AP WH 2.3 The Indian Ocean Trade Network

Indian Ocean Trade Network

• Indian Ocean trade network: a network of sea routes that connected the various states throughout Afro-Eurasia through trade

• during the 1200s, the trade network expanded significantly

  • collapse of the Mongol empire in the 14th century

    • when the Mongol empire started falling apart, so too did the ease and safety along the Silk Roads and that led to a greater emphasis on maritime trade in the Indian Ocean

      • maritime: sea-based

  • innovations in commercial practices

    • money economies and the ability to buy goods on credit made trade easier the therefore increased the use of these routes

  • innovations in transportation technologies

    • improvements made in existing navigation technologies

      • magnetic compass

        • helped sailors know which direction they were going in

      • astrolabe

        • tool used to measure stars and get an accurate reckoning of location

    • increasing use of certain technology

      • lateen sail

        • allowed ships to take wind in almost any direction

    • knowledge of monsoon winds

      • predictably blew in different directions depending on the time of year

    • improvements in shipbuilding

      • the Chinese junk was a massive ship that could carry loads of cargo

      • Arab traders had used dhows for centuries in the Indian Ocean, but now they were making them bigger and better

        • able to haul more cargo destined for trade and distant markets

  • increasing spread of Islam

    • Islam was a belief system that was very friendly to merchants since Muhammad himself was a merchant

    • just like how Islam created connectivity across land-based routes like the Silk Roads, it also facilitated increased trade along sea-based routes as well

• with the size of Indian Ocean trading ships, more common items could be shipped and sold in bulk

  • cotton textiles

  • grains

  • luxury goods

    • also sold on the Silk Roads

• growth of powerful trading cities

  • Swahili city-states

    • on the East coast of Africa

    • each of these states grew powerful and wealthy because they were strategically located to benefit from trade in the Indian Ocean

    • these states imported gold, ivory, and enslaves people from the interior of Africa and sold them to the merchants on their shores

    • as converts to Islam, they used some of their prodigious amount of profit to build magnificent mosques and other public works that displayed their great wealth

  • Malacca

    • capital city of the Sultanate of Malacca on the melee peninsula

    • controlled a little waterway called the Strait of Malacca

      • able to get rich in the Indian Ocean trade and expand their power throughout the region

      • eastern entry and exit point of the entire network

      • Malaccan leaders taxed ships passing through their waters

  • Gujarat

    • state on India’s west coast

    • well-situated

      • a kind of midpoint between East and Southeast Asia and Africa

    • because of its massive coastline and rich agricultural areas inland, they were able to trade good like cotton textiles and indigo in exchange for gold and silver from the Middle East

    • authorities taxed ships coming and going from its ports, increasing their wealth

• increased establishment of diasporic communities

  • diaspora

    • related to the word ‘disperse’

    • diaspora: a group of people from one place who establish a home in another place while retaining their cultural customs

  • Chinese merchants established permanent communities in Southeast Asia

    • Chinese merchants would arrive in various ports around Southeast Asia and the diasporic Chinese merchants living there would interact with the local merchants and the government to facilitate trade

  • Arab and Persian merchants established permanent communities in East Africa

  • these diasporic communities became a kind of connective tissue holding the Indian Ocean Network together and increasing its scope

• cultural and technological transfers

  • the cultural and technological exchanges that occur over trade routes are just as significant as the goods exchanged over those trade routes

  • as merchants travel back and forth they bring their religion, language, and technology with them

    • as they mingle with other cultures, those traits come to influence each party

  • Zheng He

    • admiral commissioned by China’s Ming Dynasty to explore the Indian Ocean and enroll other states in China’s tributary system

    • his first voyage included 300 ships with crews totaling more than 27,000 men

      • equipped with the latest in military technology like gunpowder cannons which were later adopted in many regions

    • with the Ming Dynasty’s insistence on state-led trade partnerships, various states around the Indian Ocean began taking more significant roles in trade