Indian Ocean Trade Developments and Networks

By Lrowe
  • Period: 5000 BCE to 2800 BCE

    Lost Caravan City of Uber

    Found by NASA Space Shuttle Endeavor in 1994, The satellite imaging helped locate a likely site for the city because the infrared image detected ancient caravan routes made by the movement of hundreds or even thousands of camels and people at a time. Ubar is believed to have thrived as a center for incense transport and sale from around 2800 BCE to 300 CE. The incense trade began as early as 5000 BCE by sea and land from this hub in Oman on the southern Arabian Peninsula.
  • 4000 BCE

    Millet

    Tall grass grain,when the seeds are ground into flour, it can be used to make porridge (grain cooked in water) or bread (flour, water, salt, leavening mixed and fried or baked). Historians of food and agriculture believe that these grains were first domesticated from wild grasses in east Africa, perhaps in Ethiopia or in the area that is today's Sudan, where the society called Meroe flourished.Different types of millets probably spread across the Indian Ocean trade and migration networks.
  • 1200 BCE

    Phoenician Ships- First century CE

    The Phoenicians were adventurous merchants who built sturdy cargo ships designed to transport large amounts of goods. Phoenician cargo boats were called gauloi, or 'round,' ships because of their rounded hulls (the body of a boat). They were typically between 65 and 100 feet long and about 20 feet wide, with a lot of space to store trade goods. They were built to accommodate a crew of about 20 men. These ships were very technically advanced for their time.
  • 1000 BCE

    Sugar Cane

    Sugar cane produces both crystalline sugar for people, and fodder for animals. It was hybridized, or cross-pollinated, with other varieties of cane. In this way, it became a very productive crop. As for use of sugar, it remained a luxury, and like many new and strange plant foods, was considered medicinal by some. By the end of the Classical Era, sugar was known in Persia as a wonderful luxury for cooking and sweetening. Sugar would spread widely with trade, conquest and migration.
  • 800 BCE

    Nubian Kingdom 800 BCE

    Rise of the Nubian Kingdom at Napata. From 712-600 BCE, Nubia dominates Egypt.
  • 600 BCE

    Phoenicians

    The Phoenicians dominated trade and travel during the first millennium BCE. The Phoenicians imported and exported items like wine, olives and olive oil, wheat, spices, metals, honey, and cedar wood. The Phoenicians traveled further than any previous Mediterranean society and developed some of the most advanced ships and navigation techniques of their time. Phoenician Merchants are believed to have circumnavigated the African continent as early as 600 BCE.
  • Period: 563 BCE to 483 BCE

    Siddhartha Gautama

    Known as Buddha in India, and was responsible for the evolution of Buddhism a "religion" that quickly became more popular then Hinduism within the Indian and surrounding cultures.
  • Period: 551 BCE to 479 BCE

    Confucius

    Life of Confucius in China, and the beginning of the philosophy of Confucianism.
  • 450 BCE

    Alphabet

    Yehawmilk Stele (stone), is an example of another Phoenician advancement: the alphabet. The stele, which dates from about 450 BCE, contains a 14-line inscription. The writing system developed by the Phoenicians was passed along to the Greeks, and is the basis of the alphabet used in most Western languages.
  • 440 BCE

    Cinnamon Trade

    The Histories of Herodotus, written around 440 B.C.E., discusses the mysterious origin and cultivation of cinnamon. Although the exact origin of cinnamon is still not certain, we do know from other historical documents that cinnamon was traded along the Silk Road. And according to Mediterranean sources, cinnamon was also traded through a "cinnamon route" between Southeast Asia and the east African coast during the time of the Roman Empire.
  • 334 BCE

    Alexander the Great

    Born in Macedonia in 356 BCE, he was declared king of that ancient Greek state in 336 BCE. As military commander, led the largest army (about 48,500 soldiers), defeated Persian Empire (550-330 BCE), and extended control over areas in western areas and found the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Alexandria became a major city for art and trade. Alexander the Great laid the foundation fro centuries of interaction and cultural exchange that continued on after his death in 323 BCE.
  • 332 BCE

    Alexandria

    Founded in 332 BCE by Alexander the Great, the city of Alexandria was a hub of international trade, the city was heavily influenced by Greek, and later Roman, culture. Because of the city's ideal location, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile River, it quickly became the center of trade routes connecting Rome to inner Africa, the Arabian Peninsula deserts, and Asia.
  • 300 BCE

    Arikamedu- 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE

    Arikamedu was a trade center on the southeast coast of India, near today's Pondicherry on the Coromandel coast of India. The city began around the second century BCE, and was the capital of the Mauryan Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE. The town became so important for the trade with Rome that archaeologists used to think Romans founded it as a trading post, but now its earlier origins are known.
  • 100 BCE

    Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 1st century CE

    Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a trader's handbook written around 70 CE. Periplus, or "sailing around," was written in Greek by an Egyptian merchant from the city of Alexandria. The document gives a detailed account of trade between Roman Egypt and India, listing all the ports on the Red Sea, the African coast, and the Arabian Peninsula. Chapter 36 mentions the port cities.Periplus also describes the people who lived in these various seaports,boats used, and items imported/exported.
  • Period: 100 BCE to 400 BCE

    Roman Coins Found in India

    Roman coins can be dated because they were marked with the face and name of a Roman ruler whose dates of rule are known from other sources.Tell a lot about trade relations.The large number of coins found in India reveal that valuable goods were exchanged, and that Roman merchants clearly did not have enough goods to exchange for what they desired from India.Roman officials complained about the amount of money leaving Rome to purchase these foreign goods but it did not stem the tide of the trade.
  • 100

    Aksum 1st- 3rd century CE

    Aksum, a wealthy kingdom that flourished between the first and seventh centuries in what is today Ethiopia, traded extensively with Greece and other foreign regions. Linked to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade networks by its port city of Adulis, Aksum controlled the profitable African gold and ivory trade.Aksum's involvement in international trade is even mentioned in the famous Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greek trader's handbook written in the first century CE.
  • 300

    Hindu Scripture 300 CE

    The source of this creation story is mysterious, but it is not surprising that India's position as a subcontinent in the midst of the Indian Ocean would reflect a fascination with the vastness of the sea as the source of life and a cyclical idea of eternity. This symbol was important in early Hinduism and spread to Southeast Asia along with many other Indian influences. Most major temples to Vishnu in India show this symbol in sculpture or paintings.
  • 900

    Kamal-late 9th century

    The kamal is a simple navigation device used by Arab navigators in the Indian Ocean since ancient times.Purpose- to determine latitude at sea by observing the distance between the horizon and a particular star at the same time each night. .It was especially well suited to crossing the Indian Ocean on the monsoon winds, since they blow in a steady easterly or westerly direction during each of the two seasons for going out and returning.
  • 1000

    1000 BCE

    Iron metallurgy is known in Western Asia, Southeastern Europe, and North Africa. Aryan people begin to settle in India, and King David establishes Jerusalem as his capital city.

  • Suez Canal 1869 CE

    Pharaoh Necho II began building a canal to link the Nile River and the Red Sea, called the Arabian Gulf by Herodotus. Many problems occurred and the project came to a halt. It wasn't until 1869 CE that the Suez Canal linked the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and became an important time-saving route for shipping. This route was also used to explore and gain a better understanding of the coastal geography of Africa.