Changes and Continuities in Commerce in the Indian Ocean Region from 650 to 1750 C.E.

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

On the 31st of December in the year 1600, ‘The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies’ received a Royal Charter to be England’s trading representative in India. By they early part of the 17th Century, Britain had already eclipsed Portuguese interests in India. The company bought in cotton, silk, indigo, opium, saltpeter and tea mainly in exchange for silver bullion. These were valuable commodities in Britain at that time. By 1720, 15% of British imports were from India.

It analyzes the interaction between the Chinese, Indians, and Arabs. This chapter examines the trade situation before and after the European invaded. Around 1500, was the first time the trade began and it was one of the greatest generators of the economy. Therefore, it was really important for places like Asia, Africa, and Arabs to get access to the Indian Ocean.

The Indian Ocean Trade Network, as well as the silk road had aided in cultural diffusion, and the transmission of ideas, however these routes were different in the way in which they were traversed and what ideas were specifically transmitted. The Indian Ocean Trade route

The Global flow of silver from mid 16th century to early 18th century, while resulting in increase of wealth to the merchants, eventually lead to social inequality through economic status. It also resulted in the weakening of states that supplied or received silver in vast quantities due to the increase of monetized economies. The effects of the Global flow of silver is best understood in the context of the growth of mercantilist economies in which during the 15th and 18th century European nations competed against each other to boost national revenue. Particularly, European nations trading along the Indian Ocean region for Indian cloth and spices, which in turn resulted in the establishment of government funded joint-stock companies such as the East India Company and trading posts.

There were many changes and continuities in the Indian ocean trade routes from the classical to the post classic time period. The trade along the Indian Ocean spread culture, religion, technology, crops, and other goods. This diffusion of goods, technology, and religion along the Indian Ocean trade routes was very similar to the diffusion of European and Native American goods, technology, and religion during the 15th-17th centuries in the Americas, often known as the age of exploration. This is because along the India indian ocean during the post classical period, buddhism and hinduism spread to Africa and China and Islam spread into India. From India, many goods including cotton, spices, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg,

Trade is very important part of a countries economy. For example, the New World brought many new economic opportunities to the countries willing to explore and conquer. With Portugal and Spain’s explorations to the new world, inspired the world to explore in search of riches. The Spanish and Portuguese sailed across the Atlantic, Indian, and the Pacific Ocean. The English, French, and Dutch would follow in footsteps of the Spanish and Portuguese in the sixteenth century. By 1500, many discoveries led travel across the globe. The connection to the Indian Ocean led to new trade routes, as well as to the discovery of the new world. There was a new-found interest in the increase in global interconnectedness to these regions.

The business between merchants occurred in three different regions, the South China Sea, The east side of India and the Southeast Asia islands, and the west side of India to the Persian Gulf and the east coast of Africa. Around 2000 B.C.E. sources show that commerce occurred occasionally with Mesopotamia, Islands of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and the Indus Valley. The request for items were so high it encouraged the sailors to keep traveling in the ocean.

Analyze the changes and continuities in commerce in the Indian Ocean region from 650 C.E. to 1750 C.E.

In the pre industrial era, textiles were a priceless trade commodity that became a symbol for wealth, prestige and power. Several Asian countries contributed to the esteem and success of the Asian textile trade. Amid the popularity of silk in the Chinese empire, India was producing textiles of such high quality that they followed the global success of the silk trade in the world market and at home within the empire. Like many of the other major Asian empires, the strength of the subcontinent resided significantly in their textile trade and production. Europeans recognized the quality of Indian textiles, and therefore they quickly became a popular commodity for the rich. The substantial amount of trade happening through Indian ports served to strengthen the Mughal Empire within India, and solidify India as a premier textile manufacturing Asian country. By the turn of the eighteenth century, India was one of the largest textile manufacturing countries in the world. In India the cotton textile industry was flourishing well before the arrival of the

Emperor Yongle and Zheng He, his “Admiral of the Indian Ocean,” launched a voyage into the Indian Ocean in the fall of 1405. There were several other voyages that we sent out between 1405 and 1433 and they also engaged in private overseas trade. During this time Admiral Zheng and his taskforce became skilled at the basics of the ocean currents and modernized the skills such as navigating

Trade has been one of the foundation of societies and cultures the world over, but while the concept has remained the same, the way humans trade has changed a lot throughout the centuries. The 16th century and 21st centuries were no strangers to the fundamentals of trade, and trade in both centuries shared some same idea, forget the hundreds of years that separated them. That being said, the 16th century and 21st century employed some different methods to meet the challenge of trading. These similarities and differences show how despite being a standing ground for the humanity and the fundamental aspects may have remained constant, there are simple things into how the 16th and 21st centuries got ahold the need to trade with those around them.

In the fifteenth century, Muslims had formed a “curtain” (80) which separated Europe from direct trade with India. One of the most famous attempts around the curtain was lead by Columbus, who attempted to sail west. His quest was ultimately unsuccessful due to a roadblock named America. A more profitable route was discovered in the 1420s, which involved sailing around the southern tip of Africa. After this discovery, spices were no longer exotic, but rather abundant and average, and in the 1600s, the price of spices began to decline.

In the 16 and 17th century, and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was very profitable and a large employer. They were also the world's largest commercial entity in the 17th and 18th century, which employed approximately 30,000 people. They carried goods and slaves across the Atlantic Ocean. One of the major historical significances of VOC is that they were the first country to build an entire empire of trading in numerous countries. Their willingness to find the sailing routes, turned out to be a great success, which opened a tremendous amount of opportunity for them to trade, and VOC strategically took complete advantage of the opportunities. As with everything in history, the results of the Dutch East India Company are both good and bad. Investors formed the first corporation with the joint venture stock company in 1602. They combined assets to gain power, and they had a monopoly to trade with the Indies Asia and the Indian Ocean. Their motive was profit; they fixed prices. The Dutch East India Company's had an immoral side as they could get countries to trade goods against their will with either by persuasion or violence. The VOC was lawless and protected and built up its monopoly. Dutch financial power is still powerful today. The economic philosophy of “mercantilism” grew and presumed the world’s wealth was fixed, it didn’t matter that one county could suffer economically at the expense of another (Pollard, pg.xxxxx).

By the late 1500s, European explorers were sailing east for many trading purposes. The original dominant sailing routes where the Spanish and the Portuguese. After the destruction in 1588 of the Spanish Armada, the British and Dutch gained the ability to take more of a role in trade with the East Indies. The Dutch initially took a lead in this case, particularly on spices, and trading for peppercorn. In the 1600s and early 1700s, the East India Company was seen to be primarily focusing on the trade of textiles. By the time of the mid 18th century, the East India trading patterns began changing in many different ways. With the industrial revolution happening, it changed in a way that the Company had to deal with the textiles trade. That being said highly skilled weavers were brought to the attention of India, for them to make cotton and silks by hand. By the time the Industrial Revolution happened, the Britain had started producing clothes in their own factories, causing dramatically lowering prices