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300 BCE
Long sea trade
It was a long distance sea trade moved across a web of routes linking all of those areas as well as East Asia (mostly China). -
300 BCE
The Beginning of the trade
Long before other people invaded Indian civilization, Europeans, the Indian Ocean, traders from Arabia, Gujarat, and other coastal areas. -
800
Indian Ocean Trade in Classic Times/Period
During the classical era, major empires involved in the Indian Ocean trade included Achaemenid Empire in Persia, the Mauryan Empire in India, the Han Dynasty in China, and the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. Silk from China graced Roman aristocrats, Roman coins mingled in India treasures, and Persian jewels sparked in Mauryan settings. -
800
Important Major Exports during Trade
Major export item along the classical Indian Ocean trade routes was religious thought. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism spread from India to Southeast Asia, brought by merchants rather than by missionaries. Islam would later spread the same way from the 700s CE on. -
1258
Indian Ocean Trade in the Medieval Era
During the mediaval era (400-1450 CE), trade flourished in the Indian Ocean basin. The rise of the Umayyad (661-750 CE) and Abbasid (750-1258) caliphates on the Arabian Peninsula provided a powerful western node for the trade routes. -
1279
Dynasties from China
The Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties in China also emphasized trade and industry, developing strong trade ties along the land-based Silk Roads, and encouraging maritime trade. The Song rulers even created a powerful imperial navy to control piracy on the eastern end of the route. -
1400
Trade on the Ocean
The Arabs and the Chinese, several major empires blossomed based largely on maritime trade. The Chola Empire in southern India dazzled travelers with its wealth and luxury. Also, the Chinese visitors record parades of elephants covered with gold cloth and jewels marching through their city streets. -
1405
Traders from other countries
Everyone wanted Chinese goods, and foreigners were willing to take the time and trouble of visiting coastal China to procure 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. The Ming treasure ships under Admiral Zheng. He traveled all the way to East Africa, bring back emissaries and trade goods. -
1498
Attacks from the “New People” to the Ocean Trade
The Portuguese marines as known as “the Pirates” used 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 -
1498
Portuguese Began to Show Up
New mariners made their first appearance in the Indian Ocean. Portuguese sailors under Vasco da Gama rounded the southern point of Africa and ventured into new seas. The Portuguese were eager to join in the Indian Ocean trade, since European demand for Asian luxury goods was extremely high. Also,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. The Portuguese entered as pirates. -
Aftermath the attacks
European power appeared in the Indian Ocean: the Dutch East India Company. 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. -
The End and Collapse of a Economy
Goods moved increasingly to Europe, while the former Asian trading empires grew poorer and collapsed. The two thousand year-old Indian Ocean trade network was crippled, if not completely destroyed. -
Europeans Controlling
As the European powers established political control over important parts of Asia, turning Indonesia, India, Malaya, and much of Southeast Asia into colonies, reciprocal trade dissolved.