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   Pottery, beads retrace close links between India and Bali   
      
   IANS   
   Zee News   
   Thursday, July 30, 2015   
      
   New Delhi: Remnants of ancient Indian pottery, beads and   
   even Indian DNA found in human bones point to thriving   
   trade and social contacts between India and Bali dating   
   back to more than 2,000 years.   
      
   Besides trade, Indian merchants brought with them their   
   language - Sanskrit - and the influence of Hinduism and   
   Buddhism, noted Indonesian archaeologist I. Wayan Ardika   
   said.   
      
   Fresh evidence of age-old close links between India and   
   Southeast Asia has been found in the ancient port towns   
   of Sembiran and Pacung in northern Bali, says Ardika.   
      
   The major Indian port of connect with Bali in Indonesia   
   and other places in Southeast Asia was Arikamedu, a   
   thriving port located seven kilometres from Puducherry   
   from where archaeologists have unearthed Roman artefacts   
   too.   
      
   "Trade between India and Bali can be traced from as early   
   as the late 2nd century BC. A lot of evidence exists in   
   Sembiran and Pacung, and also the ancient port town of   
   Julah," Ardika told IANS on the sidelines of an   
   international meet on Asean-India Cultural Links.   
      
   The influence of Sanskrit and the ideology of Hinduism   
   and Buddhism which the Indian traders brought along   
   "stimulated the rise of early state formation of kingdoms   
   (in Bali) with an Indian base", said Ardika, a professor   
   of archaeology at Udayana University in Bali.   
      
   He said Julah, located near Sembiran and Pacung, was a   
   thriving port from between the 2nd century BC and 12th   
   century AD - for 14 centuries.   
      
   Archaeologists have found evidence of Sanskrit in the   
   local script of the late 9th century AD.   
      
   "In my research covering Julah, and Sembiran and Pacung,   
   I found numerous artefacts, pottery shards, beads brought   
   by Indian traders," the expert, who read a paper at the   
   July 23-24 conference, told IANS.   
      
   The burial sites at Julah (from late 2nd century BC to   
   12th century AD) showed up Indian DNA on the human   
   remains.   
      
   "We found Indian DNA on the human remains which indicates   
   there was marriage; the Indian trader may have married   
   locals," Ardika said.   
      
   The inscriptions on the pottery also had the names of   
   places located in India like Nalanda, Amravati and   
   Varanasi.   
      
   In those early times, high functionaries or priests in   
   the Balinese kingdoms named their residences after Indian   
   names like Nalanda, Varanasi, Senapati and Amravati,   
   Ardika added.   
      
   The names of some Indian places were adopted to the local   
   ones too - between the 9th century AD to 11th century AD.   
      
   Small clay Buddhist stupas, measuring 10 cm high, were   
   found in Pejeng, in central Bali, a rich centre of   
   archaeological remains.   
      
   The small stupas, dated from the 8th century AD, show a   
   lot of Indian influence, he said, adding that many stupas   
   were also found in central Java, indicating the reach of   
   Indian traders.   
      
   According to Ardika, the Indian influence in Bali came in   
   two surges - in the 2nd century BC and later in 8th   
   century AD, which also brought with it Buddhism.   
      
   "In the early times, Indian traders came and stimulated   
   the social structures (with Sanskrit, and Hindu and   
   Buddhist ideology). When Bali adopted Buddhism, the   
   second migration from the 8th century AD to 11th century   
   AD came to strengthen the Indian influence. It was the   
   second massive contact with India," he said.   
      
   Ardika said the finds in Sembiran, Pacung and Julah show   
   that Balinese were in contact with not only India but   
   China also.   
      
   Ardika said the international Asean-India Cultural Links   
   conference was an "important start to do more research on   
   the links between India and Southeast Asia and also   
   China".   
      
   The July 23-24 conference was the first such meeting of   
   artists, historians and archaeologists from India and the   
   10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.   
      
   http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/art-theatre/pottery-beads   
   retrace-close-links-between-india-and-bali_1638822.html   
      
   More at:   
      
   Zee News   
   http://zeenews.india.com   
      
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