Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade Map

The Indian Ocean became the largest sea-based trade network in this time frame. I know we tend to think of the Silk Roads and luxury items being sold when we picture trade routes. However, the bulk of actual trade happened on the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean traded “regular goods”, in bulk and at a lower cost. Why could bulk goods be carried on water, you ask? Simple. It’s much easier to carry huge quantities of high-demand goods (such as timber) on water than on a camel’s back on land. A couple of these goods included timber, frankincense, ivory, and sandalwood.

Root Causes of Indian Ocean Trade

Obviously, the biggest difference between this trade and the Silk Road was that it occurred on the sea. This meant they faced all kinds of unexpected obstacles, like unpredictable wind patterns, monsoons, etc. In fact, knowledge of monsoon winds (when they blew at what times) was huge in making Indian Ocean trade happen. Once sailors could utilize where the monsoons were blowing at what times, they could make those winds blow their sails to wherever they wanted to go!

Of course, sailing presents its own unique obstacles. But as always, technology helped people through! Improvements of maritime technologies like lateen sails (the first triangle-shaped sails, allowing ships to be far more maneuverable), dhow ships and the astrolabe (an instrument that vastly increased accurate navigation by measuring the stars), helped sailors navigate safely and consistently throughout the Indian Ocean.

Dhow Ship with Lateen Sails. Image Courtesy of

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Effects of the Indian Ocean on Trade

The two major effects of the Indian Ocean are the 2C’s-- community and contact.

Communities: Diasporic communities were set up by merchants  to introduce their own cultural traditions into other cultures. A couple key examples are Arab and Persians in Eastern Asia, Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia, and Malay communities in the Indian Ocean basin.

On a more consolidated note, states formed from the Indian Ocean trade on the edge of the water. Along the Swahili coast, city-states not far departed from the Greek ones of yore formed and grew rich from trade, along with the state of Gujarat in India and the sultanate of Malacca. The last one is particularly key-- Malacca, being an island forming a very thin strait in between itself and East Asia, controlled this strait and became incredibly wealthy, since Chinese merchants often had to travel through it to get to the riches of the Indian Ocean Basin.

Contact: As all trade networks did, the Indian Ocean trade fostered the exchange of ideas, such as Buddhism to Southeast Asia, and Islam across Eurasia. Additionally, many famous travelers such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and eventually Ming Admiral Zheng He utilized these key routes, and their records would soon spread to much of the world.

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Review Time

After studying on your own, invite some friends to a study with me online session to discuss the main points of the lesson and review anything that you may be confused on. It is a great way to for everyone to feel supported while studying!

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Today's lecture examines the two main long-distance trade routes of the pre-modern world. The first is the Silk Road, an overland caravan network which crisscrossed the Asian continent from China to the Levant (on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea); the second is the Indian Ocean maritime routes which linked the "Spice Islands" in South East Asia to India and Eastern Africa. The argument to keep in mind throughout this lecture is that these trade networks allowed for almost world-wide contact and interactions among peoples who otherwise probably would not have even hear about each other. In other words, these trade networks allowed for a degree of globalization in the age prior to "Globalization", with a capital g, as we think of it in the modern world. In the following slides I will discuss not only the nature of the networks and the routes these networks followed, but also the goods exchanged, highlighting both the trading of merchandise such as silk, spices, and precious metals, and the exchanging of peoples and ideas.

Introduction

Lecture Notes

Here, I would like to begin by defining the term globalization. Briefly, "globalization" means the breaking down of traditional boundaries in the face of increasingly global financial trends. In other words, globalization is a move towards political, financial, and cultural interactions between people traditionally separated by geographical distance, as well as by political and social boundaries. In the modern world, this has become the norm, as the digital revolution allows us to email, Facebook, and even Twitter each other. In other words, in our modern world computers allow us to connect in real time with peoples across the globe, whether for personal, financial, or political reasons. This ease of contact and communication was not remotely the case in the pre-modern world, when communication and travel took tens of times more than they do today. In effect, the pre-modern world was one in which peoples around the globe lived mostly in relative isolation; the majority of ancient and medieval people rarely traveled long distances and rarely came into contact with peoples outside their immediate locality. This isolation was, of course, intermittently broken by warfare and invasions, for example when nomadic peoples moved in and conquered settled communities. Another way in which this isolation was broken was through trade, as we will see. / Perhaps the most important result of the breaking of geographical barriers was the sharing of experiences and the exchange of ideas. Therefore, our focus here is not just on the "factual" information regarding the nature of these trade networks, but also on the acculturation made possible through them. As you should already know (since it is one of the terms we have been using throughout our class), acculturation is the selective borrowing and subsequent "tweaking" and making your own of other peoples' ideas (like technologies, religions, political models, etc.). Clearly, acculturation requires that two different cultures come into contact, a process which was most effectively facilitated by long-distance trade, which moved not only material goods, but also people. These people, in turn, brought with them their own ideas and ways of doing things, which were often embraced by others along the trade routes. / We will speak about specific exchanges in later slides, so for now I want to highlight instead five core changes which long-distance trade brought to World History: 1) long-distance trade made locally accessible foreign products that would otherwise not have been available. These products, in turn, changed people's tastes, aesthetics, and even the way in which simple everyday tasks were completed; 2) long-distance trade brought unprecedented wealth and led to investment in technological innovations which would create even greater profits; 3) global trade also enabled people to concentrate their efforts on economic activities best suited to their regions (basically an extreme, and global rather than local, version of specialization); 4) long-distance trade also facilitated the spread of religious traditions beyond their original homelands; and 5) it also facilitated the transmission of disease. This last point highlights that global contact is, of course, not always for the better.

The Silk Road

Lecture Notes

One of the two major "global" systems of commercial exchange in the pre-modern world was the Silk Road, a network of overland trading routes linking the Asian continent from China to the Levant, from which point both goods and people then reached Europe and the rest of the West. The Silk Road was the most significant commercial system of the ancient and medieval worlds, maintaining its supremacy until the European age of exploration and the subsequent shift of focus to the trading of goods to and from the "New World". It is not exactly clear when systematic, large scale trading began on the Silk Road. However, we do know that the western end of the trade route developed earlier than the eastern end, principally because of the development of the Persian and Roman empires in the west, and the easier terrain of the lands between them. By the second century B.C.E. trade had extended further east, thanks to the influence of China's Han Empire (which lasted from 206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.). The earliest evidence of merchandise moving along the whole route from China to Rome, or vice versa, dates to about the middle of the second century C.E. The height of the Silk Road, however, is dated to the apex of the T'ang Dynasty from the seventh to the ninth centuries C.E. / In order truly to understand the history of the Silk Road, it is essential first to explain its name. Let me start by discussing the second part of the term, that is, the "Road" part of the network's name. It is crucial to know that the Silk Road was not one but multiple routes, traveled in stages, which I will explain in detail in a later slide. Now, what about the "Silk" part of the network's name? As many of you already know, the Silk Road was given its name because the major commodity traded along its routes was Chinese silk. Of course, this was but one of the commondities traded, which included also porcelain, jade, horses, metals, jewelry, and many other goods. / The nature of the Silk Road, as well as its organization and economics, was deeply influenced and ultimately determined by the geography of the lands along which it expanded. To begin, as I mentioned above, the Silk Road stretched from China to the Levant, that is, about 5000 to 6000 miles east to west as the crow flies (i.e. in a direct line, which is not actually possible). Even more influential to the nature of the network is the fact that the region separating China from Western Asia and Europe is one of the most inhospitable in the world. As Oliver Wild put it, much of this region "is taken up by the Taklimakan desert, one of the most hostile environments on our planet. There is very little vegetation, and almost no rainfall; sandstorms are very common, and have claimed the lives of countless people. The locals have a very great respect for this `Land of Death'… Temperatures soar in the sun, but drop very rapidly at dusk. Sand storms here are very common and particularly dangerous due to the strength of the winds and the nature of the surface. Unlike the Gobi desert, where there are a relatively large number of oases and water can be found not too far below the surface, the Taklimakan has much sparser resources." He continues, "The land surrounding the Taklimakan is equally hostile. To the northeast lies the Gobi desert, almost as harsh in climate as the Taklimakan itself; on the remaining three sides lie some of the highest mountains in the world. To the South are the Himalaya, Karakorum and Kunlun ranges… [while] to the north and west lie the Tianshan and Pamir ranges" respectively. In fact, the only way in coming from the west or south, is over the treacherous mountain passes which present serious difficulties to those traveling weighted down with goods to sell. As if this wasn't bad enough, transporting goods along these routes was made treacherous also by the fact that merchants are at risk of being robbed, at best, or killed at worst. All these realities meant that trade had to be conducted in specific ways, about which I will tell you in the next slide.

The Silk Road: Organization

Lecture Notes

The overall difficulty of travel and communication in the pre-modern world made it almost impossible for anyone to cross the Asian continent in an efficient way. Only a few individuals, most famously Marco Polo and his uncles, for example, actually traveled the length of the continent. Instead, merchants traveled in stages, as you can see in the map in the previous slide. Travel became easier under the great classical empires of Rome and Han China, as well as under the Kushan Kingdom, all of which created and maintained better roads and standardized coinage, allowing merchants not only easier travel but also easier financial transactions (thanks to having fewer currencies to deal with). Both of these advantages also reduced the costs of long-distance trade, making it more profitable and, therefore, more attractive. Still, the route remained segmented, as the difficulties presented by the geographical layout of the continent and dangers inherent in long-distance hauling made this arrangement the most sensible. Therefore, at its apex, the main route of the Silk Road started in the Han capital, Chang'an, and went west to the Taklamakan Desert. There the road split into two main branches that skirted the desert to the north and south. Once around the desert, the road branched off in many directions, including southern routes to India, southwestern routes to Egypt, and western routes to Antioch in the Levant. / As you can imagine, the length and segmentation of the Silk Road required the involvement of individuals from all of the many territories through which these trade routes cut. Many people thus benefitted from the goods made available and the wealth to be made through the Silk Road. Still, it was the major commercial powers - including the Chinese, Parthians, Persians, Indians, and Romans - who ultimately profited most from long-distance trade along the Silk Road, as they could set the terms of exchange, charge a variety of tariffs and taxes, and control the flow of goods through their territories. / As a final note about the organization of the Silk Road, I would like to talk about two important innovations developed specifically to deal with the difficulties presented by travel along the Silk Road. The first is the development of caravans, companies of travelers who banded together, offering mutual assistance and defense when travelling through dangerous territory. These caravans would hire their own guide or local guides, as well as soldiers to offer protection against bandits and marauders, against which not even the most powerful empires had developed systematic defenses. Perhaps the most important element of the caravans were their camels, which represent the second innovation which Silk Road travelers embraced. Sturdy animals acclimated to the desert, camels can go long distances without water and have broad hoofs which allow them to carry heavy loads across the soft sand surface of the desert. Therefore, they are the perfect vehicle for hauling both goods and people along the long stretches of desert between settled trading posts.

The Silk Road: Economics

Lecture Notes

Here, I want to concentrate on the goods exchanged along the Silk Road. At the core of Silk Road commerce were a number of luxury goods, from which the most profit could be gained. Of course, the most obvious item traded was Chinese silk, for which the Road was named in the nineteenth century. In fact, into the late medieval period, China was the only country where cultivators and weavers had developed techniques for producing high-quality silk fabrics. Silk was such a highly sought-after and profitable commodity that the Chinese authorities imposed draconian controls on its production and manufacture, attempting to keep from everyone else the secret of its production. Silk is still considered a luxury good, and its high price still reflects not only its high status, but also that of the wearer. Why was silk so sought-after? There are three major reasons. The first is that silk is, in a nutshell, soft and pleasing to the touch. Its softness simply makes for excellent wearability. Second, silk has what we would call "climate control" qualities. That is, silk can keep one cool in summer and warm in winter, an attribute no other natural textile shares. The second reason for the status of silk is the fact that no other natural textile can achieve the color saturation which silk does. In other words, silk holds brighter colors for longer, a very desirable trait in a world in which every other textile could only achieve muted, drab colors. Of course, these three attributes made silk not only sought-after but expensive, which in turn made it affordable only to the upper classes. In a kind of socio-economic cycle, then, silk consequently became a mark of social standing differentiating those who could afford to wear it from those who could not. / While China's main export was silk, it was not the only one. The Chinese also manufactured and traded highly-sophisticated ceramics, known as porcelain or "china". Made of special clay and porcelain stone, Chinese ceramics were glazed in a special lacquer which allowed it to withhold higher temperatures while remaining light and delicate. "China" is also considered an art form, as the most sophisticated pieces were decorated with beautiful and delicate scenes, usually with stunning detail. The Chinese also exported jade (raw or carved) and tea. / The balance of trade definitely benefitted China over its trade partners. That is, China exported much more than it imported, making more money than it spent on commerce with the West. Nevertheless, several "Western" goods were highly sought-after in the East. Among these were glassware (particularly from Roman territories in the Near East and later from Venice), jewelry, perfumes, bronze goods, wool and linen textiles, pottery, iron tools, olive oil, wine, and gold and silver bullion (this last one particularly after the "discovery" of the New World and its seemingly bottomless silver mines). What is particularly interesting about trade from West to East is that Mediterranean merchants and manufacturers often imported raw materials, such as uncut gemstones, for the East, which they then exported as finished products in the form of expensive jewelry and decorative items. / What about trade in and between the areas sandwiched between Europe and China? In fact, any number of goods coming from any number of places was traded along the Silk Road. However, I want to highlight here three: horses (particularly from the Middle East), jade (particularly from the lands immediately to the west of China), and spices from the South East Asian islands which today make Indonesia. As you might already know, spices were the second best-selling commodity traded along the Silk Road. Spices were highly-sought after for several reasons. Perhaps most famously, spices serve as natural food preservatives, keeping food edible for longer periods of time, a particularly attractive attribute in a world with no refrigeration. Spices also flavor food, which makes it more palatable (and hides bad tastes in case of decomposition). However, spices served not just to preserve or season food; they can also be used as medicines, drugs, anesthetics, aphrodisiacs, perfumes, aromatics, and any number of potions. The trade of spices was so remunerative, in fact, that they were the reason for both the Portuguese and the Spanish to attempt to circumvent the usual middlemen and find their own route to the "Spice Islands". And, of course, this search for a new route to the East was what ultimately led to the "discovery" of the "New World".

How was Indian Ocean trade different to the Silk Road?

Was the Indian Ocean trade part of the Silk Road?

Was the Indian Ocean trade route bigger than the Silk Road?

What 3 countries did the Indian Ocean trade route connect?