Indian Ocean Trade

During the Indian Ocean trade between 650 - 1750 AD, many things shifted to new or changed but in many aspects, the region remained the same. After the collapse of the Mongol empire in the 14th century, the Indian Ocean was now open up to many more civilizations. Trade in this region began to flourish as the demand for Indian textiles and spices increased. Expeditions were set out to set up trading agreements between regions. So one would find that during the set time period, many of the old trade routes and use of monsoons were still being used and the trade of gold and ivory from Africa was still a huge . Some major shifts and changes include the economic prosperity of the increase in trade and how there was now a very large and interested group of Europeans involved in the Indian Ocean.

Starting off, many of the already established trade routes were still in practice along with the tricks of using monsoon winds to travel faster. An old trick discovered around 45 AD by a greek inventor named Hippalus, used the monsoon winds to cross the arabian sea to India. This path was used for hundreds of years by the the natives to the regions along with merchants from Europe who arrived later on. This route was used for centuries and as trade picked up in the region, the merchants kept following it. New routes were discovered and used but these remained as extremely efficient ways of transportation as winds were powerful. The potential of using these was not squandered and instead was taken advantage of as technology sped up sailing, these routes would speed the whole process up further. So, these routes of trade from Africa to Asia that took the potential of the monsoons and used them were used for hundreds of years before and after.

Continuing, many of the goods being shipped out of Africa were the same for hundreds of years as their value has always been highly regarded. Africa was huge in trading off gold and ivory to other powers. This had been generating money for their culture for centuries through the need for gold for coins, jewelry, and statues.

Next up, many things changed such as the amount of trade skyrocketing in the region which changed many societies around the Indian Ocean.The more the commerce grew, the more the wealth in the region grew which added wealth to many new areas.

Lastly, as European exploration and colonialism expanded, many European powers especially the portuguese, now became highly involved in