African giraffe figurines found in ancient India

Posted On: Apr 2nd, 2015 at 13:29

India.
Giraffe figurines found in Chhattisgarh and dating to 500 BC suggest the natives were seasoned travellers who went as far as South Africa to trade various goods.
This astounding discovery opens up a whole new chapter in Indian history. The Chhattisgarh region is at least 1,000 km east of the Indus Valley area, and my personal view is that these trading routes were first implemented by them a couple of thousand years earlier. It also shows that the Indians were bypassi…ng Egyptian trade, either by crossing through the country or going by boat, possibly from modern-day Yemen across to Eritrea or Somalia.
The article states that the region in Chhattisgarh was a major trading hub between 300 – 200 BC, and this is almost the exact time to Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt (from 305 – 30 BC) during the Hellenistic period. It’s quite possible, therefore, that Greek rule in Egypt caused a change in trade with the Indian subcontinent, if only for a brief time.
As usual, this discovery brings up more questions than answers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Ancient-site-in-Chhattisgarh-yields-rare-giraffe-figurines-suggests-ancient-people-were-big-time-travellers/articleshow/44775325.cms