The famous Silk Road network across Eurasia and the Indian Ocean commerce both flourished in the postclassical era during 500-1500 C.E. Exchange among distant peoples is not altogether new and the roots of economic globalization lie deep in the past. Within both trade dynamics, their were numerous similarities and differences leading up to 1450 C.E, and the world during this time period was a more balanced, multi-centered world than of the modern era. Two largely important similarities between the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean commerce included trade growth because of environmental and cultural diversities in each region, and the same goods traded from each region like silk from china. Unlike the Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean commerce had transportation costing much lower with there ships being able to hold much more than camels and the vast difference in geography that caused at certain times each trading system to decline or expand. No matter what, the similarities and differences that surfaced at the time allowed the trading systems to operate at a cohesively continuous rate. One crucial similarity to consider between the Silk Road and Indian Ocean commerce is the trade growth which ultimately led to environmental and cultural…show more content… The Indian Ocean commerce represented the world’s largest sea-based system of communication and exchange, stretching from southern China to eastern Africa. The reason transportation costs were lower was because ships could carry much more at one time and accommodate larger cargoes than camels could. This meant that the Sea Roads could carry more bulk goods and products destined for a mass market. These goods included pepper, textiles, timber, rice, sugar, and wheat. The Silk Roads were limited with material goods and looked to luxury goods instead when
