From very early times the Indians had big ships, with which they were able to cross the oceans, and trade far away Their main expost was the finest textiles, pepper, steel ingots, but they also exported a lot of other things. The payment they wanted was gold, to such an extend, that an old Roman once said - that Rome would soon run out of gold, with the amounts they sent to India.
The Indian trated with Rome, Arabia, Egypt, North Africa, Madagascar and other places - to the west, not to speak about to the east. Ok, gold was not all which entered India, slaves were also very much sought for.
The Indian trade seem to have stopped whan the Europeans arrived - as they seem to have wanted the trade.
As an experiment of thought. Could the Vikings have had swords made of Indian wootz steel? Yes they could. It is known that the Vikings were in Constantinoble very early, used for body guards - so when there, why not take a group-tour to Rome and Egypt?
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