Bullock carts were the major means of transportation on land. The basic bullock cart is similar to the ones still used in northern India today. A pair of animals tied to a central yoke provided the power to draw the cart. Carts were made of wood, and a copper specimen has also been found. As kingdoms grew, the elite of society began to use horse chariots.  

Though well-made roads have been mentioned in the early Vedas, little evidence of them exists. However by the 5th century BCE a more advanced system of roads with bridges, crossways and four-road junctions was developed.

The rivers of northern India, being fed by melting ice from the far reaches of the Himalayas, are perennial and have always been a popular mode of transport. In other parts navigability was governed by the amount of rainfall. Along with river transport, India also developed sea transport for her relations with Egypt and Mesopotamia in ancient times.

There is much evidence of the Indus valley civilisations having trade contacts with Mesopotamia and Egypt. A representation on a seal shows a rowing ship without masts and with a steersman at the rudder, which is similar to the ships used in the Mediterranean at the time.

In the early Vedic period (ca. 1500-900 BCE) boats are described as dugouts with oars for paddling. These were probably used for inland transport. The lack of material describing seafaring ships may indicate that the early Aryans had little trade contacts with overseas civilisations.

 Of later times, little physical evidence remains but accounts of travellers like Fa-Hien indicate that Indian seafaring technology remained inferior to that of the Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings and other such civilisations. The maximum tonnage of a ship is described to be only 75 tonnes, a far cry from the Greek and Roman ships of the same period.

 Timbers of ships were lashed together instead of nailed together, not only because they were more resilient in rough weather but also because of the superstition fear of “magnetic rocks” which would, it was feared, pull out the nails.