route. The emerging evidence of the ancient cities of Bangladesh, in particular
Wari-Bateshwar ruins,
Mahasthangarh,
Bhitagarh,
Bikrampur, Egarasindhur, and
Sonargaon, are believed to be the international trade centers in this route.
