Trade

Both internal and foreign trade flourished during this period. Trade was carried on both by land and sea. The main articles of internal trade were cloth, foodgrains, spices, salt, bullion and precious stones. The trade was carried on by road and through rivers. Important cities and ports of the Gupta period was Broach, Ujjayini, Vidisa, Prayag, Banaras, Gaya, Pataliputra, Vaishali, Tamralipti, Kausambhi, Mathura, Peshawar etc which were well connected by public highways and the state arranged all facilities and security for the travellers and traders. Rich riverine traffic was carried along the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri. Tamralipti, Kavripatnam, Kalyan, Broach and Cambay were the principal ports of South, Deccan and Gujarat. Brisk trade was carried on with countries of South east asia, China, Rome in the west, India exported pearls, precious stones, cloth, perfumes, spices, indigo, drugs, coconuts and ivory articles while its main items of import were gold, silver, tin, lead, silk and horses.