After Europeans arrived in East Asia via the Indian Ocean, trade in the Far East changed dramatically moving towards a globalized economy. Between 1450 (39 years before the arrival of Vasco Da Gama) until 1750, the levels of trade in Asia reached a new peak; initial changes came in the form of the addition of new goods; and the eventual addition of colonization into the Indian Ocean Trade Network ultimately turned traditional “trade” into imperial relations. However, the importance of raw materials and the main Asian groups involved in the Indian Ocean trade network largely remained constant after European exposure until the start of British Imperial rule of India. Throughout these three centuries, economic superpowers rose and fell, leadership changed, and cultural exchange was highly prevalent, but the general philosophies, and religions of the societies involved in trade remained intact, resulting in far more positive interaction than in the New World.
Before the Portuguese discovered of a passage to India by navigating around Africa in 1489, there was little trade in East Asia, the majority of it being between China and India, but some European explorers did participate in trade to some extent, spreading spices through much of the known world. In 1450, trade was done exclusively on land and was mainly between East and South Asian states was mainly an exchange of materials such as silk, silver, and jade, with China importing few goods because of xenophobic tendencies. The nearly ancient Silk Road that brought Chinese goods to Europe was also still intact after its revival by explorers such as Marco Polo. Additionally, China rarely exported gunpowder and several other inventions until later, and although India was a large p...
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...alistic relations. Consequently, once this transition became noticeable to the Asian countries relations bad relations amongst European nations and Asian Empires developed. Thereafter, tension built up, and the time after 1750 was filled with the forging of alliances with leaders and the fighting battles and wars such as the Battle of Plassey and the Seven Years’ War. Through this transition, the only aspects of the system that truly remained constant were the exchange of raw materials for finished products and the states in the trade system. Overall, between the start of the 17th century and 1750, the Indian Ocean trade network evolved from a nearly mercantile exchange of goods into a generally profiteering European movement of goods between the sections of Asia that would soon become parts of their empires.
Works Cited
"Das Snen" by Nii Sapu
In India, everyone traveled for spices as Christopher Columbus.attempted. But that was in the 1400’s. Around 50 C.E., the Kushan Empire started to take over these countries and the road after the Han Empire was overthrown. In the Background Essay, it says “Starting in 50 CE, another Asian Empire took shape and began profiting from the Silk Road. In the Background Essay Q’s, Doc B, Box 1, it mentions Hinduism.
As shown contextually in document 5, Asia was replacing their barter and tax payment from goods and services to silver. Such a change requires and very large supply and circulation of said precious metal. China was willing to pay a lot for said metal as its new economic system depended on it. In order to cash in on this potential gold rush, for lack of a better word, european nations sought elsewhere for a supply of silver they could control, ultimately leading to the colonization of the Americas and military conquests of isles like the Phillipines and Indonesia. The pattern of the silver trade shifted as Europeans now expanded it to reach more of the western hemisphere by establishing mines in Brazil and other areas. Documents 1 and 3 showcase in detail how connected the west and east now became because of the silver trade, which previously resided in Asia predominantly. Silver went from the mines in the east (Japan) and sometimes isles (Philippines), to the colonies, and ultimately China after the chinese merchant ships would travel to said colonies and pick up the silver. Such an increased connected between the west and east is seen again post-Renaissance. As Europe is going through a revival, it seeks wealth elsewhere, like european nations in the later centuries. Europe begins expeditions and forges relationships with eastern nations
When comparing the Chinese and Western historical development, the similar key events would have very different outcomes due to their different backgrounds. During the fifteenth century, Zheng He was commissioned to lead the “treasure ships” for seven voyages down the Western Seas. And, Prince Henry sent expeditions to explore the western coast of Africa. China and Portugal, the both ends of the Eurasian continent, almost simultaneously began marine navigations. They have shared some similar features, but there are actually major differences between the two. This paper will compare and contrast these two remarkable explorers. The focus will be on the ideas and circumstances that influenced their actions, and their importance in shaping history.
Before the Modern Era, international communication was not prevalent. Many factions were present between distant regions in the world, and regional trade flourished between lands that were close in proximity. Lands in the Americas or South America did not experience a strong connection to lands further east due to these gaps in communication. However, due to the emergence of silver, regional economies all combined to form one global economy. In this global economy, different, distant regions interacted through a common trade. Silver production, common from the 1500s to 1750, helped global interactions flourish. Different regions, specifically China and the Philippines, Spain and its colonies, and England collectively experienced shifts in their societies and economies through a combined need to interpose themselves in this global flow of silver, that was then expanded upon through different methods of gaining silver.
As new ideas traveled main trade routes, such as the Silk Road and the Mediterranean, the effects of such were felt through an influx of contact between countries due to increased desire for new information and countries gaining a larger presence on the world stage. This phenomenon can also be seen through the lens of cultural exchange that took place during this same time period in Eurasia. A major component of the Eurasian trade networks, such as the Silk Road and Indian Ocean, was that they fostered interregional contacts that had ceased to previously exist. When a country had a desire for study or technology, they earned more respect on the global stage. This can be further examined by looking at Marco Polo’s voyage into Asia.
Due to their contrasting but also similar views of economic expansion, the Portuguese and the Chinese had different structures and values of their societies. Both societies were very involved in trading and exploration, however they had different reasons for exploration. The Portuguese and Prince Henry wanted to reach Asian lands by sailing down the coast of Afric...
During the 15th century Europe had numerous changes. The population expanded rapidly which gave rise to new classes of merchants. European nations were very wealthy when it came to spices. Therefore, they traded them on the land route from Asia. These land routes were controlled by the Turkish Empire, which lead to many problems for the countries who were trying to trade these spices and acquire other valuables. This then steered them to begin searching for other routes of trade to essentially cut out the “middle man”. A race then began to erupt between many European countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, and England. These four countries all wanted to be the first to discover new land. However, Portugal pulled ahead and sailed along
He meant that economically open doors for countries throughout Europe to stimulate their economy. Describe the different global economies that Europeans participated in or created during the European age of expansion. A global economy was made solely reliant on produce of its province; gaining free labor from slaves also shipment bringing in byproduct colonies. This encouraged growth for Europe to extend their boarder and riches. One of the most striking features of Indian societies at the time of the encounter with Europeans was their diversity. Support this statement with several examples. Examples of this can be irrigation, roadway systems, the pyramids, and the diversity of different languages in different cities. Compare and contrast European values and ways of life with those of the Indians. Consider addressing religion, views about ownership of land, gender relations, and notions of freedom. The Indians believed that if they lived on property then it is theirs but if it is not inhabited then it is free where as Europeans believe that wealth comes from land ownership and fortune. Indian women won homes and tools and European women do not. What were the main factors fueling the European age of expansion? The main factors for expansion were resource, new route to India resource and pillaging. Compare the different economic and
Around the beginning of the sixteenth centruy, many countires had started to explore farther away and finding new territories. New products like sugar and taobacco began to emerge around the world in many places. Many countries in Europe were gaining power due to the control of colonies in the Americas. Asian countries did not explore as much, but still managed to remain large and powerful for a while. The global flow of silver had economic effects on inflating prices of goods and stimulating econimic policy of mercantilism, and social effects on negative effects on the lower class around the world during the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century.
In the first through sixteenth centuries, was a major turning point for the world. Major religions such as christianity, and Islam were gaining more power and respect throughout the post-classical states. Trade was a major shift in the world as well, but little more difficult in some regions more than others. For example in Europe, the ideology of christianity made trade sound like a greedy and horrendous act while in the state of Islam they accepted greed, and did not punish it or look down on it as much as christianity did in their early stages. With this difference they are more similar than different, in the way that they both had their views evolve around the idea of trade changed as the world progressed, as well as both regions had a code of conduct to
Stewart Gordon is an expert historian who specializes in Asian history. He is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan and has authored three different books on Asia. Gordon’s When Asia Was The World uses the narratives of several different men to explore The Golden Age of medieval Asia. The fact that this book is based on the travels and experiences of the everyday lives of real people gives the reader a feeling of actually experiencing the history. Gordon’s work reveals to the reader that while the Europeans were trapped in the dark ages, Asia was prosperous, bursting with culture, and widely connected by trade.
1.) As a whole, the entry of the Europeans into the Asian sea trading network had relatively little effect on the entire system. The entry of the Europeans into the network led to the establishment of new trade routes in the Indian Ocean to the southern Atlantic near the Cape of Good Hope. In water, the Europeans were superior militarily, but on land against fortified Asian settlements, the Asians far surpassed the Europeans technologically. The only superior items that the Europeans had were small, fast sea vessels such as caravels, clocks, and weaponry. This situation of inferiority led to the Europeans’ plan of adaptation to the Asian network instead of trying to control it. Although the Europeans had little to offer, the agricultural items introduced such as crops first cultivated in the Americas proved to be very sustainable and led to large amounts of population growth, but the growing numbers eventually led to the spread of epidemic diseases that ultimately ravaged both Asian and European populations.
Discovering a route to India was an extremely momentous event, and made a big impact in the European trading system. Vasco da Gama’s life was full of hard work, discovery, and exploration. He was able to bring back much wealth for Portugal, and his successful voyages changed trade during his time and beyond.
Prasannan Parthasarathi, Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not : global economic divergence, 1600-1850, (Cambridge, 2011).
Direction of India’s trade was towards Europe and the US markets because of its cultural and colonial past and this become the one reason behind the low trade between India and Japan. Direction of India’s trade results into stagnant trade between India and Japan without exceeding the US$4 billion mark before 1990s. This stagnation in the economic relationship between India and Japan was finally broken when India board on major economic reforms by liberalizing the country’s economy and adopting an open-door policy that led to a gradual acceleration of bilateral business relationships between both countries. After 1991 India made many changes in the policies to improve the bilateral relations with Japan and there is an exemplary shift between