Trade in the Indian Ocean Basin Essay

The early civilizations of China and India emerged prior to 600 CE in what is known today as the continent of Asia. With the Himalayan mountains in between them, these civilizations developed in isolation from one another, and yet still managed to produce kingdoms with continuous growing populations to this day. Individual growth and development amongst the people stimulated technological inventions, increased the chances of survival and lead to: greater agricultural production, strong armies, and expansion. Eventually, these commodities and other luxury items produced will be traded, spurring the economic growth of both civilizations. Overall, these early stages of development not only furthered contact amongst these two great empires allowing for cultural diffusion, but also set the foundation for future generations to follow. Although China and India’s growing empires took place in different parts of the world, the structure of their economies developed similarly, beginning with an agricultural infrastructure and progressing towards trade within and beyond the kingdoms, while also acquiring distinctive cultural differences overtime such as a social hierarchy defined by certain beliefs. These characteristics will define the beginning and the advancement of early economic systems used during the Foundations Era and Classical Age, and provides insight on the essentials that influenced the two economic

In the Indian ocean from 650 C.E. and 1750 C.E. there have been many continuities in commerce. One such continuity was the goods traded. For

Later in the chapter, the book talks about the increase in the Arabs/Islamic people. He talks about the role of the African people in the trade over the ocean. He continues to talk about the reasons that Europeans were interested in invading the oversea world and talks about the findings of the Indian Ocean that gave them a path to the Asian world and trade.

As stated in Paul Freedman’s, Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination, “The passion for spices underlies the beginning of the European colonial enterprise, a force that remade the demography, politics, culture, economy, and ecology of the entire globe” (Freedman 3). By the mid- fifteenth century, the Silk Road was deteriorating, leaving the world with the solid grasp on trading, as well as supply and demand. Every country and area had developed their “trade mark” and had adequate understanding on the process of trading. At this time, European’s still had many mysteries they were trying to solve, regarding demography, politics, culture, economy, and ecology, as Freedman mentioned. Spices gave European’s the gateway they needed to unlock many new ideas. This new desired commodity enabled European’s to think “outside the box,” which resulted in a multitude of uses for spices, which made them an even more luxurious item. According to Freedman, “Of all the world’s commodities, spices most dramatically affected history because they launched Europe on the path to eventual overseas conquest, a conquest whose success and failure affects every aspect of contemporary world politics” (3). Freedman exhibits here that spices not only affected Europe, but the whole world as well. Spices intertwined Europe with the rest of the world. Because spices were a undiscovered product by most of the world, it was a mystery on how they should be used, and what they should be used with.

Throughout early history, civilizations often sought to receive resources from afar to sustain their societies and keep themselves thriving, and to this end trade relations and eventually trade routes began to emerge. This aided civilizations in their discovery of foreign items that they may use to better their societies. These items traded ranged from complex technology to something as simple as nutmeg. The main trade routes that were utilized in East and South Asia were the silk road and the Indian Ocean Trade Network. In the 7th- 12th centuries, both the silk road and Indian ocean trade route had affected east and south Asia by the introduction of religions such as Buddhism changing government forms and altering the belief systems of society and changing how individuals live their daily lives, however differences were present in the impact that these routes had on daily lives, such as the Indian Ocean Trade Route giving rise to an entire new culture in Africa known as the Swahili and leading to the innovation of the sailing boat known as the Dhow, and the silk road led to the transmission of religion and resources throughout Eurasia and it led to utilization of caravans and animals as a means of trade.

Middle Eastern gold and silver purchased pepper, textiles, and gemstones in India. Merchants from the Arab Empire established communities from East Africa to the China coast. Opportunities for trade led to the production of sugar and dates in Mesopotamia and stimulated a slave trade from East Africa to provide labor for the growing and refining of these products. Widespread conversion to Islam among traders in the Indian Ocean underpinned an international maritime culture and also helped to facilitate commercial transactions.

What other trading systems existed at the beginning of the period? The Indian Ocean system is a continuity, not a change.What about the gold-salt trade? Don't you mean the Pax Mongolica?

21. In their attempt to control the spice trade in the Indian Ocean, the Europeans during the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries

During the period of 600- 1450, the eastern hemisphere was connected through many trading routes. Although both the IOT and SR resulted in immense wealth being created, the IOT promoted islam through its ocean voyages and the SR supported Christianity through the overland routes, and it had more drastic effects on society.

Pepper, saffron and sugar were popular commodities in sub continental trade, and even rice traveled as a trade item

This essay is analysis essay to the excerpt from a journal “The Journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama” written by an anonymous during the early modern period, translated and edited by E. G. Ravenstein and published by the Hakluyt Society in 1989. The article is primary source of travel journal by sea of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator, from Africa to India in 1497-1498, the era of European commercial and imperial expansion. The article written by anonymous who was an eyewitness that participated in the voyage of Vasco da Gama to seeks new sea route from Portugues to India.This essay will summarize and analyze

First, Europe’s relationship with India was of mutual prosperity and trade. Until the East India Company began to create a monopoly for itself in Indian trade, pushing out other European rivals, notably the French, followed it’s by conquest of the country, that phase was from 1600 to 1757 was not an unequal colonial relationship. The East India Company had a large interest in promoting the export of silks and cotton textiles from India which soon began to be noticed on British industrial

With the collapse of the Great Silk Road, trade routes through the waters became more necessary. Muslims and Europeans fought over the Indian Ocean and the several prosperous ports (plus major cities and villages in Ethiopia) during the fifteenth and sixteenth century. (McKay et al., 2009) Although Muslims had controlled the Indian Ocean trade for centuries, Portugal’s ability to circumvent the southern tip of Africa led to war and Portugal’s eventual defeat of Muslim traders and their imperialism throughout the Southeast Asian market. Africa’s Swahili people and their ivory, copra and rhinoceros horns and China’s “age of commerce”, which was developing within the neighboring countries of Vietnam and Burma, multiplied the available goods for Europeans to bring back home. (McKay et al., 2009) Portugal, as with most European countries, was beginning their recovery financially after years of war and plague. With the growth of trade and the amount of people in the Indian Ocean area, religion quickly followed. (McKay et al., 2009) Again, Muslims and Europeans were in battle. But this time they fought for religious supremacy in numbers. Each faction quickly moved to convert as many people as possible. Settlements were formed, cities grew, and customs and culture began mixing in an early version of a melting pot. (McKay et al., 2009)

Vasco da Gama's revolutionary sea expedition to India is one of the most crucial moments in the entire history of exploration. Till the middle of 15th century, Portugal was the foremost seafaring country in Europe. King Manuel I: the ruler of Portugal hired about four ships for the voyage around Africa to the legendary land of India. King Manuel I knew that India was a huge cradle of variety of spices, which were extremely rare to see in other places and moreover they were pretty expensive in Europe. The king had also noticed that the Muslim merchants transported the spices by caravans through Arabian deserts and sold them in the markets of the Mediterranean ports. King Manuel I expected a new sea route to India, as that would enable him to import spices directly. This achievement was very important for Portugal as they could trade and earn money a lot of money from it. India was filled with spices: Pepper was a very common and the most used spice, it was used to preserve food and to flavor spoiled meat. Pepper was originated from Cochin and Malabar Coast in India. Cloves and cinnamon were equally used. They were used for keeping the food hygienic and ventilated. They were also sprinkled across the floor to avoid foot odor from entering the room. Many spices were also used for the cure of various illnesses and deadly diseases. India was the foremost spice trader for most of the countries including Europe.

In the pre 16th century, trade played a major role during the mercantilist period. It marked the beginning of economic development through exchange of goods and culture between continents. According to Peter Stabel; Greve Anke and Bruno Blonde (2000) book, International Trade in Low Countries, the trade allowed the emergence of the global market thus enhanced economic regions’ interconnection and continents’ interdependence. In the 16th century, trade constituted a portion of global trade but developed disproportionately in the early modern period. National markets became increasingly interconnected, thus bringing various innovations in transportation, infrastructure, and energy supply areas. The transition from individual manufacturing to the mass invention and convergence in prices of materials made transactions significantly easier, thus accelerating integration. The European countries dominated in international trade development during the 16th century. Later on North America emerged and created a stronger global economic influence and in the 21th century, Asian states especially China also gained influence by becoming USA creditors thus acting as the current century economic growth engine (Peter, Bruno, & Anke, 2000).