Brahmi Inscription at Socotra: The Cave of Hoq

Socotra, the island off the coast of Yemen was known from the time of the Periplus and the text itself refers to the presence of traders from the sub continent. The cave itself is more than 3 kilometers long and the entrance is only around 60 centimeters. Being a fairly secure place of retreat, the Island loomed large in the imagination both, geographical and historical the late antiquity and early medieval period. The large number of Greek inscriptions has already been noted. What is interesting is that there are graffiti with unmistakeable links to the sub continent. There are a few Tamil marks, but the vast majority of the graffiti are is the Gupta variant of the brahmi script. The 100 odd inscriptions have been studies and they will be published soon. There are also a few khraoshti inscriptions which suggests that the trading community on Socotra was diverse and straddled the major trade routes of the Western Indian Ocean.