Peshawar (Purushapura) Valley in modern times.
16:08 (Central Asia Time)
Sunday, June 16, 61 B.C.E.
Two kilometers west of the city gates of Purushapura (modern-day Peshawar)
Indo-Scythian Saka Kingdom
‘’HALT! WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?’’
Hiram hid his frustration at hearing again this challenge, this time from a Saka officer commanding a checkpoint along the ancient road known as the Grand Trunk Road. With the walls of Purushapura now a mere two kilometers away, his caravan had been obliged to go through no less than three other such checkpoints during this last day of travel, all manned by strong groups of suspicious Saka warriors. However, he had no choice but to paint a happy face over these irritants and to stay polite with those Saka warriors. So, Hiram bowed his head to salute the officer and answered him in a calm voice.
‘’I am Hiram, from Samarkand. Me and my associates are Sogdian merchants and our caravan is heading to Pataliputra, where we hope to make some good trading.’’
The officer appeared half satisfied by his answer but then pointed an accusing finger at Nauca, who was riding behind Hiram’s horse.
‘’That girl looks like a Yuezhi! What is she doing with your caravan?’’
‘’That girl is a Sarmatian from the plains north of the Pontus Euxinus, and not a Yuezhi. She is one of my associates and also acts as one of my caravan guards.’’
‘’Fair enough! What is your caravan carrying?’’
‘’We have horses, amber, copper, some gems bought along our way and coinage meant to buy merchandises in Pataliputra and also to pay for our lodging, food…and prostitutes along the way.’’
Hiram’s joke about paying for prostitutes finally seemed to relax the officer, who smiled at those words.
‘’Well, I can personally vouch that we have some very pretty girls in Purushapura, merchant. Your caravan may enter the city.’’
‘’Thank you!’’ replied Hiram, adding to his head bow a gold coin tossed to the officer, who promptly caught it in flight. Hiram then signaled his caravan to follow him and made his horse trot towards the city and past the Saka control point.
As they were approaching the walls of Purushapura, Hiram slowed down his horse, in order to let Nauca and Kasim, another of his associates, catch up with him and be able to have a conversation together.
‘’This business of an active war between the Kushans and the Sakas is really worrying me. Apart from severely disrupting trade, it could well end up cutting off our return road to Samarkand. If that happens, then we would have no choice but to take an alternate return route.’’
‘’Since we can’t predict what will happen in the coming months or know how bad this war could become, why not decide right now about a new return route to Samarkand?’’ said Kasim, making Hiram nod his head once.
‘’You make a lot of sense, Kasim. We will have to discuss seriously tonight about the possibilities open to us.’’
‘’I agree with Kasim.’’ added Nauca. ‘’War is too unpredictable a business and, if we come back this way only to have to turn around, that would cost us dearly in lost time and money.’’
‘’Then, I will meet with all my associates after supper. Pass the word around, Kasim.’’ said Hiram before pushing his horse to return at the head of his caravan.
If anything, the fact that numerous Saka archers were manning the walls of the city, with a good dozen soldiers armed with spears posted at the western gate of Purushapura, was enough to show to the Sogdian merchants and to Nauca how tense the situation in the region was. After paying the usual gate toll and getting information about the caravanserais located in town, Hiram led his caravan inside the city and trotted a few hundred meters before entering the opened gate of a walled caravanserai, where he was happily greeted by the owner of the place. Judging from the nearly empty covered animal stalls lining the inside of the walls of the caravanserai, business had to have been meager lately, something that explained the happiness of the owner on seeing Hiram and his caravan come in.
‘’Welcome to Haram’s caravanserai, my good friends!’’
Hiram couldn’t help smile on hearing the owner’s name.
‘’Haram? My name is Hiram and I am from Samarkand. Such a coincidence must be some kind of sign from the gods.’’
The owner, equally surprised, was however quick to rebound.
‘’Well, Hiram, consider yourself at home here. How long are you planning to stay?’’
‘’Maybe two to three days, time to replenish my food and animal feed supplies and do some trading in the city. Do you have a bath house in your caravanserai? The road has been hot and dusty indeed.’’
‘’I have a nice bath house, with equally nice girls to help scrub your back…if you want to rent their services.’’
‘’We will see later. Right now, what me and my associates need the most are a good meal and a clean place to sleep.’’
20:24 (Central Asia Time)
Hiram’s room, caravanserai’s inn
Purushapura
Once all of his fourteen associates, camel drivers and guards were in his room, which was lit only by a few torches and oil lamps at this late hour, Hiram started speaking to them in a sober tone.
‘’My friends, we have an important decision to make concerning our future return trip to Samarkand. You all saw how tense the situation is in this region, with the Kushans and the Sakas battling each other for control of this territory. While that war does not implicate us directly, it does make things more difficult and dangerous for our caravan and there is a real possibility that hostilities may cut off our return route to Samarkand via Bactria. This city we are presently in could also be under siege by the time we come back here, something that would make it nearly impossible for us to pass by it. We thus need to discuss possible alternate return routes which do not go through the Khyber Pass and Bactria. While this is my first trip to India, I have spoken in the past with other caravan masters who traveled to or from India. Two things I know from those conversations is that, past Pataliputra and Tamralipti, on the Bay of Bengal, the only possible road is by sea, either eastward or southward. To the North of Tamralipti, we have an immense chain of mighty mountains and high plateaus which is nearly impossible to cross and would take us months to go through…if we do not succumb to cold and exhaustion on the way. If we go South by boat, then we may have to leave behind our horses and camels, something I am not ready to do. Besides, such a long boat trip is liable to cost us a fortune, which would erase most or all of the profits we will have made during our trip. As of traveling eastward by land towards Southern China, that would imply crossing thick jungles full of diseases and fevers. All this leaves us only one viable option: to return through the Taxila-Gilgit-Kashgar road, which goes through the Karakoram Mountains and its passes. That is the road used by Indian merchants who want to go to China via Khotan and the Silk Road. The Karakoram road is arduous and dangerous, but still practicable for caravans. What do you say, my friends?’’
‘’But we never went through that way and don’t know the road, Hiram.’’ objected at once Demosthenes, one of the associate merchants. ‘’We could easily lose our way in those mountains and die of cold and starvation.’’
‘’We always could hire an experienced guide for that trip, though.’’ added Kasim, making Hiram nod his head.
‘’A possible solution indeed, Kasim.’’
‘’Why not instead link up with another caravan that has experience in crossing the Karakoram?’’ said Nauca, making all heads turn towards her. ‘’That way, we would not need to pay for a guide and we would also be safer from bandits, due to our higher combined numbers. When I passed through Khotan as part of Yurkan’s caravan, we met other caravans that had just arrived from India via the Karakoram Pass. We could thus stop in Taxila on our return trip and, if the fighting is too hard to the West of it, could wait for a caravan travelling to Khotan and China to show up and then link with it for the trip.’’
Hiram, liking her suggestion, looked around at his other associates.
‘’Nauca’s idea sounds eminently practical and feasible to me, my friends. Does anyone have objections or questions about it?’’
Hearing no objections, Hiram then slapped one hand on the floor.
‘’Then, that’s what we will do once we return from Pataliputra. Hopefully, the way through Bactria will still be open by then, but the Karakoram road will be our option if war cuts off our way westward. Thank you for coming, my friends. Tomorrow, we will refill our food and feed grain supplies and will also see if there is some worthwhile trading to do here. Xiao, Nauca, could you stay for a moment more?’’
Once the other members of the caravan were gone and Hiram was left alone with Xiao and Nauca, he spoke to them in a low voice, in order not to be heard by occupants of adjacent rooms.
‘’Sorry for being so secretive now, but what I want to discuss is quite sensitive. Both of you favor trading in gems and spices because of their high value and ease of transportation. You, Nauca, also learned about gem trading from Xiao, so you do make a natural pair when gems and precious stones are concerned. What I am talking about is diamonds. They are very valuable and highly prized gems which are very easy to carry due to their small sizes compared to their value. They are also very rare outside of India, which is as far as I know the only place where diamonds are mined. I myself intend to buy some diamonds once in India, in order to maximize my chances of profit from this trip. I believe that you two should concentrate on buying diamonds, on top of buying a few emeralds and rubies, of which India is among the best places to acquire them. Thankfully, the loot we gathered on that battlefield inside the Khyber Pass gave us plenty of gold and silver coinage with which to buy gems. We thus could buy many nice stones with that coinage and, at the same time, get rid of the rather heavy load for our horses and camels represented by those coins. The one thing I want to ask you is to advise me if you find a good provider of diamonds, so that I could buy some diamonds of my own.’’
‘’I will certainly be happy to keep you informed about what we will find, Hiram.’’ replied Xiao. ‘’I could even buy some diamonds for you at the same time that I buy some for me. You would then only need to reimburse me at cost for those stones.’’
‘’Even better, Xiao! I may be a fair dealer in gems but am still a beginner compared to you in that matter. Even Nauca seems to be at least an equal to me when time comes to haggle for gems.’’
‘’Thanks for the compliment, Hiram.’’ said Nauca, grinning. ‘’Coming from you, that is high praise indeed.’’
‘’I am simply giving the proper dues where they are earned, my friend. Well, with luck we will find a few good gems here in Purushapura. If not, we should find plenty of them once in India proper. Thank you for listening to me and have a good night.’’
The next two days, spent in Purushapura, proved busy ones for the merchants, who refilled their supplies of food and animal feed grain and also explored the markets of the town, either buying, selling or bartering various merchandises. While Nauca and Hiram were able to sell at good prices the horses that they had brought with them, thus freeing them from having to further care for them and also bringing to them more gold and silver coins, they and Xiao didn’t find gems truly worthy of buying locally. They already had plenty of lapis lazuli and aquamarines bought in Bactra and thus decided to wait until further east on their trip. Three days after their arrival in Purushapura, the caravan left the city and resumed its eastward trip towards Taxila, Indraprastha, Mathura, Prayaga and Pataliputra.