Ap World History Essay 1

From 650 CE to 1750 CE, commerce in the Indian Ocean went through many changes and continuities. The continuities involve the use of the same trade routes to export and import goods among traders and economic groups of the Indian Ocean basin. As for the change, there was an increase in involvement from European traders, because over time, they began to colonize and undergo economic ambitions. During this time, commerce in the Indian Ocean developed rapidly. One of the continuity that played a major role was the usage of the same trade routes in the Indian Ocean to import and export goods. For example, merchants and traders constantly relied on the monsoon winds, which helped reduce travel times, to get from one place to another in order to transport their goods. Many merchants and traders used the same trading ports and cities they have been using. Trading ports in
East Africa continued to be used to transport goods from the interior of Africa, with merchants from India and other Pacific Islands. Also, storehouses came to great use when merchants constantly traveled from area to area. The storehouses allowed merchants to not worry about their goods back home; not to mention the same goods were transported across the Indian Ocean. Gold, silver and other goods were transported across to India, where merchants transported textiles and various crops from India to the East Africa coast. Globally, many other countries began to participate in the Indian Ocean trade over time, including Japan and Muslim merchants. They have been increasingly involving themselves into commerce in the Indian Ocean and began to emerge as a major aspect in that region. A specific change in the Indian Ocean commerce was the increase of involvement of European traders and merchants. They began to involve themselves more into commerce in the Indian Ocean basin and began to colonize and undergo economic ambitions. An example is the European merchants have begun to