Indian Ocean trade
A Journey through the Maritime Silk Roads
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Indian Ocean trade has flourished for thousands of years, right alongside (and in many places connected to) the overland Silk Roads. Merchants connected Asia with India, the Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean through this maritime trade, facilitating a flow of goods from spices and textiles to religions, innovations and people. When the Ming Dynasty rose to power and drove the last remaining Mongols out, they sought to reestablish China’s prestige in the Indian Ocean. Admiral Zheng He has already made some voyages with his famous Treasure Fleet, but before he goes on another voyage, the emperor has asked you to travel the Indian Ocean and provide an updated report for Zheng He. You will start in the Red Sea and travel to ports Zheng He will be visiting, keeping track of the goods, customs, people and places you encounter. By the time you arrive in China, you will be ready to write a report the admiral can use to plan his next voyage. Click the ship to begin.
Click the star to start your journey
After leaving Mecca, you head into the Red Sea, which will take down to the coast of East Africa and to the wealthy trade cities of the Swahili Coast. You cram onto a dhow ship—trading ships used for centuries by East African and Arab traders. They are known for their lateen sails and ability to carry large items (it was a dhow that took a giraffe to the Chinese emperor in 1414). Click the map to continue through the Gulf of Aden.
Arabia: Aden (in present day Yemen) sits at the crossroads linking the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, and its harbor has stone walls and sea gates for protection. Aden “is the port for the merchants of India, and you wanted to come to Aden in particular for its imports from India: spices, sugar, diamonds and precious stones, ivory, iron, cotton, pepper, indigo, cowrie shells and frankincense. Aden is at its height under its Mamluk rulers, and you must pay a tax on all goods in the port. The tax is hefty but everyone pays the same—whether Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Christian. The tax may be worth it if you can choose something valuable to take to the coast of Africa with you. Pay the man and choose an item (click one).
Cowrie shells
Spices
Cotton cloth
Nice choice. Cowrie shells are frequently used as currency in East Africa.You find yourself in the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, where you explore the famous Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela. They were built by the King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, who commissioned the massive building project of 11 rock-hewn churches to recreate the holy city of Jerusalem. The Churches of Lalibela hold important religious significance for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and serve as a pilgrimage site. Click here or here to see a really cool 3D model.
The Church of Saint George, Lalibela
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Nice choice. Like everywhere else in the world, spices are in demand in East Africa. You find yourself in the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, where you explore the famous Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela. They were built by the King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, who commissioned the massive building project of 11 rock-hewn churches to recreate the holy city of Jerusalem. The Churches of Lalibela hold important religious significance for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and serve as a pilgrimage site. Click here or here to see a really cool 3D model.
The Church of Saint George, Lalibela
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Nice choice. Handspun cotton cloth from India is highly prized. You find yourself in the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, where you explore the famous Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela. They were built by the King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, who commissioned the massive building project of 11 rock-hewn churches to recreate the holy city of Jerusalem. The Churches of Lalibela hold important religious significance for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and serve as a pilgrimage site. Click here or here to see a really cool 3D model.
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The Church of Saint George, Lalibela
Swahili Coast: Mogadishu
Mogadishu is one of the busiest and diverse ports you visit‒a wealthy and large city of grand mosques, palaces, and multi-story homes. The sultan speaks both Somali and Arabic, and his adviser is Egyptian. There are communities of Arabs, Persians, Indians, and Europeans, and intermarriage between merchants and local families is common for merchants who wish to make their fortunes here. The mixing of Bantu, Arabic and European languages would develop into the Swahili language. Click the images below to explore more of the culture and economy of the city.
Economy
Culture
Swahili Coast To facilitate trade, Mogadishu mints its own coins. As one Portuguese visitor to the city noted: “Ships come there from the kingdom of Cambay (India) and from Aden with stuffs of all kinds, and with spices. And they carry away from there much gold, ivory, beeswax, and other things upon which they make a profit. In this town there is plenty of meat, wheat, barley, and horses, and much fruit: it is a very rich place.” In particular, Mogadishu is known for its high quality fabric, and Jewish and Arab merchants bring Indian cloth, spices, and fruit to Mogadishu as they make their way toward the gold trade in Kilwa. Click here to visit Mogadishu’s culture or click the lighthouse to continue.
Almnara Tower, Mogadishu’s medieval lighthouse
Swahili Coast Islam spread to East Africa in the Middle Ages, and in Mogadishu, Sufism in particular took root. Sufism is a mystical sect of Islam that emphasizes personal and direct experiences with Allah. In Mogadishu, you witness a Sufi brotherhood: “When the afternoon prayers had been said, drums ... were beaten and the [Sufi] brethren began to dance. After this they prayed the sunset prayer and brought in the repast, consisting of rice-bread, fish, milk, and dates. When all had eaten and prayed the first night prayer, they began to recite the [prayer-songs]... They had prepared loads of firewood which they kindled into flame, and went into the midst of it dancing…”
Click here to check out Mogadishu’s economy or click the image to continue.
Dancing Sufi dervishes
Swahili Coast: Kilwa
Leaving Mogadishu, you spend a night in Mombasa (Kenya), a center of the gold, salt and ivory trade with China and India.From there you head to Kilwa, a center of the gold trade and a major cosmopolitan trade city in the Indian Ocean trade network. Kilwa is the center of Swahili culture and includes a blend of Persian, Arab and Bantu cultures. Because it is such a wealthy and diverse city, there is a lot to see. Click the icons below to explore.
Trade
Lifestyles of the rich & famous
The slave trade
The Great Zimbabwe
Click here when you are ready to move on.
Swahili Coast Kilwa relies almost exclusively on trade. The people were middlemen traders, importing goods from India, Persia and Arabia in exchange for gold, ivory, slaves and agricultural products. Coins from Kilwa (they minted their own) have even been found in Australia dating back to the 1100s. Kilwa’s traders were expert navigators, using the seasonal monsoon winds to sail to India in the summer and back to Africa in the winter. Kilwa’s supply of coconut palm trees provided them with the wood to make dhows for sailing.
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Swahili Coast Kilwa relied on trade and engaged in almost no agriculture, so how did it feed the city and export agricultural products across the Indian Ocean? Market towns in the interior of Africa supplied Kilwa with grains and meat and grew wealthy from their connection to the Swahili Coast. In particular, the Great Zimbabwe tapped into this trade network, supplying not only grains and cattle, but also gold and ivory. Some estimates indicate that more than 20 million ounces of gold were extracted from the ground. Chinese porcelain, coins from Arabia, glass beads and other non-local items have been excavated at Zimbabwe, indicating its trade connections. You visit the city at its height: 18,000 people in the large, walled city called the Great Enclosure.
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Swahili Coast
Kilwa’s wealth from trade allowed its wealthy to live in luxury. The ruling class lived in stone houses up to three stories high with indoor plumbing. They embraced Islam and financed mosques and set the Swahili urban style. Your visit to the home of one wealthy family puts this style on full display: they wear imported silk and cotton, eat off Chinese porcelain and live in a multi-story out of the coral and stone of the Swahili coast.
The Great Mosque of Kilwa, the oldest mosque in East Africa
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During the high point of the Swahili city-states, Muslim traders controlled the slave trade within the Indian Ocean World. Slaves tended to be captives of war sold to the Arabian Peninsula and regions near the Persian Gulf. Many came from raids on inland societies, especially a group known as the zanj or zinj. As your fellow traveler Ibn Battuta attested: “the sultan of Kilwa used to engage frequently in expeditions to the land of the Zinj people [villagers of the interior], raiding them and taking booty [slaves and other wealth].”
Slaves were sent throughout the Indian Ocean network and forced to work as sailors, agricultural laborers, pearl divers, domestic workers, concubines, and musicians. In a famous revolt known as the Zanj Rebellion, the Zanj‒Bantu speaking people forced to work on sugar plantations in Iraq‒rose up in rebellion and engaged in a 14 year guerilla war, coming close to capturing Baghdad. Ultimately the rebellion was put down by a large Abbasid army.
A depiction of an Arab caravan transporting African slaves
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Arabia You made it down the Swahili Coast!The monsoon winds have just changed, so now is your opportunity to sail north toward India. But first you make a stop in the Arabian Sea, in present day Oman, where “they wear cotton clothes imported from India...They manufacture silk, cotton and linen cloth of excellent quality.” Most importantly, you are gifted an astrolabe, which will allow you to navigate the seas and determine your position.Click the astrolabe to navigate your way to India.
India You arrive in Delhi at a time when the Muslim Delhi Sultanate is unraveling due to famine and rebellion, allowing the Hindu leaders of the new Vijayanagara Empire to defeat the invading Muslim armies of the Delhi sultanate. The rulers create safe harbors that also serve as shipbuilding centers, drawing merchants from across Arabia and Asia. Trade with China in particular booms, with Indian merchants exporting spices, jewels, cotton, and ivory. Trade also brings in new technology like advanced irrigation, allowing Vijayanagara to expand agriculture (its tax base), including cash crops (crops grown for export). Hindu provides a unifying religion for the empire, but the rulers also welcome Muslims and merchants of all ethnicities, and Sufism becomes popular among lower caste Hindus.
The king of Vijayanagara asks you to take some gifts with you to present to the Chinese emperor as tribute. Will you take them?
I’m not your lackey!
Sure, I’m headed to China anyway.
Bad choice. The Chinese emperor greatly values these tribute relationships, and he will not be happy to hear that you turned down the gifts. Plus, the king of Vijayanagara wants to continue the valuable trade relationship.
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India According to Ibn Battuta, here is what you would have experienced on India’s Malabar Coast:
“We travelled to the town of Calicut, which is one of the chief ports in Malabar. It is visited by men from China, Java, Ceylon, the Maldives, al-Yaman [Yemen] and Fārs [Persia], and in it gather merchants from all quarters. Its harbour is one of the largest in the world…. On the sea of China travelling is done in Chinese ships, so we shall describe their arrangements….
The Chinese vessels are of three kinds: large ships called junks, middle-sized ones called zaws [a form of Arab dhow], and small ones called kakams…A ship carries a complement of a thousand men, six hundred of whom are sailors and four hundred men-at-arms, including archers, men with shields and arbalists, that is, men who throw naphtha [a flammable liquid]. ….Some of the Chinese own large numbers of ships on which their factors [manufactures] are sent to foreign countries. There is no people in the world wealthier than the Chinese….
One of the finest towns on the Malabar Coast…has fine bazaars, and its merchants are called Ṣūlīs [Chulia, South Indian Muslim traders]. They are immensely wealthy; a single merchant will buy a vessel and load it with goods…There is a colony of Muslim merchants there…and the cathedral mosque is a magnificent building, constructed by a Muslim merchant. This city is the nearest of the Malabar towns to China and it is to it that most of the merchants [from China] come. Muslims are honoured and respected there.”
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India
One of your fellow merchants convinces you to head back up the coast to visit Gujarat, where they make some of the finest cotton textiles in India. Pick one to take to the emperor.
India That gift might set you back several gold pieces, but its high quality will please the emperor. You make your way back to the Malabar Coast, where trade is largely in the hands of Muslim merchants no matter if the city is ruled by a Hindu or Muslim. The rajas (rulers) charge a special tax on trade in return for freedom of worship. But you don’t mind paying because trade along the Malabar Coast gets you the one thing everyone wants: pepper. Head to Calicut to obtain this black gold.
India You arrive in Calicut, the City of Spices, where you run into Chinese and Arab traders. One of them tells you about the city: “The people are very honest and trustworthy...As to the pepper: the inhabitants of the mountainous countryside have established gardens, and it is extensively cultivated...Of course, big pepper-collectors come and collect it...Foreign ships from every place come here; and the king of the country also sends a chief and a writer to oversee the salesand when the price has been fixed, they write out an agreement...they collect duties [taxes] and pay it to the authorities. What will you offer in exchange for pepper?
Gold from Kilwa
Opium from Arabia
Ivory from Africa
The people of Calicut don’t have much use for opium, but they do often purchase it to sell to the Chinese, who use it as medicine, so this will work. Collect your pepper and set sail.
Gold is always in demand, so the officials agree. Collect your pepper and set sail.
Ivory is a key commodity, so the officials agree. Collect your pepper and set sail.
Unfortunately a massive cyclone hits and destroys the ships of the Chinese envoys you were escorting. Most of the passengers drown, and the gifts for the emperor are lost to the depths of the sea. Looks like you’ll be continuing on your own.
Sri Lanka You decide to stop in Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) to go on a pilgrimage to Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak). The mountain is sacred to Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists alike, for near the summit was a depression in a rock that looked like a huge footprint. For Buddhists it was the footprint of the Buddha, for Hindus, the print of Shiva. For Muslims it was the footprint of Adam, the first man and first prophet who, pilgrims believed, had been thrown there by God from the seventh heaven. Looks like you have quite a hike ahead of you. Better get started (click an image).
The hike was definitely worth it, especially after the king of Ceylon gave you tribute gifts to take to the emperor. In additional to prized pearls, he gives you cinnamon, which is valuable as a spice and for its medicinal properties. Grab your goods and hit the seas (click an image)
Watch the video if you want to see the awesome views you had on your pilgrimage.
Southeast Asia When you arrive in Malacca, it has already transformed into the Sultanate of Malacca, a bustling center of international trade. The sultanate formed when a Hindu prince took advantage of the decline of the Srivijaya Empire in order to take control of trade in the region. He married a Muslim princess and formed close relationships with wealthy and influential Islamic merchants. He and his successors converted to Islam, becoming sultans and gaining wealth from the trade of spices and tax revenue collected from commerce passing through the Strait of MalacEach community of foreign traders (including a large number of Arabs, Indians and Persians) has its own port official to oversee trade. Zheng He’s first expedition here established strong ties between Malacca and China when Zheng He defeated pirates who attacked ships in the port, and the sultan wants you to take a message to the emperor: the nearby Siamese ruler is trying to expand, threatening Malacca’s control of the Strait of Malacca, so the sultan is reaching out for help. As a gift, he sends you with the best spices that the Spice Islands have to offer: nutmeg, pepper, clove and mace.
Head through the strait to continue on to China.
China
China lives up to its reputation as “the safest and pleasantest country in the world for the traveler.” Under Mongol rule, Muslim merchants established themselves in many of the port cities, facilitating trade between east and west. Now, under the Ming Dynasty, the Yongle Emperor has resumed China’s tribute empire, sending his Treasure Fleet throughout the Indian Ocean.Thanks to your report, Zheng He is ready for another expedition, and this time you’ll be accompanying him. The astrolabe you brought back, combined with Zheng He’s compass and the improved junk ships of the Treasure Fleet will make you masters of the seas. Now pack up‒you’ve got to head to Malacca and put some pirates in their place.
Your new home for the next few months on one of Admiral Zheng He’s ships.