Continuities In Eurasia

Trade has always been a crucial factor in the survival of any civilization. From the time humans began banding together to form small cities and empires, to the present, where huge countries import hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods each year, almost every thriving civilization has relied heavily on trade. Trading methods, groups, and technology has evolved through the centuries. A perfect example of this is Eurasia from 600-1450. There were many continuities and changes in Eurasian trade. During this time period there was continuity with how trade spread ideas and disease, but there was also change in technology that allowed trading over larger distances and in who controlled trade. Much of how trade spread ideas and disease
One of these such changes was the improvement of technology, especially near the Mediterranean Sea. Around 600 C.E., the vikings traded with small, fast ships known as longboats. The vikings used nothing but the stars to navigate, and had only hand held weapons such as swords to attack or defend themselves. Because of this, vikings were not able to keep a hold on transregional trade for long, and were pushed out of western Europe. Hundreds of years later, in the 15th century, inventions such as the astrolabe, compass, more advanced ships, and guns allowed countries to rapidly expand under trade. Strong, maneuverable ships called caravels were used to travel long distances efficiently, and nations were able to protect their trading networks, allowing product to be sold nonstop. These inventions led to massive increases in economic growth, especially in port cities like Venice. Another change at this time was who dominated trade. Since 900 C.E., Muslims had dominated ocean trade using maneuverable boats called dhows, advanced astronomy, and other technology. Another reason they dominated was because unlike China, which looked down on merchants, Islam favored merchants and trade since Muhammad was a merchant himself. However, by the 1400s, Europeans dominated trade with better ships, navigation, mapmaking, and weaponry. Europeans got to this point because of many reasons: technological advancements that came from the renaissance, borrowed technology such as gunpowder from the Chinese, and the astrolabe from Muslims. The biggest reason, however, was that the Europeans were the only ones who had motivation to dominate maritime trade. The Chinese did not rely on trade, since China already had all the resources it needed within it’s borders. Muslims already controlled overland trade, and were very close to China, the major trading partner, so advancements were not