1.
Indian Ocean Trade

2.
Monsoon Mariners
The collapse of the Mongol Empire in the fourteenth century disrupted overland trade routes across Central Asia, the Indian Ocean routes assumed greater strategic importance in tying together the peoples of Eurasia and Africa. (Bulliet 338)
The characteristic cargo and passenger ship was the dhow. Ports on the Malabar coast of southwestern India constructed many of these vessels, grew from an average capacity of 100 tons to 400 tons (Bulliet 338)
The largest, most technologically advanced and most seaworthy vessel of this time, the junk had been developed in China. According to Ibn Battuta, the largest junks had twelve sails made of bamboo and carried a crew of a few thousand men, of whom 400 were soldiers. (Bulliet 338)
The trade of the Indian Ocean was decentralized and cooperative. Commercial interests, rather than political authorities, tied several distinct regional networks together. (Bulliet 339)
A monsoon seasonal change is characterized by a variety of physical mechanisms which produce strong seasonal winds, a wet summer and a dry winter. March and April the Indian sub-continent begins to heat up, so by May some of the highest surface temperature of the year occur; causing a large difference between land surface temperature and sea surface temperature, resulting in a reversal of winds from seaward (towards the sea) to land-ward (towards the land). In the winter a reverse process occurs. ( )
The Indian Ocean touches Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. It also connects and links the Continents called the Old World, in contrast to the New World, which is touched by the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Seas. Its outline extends from the East African coast north to the Arabian Sea, down the western coast of India to Sri Lanka, and up India's eastern coast, where it forms the Bay of Bengal. ( )

3. Africa: The Swahili and Zimbabwe
Africa: The Swahili and Zimbabwe
Trade expanded steadily along the East African coast from about 1250, giving rise to thirty and forty separate city-sates by (Bulliet 339)
As a result of trading contacts, many loan words from Arabic and Persian enriched the language of the coastal Africans, and the first to write in it used Arabic script. The visitors called these people “Swahili,” from the Arabic name sawahil al-sudan, meaning “shores of the blacks,” and the name stuck. (Bulliet 339)
Swahili oral traditions associate the coast’s commercial expansion with the arrival of Arab and Iranian merchants, but do not say what had attracted them. By the late fifteenth century, the city was exporting a ton of gold a year; much of it came from or passed through a powerful state on the plateau south of the Zimbabwe River, whose capital city is known as Great Zimbabwe. (Bulliet 341)
Between about 1250 and 1450, local Africans craftsmen built stone structures for Great Zimbabwe ‘s rulers, priests and wealthy citizens. The largest stone structure, a walled inclosure the size and shape of a large football stadium, served as the king’s court. (Bulliet 341)
Chinese porcelain, Arabic pottery, and Indian beads found at the site of Great Zimbabwe are evidence of wide-ranging trade networks which, together with cattle-farming, were responsible for their tremendous wealth. ( )
Explaining the decline of Great Zimbabwe was probably due to overuse of the landscape such as: increasing distance to firewood, exhaustion of soil, and depletion of wildlife; and shifting trade circumstances like, the decline of the gold trade due to falling world prices and depletion of easily exploited sources, and possibly the shift to more demand for copper, available to the north. ( )

4. Arabia: Aden and the Red Sea
Arabia: Aden and the Red Sea
The city of Aden had a double advantage in the Indian Ocean trade. Most of the rest of Arabia was desert, but monsoon winds brought Aden enough rainfall to supply drinking water to a large population and to grow grain for export. (Bulliet 342)
Aden’s location made it a convenient stopover for trade with India, the Persian Gulf, East Africa, and Egypt. (Bulliet 342)
Aden’s merchants sorted out the goods from one place and sent them to another: cotton cloth and beads from India, spices from Southeast Asia, horses from Arabia and Ethiopia, pearls from the Red Sea, luxurious manufactures from Cairo, slaves, gold, and ivory from Ethiopia, and grain, opium, and dyes from Aden’s own hinterland. (Bulliet 342)
Common commercial interests generally promoted good relations among the different religions and cultures of this region. For example, in the mid-thirteenth century a wealthy Jew from Aden named Yosef settled in Christian Ethiopia, where he acted as an adviser. (Bulliet 342)
Frictions arose. In the 14th century, the Sunni Muslim king of Yemen sent materials for the building of a large mosque in Zeila, but the local Somalis threw the stones into the Sea. The result was a year-long embargo of Zeila ships in Aden. (Bulliet 342)
In the late 15th century, Ethiopia’s territorial expansion and efforts to increase control over the trade provoked conflicts with Muslims who ruled the coastal sates of the Red Sea. (Bulliet 342)

5. India: Gujarat and the Malabar Coast
India: Gujarat and the Malabar Coast
The state of Gujarat in western India prospered as its ports shared in the expanding trade of the Arabian Sea and the rise of the Delhi Sultanate. Blessed with a rich agricultural hinterland and a long coastline, Gujarat attracted new trade after the Mongol capture of Baghdad in 1258 disrupted the northern land routes. (Bulliet 342)
The state derived much of its wealth from its export of cotton textiles and indigo to the Middle East and Europe, largely in return for gold and silver. (Bulliet 342)
During the 15th century traders expanded their trade from Gujarat eastward to the Strait of Malacca. These Gujarati merchants helped spread the Islamic faith among East Indian traders, some of whom even imported specially carved gravestones from Gujarat. (Bulliet 342)
Although much of Gujarat’s overseas trade was in the hands of its Muslim residents, members of its Hindu merchant caste profited so much from related commercial activity that their wealth and luxurious lives were the envy of other Indians. (Bulliet 343)
Calicut and other cities of the Malabar Coast exported cotton textiles and spices and served as clearing-houses for long-distance trade. The cities of the Malabar Coast were unified in a loose confederation whose rulers were tolerant of other religious and ethnic groups. ( )

6. Southeast Asia: The Rise of Malacca
Southeast Asia: The Rise of Malacca
At the eastern end of the Indian Ocean, the principal passage into the South China Sea was through the Strait of Malacca between the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Sumatra. As trade increased in the 14th and 15th centuries, this commercial choke point became the object of considerable political rivalry. (Bulliet 343)
In the fourteenth century a gang of Chinese pirates preyed upon the strait, nominally under the control of the Java-based kingdom of Majapahit. In 1407, the forces of the Ming dynasty crushed the Chinese pirates. The Muslim ruler of Malacca took advantage of this to exert his domination over the strait and to make Malacca into a major port and a center of trade. ( merchant communities: one official for Gujaratis, one fore other Indians and Burmese, )
Malacca rose from a humble fishing village to become a major center of the spice trade forming a vital link between the East and the West. ( )
Malacca served as the meeting point for traders from India and China as well as an emporium for Southeast Asian trade: rubies and musk from Burma, tin from Sumatra, cloves and nutmeg from the Moluccas to the east. (Bulliet 343)
Four officials administered the large one for Southeast Asians, and one for the Chinese and Japanese. (Bulliet 343)
Malacca’s wealth and its cosmopolitan residents set the standard for luxury in Malaya for centuries to come. (Bulliet 343)

8. Question #1:
From 1200 to 1500, which of the following became one of the most important sites of trade and set the standard for luxury in Malaya for centuries to come?
A. Gujarat
B. Malabar
C. Malacca
D. Aden
E. Zimbabwe

9. Question #2:
From what language did the Swahilli loan many words to use in their own language?
A. Arabic and Persian
B. Hindi and Persian
C. Sindi and Arabic
D. Persian and Gujarati
E. Hindi and Sindi

10. Question #3:
What generally promoted good relations in the region of Aden and the Red Sea, and among what?
A. common wealth among politics and cultures
B. common commercial interests among religions and cultures
C. common intelligence among religions and politics
D. common culture among religions and technology
E. common religions among intelligence and cultures

11. Bibliography: For information: For pictures:
"Jibondo Dhows on Flickr - Photo Sharing!" Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing. Web. 05 Nov <
Photograph. Web.
Photograph. Web.
Photograph. Web
"Similan Islands Liveaboard on Flickr - Photo Sharing!" Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing. Web. 05 Nov
"Trade mission on Flickr - Photo Sharing!" Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing. Web. 05 Nov
For information:
"Chapter 14 - Tropical Africa And Asia, 1200–1500 | Course-Notes.Org." Course-Notes.Org | Notes, Outlines, Vocabulary Terms, Practice Quizzes and much more! Web. 06 Nov <
"Great Zimbabwe." Bruce Owen. Web. 06 Nov <
"The Indian Monsoon." Ruixin Yang's Home Page. Web. 06 Nov <
Indian Ocean History. Web. 06 Nov <
"Malacca Case Study." Welcome to American University, Washington, DC USA. Web. 06 Nov <
"World Timelines- Great Zimbabwe." World Timelines - Home. Web. 06 Nov <