Trade Networks Between Africa and Eurasia from 300 CE to 1450 CE “No nation was ever ruined by trade.” This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s. These words are so simple, and it seems like anyone could have said them. However, this quote has a bigger meaning in that throughout world history, trade has been so important to so many countries and it has led to many empires successes. It has occurred for a very long time, and it has progressed dramatically. Trade has changed a lot, but some parts of trade stayed the same over a long periods of time. In the era between 300 CE and 1450 CE, trade between Eurasia and Africa changed because the empires and kingdoms in power were replaced and their control over trade differed; …show more content…
In the Arabian peninsula, Islam had started. After Muhammad died, the Muslim community embarked on a series of military conquests that extended their control over much of Eurasia and north Africa. Muslim merchants also became a prominent figure in trade during this time. The Islamic empire extended to the Arabian Peninsula and many areas around it. These places were central in the Mediterranean sea, Indian Ocean, and silk road trade routes. The Muslim merchants became a very big part of trade because of their location at the center of many trade routes from Eurasia to Africa. They were also a prominent part of trade because the camel saddle started to be used frequently in 600 CE. Camels were more equipped to walk through the desert, and so the ability to control them made the Muslims a major part of silk road trade. In addition to this, the Muslim agricultural revolution occurred around 600 CE. This caused more crops like cotton to be cultivated and traded, causing a greater income and virtually more trade between Africa and Eurasia. In the Indian Ocean basin, the Gupta empire had declined and there was no centralized rule in India. However, there were still major trading cities and new technologies caused trade to increase. An example of the new technologies would be the dhows and junks that were used at around 800 CE.
Africa’s trade networks experienced many continuities, in their culture, and changes, in their trade economics, from 1000 C.E. to 1750 C.E.
A clear similarity between the two trade routes was that both had led to the spread of the world’s second largest religion, Islam. Such is seen when observing the provinces the Silk Road trade network went through into china, Henan, Yunnan, Gansu, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. Between the years 610 AD to 620 AD, Islam had already spread to portions of western China through Islamic merchants, spreading the religion all the way to Eastern Asia along the Silk Road trade route. Similarly, the Trans-saharan trade route has a secondary effect of spreading religion to Western Africa due to the merchants that came from caliphate controlled North Africa.
Even though these aspects describe the ways that change occurred with trade between Afro-Eurasia, one important part did stay the same. North Africa was consistent and always a key part of trade between the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia. In 300, North Africa was the only area that traded with the Mediterranean. In the time of the gold-salt trade, European venders and Islamic merchants arrived in North Africa. North African merchants still traded even when Europeans started to shift the balance of trade to the Americas starting from the mid-1400s. This is how trade systems between Africa and Europe stayed the same between the years 300-1450.
Between the era circa 600 BCE to 1500 CE trading systems expanded with the introduction of new trade routes, some of which being the Silk Road that connected Europe and Asia, the Mediterranean sea trade routes connecting the Mediterranean basin, and the Indian ocean trade connecting India with east Africa. The emergence of these new trade routes led to the rapid accumulation of wealth by the merchants who traded. Religious responses contrasted with state responses to wealth accumulation in Eurasia during roughly 600 BCE to 1500 CE in the sense that religious responses resulted in both punishment and the absence of blessings in an individual. Whereas state responses resulted in taxation, inspection of sales reports and weights and measures,
In the 600s, Arab traders were in contact with India. They would regularly go to the west coast of India to trade different goods, like African goods, spices, and gold. As the Arabs began to convert to Islam, the religion carried to the coast of India. The first mosque in India was built in 629, it is called the Cheraman Juma Masjid. The mosque was made in the Indian state Kerala. Islam continued to spread into Indian cities, by immigration and conversion, as the Arab Muslims and the Indians continued trading.
The best place to begin this examination would be with that which is most familiar to us, in this case that would be the Atlantic trade system. The Primary routes within the Atlantic system connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas, forming a triangle beginning in the 16th century.i This triangle consisted of raw goods such as sugar or timber being transported to Europe from the Americas, then finished goods were transported to Africa, where they were in turn traded for slaves who were shipped back to the Americas.ii The end goal of this system can be inferred by the time period and parties involved, the goal was to bring wealth and power to the European countries participating in the system. At this time in history the power of those European countries is a testament to the success of the
The trans-Saharan trade network changed Northern and Western Africa from an isolated hunting-gathering society to a major trade center that boasted economic and political power headed by Islamic empires and city-states.
There are numerous changes and continuities in the trade networks between Eurasia and Africa from 300CE-1450CE. The reasons trade between Africa and Eurasia was so people could get any necessary goods they needed, and also so they could become wealthy off of the trade even though they lived in different regions. But, the goods that had been traded changed such as Persian rugs, gold, indigo, and salt. Also, the trading of many ideas, which altered religion and
The shift in trade routes affect the Islamic empires because the political decline turned into the evident in the three Islamic empires. In the eighteen century, the Indian was very active in long distance trading. Because of the long-term trading it was a lot of discoveries in European explore. In order to acquire
Trade was very important to the economy of the Ancient African Empires. The African Empires traded with other nations. The would take goods from Western and Central Africa and send them on the trade routes to Europe, India and the Middle East.
Since prehistoric time, trade has been a crucial economic concept for humans to survive. For instance, an example is the Silk Road, which was established during the Han Dynasty around 206 BC to AD 220. It was a trade route from China to the Mediterranean regions; nonetheless, not only silk was traded, but also other goods. Similarly, throughout the years there has been endless occasions of trading between nations. In regards to the United States, it was not until the culmination of World War II that “U.S policy […] supported the liberalization of international trade- that is, the elimination of artificial barriers to trade and other distortions, such as tariffs, quotas, and subsidies that countries use to protect their domestic industries from
The accelerating pace of international trade is one of the most dominating, and important features, of contemporary life. Globalization is creating widespread changes for societies, economics, and governments. Since the invention of the steam engine, transportation and communication limits have faded away and, with the development of the Internet, practically disappeared. A case can be made for the proposition that trade, throughout history, has been the main engine for the development of the world as we know it today. In his book, A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World, William J. Bernstein makes this case.
Long distance trading had made it possible for people from different cultures to interact. Silk roads were one of the famous trade routes that were used in the ancient time. It stretched from China to central Asia and westward. It merged into one big series of routes. Traders traveled segments of the route, passing their goods on to others who took them further along the road, and in turn, passed them on again. The effect of long-distance exchanges altered the political geography of Afro-Eurasia. The Middle East became a commercial middle ground between the Mediterranean and Indian. The horse-riding nomads of Inner Eurasia made long-distance trade possible. Kushan empire in Afghanistan and the Indus River basin embraced a large and diverse
The Islamic world valued commerce and fostered active networks of exchange. Muslim merchants used the Silk Roads, Sea Roads, and Sand Roads of the Afro-Eurasian world, and the Islamic world promoted long-distance economic relationships by supporting a wealthy, highly developed, "capitalist" economy. Islamic civilization also eased a massive exchange of agricultural products and practices. Some of these Indian crops later found their way to Africa and Europe from the Middle East. Technology also distributed widely within the Islamic world. Ancient Persian techniques for obtaining water by drilling into the sides of hills spread to North Africa. Muslim technicians made improvements on rockets developed in China. Techniques for manufacturing paper
The Arab Empire did a lot of trading, which resulted in culture being brought along with the