Indian Ocean trade

By cassidymcerlain
  • Period: 1 CE to

    Indian Ocean trade

  • 800

    The "start" of Indian Ocean trade

    The Indian ocean trade began around 1800 A.D
  • 800

    early trade goods

    The domestication of the camel helped bring multiple trade goods such as:
    silk
    slaves
    incense
    porcelain
    spices
    ivory
  • 800

    Involvement with trade

    The major empires involved in the Indian Ocean trade:
    Mauryan Empire in India
    Han Dynasty in China
    Achaemenid Empire in Persia
    Roman Empire in the Mediterranean.
  • 800

    Religions on Indian Ocean trade

    Another major component of the Indian Ocean trade was religion. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism spread from India to Southeast Asia.
  • 800

    Trade routes

    trade routes connected Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa.
  • 1258

    Medieval era trade

    During the medieval era 400 - 1450 CE, trade in the Indian Ocean basin thrived. The rise of the Umayyad (661 - 750 CE) and Abbasid (750 - 1258) Caliphates on the Arabian Peninsula provided a powerful western meeting point for there trades. Islam valued merchants, considering that Muhammad was a trader and caravan leader, Wealthy Muslim cities created a huge want for luxury goods.
  • 1279

    The Tang and Song dynasty

    Tang (618 - 907) and Song (960 - 1279) Dynasties in China also focused attention on trade and industry, developing strong trade ties along the Silk Roads, this also helped influence maritime trade. The Song rulers created a powerful imperial navy to control piracy on the eastern end of the route.
  • 1400

    Maritime Trade

    Between the Arabs and the Chinese, several major empires benefited from maritime trade. The Chola Empire in southern India overwhelmed travelers with its wealth and luxury. Chinese visitors record parades of elephants covered with jewels and gold clothes marching through the streets.
  • 1400

    Maritime trade

    In what is current day Indonesia, the Srivijaya Empire was ver successful almost entirely on taxing trading vessels that moved through the Malacca Straits. Even Angkor, based far inland in the Khmer heartland of Cambodia, used the Mekong River as a highway that tied it in to the Indian Ocean trade network.
  • 1405

    Foreign traders

    China allowed foreign traders. Everyone wanted Chinese goods, and foreigners were willing to travel to coastal China to find fine silks, porcelain, and other items. The Yongle Emperor of China's new Ming Dynasty sent out the first of seven expeditions to visit the empire's major trading partners around the Indian Ocean.
  • 1498

    New mariners

    New mariners made their first appearance in the Indian Ocean around 1498. Portuguese sailors under Vasco da Gama rounded the southern point of Africa and ventured into new seas. The Portuguese were looking forward to joining the Indian Ocean trade, considering European demand for Asian luxury goods was high. However, Europe had nothing to trade. The peoples around the Indian Ocean basin had no need of wool or fur clothing, iron cooking pots, or the other meager products of Europe.
  • 1498

    New mariners continued

    The Portuguese entered the Indian Ocean trade as pirates rather than traders. Using a combination of bravado and cannons, they seized port cities like Calicut on India's west coast and Macau, in southern China. The Portuguese began to rob and extort local producers and foreign merchant ships alike. Scarred by the Moorish conquest of Portugal and Spain, they viewed Muslims in particular as the enemy, and took every opportunity to plunder their ships

  • European power

    European power appeared in the Indian Ocean around 1602. Rather than insinuating themselves in to the existing trade pattern, as the Portuguese had done, the Dutch sought a total monopoly on lucrative spices like nutmeg and mace

  • British East India Company

    The British joining the indian ocean trade challenged the VOC for control of the trade routes. As the European powers established political control over important parts of Asia, Indonesia, India, Malaya, and much of Southeast Asia into colonies, reciprocal trade dissolved

  • indian ocean trade crippling

    Goods moved increasingly to Europe, while the former Asian trading empires began to get poorer and crumble. The two thousand year old Indian Ocean trade network was on the verge of being destroyed.