Ancient India—Expedition of Sesostris—Doubts of Dr. Robertson with regard to it—Hindustan, its early commerce, and the probability, from its great value, of its having attracted Sesostris—The conquests of Darius, and of Alexander—Trade with China—Its maritime intercourse—A comparison of the Chinese boats with those of the ancient Britons—The conquests of Alexander in India, B.C. 327-5—The gain to commerce by his conquests—The spread of knowledge—His march into India—Preparations for the voyage down the Indus—Departure of his fleet from Nicæa, B.C. 326—Description of the vessels employed—Progress of the fleet—Establishment of new cities on the banks of the Indus—Character of the vessels engaged on the voyage from the Indus to Susa—Time occupied—Future voyages—Death of Alexander, B.C. 323—Eastern India—Ceylon—Internal commerce of India—Manufactures of India—State of the trade of India from the sixth to the ninth century—Change in the course of trade—Persian trade with India—The Muhammedans, A.D. 622—The extent of their commerce with the East—The trade between Constantinople and India and China. [Sidenote: Ancient India.] It is impossible to say at how early a period the commerce of India assumed a civilized form, and from the rude barter of the savage became a regular system of exchange and account. The opinion of ancient as well as of modern writers, is almost unanimous in considering the Hindus as one of the oldest civilized nations in the world; but their most ancient records are so blended with fables, that it would be a waste of time to attempt to separate fact from fiction. Nor shall we do more than allude to the supposed conquests of Sesostris and Semiramis, as these are now generally held to have no historical foundation. That the civilization of India may reach back two or three thousand years before the Christian era is, however, not improbable, as the oldest of the Indian sacred writings, the Vêdas, are believed by the best Sanscrit scholars to have been handed down by tradition from about B.C. 1500.[245]