The correct answer is ports handling foreign trade.

• The wealth of the Roman Empire reached India through the ports of Kalyan, Chaul, Broach, and Cambay in Western India.
  • Chaul was one of the ports in the Gupta dynasty.
• In the Andhra region, the ports were Kadura and Ghantasala, Kaveripattanam (Puhar) and Tondail were the ports of the Pandya region.
• Hence the correct answer is ports handling foreign trade.

• Merchants thronging sea-port towns like Mamallapuram engaged in loading and unloading vessels in the harbor.
• Important ancient ports Arikamedu, Bharuch, Calicut, Lothal, Muziris, Poompuhar, Tuticorin Port.
• The ports of Kottayam and Muziris were on the Malabar coast. 
• There was a great maritime trade between India and Southeast Asia and China.
• Tamralipti was an important port in Bengal. It carried on trade with China, Lanka, Java, and Sumatra.

• In India, evidence of shipbuilding, port, and warehouse installations are datable to Harappan culture.
• The important Harappan and late Harappan ports were Lothal, Lakhabawal, Kindarkhera, Kuntasi, Megham, Prabhasa, Todio, Amra.
• The excavations of these sites have yielded antiquities of Bahrain island, Persian Gulf, Egypt, and Mesopotamia cities.
• The same maritime traditions continued even during the lifetime of Buddha, the Mauryas, the Gupta, and in the later periods.
• During the historical period, India had trade and cultural contacts with Egypt, Rome, Greeks, Arabs, China, and most all Southeast Asian countries. through these ports.