Indian Ocean Trade

On how cinnamon and cassia are obtained:

"The Arabians cover their bodies and faces, all but their eyes, with ox-hides and other skins before going out to collect kasie. It grows in a shallow lake. The lake and all the country round are infested by winged creatures like bats, which screech horribly and are very fierce. They have to be kept from attacking the men's eyes while they are cutting the cassia.

The process of collecting the cinnamon is even stranger. In what country it grows is quite unknown. The Arabians say that the dry sticks, which we call 'kinamomon', are brought to Arabia by large birds, which carry them to their nests, made of mud, on mountain precipices which no man can climb. The method invented to get the cinnamon sticks is this. People cut up the bodies of dead oxen into very large joints, and leave them on the ground near the nests. They then scatter, and the birds fly down and carry off the meat to their nests, which are too weak to bear the weight and fall to the ground. The men come and pick up the cinnamon. Acquired in this way, it is exported to other countries.

Herodotus,

Greek historian

(c. 484 - 420 B.C.)

Dalby, Andrew. Dangerous Tastes: the Story of Spices, p. 37

• Works Cited
• "Columbia University in the City of New York." Columbia University in the City of New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
• Green, John. "Int'l Commerce, Snorkeling Camels, and The Indian Ocean Trade: Crash Course World History #18." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
• "Primary_source_accounts." Primary_source_accounts. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

Introduction: Timeline, and Significance

Indian Ocean Trade

• Timeline:
• Began around 800 CE,
• Surged around 1,000 to 1,200 CE.
• Declined after 1,200 CE because the mongols preferred trade overland.
• Surged once more after 1,400 CE.
• More prosperous, diverse, and convenient trade network than anything else at the time (even the silk roads). Why?
• Coastal lands of Indian Ocean, had very diverse peoples as well as resources, meaning that there was something for everyone.
• Monsoon Winds were very predictable allowing merchants to trade faster, and more conveniently.
• Easier to trade bulk goods on sea, than on land.
• Very peaceful, with no pirates.
• In this presentation, we will discuss the diversity of traded goods, the spread of religious, and technological ideas, and how trade influenced power in the Indian Ocean.

by Jackson Tobler and Nelson Schnepf

Goods

To Summarize:

• Goods went from all over Africa to far southeast Asia to everywhere in between.
• The reason trading became so popular is because of the ability to transport goods in bulk.
• Monsoon winds were very useful b/c they were predictable. A merchant knew he would be carried all the way across the ocean if he sailed at the right time of year and he would make it all the way back home if he sailed at different time.
• Africa: Ivory, timber, animal hides, gold.
• China: silk and porcelain.
• India: cotton cloth
• Southeast Asia: spices, and food stuff (rice)
• Sri Lanka: black pepper
• Arabian peninsula: coffee, books, weapons

• The Indian Ocean was the biggest, and most diverse trade network of the time.
• Diverse goods were traded. Ability to ship in bulk made popular.
• Spread of Islam to Indonesia, and the sharing of new technologies.
• Creation of City-States, because peoples controlled trade, and taxed trade ships.

Ideas and Technology

• Ideas
• Since Arabia, and the Swahili (east) coast of Africa were very Islamic, Islamic merchants spread the religion when they traveled to Indonesia.
• Hinduism, and Buddhism decreased, because leaders converted to Islam to have better religious and economic ties w traders.
• Thailand, Vietnam, not centers of trade so they didn’t convert as much.
• Technology
• Compass came from china.
• Astrolade from Islam state: made it easier to navigate using stars.
• Better boat tech.
• Improved rudders.
• Islamic world produced triangle sail, which allowed merchants to sail against the wind.

Primary Source Analysis

Primary Source

Source: "On how cinnamon and cassia are obtained."

Occasion: Herodotus, a Greek historian (c. 484 - 420 B.C.), wants to share the information that he finds interesting, so he writes it down as any good historian would.

Audience: Anyone who is researching the collecting of cassia or cinnamon in the fifth century.

Purpose: Herodotus is a historian and he is recoding facts for the purpose of preserving the knowledge.

Summary: When collecting cassia, the Arabians cover their entire bodies with cloth or skins to protect themselves from the vicious "winged creatures like bats" that infest the area. Cinnamon is collected from bird nests when "[p]eople cut up the bodies of dead oxen into very large joints, and leave them on the ground near the nests." Then, "the birds fly down and carry off the meat to their nests, which are too weak to bear the weight and fall to the ground. The men come and pick up the cinnamon."

Works Cited

Creation of Power

• Peoples began to tax trading ships that passed through popular trading straits.
• Whoever controlled trade, controlled everything. City States based soley upon trade arose. Two biggest were the Srivijaya in Indonesia, and the Swahili people of East Africa.
• Merchants held more power than traditional leaders at the time.