Analyze continuities and changes in
commerce along the Indian Ocean
from 650 C.E. to 1450 C.E.
(the actual AP exam asked for up until
1750)
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Malay sailors began riding monsoons to go to
China and India (passed knowledge to others
and made connections with various people)
Desire for cotton and sugar from India
Desire for silk from China and spices from
East Indies (cinnamon, pepper, cloves,
nutmeg, mace)
Malay sailors use monsoons; Indian traders
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650
Umayyad Dynasty (661-750)
Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258)
Swahili City-States
(formed during 700s
and flourished from
1000-1500)
Mongols
(1200s-1300s)
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Srivijaya (controlled
Strait of Malacca
from 670-1025)
Ming (1368-1644)
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1450
Europeans enter Indian
Ocean trade (late 1400s)
• Intensified interactions all across Eurasia and Africa
• Spread compass, printing, and gunpowder (from
China to Persia to Europe)
• Spread of plague
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What is staying the same during this time
period?
 Reliance on monsoon winds
 Exchange of goods is constant (sugar, cotton,
spices, silk, textiles)
 Spread of religions is constant (Buddhism,
Hinduism, Islam)
 Spread of advances (gunpowder, compass,
printing from China; math from India)
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Trade routes (expansion)
 East African Swahili States
 Greater inclusion of China (Tang/Song)
Dominating empires
 Rise of Islam (greater inclusion of East Africa and creation of Swahili
states; astrolabe and dhows made trade easier )
 Reunification of China (Tang/Song) – intensified interactions and led to
creation of Srivijaya; compass and junks made trade easier)
 Rise of Mongols – led to increased interest in trade by Europeans
 Ming – initially held off Europeans (reasserted China’s greatness), but
withdrawal opened door for Europeans)
Creation of new states
 Srivijaya (driven by all water route to China through Strait of Malacca)
 Swahili City-States (Swahili was a mix of Arabic and Bantu)
Participation of Europeans (Portuguese and Dutch)
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What is going on during this time period that
is allowing these changes and continuities to
take place?
 The construction of large and powerful states
provided security for merchants and travelers,
which helped long-distance commerce
 Golden ages of powerful states led to the
flourishing of ideas (many advances)
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From 650 C.E. – 1450 C.E., commerce along
Indian Ocean trade routes was flourishing.
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While the spread of ideas and goods
remained constant, the empires dominating
this trade changed which led to the creation
of new states as well as the eventual
participation of Europeans in the Indian
Ocean trade network.
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Make sure that you are not only stating what
the changes and continuities are, but also
WHY they happened.