Major Changes In Commerce In The Indian Ocean Region From 650 To 1750 C. E.

Between 650 and 1750 C.E., the Indian Ocean region became one of the most important centers for trade. During this period, one significant change regarding commerce in this region was the development of new technological advancements that helped facilitate trade. Another major change was the increased involvement of the Europeans in the Indian Ocean commerce shortly after discovering it. Despite these changes, the types of goods traded and the trade routes continued to stay the same.
As the volume of trade increased throughout the time period, an important change was the development of new technology, which occurred because, as the vitality of the Indian Ocean network increased, people began looking for better methods in order to trade more efficiently. This led to the improvement of naval navigational technology and naval transportation. Devices, including the magnetic compass, were invented and used by merchants to help direct their voyages. Stronger and more durable

This happened because they saw the value of Indian Ocean trade and began to colonize for economic purposes. Because of the dark ages, it took a while for the Europeans to discover the Indian Ocean trading. Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the Indian Ocean trade network resulted in Portuguese invasion attempts to capture the port cities, which harmed the once economically prosperous Swahili city states, as well as the commerce of the Indian Ocean itself. However, the attempts to control the commerce of the Indian Ocean by the Portuguese ultimately failed. Globally, just as European involvement increased in the commerce of the Indian Ocean region, Europeans began trading with the Americas during the Columbian Exchange. They traded a wide variety of new crops and livestock, which supported increases in population in both hemispheres, although diseases initially caused great declines in the populations of indigenous