Silver ingots, copper and gold coins - these were just a fraction of the cargo discovered aboard the Intan Wreck. Griffiths describes the “bottles from Southern Thailand, large shards from blue-green iridescent glazed jars from West Asia.” Richard Griffiths, “Trade: The Ancient Silk Roads”, World History for International Studies(Leiden, 2022), p.77. There were Buddhist artifacts – vajra scepters, gupta bells and little stupa statues – the cargo also included products that originated in India; antlers from Indian deer species and teeth from an Indian elephant. The Intan-ship was also transporting many originally Sumatran and Javanese items, some of great value,like beautiful golden rings and intricate statuaries, and some of low value as part of bulk-trade, such as simple trays and bowls.
The variety of this cargo is significant for understanding trade networks in the 10th Century since it contains “goods sourced from both local and long-distance trading systems” J. Guy, “The Intan Shipwreck: A 10th-century Cargo” (Colloquium, Art and Archaeology in Asia no.22, University of London, June 16-18, 2003), p.176. The Intan wreck is used as an example of trade on the maritime Silk Roads, which was until recently a relatively overlooked component of Silk Road history. For more on this and further discussion of the Intan artifacts, please see the New Silk Roads podcast by Richard Griffiths Richard Griffiths, “The Intan Wreck”, Silk Roads Histories (June 2021) https://youtu.be/1oCx2zWcg-I.
To read more on how the Intan Wreck challenges a specifically Dutch historiographical tradition, follow the extension!
