Page:History of India Vol 8.djvu/29

 AN INDIAN DECORATIVE DESIGN. CHAPTER I EAELY COMPETITION FOR INDIAN COMMERCE FROM time immemorial the trade of Europe with the rich and productive countries of Southeastern Asia, particularly with India and the islands of the Malay Archipelago, has been the most lucrative branch of the world's commerce. It has been the object of fierce and persistent competition by sea and land among the more enterprising and civilized European states, of a contest that increased with the spirit of adventure and the desire for wealth; and it has made the fortune of every city or nation that has successively obtained the largest share of it. For nearly eighteen centuries, from the days of the Ptolemies almost until the Portu- guese rounded the Cape of Good Hope, Alexandria was an emporium and half-way station of the sea-borne trade. The Roman emperors, who were deeply interested 1