Changes And Continuities Indian Ocean Trade

From 600 AD to 1750 AD, the expansion of trade and commerce on the Indian Ocean was transformed by traders and merchants from peoples such as Persians, Arabs, and Indians. However, there are more changes because of the participation of other cultures and people in the trading system. One significant continuity was the use and emergence of the same trade routes for both exports and imports of goods such as ivory, gold, and iron. A significant change was how the commerce around the Indian Ocean economically flourished. Places like East Africa, the Red Sea, India, and the Persian Gulf were all incorporated into the trade route when the commerce was rapidly developing in the Indian Ocean. Europeans became increasingly involved in the trade routes of the Indian Ocean after discovering it. This was another major change. Another continuity was the continued use of the same ports and trade routes for exports and imports in the Indian Ocean. Ivory, gold, and iron were being imported from Africa and being sold at a profit because they could make a great deal of money from Asian

The changes started with the migration of Bantus, followed by the Indian and Muslim traders and merchants. Persians and Arabs began to trade gold, ivory, sandalwood, and ebony because it was a very profitable business. Thus, huge African ports developed and became major cultural ports and cities. Another big change was made when a new language was developed because of the integration between Bantu and Arabs known as Swahili. Swahili states such as Barawa, Mombasa, and Mogadishu were changed because of the trading and became diverse, more independent politically, and cosmopolitan. These states grew and became very powerful by the 1400s. Slavery, unfortunately, was a continuity that had been happening even before the Indian Ocean trade network was made. It was carried on by the Persians, Arabs, and some of the