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1404 Ceylon Pearl Trade
Around 1404 CE, pearl diving in the Gulf of Mannar and northern waters of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) continued supplying fine pearls to Indian Ocean m…
Timeline
- 1404Gulf of Mannar · Gulf of MannarThe waters of the Gulf of Mannar off northwestern Ceylon were renowned for pearl diving; around 1404 divers harvested pearl oysters, and the pearls were purchased in bulk by local rulers or diving guilds before being transported to ports for sale.
- 1404Colombo · Western ProvincePearls were loaded onto ships at Colombo and other ports, then carried by Arab and Indian merchants to Calicut, Hormuz, and Red Sea ports, entering the luxury circulation network of the Indian Ocean; trade volume remained active in 1404.
Sources
- Pearl fishing in the Gulf of Mannar https://www.britannica.com/place/Gulf-of-Mannar
- The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama — Sanjay Subrahmanyam (1997)