Sea Vayages and trade

Another interesting people of ancient times were the Phoenicians. They belonged to the same race as the Jews and Arabs. They lived on the western coast of Asia Minor-the Turkey of today. Their chief towns were Acre, Tyre and Sidon on the Mediterranean Sea coast. They were famous for their long journeys by sea for trading purposes. They went all over the Mediterranean Sea and right up to England by sea. They may have come to India also.

We see now two interesting beginnings of great things-sea travel and trade. Each helped the other. There were not, of course, in those days fine steamers and ships like you see today. The first boats must have been simple tree trunks hollowed out. Oars were used with them and sometimes sails to catch the wind. Sea voyages must have been interesting in those days and very exciting. Imagine crossing the Arabian Sea on a' little boat with oars and sails! There must have been very little room to move about in it, and the least bit of wind must have made it roll and pitch, and very often it sank. Only brave people would venture out in a boat in the open sea. It was full of risks and for months sometimes they could not see land. If food ran short, they could not get it in the middle of the sea unless they fished or caught a bird. The sea was full of adventure and romance. There are so many stories of sailors and strange happenings in the sea in olden times. But, in spite of the danger, people went for voyages across the sea. Some may have done it because they loved adventures, but most of them went because of their love of gold and money. For they went for trade-to buy things and sell them. So they made money.

What is trade and how did it begin? Today you see large shops and it is so easy to go inside them and buy what you want. But do you ever think where the things you buy come from? You may buy a woollen shawl in a shop in Allahabad. It may have come all the way from Kashmir and the wool may have grown on the backs of sheep in the mountains of Kashmir or Ladakh. A toothpaste that you buy may have come in ships and railway trains all the way from America. So also you may buy things made in China or Japan or Paris or London. Consider a piece of foreign cloth that is sold in the bazaar here. The cotton grew in India and it was sent to England. A great factory took it and cleaned it and made it into yarn or cotton thread and then into cloth. This cloth then came back again to India and was sold in the bazaar. How many thousands of mile it travelled backwards and forwards before it was offered for sale! It seems rather silly that the cotton that is grown in India had to go all the way to England to be made into cloth and then come back again. This seems such a waste of time and money and energy. It ought to be far cheaper and better to make the cotton into cloth in India. You know that we do not buy or wear foreign cloth. We wear khaddar because it is more sensible to buy things, as far as we can, made in our own country. We also buy and wear khaddar because in this way we help the poor who spin and weave.

So you see that trade is a very complicated thing now. Great ships are always carrying the goods of one country to another. But it was not always so.

Right in the early days, when man settled down there was very little trade. Everything that a man wanted he had to get himself or make himself. He did not want much then, of course. Then, as I have already told you, there came a division of labour in the tribe. People did different kinds of work and made different things. Sometimes it must have happened that one tribe had a great deal of one thing and another tribe a great deal of something, else. It was natural for them to exchange goods. For instance, one tribe may give a cow for a bag of grain. There was no money in those days. Things could only be exchanged. So exchange began. It must have been rather inconvenient. To get a bag of grain, or something like it, one had to carry a cow or maybe a couple of sheep! But still trade developed.

When gold and silver were found, people started using them for trade. It was easier to carry them. And gradually the custom arose of paying for things in gold and silver. The first person who thought of this must have been a very clever person. This use of gold and silver made trade very much easier. Even then, there were no coins as we have them. Gold used to be weighed in a balance and then given to another person. Much later came coins, and these made trade and exchange still simpler. No weighing was required then as everybody knew the value of a coin. Now money is used everywhere. But we must remember that money is no good by itself. It only helps us to get other things that we want. It helps us to exchange goods. You will remember the story of King Midas who had plenty of gold but nothing to eat! So money is worthless unless it is used to get something that we need.

Even now, however, you will find sometimes in villages that people actually exchange goods, and do not pay money. But generally money is used as it is much more convenient. Some foolish people imagine that money itself is good and they collect and hoard it, instead of using it. This shows that they do not know how money came to be used and what it really is.

Source: http://indiragandhi.in/en/philosophy/letters/3