Change and continuity

They are able to figure out the wind and monsoon patterns. Mediterranean sailors use square sails, long banks of oars, ships are nailed together. Indian Ocean sailors use triangular sails, no oars, and tied ships. Impact: Africa provides exotic animals, wood, and ivory. Somalia and Southern Arabia provide frankincense and myrrh. Less valuable than Mediterranean Sea. Isolate ports that lack fresh water. In 1200 The rising prosperity of Asian, Euroopean, and African states stimulate the expansion of trae in the Indian Ocean. Luxuries for the wealthy-precious metals and jewls, rare spices, fine textiles, and other manufactures. Contstruction of larger ships makes shipments of buk cargoes of ordinary cotton textiles, pepper, food grans (rice, wheat, barley), timber horses, and other goods profitable. Collapse of the mongol empire- disrupts overland trade routes across Central Asia, the Indian Ocean routes assumed greater strataegic importance in tying together the peoples of Eurasia and Africa. 1200-1500 Dhow is a cargo and passenger ship of the Arabian sea. They all have a hull construction. The hulls consist of planks that were sewn together, not nailed. Cord made of fiber from the husk of coconuts or other materials was passed through rows of holed drilled in the planks. Marco Polo fancifully suggested that it in dictated sailors’ fear that large ocean magnets would pull any nails out of their ships. The second distinctive feature of the dhows was their trianglular (lateen) sails made of palm leaves or cotton. The sails were suspended from tall masts and could be turned to catch the wind. Junk is the largest and most technologically advancd and most seaworth vessel of this time. Developed in china. Built from spruce or fir planks held toether by massive nails. The space below the deck was dived into watertight comspace below the deck was dived into watertight compartments to minimize floodin g in case of damage to the ship’s hull. Ibn Battuta, the largest junks have twelve sails made of bamboo and carried a crew of a thousand men. A large junk might have up to a hundred passenger cabins and could carry a cargo of over 1,000 tons. Trade is decentralized and cooperative. Comercial interest, rather than political authorities, tied several distinct regional networks together. Indian Ocean Use predictable monsoon winds and dhows. Islam gives Indian Ocean trade a boost. They provide a demand for resources and tie the region together. Operates independently of states. Ming dynasty does get involved. 1405-1433 Voyages of Zheng He Commands expeditions of the Ming dynasty. He is a Chinese Muslim with ancestral connection in the Persian Gulf. 1497-1498 Vasco da Gama reaches India Sailed around Africa and reached India. He becomes suspicious of the Muslim rulers intentions. His arrival in India leaves a bad impression on Calicut-the ruler of Calicut is not interested. 1505 Portuguese bombard Swahili Coast cities 1510 Portuguese take Goa Portuguese take Malacca Focus of attention after India. It is the 15th century’s main entrepot (a place where goods are stored and then distributed from. ) 1515 Portuguese take Hormuz 1535 Portuguese take Diu 1538 Portuguese defeat Ottoman fleet 1539 Portuguese aid Ethiopia Indian Ocean Trade vs. Trade in the Americas The reason that the Indian Ocean region prospered while the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires declined was because trade via the sea was a huge asset that none of these empires had (Safavid had minor ports but not enough to compete with European and New World countries. The innovation that was occurring between ship design, navigation, and cannons gave Europe a massive advantage. The Joint-stock exchange also causes these empires to fall behind in trade. Although the majority of sea traders were European, the majority of non-European traders were Islamic. The main reason that the empires fell in standing of the world is because they were strongly land based and simply did not have the resources to convert so much time and resources to the development that would have been needed to compete in the Indian Ocean trade network.