Unit 4
During the period of 600- 1450, the eastern hemisphere was connected through many trading routes. Although both the IOT and SR resulted in immense wealth being created, the IOT promoted islam through its ocean voyages and the SR supported Christianity through the overland routes, and it had more drastic effects on society. The SR and IOT were profiting in immense wealth due to being exclusive traders. When the Crusaders or the Christian knights from Western Europe came to the ME, in order to claim back their holy city Jerusalem, they were awed in wonder as they saw how spices came and went, and the transfusion of many enlightening ideas took place. They witnessed Arabic numerals, philosophical ideas, and even amends to their own ideas. As a result, they used the Arabs’ ideas to compensate for the lost Greek knowledge. Overall, the Italian merchant class flourished with wealth from the new exotic spices and goods, and trade only became stronger there. On the other hand, the IOT was dominated by many Arab traders. One advantage was that Arabs were able to access many ports such as Calicut or the Swahili City-States, resulting in more cultural and economic influence. Since many spices especially pepper originated in India, Arab merchants were successfully able to sell pepper at a higher price because of its high demand and craze. Clearly, even though different regions and people got affected by the trade routes, they both demonstrate the immense wealth that was produced as a result. The IOT was an effective tool in spreading Islam, by reaching other lands for trade. This is seen when looking at Indonesia, which is the world’s largest Islamic heritage nation outside of the ME. Many of the Arab went to ports in Java and Bali to trade their goods and spread Islam, and as a result, such voyages proved to be a success by having Islam appeal to many foreigners. Furthermore, it nearly wiped out the fact that Buddhism even existed in