Download The Indian Ocean Trade Network

Introduction to I.O.B
 I.O.B = Indian Ocean Basin
 Zone of Interaction
Oceans, deserts, grasslands
 Served as meeting places for people of
different backgrounds
 Indian Ocean
 First real ocean humans could cross w/o clinging
to coastline
 Where Africa and Eurasia came together

A Sailor’s Ocean
 Ideal for early sailors
 Most of waters are warm
 Most major storms stay in south (few people)
 Monsoon winds
 Predictable cycles
 Just
had to “wait” for right time
 W shape – across smaller bodies of water
 3 circle pattern of travel and diffusion
The Ocean Connects
 Medit. trade = E to W ( little variation in ecology)
 Indian Ocean – connects variety of environments
 Variety = stimulus to trade
 Exotic & Unique goods
 Human Diversity
 Port Cities (waiting for next monsoon)
 Cosmopolitan living
People in Motion
 Spread of Austronesia Language (Madagascar)
 Slave Trades & Labor Migrations
 Brings ethnic diversity
 Merchants
 Religious teachers and missionaries
 Import teachers (Hinduism SE Asia)
 Arabic in Java and Polynesia
I.O.B - Five things
 Connected Asia, Africa, India, Europe, and Middle
East
 Fostered the spread of Islam
 Trade Diasporas all over the world
 There is not a single era w/o the Indian Ocean as a
component
 Central to World History and its development.
 Lynda Schaffer -Southernization
Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa
 West Africa
 Camel domesticated c. 2nd-5th century C.E
 Regular caravan trade across Sahara
 Creation of three large empires



Ghana(700-c.1100)
Mali (1100-c.1400)
Songhay (c. 1300-c.1600)
Sub Saharan Trade Empire
 Rose to power through trade – unlike other empires
that control land
 Gold, slaves, cloth, ivory, ebony, pepper- North
 Salt, Dates, Brass, Copper, Gold, Leather, Textiles, -
south
 2/3 of Gold used to finance trade in Eastern Hemisphere
comes from Africa
 Fusion of Islamic / African ideas
 Strong patriarchs / groups of rulers
Mali
 Malinke (founders)
 Economic basis = agriculture
 Juula (Merchants)
 Sundiata (Sunjata) & oral tradition
 Griots and the tale of the “Lion Prince”
 Mansa (ruler) who divided up the world
 Created social order / set up political institutions
 Secured Travel / Punished crime severly
 Mansa K. Musa
 Muslim ruler that makes hajj in 1324, passes through Cairo
 Contact w/ outer world brings changes


Ishak al-Sahili (Granada, Andalucía {Muslim Spain}) - 1321
Ibn Batuta 1304 - 1369
***Ibn Batuta***
• Muslim from N. Africa
• Trained as judge (Quran) in Shar’ia
 Logged some 60,000-70,000 miles of travel,
logging his journeys in journals
 Illustrating the cultural unity of “Dar al-Islam”
 Impressions of “places” are based upon gifts
recieved
• One of his final trips is to Mali
• Scandalized by Muslims in Mali – where men
and women are co-mingling
Mali
 Development of cosmopolitan (multinational)
court
 Polygamy was/is a common social practice
 Major Trade cities include:
 Jenne (Central Mali)
 Timbuktu (W. Africa/Mali)
Relied heavily on “Book trade” and knowledge
 80% of the population still rely on farming
 Communal clearing of land

Africa and I.O.B
 Numerous City-states grow up along Eastern coast
including:
 Mombasa, Mogadishu, and Zanzibar
 Later called the Swahili Coast
 “Lingua franca” or common tongue
 Sawahil al-sudan “shores of the blacks”
 Trade in Gold (from inland): Great Zimbabwe best known for its massive stone walls.
 Indonesians settle Madagascar looking for
economic opportunity.
Muslim and Jewish traders
 Both formed important international trade
communities
 Joined by religion and ethnicity
 Jews
 Dispersed as far away as China
 Muslims
 Dominant force in Indian Ocean Trade
 Gradual conversion of much of S.E Asia
 Hajj (need for international travel)
South Asia and I.O.B
 Delhi Sultanate (1206–1527).
 Loose collection of Indian states could not defend against
attacks.
 Destroyed temples and massacred thousands of
Hindus.
 Pay special tax in exchange for protection created
tension between Hindus / Muslims
 *** Sultan Raziya - 1236 - 1240 ***
 One of the few female sovereigns in the history of the
Islamic civilization
 Indian Ocean trade dominated by Arabs 8th – 16th centuries
 Displaced Hindu and Buddhist influence in S.E Asia
South Asia and I.O.B
 Sultanate *destroyed* by Timur (1398)
 Delhi is ultimately sacked and captured.
 Despite multiple shortcomings - Delhi Sultanate




Centralized its Bureaucracy (Sultan, Viziers, govs)
Promoted and Expanded Trade
Regulated Currency
Overall prospered from I.OB. trade
 Monsoon winds
 Dhow (lateen sails)
 Junks ships
Chinese Trade
 China – by 1500 C.E. had the most advanced economy in
the world.
 Highly developed internal markets
 4th Century C.E. China took part in international trade.
 Developed a powerful navy by the 12th century.
 Radical theory – “Voyages of Zheng”
 Believed to have reached Americas, Africa,
and Australia
 Controversial theory / rejected by many
historians
Important to Note:
 I.O.B was NOT controlled by one
central authority
 series of smaller economical
relationships.
 Islam = uniting factor of all
languages and ethnicities.
 Ibn Battuta - Moroccan Muslim
chronicled many prominent
locations in I.O.B in Voyage.
 India was the quest of most
explorers by the end of the
period.
Hinduism / Buddhism
 Influenced by India (Trade) Cambodian Empires
(Khmer) and Indonesian Empires (Srivijayan) took
hold of trade routes in S.E Asia for a time.
 Angkor Wat and Borobudur.
 Malacca - Connected I.O.B with China
 Conquered by Portugal @ end of period in 1511.
Angkor Wat
 Cambodia
 (Khymer Palace)
 Constructed c. 12th cent.
 Dedicated to Hindu
God Vishnu
 C. 13th Century
Converted to
Buddhist temple.
Borobudur
 Java Indonesia
 9th cent. Buddhist
shrine
 Levels represent steps
toward enlightenment.
 Cultural Diffusion in
Oceania.
Islam in I.O.B
 Flourishing of Literacy
 Not so much in India
 City of Timbuktu - 150 schools - books $
 Development of a “Common code of morality”
 Standardization of Marriage and family
 “Death-nail of Buddhism” in some regions
 Technology and cultural continuities
Transmission of Tech
 Papermaking (China)
 Crops & Foodstuffs
 Wheat, rice, sugarcane,
bananas, oranges,
lemons, limes, cotton*
 Largest agricultural
exchange in World
History up to this time!
 More food = more
people.