Cultural Changes

Cultural changes that occurred during the time period of 600-1450 C.E. along the Indian Ocean trade route was that Islam was introduced and Buddhism was founded and spread along the route. As for cultural continuities, the caste system during this time period, and the use of the language Sanskrit remained the same during this era.
One change along the Indian Ocean trade route was that there was the introduction of Islam in Southeast Asia, the Swahili city states, and of course, India. Islam had come to India through the establishment of trade cities by Arab merchants on the route. After that, Islam continued to spread toward Southeast Asia, and mostly to the Swahili city states. The reason for the spread of Islam in this trading route is that
The caste system was a social class system in the Indian culture, and although the caste system was introduced around 1500 B.C.E., it had continued throughout the entirety of the post-classical time period. The second to last class in the caste system, the Vaisyas, were merchants, who would trade and travel along the Indian Ocean trade route, and in the time of the Mongols, along the Silk Road as well, since those two overlapped in certain areas. One piece of evidence that the caste system was continued and had a lasting effect on India, was that poverty was still around even when the caste system was banished(after the post classical period). Even today there is still poverty in many parts of India because people were forced into that particular caste, which is a direct result of the caste system. Another piece of evidence is that many Indians are unemployed because their ancestors caste has created a burden on them, and they have lived poor lives exactly like as if they were in the caste system. This proves that, even if the caste system is not around, during the post classical period it continued on, and still has effects from it. Another continuity along this trade route would be the language used. Sanskrit stayed the unifying cultural/religious language in India, and it eventually broke off into other languages, like all do.The reason for Sanskrit staying the language of India would be that it was the
The Mongols would have to get involved because they ruled during the post-classical time period. The rise of the Mongol empire made it safer to trade across a larger area. The reason for this is that the Mongols were extremely powerful and controlled almost the entire Silk Road, which made it safer to trade with different regions since they were all connected in one big empire. Before the Mongols, Asia was divided into China, the Middle East, India, and Russia. After the Mongols conquered much of Asia, including northwestern India, all the once separate empires were united under one rule, which made trade safer among the larger span. India was critically affected by this because, since the large empire passed just above India, many merchants/traders would stop by and trade with them, which boosted India’s economy. However, when the Mongols fell, the Indian economy, as well as the other empires ruled by them, fell dramatically. Some evidence for this is that in the mid 13th century, raiding parties violently marched into India and took over, which could be a reason that rade sprung up there. After the Mongol troops left, still leaving India under their control, the Silk Road trade route merged with India’s route in some