Page:Indian Shipping, a history of the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of the Indians from the earliest times.djvu/117

 force with which the kings of Bengal attacked him, and his planting the pillars of victory on the isles formed in the midst of the River Ganges. The Raghuvańsa also mentions the carrying even into Persia of the victorious arms of Raghu, though of course he reached Persia by the land route. But this express reference to land route implies that the water route was well known. In Kālidāsa's Sakuntalā we have already noted the reference to China as the land of silk fabrics. The Sakuntalā also relates the story of a merchant named Dhanavṛiddhi whose immense wealth devolved to the king on the former's perishing at sea and leaving no heirs behind him. The popular drama of Ratnāvalī, which is usually attributed to King Harsha, relates the story of the Ceylonese princess, daughter of King Vikramavāhu,