A Review of Percy Brown's Indian Architecture: Buddhist and Hindu Periods
for two millennia, until the europeans arrived, the waterways that linked india with the gulf of bengal (gangetic plains, south east asia and indonesia) were the paths of transportation. gradually, a network of overland caravan routes linked india with china. although the primary trade was in silk, indian traders also traded in spices, precious stones, medicinal plants, grain and gold. textiles and cotton textiles were exported while india became a major supplier of salt and incense. silk was exported to china, the middle east, africa, and europe. by the fourth century ad, gautamiputra, was a major trade emporium, and buddhist and jain merchants established a permanent presence in the city. indian traders were instrumental in spreading buddhism and learning in south east asia.
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by the fifth century ad, most of the trade had changed from the silk road and india began to trade with central asia and china through the western china coast. as chinese and indian trade flourished, chinese missionaries began to establish buddhist monasteries in south east asia. buddhism was well received in central and western south east asia by the end of the 4th century (kalmali, 1981:34).
from early times, buddhist and hindu monks visited sri lanka, east india and malaya to spread buddhism. some of the most prominent of the early expatriate buddhists were anuruddhapālā (of ceylon), dhammakāya (malaya), mahinda (sri lanka), pasenadi and devanampiyã. the buddhist patroness of sri lanka, walpola, began building temples at the turn of the seventh and eighth centuries. in sri lanka, jothika built the rajagovinda, and mahinda the dheevanarama.