Indian Ocean Trade: The Dutch And The Portuguese

The Indian Ocean trade led to an increase in sea trade. “Unlike the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean had long served to connect rather than divide, facilitating trade among East Africa, the Persian Gulf, Indian, Southeast Asia, and China along maritime routes complementing the Silk Road that had long bridged eastern and western Eurasia by land” (Hansen and Curtis 471). The Dutch and the Portuguese stepped in, and intruded on the Indian Ocean. The goal of the Portuguese was to build new networks of trade and create a big empire, however they were not able to accomplish this. The Dutch, who became involved in the Indian Ocean trade after the Portuguese, brought with them innovations and business organization, because of which they had a greater economic impact. Even though the involvement of the Dutch and the Portuguese brought a few a changes, there was “significant continuity with earlier patterns of trade” (Hansen and Curtis 471).
On one hand, in “the western Indian Ocean, merchants transported East Asian gold, ivory, slaves, and timber to markets in southern Arabia, the Persian Gulf, and western Indian” (Hansen and Curtis 471). Amongst these goods was also highly valuable cotton cloth, which were often dyed by Indian craftsmen to attract customers. On the second hand, on the east coast of the Indian Ocean, silk, sugar, and cinnamon were amongst the list of the traded goods. Furthermore, the Portuguese were able to manage coastal locations, however they were not able to take control of the Indian Ocean. In addition to that, the Africans did not get influenced by the