India’s trade with the Roman Empire came to an end with the invasion of Rome by the
(A) Arabs
(B) Hungarians
(C) Hunas
(D) Turks
Answer: (C) Roman trade with India started around the beginning of the Common Era following the reign of Augustus and his conquest of Egypt. Following the Roman Persian Wars Khosrow, I of the Persian Sassanian Dynasty captured the areas under the Roman-Byzantine Empire. The Arabs, led by ‘Amr ibn al-’As, crossed into Egypt in late 639 or early 640 C.E. That advance marked the beginning of the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the fall of ports such as Alexandria, used to secure trade with India by the Greco Roman world since the Ptolemaic dynasty. The decline in trade saw Southern India turn to Southeast Asia for international trade, where it influenced the native culture to a greater degree than the impressions made on Rome. The Hunas invaded the Roman Empire under Attila the Hun in 454 C.E.
