The history of spice trade between Europe and Asia is one riddled with influences in the political, economic, and cultural area. It was only in the 16th century that the European ships actually sailed regularly to the Asian market. As the Portuguese where the first in the late 15th century to find a trading route around the Cape of Good Hope to get to Southeast-Asia. All distribution of goods from Southeast-Asia was done from Lisbon. To avoid the Portuguese monopoly, the Dutch tried to find North-East passage to the Asian continent. After their unsuccessful attempts finding an alternative route the Dutch eventually overcame their hesitance to follow the same route as the Portuguese. The hesitance was a result of the war which the Dutch Republic …show more content…
The first expeditions were done by relatively smaller enterprises which succeeded to reach the Asian continent, but didn’t get enough goods to cover more than the costs of the trip (25-27). As the competition arose between the Dutch trade enterprises, but also from for example from the national British trade enterprise, the Dutch Republic tried in 1598 to merge the Dutch traders. Only in 1602 the Republic succeeded to create Verenigde Nederlandse Geoctroyeerde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) also known as the Dutch East India Company which created a nearly 200 year lasting trading monopoly in South-East Asia (Ricklefs,31). This essay will focus primarily on the VOC, and its political, economic and cultural impact in the Batavia and Cape of Good Hope. The main goal of the VOC was purely commercial. Parthesius states that the first destination was the commercial centre Bantam on the island Java (27). Bantam with its long history of pepper and spice trade and its International contacts seemed like the Dutch answer to Goa and Malacca which were in possession of the Portuguese. However at the arrival the Dutch found out that the Portuguese also had
The 15th century was the start of many voyages and the popular use of ships for trade, traveling, and exploration. Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He, were all leaders Zheng He was the first major ocean voyager in the 15th century. He led seven expeditions, through the Indian ocean using over 300 massive boats called “treasure ships”. Though, unlike many others in his time, he was not an explorer.
Analyze changes and continuities in the commercial life of the Indian Ocean region from 650 CE - 1750 CE Between the post classical era and early modern period the Indian Ocean region underwent many changes and continuities in commerce. The most noticeable changes have to include technological advancement, goods, and superiority over the region; crucial continuities include the continuation of the use of the trade routes and the main purpose it was established for, trade. Naturally, 650-1750 CE covers a large time frame. There were several developments and advancements in technology.
Upon reflection, historians now acknowledge his expedition to Africa of particular distinction. Historians and scholars commonly agree that continuing around the Cape of Good Hope would have presumably led to discovering a direct trade route to Europe seventy-five years earlier than Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. Notwithstanding Zheng He’s preeminence over this era, inadvertent discoveries occasionally eclipsed intentional design nonetheless, drawing parallels to other famous explorers no different than Christopher Columbus’ unplanned discovery of America. On balance, world history indicates Zheng He’s achievements as nothing less than
When looking back on the changes and continuities of commerce throughout the Indian Ocean regions from 650 AD to 1750 AD, many noteworthy aspects can be seen. One such continuity was repeated usage of trade routes by different merchants and economic groups to import and export goods. Another significant change was the increase of involvement by European traders. Overtime they began to involve themselves more and more in the Indian Ocean trade networks and even began to colonize land.
From 1500- circa 1600 the Indian Ocean was a flourishing trade center that had various central locations run by some of the most powerful countries at the time. This led to a bulk of issues and a number of benefits. The Portuguese were a very powerful leader of the region and were known for their harsh culture and, almost pirate like in some ways of their customs. Their power and influence made a considerable difference in the culture and regional power throughout trade in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese transformed maritime trade in the Indian Ocean to a large extent because of the threatening power changes, corrupt trading, and the way the trade goods’ quality transformed over time.
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.
In the 16th century, the Portuguese was able to find a route around the Cape of Good Hope that got them involved in the Indian Ocean trade. The trade was dominated by Asian traders who operate from East Africa to India and from Eastern India to Indonesia. The Portuguese replaced these Asian traders to Venetian, Genoese and Catalan traders. Soon in 1507-1515, Portugal conquered carefully calculated cities like Goa, Malacca and Hormuz and set up a base in these cities. The impact the Portuguese bring to the Indian Ocean trade is when they enter the trade for the benefit of wealth and power over Spain and the Muslims, they took control over trading cities with spices through the use of violent force and strategic methods which cause the Portuguese
Farms also developed through several families as a purpose for local consumption. After the Dutch Republic declared their independence in 1581, the Dutch Republic served as a major center of world trade. They developed the East India Company, which was a monopoly of Asian trade. The West India Company served in fur-trading post at Fort Orange Large estates were offered in the 1630’s. Ethnics such as Calvinists, Lutherans, and Catholics have created a sense of a community in the region.
Most of the goods flowed from West to East. In Doc #4, Japan trades with the Portuguese. The Portuguese bring white silk, gold, perfume and porcelain and in return Japan only brings silver. The silver that Portuguese obtains, is used as an advantage point against China. The Japanese bring the silver in return for China’s gold.
As well as trading their own goods for profit. Europeans valued goods such as spices including pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Countries such as England, Spain, and France were seeking a northwest passage to Asia. The passage would be valuable because they hoped it would be faster and it would cut out the middle man, India,
During the 1400’s, the desire of many European countries to reach the Indian subcontinent via aquatic trade routes grew quite dramatically, as land routes were long and filled with many hostile competitors. Nations began searching for various explorers with enough intelligence, courage, and bravado to bring back riches, resources, or land. Around this time, one such explorer, named Christopher Columbus, began pleading with a handful of monarchies for funding of his new, daring voyage; he was going to sail west into the open ocean and reach India exponentially quicker than others who had sailed around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa. In 1491, he managed to convince the Spanish monarchy of his logic, and set sail in 1492 from
Compare and contrast Dutch East Indian Company and British Indian Company All societies, states and companies tried to build domination on their weaker neighbors or opponents. The main motivations for building imperialist institutions were generally same. Conquering societies which were danger for them, getting natural resources, being imperially powerful and getting economical power to their hands were the main motivations for societies to establish these institutions. The domination of a country’s or region’s political, cultural, or economic life by one country is called imperialism. (Esler, 2010)
During the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of a few European nations sent expeditions out in the hope that explorers would find great wealth and vast undiscovered lands. The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “Age of Discovery.” Starting in about 1420, Portuguese ships sailed the African coast, carrying spices, gold, slaves and other goods from Africa and Asia to Europe.
During the time period of 600 CE to 1450 CE, people on the Indian Ocean sea lanes and on the Eurasian Silk Roads traded luxury items and used their new technology to help trade prosper. Although they were both trade routes, the Indian Ocean sea lanes traded overseas and the Eurasian Silk Roads were land routes. Indian Ocean sea lanes connect Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa. The Eurasian Silk Roads connected East and West China to the Mediterranean. Trade was greatly increasing in these two trade routes around this time.
Throughout the late 1400’s and the 1500’s, the world experienced many changes due to the discoveries of new lands and peoples that had been never been visited before. The new-found lands of the Americas and exploration of Africa by the Europeans led to new colonies and discoveries in both areas. It also brought different societies and cultures together that had never before communicated, causing conflict in many of these places. While the Europeans treated both the Native Americans and West Africans as inferior people, the early effects they had on the Native Americans were much worse. Beginning in the late 1400’s, many different European explorers started to look for new trade routes in the Eastern Hemisphere in order to gain economic and religious power.