There were networks of trade far older than even this between Europe and India. Pompeii Lakshmi (1CE): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii_Lakshmi https:/

There were networks of trade far older than even this between Europe and India. Pompeii Lakshmi (1CE): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii_Lakshmi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii_Lakshmi 1st century Roman coins found in Southern India: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Roman_trade_relations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Roman_trade_relations Really, all these guys had to do was get to the vicinity of Rome or Constantinople, and catch a connection, and they were there.