From the third century AD when the Hun invasion ended the Roman Empire, the Indian merchants relied more and more on the

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Q: 38 (IAS/1999)
From the third century AD when the Hun invasion ended the Roman Empire, the Indian merchants relied more and more on the

question_subject: 

History

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,115,150,28,35,115,87

keywords: 

{'indian merchants': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'african trade': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'east asian trade': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'hun invasion': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'roman empire': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'eastern trade': [0, 1, 1, 0], 'european trade': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'third century ad': [0, 1, 0, 0]}

The question pertains to the trading preferences of Indian merchants after the third century AD. Each provided option represents a direction or region where Indian merchants could have possibly focused their trade efforts.

Option 1 suggests African trade, but Africa was not the significant interface for trade for Indian merchants during that period.

Option 2 implies West-European trade. But this is unlikely because the fall of the Roman Empire, which comprised major parts of Europe, must have made trading with West-Europe challenging.

Option 3, the correct answer, indicates South-East Asian trade. After the third century AD, the Indian merchants indeed started focusing more on the South-East Asian region, fostering strong economic, cultural, and political linkages.

Option 4 presumes Middle-Eastern trade. While the Middle East was a crucial node for international trade, the question implies an increase in dependence, and the Indian merchants` focus shifted more towards South-East Asia during this era.