<P> The trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE kept increasing, and according to Strabo (II. 5.12 .), writing some 150 years later: </P> <P> At any rate, when Gallus was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the Nile as far as Syene and the frontiers of Kingdom of Aksum (Ethiopia), and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to the subcontinent, whereas formerly, under the Ptolemies, only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise . </P> <P> By the time of Augustus up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos to India . So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the Kushan Empire (Kushans) for their own coinage, that Pliny the Elder (NH VI. 101) complained about the drain of specie to India: </P> <P> The three main Roman ports involved with eastern trade were Arsinoe, Berenice and Myos Hormos . Arsinoe was one of the early trading centers but was soon overshadowed by the more easily accessible Myos Hormos and Berenice . </P>

Who dominated the trade from the east before the portuguese