Lake Chimay Myth: The Lake That Never Existed

The phase between the 1200s and the mid-1800s saw Mediterranean seafaring Europeans, followed by Renaissance and early-modern cartographers from France, England, Holland, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Italian kingdoms, begin mapping what they considered the 'unexplored' regions of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. In the process, they introduced several inaccuracies and errors: California was shown as an island, an imaginary southern continent was marked as Terra Australis Incognita, and the Japanese islands were depicted as distorted, oversized landmasses. One such enduring error was Lake Chimay—an imaginary lake placed around today’s Assam region, in the valley of China’s Yunnan province. It was believed that several rivers of northeast India, northern Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Yunnan originated from a single water body called Lake Chimay. First appearing in 1554, the lake continued to be reproduced on maps until the early 19th century, when it was finally understood to be nothing more than a cartographic myth.

Yunnan province borders the northern reaches of Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam and lies roughly 200 kilometres from India’s closest village in Arunachal Pradesh. Rivers such as the Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Dharla, Mekong, Red River, Chao Phraya, along with several others in the Upper Assam valley and Myanmar’s Kachin State, all flow through this broader region. For centuries, it was believed that this vast imagined lake was the source of all these rivers. The first cartographer to map it was Giacomo Gastaldi in 1554—an Italian cartographer who worked with Ptolemaic traditions and relied heavily on accounts from European and Asian travellers. The practice continued, with successive maps reproducing this fictitious lake and adding towns and river names that appear almost comical in today’s context. A map dated 1705 by Guillaume de L’Isle marks rivers named Laquia, Caipoumo, Casa, and Asa. While it is difficult to identify these precisely today, the Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Dharla, and Chao Phraya were believed to originate from this lake. The Brahmaputra, or Tsangpo, rises from the Angsi Glacier near Lake Mansarovar and Mount Kailash in Tibet; the Irrawaddy originates in Myanmar’s Kachin State and drains into the Andaman Sea; the Dharla flows from the foothills of Sikkim and joins the Brahmaputra in northern Bangladesh as the Jamuna; and the Chao Phraya flows from Nakhon Sawan in Thailand and empties into the Gulf of Thailand. European cartographers had not traversed or mapped the Himalayas or the regions east of them and therefore made this erroneous assumption. In reality, none of these river sources are even remotely close to one another, making the eventual collapse of the Lake Chimay myth inevitable.

The reality behind Lake Chimay began to emerge through 17th-century Jesuit missionaries during their journeys to spread Christian teachings in China and Macau. In 1685, when Aurangzeb ruled Mughal India, the Kangxi Emperor (Shengzu of Qing) ruled Qing China, and King Narai ruled Ayutthaya in present-day Thailand, a French Jesuit missionary, Father Guy Tachard, discovered that the size and position of Siam were not as European cartographers had assumed. Mapmakers had placed Siam about 24 degrees too far east—a displacement of nearly 2,500 kilometres. When Tachard reached Siam, he realised that Asia was significantly smaller than it appeared on European maps. This revelation made it impossible to reconcile the supposed position of Lake Chimay, and although Tachard did not explicitly deny the lake’s existence, it no longer fit within his geographical understanding. Earlier Jesuits, such as Martino Martini and others, had already noted multiple variations in the lake’s supposed outlets and argued that rivers like the Red River and the Chao Phraya had different sources. Such observations began to sow doubt among Europeans about the lake’s existence and accuracy, though it continued to appear on maps with conflicting information about the rivers flowing from it.

Guillaume de L’Isle was among the first to seriously question the authenticity of Lake Chimay in the early 1700s, though he continued to depict it on his maps. By the 1730s, however, Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville—another French cartographer—accurately mapped Tibet, Yunnan, and the entire river system of the region, leaving no place for Lake Chimay. By the early 19th century, the lake had disappeared entirely from European maps. The mythical lake had a long and curious life—imagined by Europeans and ultimately dismissed by them. Below is a recreation of Guillaume de L’Isle’s 1705 map depicting Lake Chimay.

Border Roads

India shares over 15,000 kms of land border with its neighbours, the longest with Bangladesh at 4,096.7 kms and the shortest with Afghanistan at just 106 kilometres. Over 40 Indian districts in 14 states border Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, and almost all of these border areas feature unique interconnecting roads. Some pass through national parks, others overlook amusement parks, some are separated by rivers and others are simply long empty roads with border checkpoints. This post will explore some of the most intriguing examples of these roads, each with its own fascinating story. 

While the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) connects Afghanistan and Bangladesh, it's not the only significant road in this region. This post will focus on lesser-known roads. We'll also exclude popular routes like the Attari-Wagah border road and the Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur connection, as they're well-documented and widely known. 

Mangla Cantonment (Jammu & Kashmir - Pakistan) 

The concept of cantonment is colonial, and while the British established several across the subcontinent, one was built post-independence in Pakistan's Jhelum district of Punjab. Bordering India's Mirpur district (or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir if you prefer), it was constructed in the early 1960s during the Mangla Dam Project (1961-1967). On the Pakistani side, the Mangla Dam Bridge spans the Jhelum River, while the Indian side features the Mirpur Road, passing by a small mosque and the historic 19th-century Mangla Fort, a significant garrison during the 1947-48 First Kashmir War. 

Munabao-Khokrapar (Rajasthan - Pakistan) 

In Rajasthan's Barmer district, Munabao connects Khokrapar village in Sindh, Pakistan. This route was crucial for thousands of refugees crossing the border during partition. Just at the border lies the abandoned Khokrapar railway station (known as Zero Point Khokropar), which reopened in 2006 after four decades of being a ghost town. Its desolate setting in the middle of a desert, surrounded by spine-chilling horror stories, makes it a perfect location for such tales. 

Tribhuvan Rajpath (Bihar - Nepal) 

In Makwanpurgadhi, a municipality less than 100 kms south of Kathmandu, a significant battle occurred on 20th January 1763. The Gorkhas, led by Prithvi Narayan Singh, clashed with the Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim, to reclaim Kathmandu, which Singh had isolated. While the Gorkhas ultimately emerged victorious, another crucial battle took place in the same village between 1814 and 1816. This battle led to the secession of substantial portions of the Nepali kingdom into British India. Makwanpurgadhi, part of the larger Makwanpur district, lies along the Tribhuvan Rajpath. This path extends southwards to Chitragupt Nagar and crosses the Nepali border into Bihar at Raxaul (in Purvi Champaran district). Raxaul also connects to Sugauli, another historically significant location. Upon entering Nepal from Raxaul, travellers pass through Shankaracharya Pravesh Dwar, cross the Sirsiya Bridge, and encounter a small Rajdandi Hanuman temple near the border. 

Ratna Rajmarg (Uttar Pradesh - Nepal) 

During the 1857 rebellion, with the help of Nepali king Jung Bahadur Rana, the British successfully fanned the sieges at Lucknow and Cawnpore (Kanpur). In return, they annexed four districts of the United Provinces to Nepal. The 9,000 Nepali forces marched down this route into Bahraich district, through Jaisapur-Nepalganj-Raupaidiha villages, crushing Indian forces at the Lucknow mutiny on 30th April 1857. This road gained renewed attention in 1942 during the Quit India movement, providing escape for Indian revolutionaries from British arrest. Today, at this border lies Seemant Inter College, technically in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. 

Jaigaon-Phuentsholing Road (West Bengal - Bhutan) 

This route became a significant point during the 19th-century conflict between Bhutanese and English forces. The East India Company, seeking to expand into the Duars, clashed with Bhutanese troops in Phuentsholing along this path during the 1864-65 Duar Wars. These wars led to the secession of Assam and Bengal Duars, now districts from Kalimpong in West Bengal to Udalguri in Assam. Today, the border area boasts a chain of restaurants and hotel accommodations on both sides. While there's a Shri Hanuman Mandir Dharamshala in Jaigaon, West Bengal, there's also a Zangtopelri Lhakhang monastery in Phuentsholing. 

Zokhawtar - Rih Dil (Mizoram - Myanmar) 

This road became a focal point during the 19th-century conflict between Mizoram and Myanmar. The British, aiming to expand their influence, engaged in battles with the Myanmar forces in Zokhawtar. These conflicts contributed to the eventual division of the region. Today, the border area is home to a variety of restaurants and hotels. While there's a Shri Hanuman Mandir Dharamshala in Zokhawtar, Mizoram, there's also a Zangtopelri Lhakhang monastery in Rih Dil, Myanmar. 

Near the border between Khawmawi village in Chin province, Myanmar and Zokhawtar village in Champhai district, Mizoram lies a significant site for Mizo culture. Located about two kilometres from the border checkpoint, along the Yoma Lamon Road, is Rih Dil lake, a revered pilgrimage destination for the Mizo people. Mizo folklore tells of Rihi, a woman who sacrificed herself for her sister, transforming into a lake. This event became deeply ingrained in Mizo cultural heritage. Prior to Burma's separation into a separate colony in 1937, Mizos had access to this site. However, this access was recently re-evaluated, leading to a breakthrough in 2004. This allowed Mizo people to visit the lake for 72 hours without a visa.

Stilwell Road (historically also known as the Ledo Road) - Namgoi Village III, Changlang to Pangasu (Arunachal Pradesh - Myanmar)

Nestled amidst the lush greenery of the Patkai Hills, a part of the expansive Arakan Yoma mountain range, lies the historic Stilwell Road. This road, once known as Ledo Road, served as a vital link between the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh and Pangasu village in Myanmar. Its significance during World War II was immense, as it was constructed to connect India with China through Burma. Following the Japanese capture of Rangoon in May 1942 and the subsequent occupation of Burma, the road was built to circumvent the Japanese blockade. Named after US Army Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, the road saw the efforts of 15,000 American engineers and 30,000 Indian and Chinese workers. It connected Lashio in Burma to Kunming in China. Today, the road remains operational only up to the Indian frontier, with discussions underway to extend its reach into Myanmar. A bustling market straddling the border, open thrice a month, serves as a hub for trade. It also hosts the Pangsau Pass Winter Festival, a key event in the region's border trade activities, where Indian and Burmese traders showcase their goods to local communities.

The Two Tripuras

On the 15th of October 1949, the last Maharaja's Regent, Maharani Kanchanprava Devi, signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government, thus acceding the former Princely State of Tripura to the Union of India. Seven years later, it became a Union Territory on 1st November 1956 and eventually, on 21st January 1972, almost two decades later, it was granted full statehood. But there was another Tripura in the neighbouring East Pakistan or Bangladesh, with a slightly different spelling, which existed not as a Princely State, but as a district known during colonial times as Tippera. In 1960, the Bangladesh government renamed Tippera as Comilla, after its district headquarters, thus eliminating the naming confusion that had been existing for quite a while. 

Between the Surma, Kalni, and Barak rivers, back in the 15th century, the Kingdom of Tripura emerged under the Manikya dynasty. These rivers flow between today's northeastern Bangladesh, Sylhet in Assam, and the hills of Mizoram. Politically, they were in conflict and alliance with the adjoining Hussain Shahis of Bengal, which had its territories expanded between the borders of Bihar-Jharkhand to the west and central Bangladesh in the east. The fight was more for geographical supremacy over the plains, that was suited best for trading and commerce, and while the Manikya kings were raiding against the Hussain Shahis, a perpetual war zone was created in this Surma-Meghna basin and the Lushai-Tripura hills. 

In the 1580s, during the reign of Amar Manikya of Tripura, the Mughals under Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar launched campaigns from Bengal that broke the kingdom's hold over the fertile plains; the kingdom lost Srihatta (Sylhet), Komolya (Comilla) and Bhulua (Noakhali), which were absorbed into the Bengal Subah, while the Manikyas were pushed back into the hill country, marking the permanent separation between the western plains that became much later Tippera/Comilla under Bengal and the eastern hills that remained the Princely State of Tripura, though the Manikya rulers later retained zamindari rights in today's Chakla Roshnabad (broadly along the Comilla-Noakhali-Sylhet belt) within those same plains under Mughal and British rule even after losing political sovereignty.

And thus, the greater Kingdom of Tripura was unofficially divided into Mughal and non-Mughal entities, thus the eastern part remaining free from Mughal colonisation. Following the Mughals, the arrival of the British continued administrating this absorption of the west portion as part of British Bengal, while the eastern stretch remained an independent Princely State. And so, continuing the mispronunciation by the British, the western portion became Tipperah (or Tippera) and the eastern region became Hill Tipperah, which gradually changed to Tripura. 

But 18th-century European cartographers oversimplified this demarcation and clubbed both the regions (and a couple of more territories) under one single unit of Tippera. This oversimplification was later resolved according to the 1793 Permanent Settlement Act, where the Manikyas still continued taking revenues from the Chakla-Roshnabad region, but under the protectorship of the East India Company. Finally, in 1803, the Princely State of Hill Tipperah was carved out, leaving the Chakla-Roshnabad strip under the Bengal Presidency. It's not clear when, but it could be assumed that when the British recognised the sovereignty of Hill Tipperah, by the 1830s, the state name slowly started to slip from Hill Tipperah to simply, Tripura, although official maps continued to label this distinction as Hill Tipperah and Tipperah even till the 20th century. But, a further truncation was yet to come. 

It's interesting to note that although these were two names of the same Tripura, it wasn't either partition or division, just a simple subject of administration by two different entities. By 1960, the reference of Tripura or Tippera was permanently wiped out from Bangladesh, and it became simply Comilla. It's interesting to note that at the time the British arrived in the northeast of India in the 19th century, Hill Tipperah or Tripura included today's Tripura state and an extension to North Lushai Hills, that was later acquired by the British East India Company in 1886. This includes today's districts of Mamit, Kolasib, Aizawl, Champhai and Serchhip of Mizoram. Till the creation of a separate Lushai Hills by the British in 1890, the various Mizo clans were distributed politically between Hill Tipperah and Chittagong districts. But one tragic incident once again changed the boundaries of Hill Tipperah, and this was towards the end of the 19th century. 

Towards the last decades of the 19th century, in around the 1870s, the British had gradually formed their grip over Assam and acquired tea estates, boosting their business and network with Burma and around. But while they were pushing their colonial agendas, they encroached on tribal areas all across the subcontinent, dominating the lumber and tea trade. Hence, when they poked their noses into the business of the Lushai people, illegally and without consent, that did irk the latter to react in a rather aggressive way. Hence, on 27th January 1871, in the tea estates of Alexandrapore (in today's Hailakandi district, southern Assam), the Lushai protested and raided the tea estate, that created a stir in the neighbourhood. The raid, looting, and kidnappings had escalated to the point that alarmed the British authorities to permanently find a solution to these constant attacks, hence removing the eastern portion of Hill Tipperah, joining it with the remaining Lushai regions of Chittagong, and making it a separate district of Lushai Hills (which is essentially today's Mizoram state) in 1890. 

Since then, the two units were governed separately. Tipperah came under the Bengal administration and Hill Tipperah, as a separate Princely State, but under the Assam government. Today, only the word Tripura survives, as a state of northeast India. These maps here are recreation of the original versions created by James Rennell (1779), Surveyor General of India (1885) and John Bartholomew (1864) respectively. 

European factories and Armenians in Agra

The Taj Mahal is the first synonym that springs to mind when Agra is mentioned.  In the early days of colonial India, Bombay Madras and Calcutta were the usual cities of reference. However Agra holds a unique connection to the construction of the Taj Mahal.  This connection revolves around trade factories.  As a major Mughal cosmopolitan and one of the empire's capitals, Agra saw several early trade factories established by the English, Dutch and Portuguese.  Another power, the Armenians, also established trade routes and nodes in Agra (and other parts of India) but didn't pursue colonial ambitions. 

The first trade factory in Agra, then known as Akbarabad, was established in 1614 by EIC agent William Edwards.  He was tasked with overseeing indigo purchases and trade between the Mughal Empire and England.  Additionally, he was responsible for reporting on tensions between the Portuguese and Mughals, which he submitted directly to London.  Agra was chosen as the principal Mughal capital, home to Emperor Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim or Jehangir.  The indigo-growing belt between Agra and Bayana (in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district) further solidified Agra's status as a European trade hub, attracting the Dutch shortly after four years in 1618.  Both European powers arrived from Surat, expanding their trade networks and influencing Emperors Jehangir and Shah Jahan while keeping a watchful eye on their Portuguese rivals. 

Back in Europe, the politics of the Habsburg dynasty's succession led Portugal to fight against the Dutch.  While they were closer to England diplomatically, they were fierce competitors in Asia for trade.  Ultimately, both England and the Dutch wanted to expel the Portuguese from trading in India or at least significantly reduce their presence there, which eventually happened.  However, Agra even had Portuguese influence, albeit through Jesuit missions sent from Goa, long before the arrival of English and Dutch traders.  Between the 1580s and 1635, and then from 1636 onwards, the Portuguese were permitted to conduct their religious missions in Agra, using religious tools to establish complete dominance.  Their disruptive behaviour caused considerable unrest in Hooghly, prompting Shah Jahan to seize their trade centres and relocate the troublemakers to Agra.  He ordered the demolition of their church in 1635, subsequently favouring the trade incentives offered by England and the Dutch.  Consequently, Portuguese influence in Agra waned, leading to the complete control of English and Dutch traders. 

Another European (formerly Asian) player who influenced Indian town trade markets without any colonial ambitions was Armenia.  Its geography has witnessed some of history's most dramatic shifts.  For centuries during antiquity, it thrived as an independent kingdom.  Later, during the Byzantine era, it was partitioned.  In the Middle Ages, it re-emerged as the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia.  Subsequently, it was submerged by the Mamluks, Timurids, various Turkmen clans, the Ottomans and Iranians. Finally, it was recognised as the First Republic of Armenia in 1918.  However, when Armenians first arrived in the subcontinent, they were predominantly from Isfahan's New Julfa, the Armenian quarter.  The larger Armenian realm was divided between the Ottomans and Safavids.  Their initial destinations included Surat and Agra, later moving on to Lahore, Ahmedabad, Burhanpur, Masulipatam (Machilipatnam), Madras (Chennai), Calcutta (Kolkata), Murshidabad and Dhaka. 

In the 16th century, Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar invited Armenians to trade in Agra.  This was to share profits from the indigo business between the Mughals and Safavids.  Unlike Europeans, Armenians were strictly traders and avoided military conflicts with local rulers.  While some served as mercenaries or freelancers in Mughal armies, they never established a large group to dominate beyond their trading base.  Although they didn't exert military pressure in Indian cities, they engaged in fierce commercial competition with Europeans, particularly in Agra. 

Following the capital's shift from Agra to Delhi, trading patterns underwent significant changes.  Having been discredited at the Mughal court, the Portuguese opted to permanently leave Agra, redirecting their focus to coastal territories.  While the Dutch maintained a lodge in Agra for several years, they ultimately gained more strength along the coast.  As the costs of maintaining the lodge became prohibitive, they closed it in Agra by 1648.  The Armenians, disinclined towards military engagement, positioned themselves between the Dutch and English, relying heavily on court favours. Consequently, they too shifted to ports. However, the English employed native and even Armenian brokers for their business, so even after the capital moved to Delhi, their brokerage and coastal profits remained largely unaffected.

In 1835, Agra became a British Presidency, shortly before being reorganised into the North West Provinces.  The era of factories had long passed, and while it was now a British territory, European factories and the Armenian church had vanished. Today, these factories could likely be found between Paliwal Park and Nehru Nagar Gardens in Civil Lines.

The map below recreates Akbarabad (Agra), as sketched by Ishwar Prakash Gupta between 1981 and 1986. It depicts the city as it appeared in 1658, highlighting 'Padri Tola', a neighbourhood comprising Armenian caravan sarais, Jesuit and Portuguese churches, and approximate locations of Dutch and English factories near the Jamuna (or Yamuna) river. 

The United Provinces (Dutch Republic) were a Protestant republican confederation striving for independence.  Meanwhile, the Spanish Netherlands remained Catholic and under Habsburg rule.  By 1603, the Dutch Republic, though not yet formally recognised, was already functioning independently in the north.  The southern provinces (Spanish Netherlands) remained loyal to Spain, creating a divided battleground in the Low Countries during the Eighty Years' War.  Simultaneously, their trade in India was exploited by multiple European powers. This map is sourced from the Educational Technology Clearinghouse at the University of South Florida, 2009. 

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Armenia wasn't a truly independent kingdom or nation as it once was.  Divided between the Safavid Empire of Iran and the Ottoman Empire of Turkey, Isfahan, the city, became the main centre for Armenians.  From there, Armenian traders travelled to India for trade. This map is based on Herman Moll's original work from 1732. 

Ayyavole 500 - the merchant guild of the Cholas

Throughout history, military conflicts and political supremacy have dominated our minds, shaping narratives around victories and defeats. However, one aspect of history has quietly influenced the world, forming the backbone of colonisation: traders, merchants, and shopkeepers. These individuals were the backbone of any civilisation, and the vast trade routes across the globe demonstrated that trade and commerce would shape the world as we know it.

Focusing on India, the chronology of trade in the Indian subcontinent can be broadly categorised into four periods:

1. Indigenous Trade Civilisations (until 750-800 AD)
2. Classical and Medieval Mercantile Networks (roughly between 750 to 1500 AD)
3. Colonial Economy (1500 to 1947)
4. Postcolonial and Global Integration (1947 to present)

The major empires and dynasties in Indian history were also champions of trade and commerce. However, we can broadly divide these empires into two groups: one that traded with empires and nations towards Iran, Arabia, and Central Asia, and the other that traded with China and the Southeast Asian realm.

The Mauryas, Guptas, Mughals, and Marathas dealt with the Western world, while the Satavahanas, Cholas, Vijayanagara, Cheras, Pandyas, and others dealt with the Eastern. These trades occurred through independent merchants and traders, as well as guilds of merchants – communities of traders bound by common rules and regulations. These guilds were known by various names, such as Shreni, Shreshthi, Vanik, Anjuvannam, Manigramam, Valanjiyar, Bhatia, Baniya, and so on.

These traders engaged in trade with a diverse range of ethnicities, including Bactrian-Sogdian caravaners, Roman merchants, traders from the Srivijaya Empire of Sumatra and Java islands, Arabs, Persians, and Chinese. This vast and cosmopolitan network became the backbone of a global economy, with Indian empires playing a central role for centuries. 

One such guild, belonging to the mighty Chola Empire (in around the 9th century AD), was the Ayyavole 500 or Disai-Ayirattu-Ainurruvar (திசை-ஆயிரத்து-ஐந்நூறுவர் / ಅಯ್ಯವೋಳು ಐನೂರುವರು).  Some sources suggest they originated from Ayyavole or Aihole (in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka) and would have the literal translation of ‘Five hundred of the thousand directions’. They handled commercials related to temples, gifts, and even contributed to temple construction. One of their branches, Tisai Ayirattu Ainnutruvar, had a network that reached Gangga Negara (in Malaysia), Safarids and Buyrids (in Iran), Bhauttarashtra (the upper Himalayan belt of Nepal and Bhutan), the Lambakannas (in Sri Lanka), and dominated heavily the Indian Ocean waters, locally known as Ratnakara. 

The Ayyavole 500 weren’t just traders; they also had a role in the militia that supported the Chola campaigns against the Srivijaya Empire in Sumatra. The guild maintained an armed escort wing called the Virakodiya, which protected their caravans, ships, and warehouses. Occasionally, they even participated in local conflicts, as evidenced by ancient Tamil inscriptions that record their involvement in guarding port towns.

While there’s a description of the Ayyavole 500’s presence at Lobu Tua village in northern Sumatra (over 700 kilometres from Indira Point on the Car Nicobar Island), there’s no mention of the Virakodiya’s involvement there. Therefore, it’s uncertain whether the correct and accurate location of military posts where the Virakodiyas were involved coincides with this village.

Other places where Chola presence is recorded include Mantai (or Manthottam, Mannar coast in Sri Lanka), Gokanna (Trincomalee, in Sri Lanka), Kadaram (Kedah, in Sumatra, Indonesia), Palembang (the Srivijayan capital on Sumatra island), and possibly a passing harbour at Temasek or modern-day Singapore. However, there’s no concrete proof of any Chola stations here. 

On the mainland of Southeast Asia, certain places are recorded to have been traded with by the Cholas during the medieval era. These include Arimaddanapura (Pagan, Myanmar), Vaisali (near Mrauk-U, Myanmar), Suddhamavati or Sudhammapura (Thaton, Myanmar), possibly Lavapura (Lopburi, Thailand), possibly Vyadhapura (Ba Phnom, Cambodia), and Vijaya (Qui Nhơn or Bình Định, Vietnam). These places have recorded histories of interacting with the Cholas, primarily through maritime landings. However, there isn’t any specific mention of Ayyavole’s 500 guild directly interacting with these places. 

As everything reached its finale, so did the Ayyavole 500 guild. The Cholas’ support for the guild increased their dominance over local authorities. However, the resurrection of Srivijaya over Melaka (Malacca) and the rise of the Pandyas led to the guild’s fragmentation into numerous smaller bodies. By the mid-13th century, the decline of the Chola empire further compounded their difficulties. Heavy incursions and the involvement of Muslim merchants penetrated the subcontinent from the north, while the rise of the Mongol Empire in Iran and Balochistan shifted the trade monopoly westward.  Displaced merchants restored their place within regional merchant communities like the Chettiars, Komatis, and Tamil Muslim groups, while others sought refuge on Sumatra and Sri Lanka. Despite these challenges, the Ayyavole 500 remained a crucial and highly important structure in the administration of the Cholas, helping them endure for several centuries. 

When Goa governed Mozambique and Bombay administrated Seychelles

During colonisation, the norm was to control administration in foreign lands from European cities. All British colonies were controlled from London, Portuguese from Lisbon, French from Paris, and so on. Then they had provincial headquarters in foreign lands for multi-level administration. Thus, Spanish Philippines and Spanish West Indies (the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, etc.) were administrated from Mexico City until 1821 (the year of Mexican independence), Dutch East Indies were governed from Batavia (Jakarta) from 1619, etc. Similarly, colonial forces in India also controlled certain overseas territories for a brief amount of time. Ceylon, or modern-day Sri Lanka, was briefly administrated from Madras between 1796 and 1798 and loosely till 1802 when it became a separate Crown Colony of the British Empire. The British also governed the colony of Seychelles from the Bombay Presidency during the 19th and early 20th century. The Estado da Índia, or the Portuguese State of India, administrated territories in Mozambique under the Captaincy of Sofala (between 1505 and 1752), Macau, and Portuguese Timor (Timor-Leste; till mid-18th century) from first Cochin (between 1505 and 1530) and then Goa (1530 to 1752). Similarly, the Persian Gulf Residency, Aden, and even British Somaliland reported to English authorities at Bombay at various points in the 19th century, while Strait Settlements and Singapore reported to Calcutta in the same era. Such was the length and stretch of British and Portuguese India.

The French, however, didn't control any of their non-Indian colonies from either of their five enclaves in India. Neither from Pondichéry (Puducherry), Karaïkal (Karaikal), Mahé (Mahe), Yanaon (Yanam) or even Chandernagor (Chandannagar), the French Indochina was administered, even for a temporary phase. 

This post isn't about the Indian diaspora outside the Indian realm, but only about those places where Indians reached because of temporary control from Indian settlements of Bombay, Goa, Madras and Calcutta. 

Talking especially about the Portuguese part, while they governed Mozambique from Goa, they did bring several soldiers of ethnicities such as Maravé, Sena, Makonde, Makua, Yemvane, Mutapa etc. - the Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa, who were called by a racist slur 'Cafres' (originated from the Arabic word kafir). In fact, on several old maps, the entire coast starting from South Africa and covering Eswatini, Mozambique and even Tanzania can be seen marked as 'Cafres'. This is obviously because of the European lens African maps were made, who ignored the indigenous tribal conglomeration and focused only on the simplification of internal frontiers, which to them seemed too complex to understand. 

According to an article written by Isaac Samuel in African History Extra, several Mutapa princes travelled to Goa for religious services, apart from the usual enlisting in the Portuguese army that they normally did. Mutapa was the name of the empire that succeeded Great Zimbabwe and existed between 1430 and 1888, also known as Monomotapa or Mwenumutapa, covering Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, and Mozambique. One such prince's name was Mapeze, baptised as Dom Constantino in 1699, and the next year was sent to Goa to join the Dominican order as Friar Dom Constantino do Rosário. He was shortly joined by his brother Dom João, and both their studies were funded by the Portuguese Crown, Dom Pedro II. Interestingly, Dom Constantino was exiled to Macau (later called back to Goa) for 'religious misdemeanour', but it's not reported whether any of the two brothers ever occupied any political power in Goa. 

There were also incidents in which Goans who were shipped to African colonies took part in shaping their local history. One such incident had occurred two centuries ago, in 1693, when the Mupata king, Nyakunembire (1692-1694), had jointly attacked a Portuguese fair in Dambarare (in Zimbabwe) along with a Shona-speaking Changamire (local King of the Rozvi Empire, in Zimbabwe). The attack resulted in the killing of over 60 people, that included Africans, Portuguese, and Goans. It was a personal revenge that Nyakunembire wanted to take against his own brother who was supported by the Portuguese, for claiming the Mutapa throne. But this was an unfortunate incident where Goans were killed who may have gone there to attend the fair. 

Goa's connection doesn't just lie on African lands, but in a far-off Portuguese territory on the southern shores of China - Macau. One of the longest claimed Portuguese territories in the world - from 1557 to 1999 - has a great Goan connection. According to an article written by Jessica Faleiro in 2017, a former barracks in the heart of Macau called Moorish Barracks, built in 1874, accommodated a Goan regiment to reinforce Macau's police force. Macau also has a cemetery going by the name 'Ramal dos Mouros' or 'extension of the Moors' - which is technically a racist and archaic word to describe Muslims, but lingers in the chapters of history even today. 

Another Goan connection is with what today is the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, one of the newly independent nations of the world (independence from Portugal on 20th May 2002). Between 1515 and 1844, Portuguese Timor was officially part of the Estado da Índia, having its Governor-General sit in Goa. Religiously, the Dominican friars would land at Lifau town (the former capital of Portuguese Timor) from Goa in 1556, setting up the first permanent mission there. Goan priests would also carry out ceremonial rites, devotional festivals, and church architecture to Timorese society, a legacy of which can be felt in the ruins of St. Mary of the Rosary Church at Oecusse (Oekussi). 

Let's talk about another rare connection of Indians, but this time on the islands of Seychelles, which was governed from Bombay between 1810 and 1903 and was part of the colony of Mauritius during that period. In fact, the connection between India and Seychelles goes back to 1770 when a small group of five Indians landed with several African slaves and French colonists, recording it as the islands' first inhabitants. During the period when it was governed from Bombay, there would be regular shipping links and flow of trade and commerce between India and Seychelles, and also settlement of Tamilians in Mahé and Praslin islands (parts of Seychelles). From 1903, Seychelles was operated as a separate British colony that lasted till 1976. At present, alongside the currency of Seychelles being the Seychellois Rupee, there is a thriving Gujarati and Tamil population in this tiny island nation that forms a dynamic Indian community away from India. 

Coming to Strait Settlements - Penang, Dinding, Malacca and Singapore - which were governed from Calcutta for 37 years between 1830 and 1867, apart from being British settlements in Malaya, were also used as penal colonies for Indian prisoners. In fact, the island of Pulau Jejerak near Penang had its prison hold over 3000 Indian prisoners cramped in a small cell and was flooded with cholera and smallpox. These Indian prisoners, much later, were also a cementing force in the formation of the Indian National Army (or the Azad Hind Fauj) under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, during the times of WW2, accelerating the vigour of the Indian independence movement. 

There are many such other anecdotes that are wiped under the brushes of history and overwhelmed by popular narratives. But this chapter of Indian history, having connections with realms beyond the subcontinent, has shaped not just Indian but world history. Below here are some of the maps decorating this piece of work. 

TAJIKISTAN - India's 'almost' neighbour

If we take Indian sources, the northernmost neighbouring tip country for India is Afghanistan. This strip of land, according to Pakistani sources, is the Gilgit-Baltistan province, and this strip of land which touches Afghanistan, according to the Indian perspective, is roughly 100 kms. But there is another country that almost touches the Gilgit-Baltistan region and is almost a neighbour of both India and Pakistan - the Republic of Tajikistan. We never talk about it, but from an Indian perspective, Tajikistan is just 20-30 odd kilometres away from the northernmost tip of Gilgit-Baltistan, making it an 'almost neighbour' of India.

Till the time Tajikistan was part of the Soviet Union, we could also say that the majestic USSR was just 20-30 kms away from the Indian frontier and even before when it was the Russian Empire and India was under British rule, that distance separated India and Russia. But does this even mean anything from the lens of Indian history? Has Tajikistan contributed in anything that shaped India's culture in any way? This post shall brush on this. 

The following sources shall rely heavily on the Schwartzberg South Asian Atlas, which mentions the Fergana Valley as Prakanva, which is currently spread around the junction of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan's tri-connection, to the east of Tashkent. The mountains of the Wakhan Corridor were mentioned as Lohitagiri by the same source back in the era of the 6th-5th centuries BC, which itself is sourced from ancient Buddhist knowledge. The same source mentions that around the times of the Mauryan Empire between the 4th to 2nd centuries BC, the tribes around the Pamir Mountains in today's Tajikistan were known as Phrynis, although other sources locate this tribe more towards the east of the Tarim Basin in northwestern China. But the first major empire that spread throughout Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent in ancient times was the Kushan Empire, between the 30th to 4th century AD. For the lack of any accurate source, various historians and creators have sketched out the approximate map of the Kushan Empire that covered today's India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. And perhaps, this is where the transition of ancient culture from this region started to infuse into the subcontinent. 

Buddhist statue at Ajina Tepe
Source: Tours to Tajikistan

According to UNESCO's website, the ancient cities of Tajikistan that lay on the Silk Road, on which trade also happened within the Indian subcontinent, also had one Buddhist monastery at Ajina-Tepe, 12 kms east of Bokhtar, the largest city in southern Tajikistan. But if we want to trace the connection of the Kushan Empire's timeline with that of any settlement there, it would be the site of Takhti-i-Sangin, on the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan along the Panj River, a little more than 100 kms east of Mazar-i-Sharif. The site is significant for having the Temple of Oxus, that was witnessed during the Kushan Empire, built during the 3rd to 2nd century BC. But this wasn't a direct connection with Indian history, nor did any Indian ruler contribute to the Temple of Oxus. But the Buddhist monastery at Ajina-Tepe has a direct connection with an Indian emperor - Ashoka. 

Emperor Ashoka started the campaign of spreading Buddhism around the 3rd century BC after incurring the massacre at the Kalinga War in modern-day Odisha. And thus started the spread of Buddhism, starting from Pataliputra (Patna) and adjoining places in modern-day Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal, and branching out to Gandhara, Bamiyan, Bactria, Sughd (Sodgiana), Tokharistan, Parikana (Fergana), etc. This was the time when most of Central Asia was a Greek state under the slowly emerging Greco-Bactrian Empire, an earlier building block under the gigantic Seleucid Empire. In the ancient Buddhist realm, this land was referred to as the country of Yavanas or a more loose geographical terminology - Uttarpatha. The city of Panjekanth (Panjakent), which is at the border of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan towards the western part of the country, was an important Silk Route site that is the most probable trading point in those days, as there have been excavations of Hindu Gods (mostly variants of Shiva) found in this place. So this can be easily inferred that there was a direct connection between these settlements in the ancient Ashokan era, which gradually increased over the period, preserving the Buddhist-Hindu connection even though the region was being Islamised slowly. 

The Buddhist connection with Tajikistan extended to various smaller kingdoms and realms over time. After the fall of the Kushan Empire, an intermediary amalgamation of the rising Sassanians in the West Asian realm took over, called Kushanshahr, stretching from Turkmenistan to the border of the Panj River in the east, brushing over Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and northeast Iran. This was soon taken over by the Kidarites, and both these empires had people practising Buddhism and ancient Hinduism along with Zoroastrianism and other animistic religions till the 5th century AD. And in all these periods, the major trading centres with cities of Central Asia, in the Indian realm, were Mathura, Ayodhya (Saket), and Ujjain (Ujjayini), and today's Pakistani cities of Taxila (Taksasila), Peshawar (Purusapura), and Multan (Mulasthanapura). These were connected to ancient Tajik towns of Cyropolis (unclear of its modern location but assumed probably around the northern strip of the country, most likely Khojand), Alexandra Eschate (in the Fergana valley), Panjakent, and various settlements on the Panj River. 

Tajikistan was later part of the larger Hephthalite Empire (5th-6th centuries AD), or popularly known as the White Huns, the Turkic Khagnates (6th-8th centuries AD) that populated the entire Steppe lands from Ukraine to Manchuria, with a hybrid ethnic group following several religions— both existing and non-existing in the present scenario. But things escalated quickly with the arrival of Islam as a fresh new religion that would sweep away three continents as soon as it was born in the deserts of Arabia. The Umayyads and Abbasids were the first Islamic regimes to touch Tajikistan between the 7th and 16th centuries, giving birth to Islam in Tajikistan. 

As the Islamic sphere reached the Indian subcontinent, some of them were of Tajik origin as well. According to A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East, the author Richard Foltz mentions the Ghaznavid Empire ruler Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabüktigin, or popularly the Mahmud of Ghazni, as a half-Tajik from his mother’s side. His mother belonged to a wealthy landowning family from Zabulistan, a historical region in the southeast of Iran bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Ghaznavid Empire expanded from the heartland of Iran in the west, to the shores of the Aral Sea in the north, stretching to Punjab, the Gangetic belt, and as far as the shores of Saurashtra and Makran in the far east and south, between 977 and 1186, one of the earliest Islamic empires in the subcontinent. The Ghaznavids appointed several poets at their courts, two of them being of Tajik origin - Abu'l-Hasan Farrukhi (d. 1038) and Abu Najm Manuchehri (d. 1041). 

The next empire, the Ghurids, were of Iranian-Tajik origin, who ruled the north Indian belt till 1205, and it was them who established the Persian court culture that would be continued till the end of 1858 under the Mughals. While the political stance on the administration and conquests of the Ghurids and Ghaznavids in India is divided, it's safe to say that both the dynasties did shape Indian history immensely, being the pioneers of Islamic influence in the Indian subcontinent - both in a negative and positive light, the relativity depending on which political lens one is seeing through. 

The next mega-conglomeration of Muslim descendants in the subcontinent came from the Mughals, whose founder, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, had a deep connection with the Tajiks. Though he was born in Andijan, which is in today's Uzbekistan, the court language of the Fergana Valley at that time was mostly Tajik, among other languages. In fact, Babur had a large army of Tajiks and Tajik-origin soldiers. 

Richard Foltz also comments on the irony of Afghans who use Dari as their official language, which is closely associated with Tajik and Persian languages, yet the Tajiks never held court premises as compared to the Afghans in the Indian subcontinent. The post-Mongol vacuum and Uzbek takeover resulted in Central Asia being fragmented into several Khanates that lasted till the Russian forces engulfed them wholly by the 19th century. There were too many of them, but the three that are important from an Indian perspective were Khiva, Bukhara, Badakhshan (not technically a 'Khanate' but more of an Emirate), and Kokand, clubbed together and known as Turkestan. Modern-day Tajikistan shared parts of the Bukhara, Badakhshan, and Kokand Khanates, and except for Badakhshan, the rest of the lot were predominantly Uzbek in ethnicity. Badakhshan was majorly Tajik and much closer to British India than the others. 

Cut to the era of the Soviets, Tajiks were given a separate identity in 1924 as the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik ASSR) under the larger Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR), and later in 1929, upgraded to the Tajik SSR. The Pamir mountains were added under the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, but major Persian-speaking cities were kept in the Uzbek SSR to avoid a Tajik uprising. But economically, the Tajik SSR was the poorest of the lot, and apart from frequent checking on their settlements beyond the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan, the British didn't engage with them much. Over the period, the Tajik interaction with that of India faded, except that several decades after independence, the Indian Air Force stationed its airbase in Farkhor in the 2000s to keep an eye on Taliban activities in Afghanistan. 

Today, Tajikistan ranks among the poorest or least developed nations in Central Asia and is economically dependent more on Russia and China than India. And just by a 15 kms of stretch, it remains almost a neighbour of both India and Pakistan.