Indian Ocean History

By rnowocin
  • 300 BCE

    Long Distance Sea Trade

    Long distance sea trade moved across routes linking all of those areas as well as East Asia which was mostly China
  • 300 BCE

    Before Indian trade was discovered

    This was before Europeans actually discovered the Indian Ocean, and there were traders from Arabia, Gujarat, and other coastal areas.
  • 800

    Trading of Goods

    Domestication of the camel helped bring coastal trade goods like silk, porcelain, spices, slaves, incense, and ivory.
  • 800

    Trade Begins

    Trade officially begins during this time
  • 800

    Empires become involved

    Major empires that were involved in the Indian Ocean trade included the Mauryan Empire in India, the Han Dynasty in China, Persia, and the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean.
  • 800

    Exports from Trade

    Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism was spread from India to Southeast Asia through Indian Ocean trade routes.
  • 800

    Trade Routes Become Connected

    The Indian Ocean trade routes connected Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa.
  • 1200

    Medieval Era Trade

    During the medieval era, trade flourished in the Indian Ocean. The rise of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates on the Arabian Peninsula provided a powerful western pathways for the trade routes. Islam valued merchants, the Prophet Muhammad himself was a trader and caravan leader, and wealthy Muslim cities created an enormous demand for luxury goods.
  • 1200

    The Tang and Song Dynasty

    The Tang and Song Dynasties in China also emphasized trade and industry, this caused them to develop strong trade ties along the land based Silk Roads, and encouraging maritime trade. The Song rulers even created a powerful imperial navy to control piracy on the eastern end of the route.
  • 1400

    Maritime Trade

    Between the Arabs and the Chinese, several major empires blossomed based largely on maritime trade. The Chola Empire in southern India dazzled travelers with its wealth and luxury; Chinese visitors record parades of elephants covered with gold cloth and jewels marching through the city streets.
  • 1400

    Taxing on trade

    In modern day Indonesia, the Srivijaya Empire boomed based almost entirely on taxing trading vessels that moved through the narrow Malacca Straits. Even Angkor, based far inland in the Khmer heartland of Cambodia, used the Mekong River as a highway that tied it in to the Indian Ocean trade network.
  • 1405

    China and Foreign Traders

    China allowed foreign traders to come to them. Since everyone wanted Chinese goods, and foreigners were willing to take the time and trouble of visiting coastal China to procure fine silks, porcelain, and other items, they allowed them. The Yongle Emperor of China's new Ming Dynasty sent out the first of seven expeditions to visit the empire's major trading partners around the Indian Ocean. He traveled all the way to East Africa, bringing back emissaries and trade goods.
  • 1498

    New Mariners

    In 1498, new mariners made their first appearance in the Indian Ocean. Portuguese sailors under Vasco da Gama rounded the southern point of Africa and ventured into new seas. The Portuguese were eager to join in the Indian Ocean trade since European demand for Asian luxury goods was extremely high. But, Europe had nothing to trade. The peoples around the Indian Ocean had no need for wool or fur clothing, iron cooking pots, or the other meager products of Europe.

  • The Dutch

    An even more ruthless European power appeared in the Indian Ocean. The power was the Dutch East India Company. Rather than insinuating themselves into the existing trade pattern, as the Portuguese had done, the Dutch took control on lucrative spices like nutmeg and mace.

  • British challenges Dutch

    The British joined in with their British East India Company and challenged the Dutch for control of the trade routes. As the European powers established political control over important parts of Asia, turning Indonesia, India, Malaya, and a lot of Southeast Asia into colonies, reciprocal trade dissolved.

  • Indian Ocean Trade possibly destroyed

    Goods moved more into Europe, while the former Asian trading empires ended up collapsing. Because of that, he 2000 year old Indian Ocean trade network was crippled, if not completely destroyed