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Early Trade
Early trade mainly involved India, China, and Mesopotamian empires. China's silk was highly valued. This was the first major trade route of civilizations -
Period: Feb 27, 700 to Feb 27, 1200
Islamic Golden Age
This made the region of South West Asia a hub for trade. Countries wanted their goods and services and many ships entered their ports through the Indian Ocean. This trade brought even more wealth to the Islamic empires. -
Period: Feb 1, 1000 to Feb 1, 1200
Major Trade Begins
Mainly due to the emergence of Islam and China, many countries saw oppurtunites to strike it rich by entering the Indian Ocean trade. Many merchant groups would go to ports, buy goods, and then travel to other countries and try to sell the goods at higher prices. This allowed for several city-states to appear and in general, made the entire Indian basin richer. -
Jan 1, 1200
Islam Spreads to India (1200s)
This was important to the Indian River Basin. This brought the religion of Islam to India through Indian Ocean trade routes. The influence of Islam changed the course of history for India. -
Period: Feb 1, 1200 to Feb 1, 1300
Mongols
With Mongol land conquests, many Indian basin countries had to focus more on military and less on trade. Following the success of the Mongols, the Silk Road became a major trade route due to the protection provided by the Mongols. This made the Indian Ocean decrease in popularity. -
Feb 27, 1500
European Involvement
The demand of Asia goods was high in Europe. It was hard to obtain large amounts of these goods through land trade, so Portugal began their involvment with the Indian Ocean. They did not have much to trade, so they became pirates rather than merchants. -
Dutch East Indian Trading Comapny
This climaxed European involvment in the Indian Ocean. European countries dominated Indian Ocean trade and exploited Asian markets. This caused for many Indian Ocean basin cities to decline and become puppets of Europe. -
THESIS
Changes in the Indian Ocean Basin/Rimlands changed the fate of nations which included introducing Islam to India and practically enslaving merchant cities with the Dutch East India Trading company. A continuity that has gone on is the fact that the ocean is a major trade route for many nations.
