Indian Ocean Trade: 200 BCE - 300 CE
Presentation Type
Oral and/or Visual Presentation
Presenter Major(s)
History
Mentor Information
Craig Benjamin, benjamic@gvsu.edu
Department
History
Location
Kirkhof Center 2263
Start Date
13-4-2011 2:00 PM
End Date
13-4-2011 2:30 PM
Keywords
Changing Ideas/Changing Worlds, Culture, Global Change, Historical Perspectives, Social Science, World Perspective
Abstract
From C. 200 BCE - 300 CE, a major maritime trade network flourished across the Indian Ocean, connecting diverse regions and economies. As these cultures were affected by interregional social, economic, and political forces, their participation in this trade network reflected changing realities. From a world history perspective, this network is important because of its long its long duration and relative stability (compared to trans-Afro-Eurasian land routes). From the beginning of the Common Era, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Persia, India, and South East Asia all housed complex urban civilizations that supported merchant communities that invested in this maritime trade. What changed over time were the participants themselves, not the regions or cultures to which they belonged, or the goods traded. An investigation of Indian Ocean trade thus offers an ideal opportunity to study the nature of continuity and change within a range of social classes, not just that of the political elite.
Indian Ocean Trade: 200 BCE - 300 CE
Kirkhof Center 2263
From C. 200 BCE - 300 CE, a major maritime trade network flourished across the Indian Ocean, connecting diverse regions and economies. As these cultures were affected by interregional social, economic, and political forces, their participation in this trade network reflected changing realities. From a world history perspective, this network is important because of its long its long duration and relative stability (compared to trans-Afro-Eurasian land routes). From the beginning of the Common Era, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Persia, India, and South East Asia all housed complex urban civilizations that supported merchant communities that invested in this maritime trade. What changed over time were the participants themselves, not the regions or cultures to which they belonged, or the goods traded. An investigation of Indian Ocean trade thus offers an ideal opportunity to study the nature of continuity and change within a range of social classes, not just that of the political elite.