Trade and Commerce India's Trade with foreign - Arabs expanded trade with India, Southeast Asia and China . India imported gold and silver from Arabs in return for other merchandise. Indian merchants, philosophers, medical men, and craftsmen visited Baghdad and other Muslim towns in west Asia. South Indian kingdoms had trade with southeast Asian countries and China. People had geographical knowledge in the period. This is evident from contemporary books such as Brihatkatha-kosh by Harisena . Indian merchants were organized in guilds or shrenis or sanghs (people belonging to different castes having their own rules of conduct which the members were legally bound to obey, and were entitled to lend or borrow money or receive endowments), the most famous of them being Manigraman and the Nandesi . These guilds were engaged in retail as well as wholesale trade within or outside the country . They gave handsome grants to temples and advanced money...
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