Ancient Trade Routes

Preface

2001
Walking down the streets of Havana, a small town north of Tallahassee, Florida where former warehouses have been converted into antique shops, galleries and cafés, something immediately caught my eye. The miniature model of a sailing ship stood out in the antique shop window. Even in its miniature size it was magnificent and kindled my curiosity. The store manager informed me it was the Cutty Sark – the famous tea clipper – and that it was not for sale. Instead, he offered to order a miniature ship building kit for me, but also warned me that the kit was a 1:84 scale true certificated replica. One would require considerable model building experience to put it together. But then again, I come from the land of Outsourcing and was confident of finding someone who would help me out…

2007
Six Years later the Cutty Sark was still in the box, but it rose in spirit. One phone call across continents was what started the journey of this book. On an impulse I was calling the famous wine and spirit company in London, Berry Bros & Rudd, from India. The person on the other side of the phone line (Brian Senior) was very appreciative of the idea to create a book on ancient trade routes and offered to throw open the information gates of this 300 year old wine and spirit merchant company. Needless to say I took the offer and two years later, we have the book – Ancient Trade Routes. I have never met Brian Senior and the only contact was that one phone call in 2007, but I imagine that’s how it must have been in the old days – one contact, one idea and a few years later, the labour of love would be in hand.


The Fastest Tea Clipper in The World
The first few pages of the book are dedicated to the most famous tea clipper of the 18th century – the Cutty Sark. Built as the fastest tea clipper in the world, she did not win too many races to the finish line, but won in the race of life as she is the world’s only surviving tea clipper. Boasting of a career of 140 years, Cutty Sark has sailed on the trade routes of tea, coal and wool, surviving bad weather and financial storms. The ship was built with a vision and passion. Two statements best define its success, one at the start of her sailing life and one from present times.

“I never sailed a finer ship, At 10 or 12 knots she did not disturb the water at all. She was the fastest ship of her day, a grand ship, and a ship that will last for ever.”
Captain George Moodie
First Master of the Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark Trust aims to reopen the ship to the public in Spring 2010, despite the major setback of a fire on 21st May 2007, which ravaged the ship, burning through each of the ship’s three decks, destroying all the building structures, services and tools that were on the ship at the time.

The Cutty Sark was the first clipper whose hull was made of a combination of metal and wood. It proved to be a composite material of that time and proved its metal in the roaring 40’s as the Cutty Sark battled the waves transporting wool from Australia around Cape Horn.

Ancient Trade Routes and today’s business
This book was conceptualised on a single thought: the ancient path of goods and services from the east to the west are still in use via underwater data - sea cables that flow data and services in our present day. The legacy of the old maritime trade remains with these underwater cables, mapping the shortest distance between the East and West, replicating the very same paths taken by intrepid explorers and traders of ancient times.

The book celebrates the path that is not limited to the flow of goods and services but as a corridor to culture, religious practices, and the flow of literature and the arts.

These are the lines on the globe that have shaped the destiny of mankind, resembling almost the fate lines in a human hand. A study of these lines would allow us to learn from the past, enjoy the present and plan for the future.

Fate lines and lines of astronomy have a relationship of mystical proportions; fate lines drive hope while astronomical lines provided direction. In today’s world, too, lines still control the fate of mankind, be it the stock market line or the foreign exchange rate line.

As you leaf through the pages, enjoy the aroma of spices, and capture the spirit of adventure. Rejoice the passion and romance that conquered the elements of nature. Hail the ingenuity of the ancient trader who is the spirit behind modern business.

2009
It would be only fair to dedicate this book to the trail blazers of the past, the present and of the future. Times may change but vision and passion are still the essential commodities that make these lines the fortune lines of humanity.

2011
The Cutty Sark model is out of the box and now stands in full glory.


Birad Rajaram Yajnik