Indian Ocean Trade Dbq

The influence of trading between Europe, Africa, and Asia and the influence of exploration in these countries is extremely extensive and still a big part of the world of trading today. The first question to the prompt asks, “Who traded with who? Why?”. Asia mainly traded around the east African coast and in India, the merchants who traded with these countries traveled by sea, so this was the most logical way to get to where they needed to go. They also had a guidebook called the Periplus which was written by an unknown merchant in Egypt, this guidebook told the people where to go, what to do when it came to the trading, and who they traded with. In Africa, they mainly traded with the Mediterranean’s and the slave owners in Mali. Furthermore,

Africa also used two methods of trading in different countries, one was called the trans-Saharan caravan trade network which consisted of overland trade of gold and slaves for other trinkets from the Mediterranean’s. The other method was the Indian Ocean trade network which just consisted of travelers and merchants who used dhows (a boat made of teakwood) and had a network of ports in different places where they traded their goods.

Europe mainly traded with Africa and the Portuguese people who were slave owners, the slave industry in trade really boomed around this time because the slaves could be used for just about anything their owners could want. The second part of the prompt asks, “How did trade and exploration have a positive impact on each region?” The positive impact that was made in Asia was the travel of different people into their country and the expansion of a new language and culture. This quote helps further my point on the expansion of the new language in Asia due to trade routes, “Travelers seeking to enter South Asia had a choice of routes. Land routes through the Hindu Kush in the northwest allowed contacts between South Asia and central Asia through what is today

Afghanistan. These are the routes that allowed the expansion of Indo-European languages and that Megasthenes used when he came to India (Hansen & Curtis, pg 61).” Also, in Asia, a positive impact on the trading system would be the use of dhows and using the sea as part of their trade routes. These trading merchants utilized every part of the sea to their advantage in how they traded with other people. The positive impact trade had on Africa was their two methods of trade. The trans-Saharan caravan trade network and the Indian Ocean trade network are sort of similar, but both have their differences. The caravan trade network was on land whereas the Indian Ocean network was obviously on the sea. Furthermore, the caravan trade network dealt with the trade of slaves and gold with the Mediterranean’s in exchange for things like cloth and glass goods. The Indian Ocean network dealt with maritime trade on the coasts of Africa and India.

The positive impact trade had on Europe was the trade of slaves with the Portuguese people. The Portuguese people had a large impact on trade with the Europeans when it came to the slaves, this lead to the Portuguese people playing a large role in the trading world. The third part of the prompt asks, “What negative impact did it have?” In Asia, the negative impact that trade had on that country was the Periplus guidebook that the people followed. The following quote helps to explain the predicament the Asian people were in when they read this in their book, “Aimed at non-Indian readers, the Periplus gives the misleading impression that the Indian Ocean trade was controlled by foreigners, possibly because its author was a Greek living in Egypt who used Roman coins to purchase Indian goods (Hansen & Curtis, pg 62).” This book also mentions a “Thina” which was then translated into China, the author who thought it was a city was greatly mistaken. So, then China was not completely understood for the country it truly was. In Africa, the negative impact trade had on this country dealt mainly with the

slaves. When the slaves were sent to an owner most of them were sent into gold mines to work and dig for gold and ore. The conditions were dangerous though, and many slaves died in those gold mines due to those conditions. Here is a short quote describing a detail of the gold mines the slaves worked in, “Working conditions in Mali’s gold mines were grim: shafts could be over 60 feet (20 m) deep and frequently collapsed (Hansen & Curtis, pg 239).” The shortage of slaves was not good for the traders but still the slaves endured working in the mines for their owners. The next part of the prompt asks, “What civilizations used these trade routes to their advantage?” Asia and Africa were the two most popular at using their trade routes to their advantage. In Asia, these traders and merchants were the first people to use the sea and the land to their advantage to better their trading systems. These two methods worked out well for this country and it helped inspire others, such as the Europeans, to travel by sea and trade as well. Africa also had two methods that were effective which was the caravan trade network and the Indian Ocean network. Both function almost identical to Asia’s trade but not all trade routes are the exact same in these countries. There were specific things that these countries traded in specifically with other countries. The next part of the prompt asks, “What empires sought to strengthen connections with other societies?” I think that both Europe and Africa tried to strengthen their connections in regard to the trading system. In Europe, the Portuguese, and the Europeans “worked” together and both cultures founded the Dutch East India Company which was a merchant company that wanted to take control over Asia’s trade. The Dutch people followed the Portuguese way and used military force to take control over Asia’s trade and their profits. In Africa, the people “worked” together with the Mali and together they founded the Mali society and they worked towards advancing their trade with the slaves. The last part of the prompt asks, “Did any try to turn away from global connections?” In my opinion, I do not think that any of these countries swayed from global connections. I think that the trade routes established by these countries helped to advance trade in today’s modern America. Europe, Africa, and Asia were all tried and true when it came to their trade, they all had their own methods of transportation and their own ways of trading with others. These countries helped shape America’s way of trade today, we should be grateful that the people who started the trade routes so long ago started those traditions. Without them, we would not have all the trade and profits from trade that we have today.