2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean
THEMATIC FOCUS Economics Systems ECN
As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE Unit 2: Learning Objective E
Explain the causes of the growth of networks of exchange after 1200.
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HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS KC-3.1.I.A.ii
Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes, including the Indian Ocean, promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by significant innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the use of the compass, the astrolabe, and larger ship designs.
The Indian Ocean trading network fostered the growth of states.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Growth of states:
City-states of the Swahili Coast
Gujarat
Sultanate of Malacca
City-states of the Swahili Coast
The rise of the Swahili coast city-states can be largely attributed to the region's extensive participation in a trade network that spanned the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean's trade network has been likened to that of the Silk Road, with many destinations being linked through trade. It has been noted that the Indian Ocean trade network actually connected more people than the Silk Road's.
The Swahili coast largely exported raw products like timber, ivory, animal skins, spices, and gold.
Finished products were imported from as far as east Asia such as silk and porcelain from China, spices and cotton from India, and black pepper from Sri Lanka.
Gujarat is a state on the western coast of India with a coastline
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Diasporic communities:
Arab and Persian communities in East Africa
Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia
Malay communities in the Indian Ocean basin
THEMATIC FOCUS Cultural Developments and Interactions CDI
The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE Unit 2: Learning Objective F
Explain the effects of the growth of networks of exchange after 1200.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS KC-3.1.III.B
In key places along important trade routes, merchants set up diasporic communities where they introduced their own cultural traditions into the indigenous cultures and, in turn, indigenous cultures influenced merchant cultures.
Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers, including during Chinese maritime activity led by Ming Admiral Zheng He.
THEMATIC FOCUS Humans and the Environments ENV
The environment shapes human societies, and as populations grow and change, these populations in turn shape their environments.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE Unit 2: Learning Objective G
Explain the role of environmental factors in the development of networks of exchange in the period from c. 1200 to c. 1450.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS KC-3.1.II.A.i
The expansion and intensification of longdistance trade routes often depended on environmental knowledge, including advanced knowledge of the monsoon winds.