India, Feb. 7 -- Trade and commerce have been the lifeblood of civilisations for over three millennia. In the machineries that enabled the greatest and earliest societies across Mesopotamia, Egypt. China and India to advance, traders have supplied the lubricant that helped empires run and undertake developmental works. The uncovering of antiquities from Greco-Roman trade in Indus-Valley Culture sites, and the presence of Indian artefacts in bazars and homes in the Mediterranean region and elsewhere show that trade deals are not a construct of the modern age. However, while trade is a continued practice, and forms a component of budgets as we know today, nothing like the modern budget existed before the 19th century, at least not in India ...