By Admin 
Today, India is doing trade with many countries of the world, be it America, Russia, Britain, France or any country of any other continent, but a recent research has found traces of trade relations between India and the Roman Empire in ancient times. In fact, two researchers have identified about 30 inscriptions in Tamil, Brahmi, Prakrit and Sanskrit languages in the tombs located in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. These inscriptions, believed to be from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, represent a new discovery on trade relations between ancient Tamilnadu, several other regions of India, and the Roman Empire.
This research was done in the year 2024-2025 by Professor Charlotte Schmid of the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO) in Paris and Professor Ingo Strauch of Lausanne University, Switzerland, in which these inscriptions have been identified. The research team found these inscriptions in six tombs of the Theban Necropolis. He carried forward the work of French scholar Jules Baillet, who surveyed the Valley of the Kings in 1926.
What did the research team say in the research??
In their research paper presented at the International Conference on Tamil Epigraphy titled ‘From the Valley of the Kings to India: Indian Inscriptions in Egypt’, the scholars said that the Indian inscriptions found in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt are evidence that people from the north-west, west and southern regions of India had reached these tombs. Among these, the largest number were people from South India, especially the Tamil region.
According to researchers, those people who came from India had registered their presence by carving their names or many short messages on the walls of the corridors and rooms of the tombs. These inscriptions were found along with a large amount of graffiti written in several languages, especially Greek. This makes it clear that writing names on the walls of tombs was a prevalent tradition since ancient times, which was followed by the people who came from India.
One name found eight times in five tombs
Researchers have found one name, Cikai Koṟraṉ, engraved in these inscriptions a total of eight times in five different tombs. This name is sometimes found written near the entrance of the tomb and sometimes among other graffiti on the inner walls. This name was also found engraved in a tomb at a height of about four meters at the entrance.
What did the archeology expert of Tamil Nadu say?
Expert of Tamil Nadu State Archeology Department. According to Rajan, this discovery provides evidence of strong trade relations between the Malabar coast of ancient Tamil Nadu and the Roman Empire. Earlier research in Egypt was mainly limited to the port city of Berenike on the Red Sea, which has now extended to the Nile River valley.