Alyssa Barrera

Mr. Lawson

AP World History

29 January 2015

Indian Ocean Trade 2.1

From 650­1750 C.E., the Indian Ocean trade had many continuities in the spread of their influence and material goods and changes in how they went about spreading their good and religion/ideas. Economically, the Indian Ocean trade continued to trade goods, but changed because of how the goods were traded. Culturally, the Indian Ocean trade stayed the same because of the continuous spread of their influence to other regions/locations, and changed because of the diffusion of the religions already dominant in places. Politically, the Indian Ocean trade continued to flourish while under the control of strong empires, and changed because of the transition between which empires controlled it.

Economically, the Indian Ocean trade continued to disperse goods to different regions/locations, but changed because of the how they were traded along the road. An example of this continuity would be how during early times in Indian Ocean trade goods such as exotic animals, wood, and ivory were traded from Africa. Then, during the 15th and 16th centuries, merchants in India received goods from both the east and west, sold them locally, and added
Indian goods to the trade. And last, during the 17th and 18th centuries, luxury goods flowed into the Ottoman Empire from Indian Ocean Trade. Although the trade of goods never stopped, the process of trading goods underwent many changes. For example, during earlier times of the
Indian Ocean Trade up until 13th century, ships depended on the power of monsoons to dictate the direction of their ship. They relied on lateen sails, which permitted sailing only before the wind . After the 13th century, ships got larger in order to accommodate the vast amount of goods that were being shipped. Ships like the dhow and the junk could carry large shipments due to the amount of weight each ship could hold.

Culturally, the Indian Ocean trade stayed the same because of the continuous spread of religion and ideas, but changed because of how religions that were already dominant in places were diffused. For example, in cities in the Middle East, Muslim merchants were important because they tied the region together. They all shared a common language, ethic, and law and spread their religions to distant regions. By 1400, Muslim trading communities began to form all over the world. This can also tie into the change,