Indian Ocean Trade Changes

Words: 1276
Pages: 6

Throughout history, trade has been a sign of a successful civilization. It shows communication within a civilization and between neighboring civilizations. One of the biggest, and most well-known trading networks took place in the Indian Ocean basin. It spread from the Eastern coast of Africa all the way to the Eastern coast of China. Through all its years of existence, more specifically circa 600-1450 C.E., Indian Ocean trade has experienced and caused new changes such as the creation of new city states based almost solely on trade, as well as the overall usage of its trade network. But where there are changes, there are also continuities, including the constant use of monsoons, trading luxury goods, and the domination of certain groups that …show more content…
One main change was the overall usage of the Indian Ocean basin for trade. During the time of the Mongol Empire, overland trade was more popular because of Pax Mongolica, the Mongols eagerness to tax trade, and the protection of heavily used land trade routes. After the Mongol empires fell, especially the Yuan Empire in China in 1368, those benefits fell along with them, pushing most of the trade into the Indian Ocean. For example, during the Ming Empire, after a brief period of no interregional trade …show more content…
One of the main similarities was the buying and selling of luxury goods. This continually stayed the same because maritime trade was not cheap and the merchants who went on these expensive voyages needed to make sure that they made a profit. Some examples of these expensive luxury items were gold, copper, ivory, and slaves from the Swahili coast, wool, Muslim fabric, frankincense, and myrrh from Arabia, and cotton, dye, tea, spices, porcelain, and silk from China and India. Another continuity was the use of monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean basin. Merchants continually used these winds because they were seasonal, reliable and they made the journey a lot quicker. If a merchant was trying to travel from China to the Swahili Coast quickly they would usually go from November to February when the monsoon winds are blowing southwest and if they were trying to return to China they would do it in the time from of April to September when the monsoon winds are blowing northeast. Along with the selling of luxury goods and usage of monsoon winds, the groups that dominated certain zones of Indian Ocean trade always stayed consistent. This stayed the same because the groups that dominated these areas typically were the only ones that had enough money to build expensive ships and fund these trading expeditions. Examples of these groups are the Muslims in the West, who gained their fortune by