Established by multilingual, multiethnic seafarers. Between Indian Ocean and South China Sea.
Didn’t play a part in the rise or fall of kingdoms.
They are able to figure out the wind and monsoon patterns. Mediterranean sailors use square sails, long banks of oars, ships are nailed together. Indian Ocean sailors use triangular sails, no oars, and tied ships.
Impact: Africa provides exotic animals, wood, and ivory. Somalia and Southern Arabia provide frankincense and myrrh. Less valuable than Mediterranean Sea. Isolate ports that lack fresh water. In 1200
The rising prosperity of Asian, Euroopean, and African states stimulate the expansion of trae in the Indian Ocean.
Luxuries for the wealthy-precious metals and jewls, rare spices, fine textiles, and other manufactures.
Contstruction of larger ships makes shipments of buk cargoes of ordinary cotton textiles, pepper, food grans (rice, wheat, barley), timber horses, and other goods profitable.
Collapse of the mongol empire- disrupts overland trade routes across Central Asia, the Indian Ocean routes assumed greater strataegic importance in tying together the peoples of Eurasia and Africa.
1200-1500 Dhow is a cargo and passenger ship of the Arabian sea. They all have a hull construction. The hulls consist of planks that were sewn together, not nailed. Cord made of fiber from the husk of coconuts or other materials was passed through rows of holed drilled in the planks. Marco Polo fancifully suggested that it in dictated sailors’ fear that large ocean magnets would pull any nails out of their ships. The second distinctive feature of the dhows was their trianglular (lateen) sails made of palm leaves or cotton. The sails were suspended from tall masts and could be turned to catch the wind.
Junk is the largest and most technologically advancd and most seaworth vessel of this time. Developed in china. Built from spruce or fir planks held toether by