1. Global Commerce: Maritime Empires in Asia
AP World History Notes
Time Period:

2. Europeans and Asian Commerce
European countries that got involved in Asian commerce = first the Portuguese, then the Spanish, French, Dutch, and British
Motivations for European involvement in Asian commerce:
Exotic spices = cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and pepper
Chinese silk
Indian cotton and rhubarb
Precious gems = emeralds, rubies, and sapphires

3. Europeans and Asian Commerce
At the time = Eastern goods came into the Mediterranean through the Middle East from the Indian Ocean
Europeans’ problems with this:
Source of supply of goods = Muslim merchants who charged heavy taxes
Once it got to Europe = Italian merchants (especially from Venice) had a monopoly over trade of these Asian products
They had no valuable products to trade in return  so they had to pay in gold or silver for Asian goods

4. Europeans and Asian Commerce
Goal of Europeans in Asia = trade, not empire-building

5. A Portuguese Empire of Commerce
Portugal had to use its military to secure trade bases within the Indian Ocean  did not have attractive goods that it could use to establish itself within the trade network
Easy to do because:
They had more advanced technology and weapons
Merchant ships in the Indian Ocean weren’t heavily armed
Portuguese ships had cannons; merchant ships did not

6. A Portuguese Empire of Commerce
Portugal set up fortified trade bases in:
Mombasa in East Africa
Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf
Goa on the west coast of India
Malacca in Southeast Asia
Macao on the south coast of China

7. A Portuguese Empire of Commerce
Portugal created a “trading post empire” within the Indian Ocean
Goal = control commerce, not large territories or populations
Goal = control trading posts by force of arms, not by economic competition
Major thing Portugal controlled = the spice trade

8. Portuguese Policies in the Indian Ocean
Required all merchant vessels to purchase a cartaz (pass) to sail throughout the region
Charged merchant vessels taxes of 6-10% of their cargoes
Blocked the Red Sea route to the Mediterranean Sea
Monopolized the trade route around Africa to Europe

9. Portuguese Control in the Long-Run
Portugal never succeeded in controlling more than half of the spice trade to Europe
By 1600 = the Portuguese trading post empire was in steep decline
Competition from other European powers
Competition from rising Asian states like Japan and Mughal India

10. Portuguese Control in the Long-Run
Portuguese just assimilated themselves into the old, traditional patterns of the Indian Ocean trade network
Carried Asian goods to Asian ports
Sold their shipping services
Many settled in permanently in Asian or African ports  married native women, learned local languages, converted to Islam, etc.

11. Spain and the Philippines
Spain was the first to follow in Portugal’s footsteps
Established itself on the Philippine islands
Named after King Philip II of Spain
Spain set up outright colonial rule  because:
Close to China and the spice islands
Small and militarily weak societies on the Philippines
No competing claims for the islands

12. Spain and the Philippines
Spanish takeover of the Philippines = easy and relatively bloodless
Used:
Small-scale military operations
Gunpowder weapons
Local alliances
Gifts and favors to native chiefs
Pageantry of Catholic rituals
Remained a Spanish colony until 1898

13. Spain and the Philippines
With Spanish rule came:
Mass conversion to Christianity
Relocation from scattered settlements to permanent, concentrated Christian communities
Taxes, tribute, and unpaid labor
Large estates owned by Spanish settlers or prominent Filipinos
Responses to colonial oppression = short-lived revolts; flight to the interior mountains or bustling capital of Manila

14. The East India Companies
British and Dutch East India Companies
Both militarily and economically stronger than Portugal  quickly overtook Portugal within the Indian Ocean network in the early 1600s
Established their own parallel and competing trading post empires
Dutch = focused on Indonesia
British = focused on India

15. The East India Companies
East India Companies = private trading companies that use merchant investors to raise money and share risks
These companies were granted charters by their governments that allowed them to:
Make war
Govern conquered peoples
Hold trading monopolies

16. Dutch East India Company
Trading posts = in Indonesia
Controlled production and shipping of: cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace (all spices)
Seized control of spice- producing islands with force and bloodshed

17. British East India Company
Trading posts = in India
Did not practice “trade by warfare” like the Dutch  were no match for the Mughal Empire in India
Secured their trading bases on the coast with the permission of Mughal authorities
Usually took substantial payments and bribes
Focus = Indian cotton textiles

18. Asian Commerce
Impact of European involvement in Asian commerce = not very big on the major powers of South and East Asia (Mughal India, China, and Japan)
Europe posed no real military or economic threat to them
Were able to get rid of European intruders if need be

19. Japan and the Europeans
When European merchants first arrived in Japan (1500s)  Japan = tied down with interior conflicts between competing daimyos (feudal lords), each with his own band of samurai
Result = it was easy for the Europeans to stay there
European ideas taken by the Japanese = shipbuilding skills, military technology, geographic knowledge, commercial opportunities, and religious ideas

20. Japan and the Europeans
Early 1600s = Japan unified politically by military commanders
Now led by the lead commander = shogun
From the Tokugawa clan
Set up the Tokugawa Shogunate
Shoguns began to see Europeans as a threat to Japan’s new unity
Tokugawa Ieyasu

21. Japan and the Europeans
Result = Japan did the following:
Expelled Christian missionaries
Violently suppressed the practice of Christianity
Included: Torture and execution of missionaries and converts
Forbade Japanese people from travelling abroad
Banned European traders from entering Japan
Result = Japan became isolated from the world of European commerce for 2 centuries ( )
Maintained trading ties with only China and Korea
Painting of Japanese authorities

22. Asian Commerce
Despite European naval dominance, Asian merchants did not disappear
Many commercial networks (run by Asians) continued to operate successfully
Chinese merchants = carried spices from Southeast Asia to China
Christian merchants from Armenia = active in overland trade linking Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia
Indian merchants and moneylenders = lived throughout Central Asia, Persia, and Russia & connected these regions to markets in India

23. YouTube: GCPGrey - Holland vs. the Netherlands (4:00)

24. What drove European involvement in the world of Asian commerce?
Motivating factors, including the desire for
tropical spices
Chinese silk
Indian cottons
rhubarb
emeralds
rubies
sapphires
Recovery of European civilization following the disaster of the Black Death was a factor.
Europeans were also driven by a resentment of the Muslim monopoly on the flow of Indian Ocean products to Europe, & the dislike that many European powers had for Venice’s role as intermediary in the trade.
Hoped to discover & ally with the mythical Christian kingdom of Prester John to continue the Crusades & combat a common Islamic enemy.
The need to secure gold & silver to pay for Asian spices and textiles also played a role.

25. A Portuguese Empire of Commerce: To what extent did the Portuguese realize their own goals in the Indian Ocean?
Original goal = creating a trading post empire that controlled the commerce of the Indian Ocean (at best only partially realized)
They never succeeded in controlling much more than 1/2 the spice trade to Europe, & by 1600, their trading post empire was in steep decline.
Overall, Europeans created a network that became just one among a number of thriving Asian commercial networks that had already existed.
Spice Trade: 1000s of years - spices were a major trade item in the Indian Ocean commercial network, as this 15th century French depiction of the gathering of pepper in southern India illustrates. In the early modern era, Europeans gained direct access to this ancient network for the 1st time.

26. What powers were given to the East India Companies?
During colonial expansion, the major joint-stock companies who sought to do business in Asia were known as the East India Companies. These companies were given unprecedented political authorities by their home countries. Within their territories, they had power to pass legislation, wage war, negotiate treaties, issue their own currency, & administer own justice.

28. How did Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British initiatives in Asia differ?
Portuguese sought to set up a trading post (or "Ports") empire that controlled the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. Later blended into local populations - assimilating to the culture.
Spanish established colonial rule over the Philippine Islands. Drew on their experience in the Americas, converting most of the population to Christianity, ruling over the islands directly, & setting up large landed estates owned by Spanish settlers.

29. How did Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British initiatives in Asia differ?
The Dutch & British organized their Indian Ocean ventures through private trading companies, which were able to raise money & share risks among a substantial number of merchant investors.
Trading companies obtained government charters granting them trading monopolies, the power to make war, & the right to govern conquered peoples.
Established their own parallel & competing trading post empires; the Dutch seized control of some of the Spice Islands through violent & deadly force. While the British set up trading centers in India by securing the support of the Mughal Empire or of local authorities with treaties.

31. What foreign trade items can you identify in this image?
Note the European houses on the tea cup at the bottom left.
What does this indicate about Chinese willingness to cater to the tastes of their European customers?
What social class is this depicting?
Foreign Trade items?
• tea
• porcelain cups, saucers, teapot, and bowl
• a silk tablecloth
• perhaps silk clothing on the figures in the painting
Social Class?
• Her dress and surroundings indicate that she most likely comes from the upper class.
• However, it is possible that she came from a prosperous family engaged in trade or one of the professions.

32. Marr's Plunder at 43:00

33. Silver and Global Commerce
World historical importance of the silver trade?
Silver trade: 1st direct & sustained link between the Americas & Asia
It initiated a web of Pacific commerce that grew steadily over the centuries.
Transformed Spain & Japan: states that controlled the principal new sources of silver.
Deepened already substantial commercialization of China’s economy, which fueled global commerce.
Became a key commodity driving long-distance trade & offered the Europeans a product that they could produce that was also in demand elsewhere in the world.

35. Mankind: The story of all of us. Potosi Silver Mine
Potosi: Colonial-era painting above shows the enormously rich silver mines of Potosí, then a major global source of the precious metal and the largest city in the Americas.
Brutally hard work & poisonous exposure to mercury, which was used in the refining process, led to the deaths of many thousands of workers, even as the silver itself contributed to European splendor in the early modern era.