old sea routes

The Sea Route, showing how the trade of goods extended from China's Han Dynasty through the old spice routes and the Straits of Malacca, around Sri Lanka and Western India, both delivering and collecting cargo, then across the Arabian sea to the Middle East and East Africa. Java, Sumatra, Malaysia and the ancient Khmer, Thai, Lao Viet and Burmese civilizations all grew wealthy from the Sino-Indian and were settled by Indian and Chinese merchants

Map of The Silk Road, The Spice Route & Incense Trail

The History of Incense and Spices

The development of incense and spices has a long history, with their earliest use found in the Mesopotamian Civilization several thousand years ago. According to ancient documentation, as much as 2.5 tonnes of frankincense were burnt in the Temple of Baal in Babylon each year;¹ and there were inscriptions about incense offerings for gods on the clay tablets of The Epic of Gilgamesh, “the world's oldest literature”.² In the Book of Exodus of the Old Testament, there are verses describing the Lord teaching His people how to make the holy anointing oil and incense:

“Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices…And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony…And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy…And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, this shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations… And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices…these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy…it shall be unto you most holy...it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD...Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”

(Exodus, Chapter 30, verses 22-38) ³

Moreover, archaeologists discovered pellets of frankincense in the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun (1341 – 1323 BC). A wall inscription in Karnak also details the incense offering rituals of Pharaoh Rameses II before a sacred barge around 1224 BC.¹ In fact, incense culture can be found among different races, including the Phoenicians, the Arabs, the Indians as well as the Greeks and Romans.⁴

In ancient days, the worth of incense and spices was the same as that of gold. Its preciousness originated from its connotation of authority and status, rather than being a necessity. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the three wise men from the east were guided by a star to Bethlehem to worship Jesus Christ the new-born King. The gifts they presented were gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verses 1-12)

http://www.xiang-he.org/aloe_exhibition/artifacts_cat.php?cat=A&file=cat-A-2

The Indian Ocean in Eurasian and African World-Systems before th

The Indian Ocean in Eurasian and African World-Systems before the Sixteenth Century^*

PHILIPPE BEAUJARD
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre d'Études Africaines, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France

---

Une nouvelle connaissance de l'organisation est de nature à créer une nouvelle organisation de la connaissance.       New thinking about organization can lead to a new organizing of our thinking. —E. Morin
Writing of the Mediterranean, Fernand Braudel has remarked, "It isn't water that links its shores," but "seafaring peoples." From a very early date, the Indian Ocean, too, was traversed by sailors, traders, religious men, and migrants moving in search of goods, new lands, or the great unknown. Their movements were shaped by numerous factors, both geographic and social in origin. Over the centuries, these exchanges transformed the Indian Ocean into a unified space.1 Trade —above all, long-distance trade—played a central role in this process. A study of the history of trade networks, together with political and religious factors, allows us to understand the creation of particular societies, as well as the larger area to which they were linked.	1
Trade implies not only an exchange of goods, but also an exchange of knowledge, beliefs, and values. The power of trade to unify, create, and transform cultures can be appreciated only by viewing it from the widest possible angle. The Indian Ocean, our case in point, became a unified space through exchange networks that went far beyond its own borders, reaching from China to Europe and Africa. Gradually over time, transcontinental networks—both maritime and terrestrial—linked the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, turning it into a unified zone wherein events and developments occurred interdependently. Therefore, the Indian Ocean should not be considered as a discrete case that underwent processes similar to those of the Mediterranean, as K. Chaudhuri has suggested, but rather as an area that was integrally tied to the Mediterranean. The fact that the different regions of the ancient world united by trade experienced a demonstrable synchronization in their development suggests (but is not yet sufficient proof for) the systemic nature of their relations.	2
It is not only the interconnections or the size of the networks but the regularity, intensity, and speed of the exchanges that resulted in the different regions being progressively integrated and shaped into a world-system. This notion was originally conceived by I. Wallerstein in 1974, in a holistic perspective that "looks for an explanation at the level of the whole." This perspective, which E. Morin has rightly pointed out the limits of, has not clearly defined the concept of "system" itself. Before proceeding with the discussion, I should identify what I mean by the term "system." I follow the definitions established by Morin, namely, (1) a system represents a "complex unit and the complex of relations between the whole and its parts," (2) a system is made up of cumulative interactions, (3) which constitute the organization of the system.2 The character of this organization is, in essence, both complex and dynamic. The system generates both order and disorder, unity and diversity. Taking into account these general characteristics of all systems and their implications can aid the interpretation of the available historical data for the Eurasian and African zone. The systemic approach provides a new "logic," and leads to a new understanding of world history http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jwh/16.4/beaujard.html

map of silk & spice routes

The Spice Route

The Spice Route was the other great trading route of the Ancient and Medieval worlds. Spices were carried on the Silk Road also, but the main source of spices was well south of China, the Spice Islands (Indonesia), India, and the Malabar (East African) coast. India was at the center of the world spice trade. It is no accident that Indian food is known for its spices. Spices were carried to India from the Spice Islands, sometimes by sea routes. Spices included cassia, star anise, cloves, coriander, nutmeg, mace, and others. The most vluable spice was pepercorns. These spices as well as Indian Indian and Africa spices were then brought by sea to the Middle east by Areab traders. Finally Venetian or other Italian vessels were bring the spices to Europe. Rivalry for the sea routes monopolized by Venice increased the importance of the overland Silk Road. Finally Portuguese sailors in the 15th century established direct contact with the source of spices, undercutting both the Arabs and Venetians.

Spices

Spices included cardamom, cassia, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger, mace, nutmeg, star anise, turmeric, and others. The most vluable spice was pepercorns from the Malabar Coast (south-western Indian coast) were dried and ground into powdered pepper. Modern readers often do not appreciate the impotance of spices in the Ancient and Medieval worlds. It must be understood that food was usually not very palitable. Not only were there few ways of preserving foods. Vegetables were unavailable in the Winter and early Spring. There was no way of storing large quanties of cattle fodder. Thus the only beef available was salt beef. Even during the Summer meat was often unpalitable because of the lack of refrigeration to poperly store it. Many common modern foods were unavailbe to Europeans, including potatos, corn, tea, coffee, chocolate, bananas, tomatos, oranges, lemmons, and other foods. Most strikingly, there was no sugar to sweeten foods, except honey. Thus spices were in great demand to flavor foods. And modern culinary trends show the imprint. Nutmeg is used in Italian cooking. Iranian (Persian) cooking has cinnanon-scented sauces. Steak tartare became popular in Germany. There are gungerm cloves, and sweet-and-sour touches in Alsatian cooking.

Ancient World

Spices were a valuable trading commodity in antiquity. This means there were established trading routes in antiquity. Pepercorns were found in the nose of the mummy of Ramses II. Peper and other spices were valued commodities in Roman markets. The European trade in these commodities fell with the economic decline following the fall of Rome (5th century AD). Another factor was the rise of Islam (7th century AD). [Turner]

Trading Route

The Spice Route was the other great trading route of the Ancient and Medieval worlds. Spices were carried on the Silk Road also, but the main source of spices was well south of China, the Spice Islands (Indonesia), India, and the Malabar (East African) coast. India was at the center of the world spice trade. It is no accident that Indian food is known for its spices. Spices were carried to India from the Spice Islands by sea routes. The spices as well as Indian Indian and Africa spices were then brought by sea to the Middle east by Arab traders. The Arabd purchased spices from the Indians and from Chinese and Javanese merchants who sailed to Indian ports. Finally Venetian or other Italian vessels were bring the spices to Europe.

Arabs

The Arabs burst out of the Arabian Desert in the 7th century. The Arabs cut Europe off from the clove islands. They became the masters of the spice trade. The Arabs dominated the trade routes from India and eastern Africa. They kept the sources of spices secret from the Europeans. The Arabs told fantastic tales of the dangers they faced in obtaining spices in distant and mysterious lands. Spice trading was important to Arabs from the very beginning of Islam. Mohammed (570-???AD) himself married into a spice-trading family when he chose a wealthy widow. Islamic armies as they moved throughout the Middle East gained comtrol over the trade routes to Europe as well as in some cases the very sources of the pices them selves. (Much of the Spice Islands were conquered by the Arabs, the Islamic Monguls conquered India, and the Arabs established themselves in Zanzibar and elsewhere in East Africa).

Italian Trading States

Te European taste for spice began to revive in the 9th century. A factor here was the rise of the great Italian trading states like Venice and Genoa. [Turner] The trade was at first limited. Feudal Europe still gebnerated still limited wealth. The growth of cities and the rise of the merchant class was just beginning. Arab controlof te trade roots made spices enormously expensive.

Crusades

Disease

It is believed that the Spice Route is how the bubonic plague reached Europe. The medieval plague, commonly referred to as the Black Death, was the most cathestrophic epidemic in recorded history. The plague is believed to have been brought west from China. Europeans had no resistance to it in much the same way that smallpox brought by Europeans was to desimate Native Americans in the 16th and 17th centuries. The plague ravaged Europe from 1347-51. There were also serious subsequent outbreaks as well. The plague often killed whole families, in part because family members could not bring themselve to abandon each other. Villages were devistated. An estimated 1,000 villages were completely destroyed. Historians estimate that about one-third of the European population died in the plague. The plague, however, had a profound impact on Europe beyond the incalcuable human pain and suffering of those affected. As strange as it may sound, the plague set in motion cultural and economic trends that played a major role in shaping modern Europe.

Venetians

Silk Road

The other great international trading route was the Silk Road. Some spices were carried on the Silk Road, but much greater quantities were transported by the Spice Route. The history of the famed Silk Road is one of many instances in which clothing and fabrics have played a major role in human history. The story of the silk road is one of military adventures and conquest, adventuresome explorers, religious pilgrims, and great philosophers. While it is silk which is often, naturally enough, most strongly associated with the silk road, the flow of ideas and religion as an almost unintended aspect of the flow of trade may have been one of the most significant impacts. Of course most of the people who traversed the silk road were not great thinkers, but common tradesmen who transported their merchandise at great risk for the substantial profits that could be made. They moved cammal caravans over some of the most hostile terraine on the planet. The ilk road tranversed deserts, mountains and the seemingly endless Central Asian steppe. Some of the great figures of history are associated with the Silk Road, including Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane. Merchandice may have moved over the Silk Road as early as the 5th century BC. The Silk Road is believed to have become an established trade route by the 1st century BC and continued to be important until the 16th century when more reliable sea routes were established as a result of the European voyages of discovery.

Marco Polo

Marco Polo traveled to China on the Silk Road, but his account of his journey included the first factual information available to Europeans about the actual source of the spices obtained from the Arabs. He described hot lands where he saw spices growing. He also explained the key role of India.

Rivalry

Rivalry for the sea routes monopolized by Veniceincreased the importance of the overland Silk Road.

Fall of Byzantium

The Ottomans with the fall of Byzantium gained control of the Black Sea. They gradually displaced the Venetians in the northern Aegean. Expansion south into Syria and Egypt further closed lucrative trade routes to European shipping. The control of territory from the Russian steppe to Egypt allowed the Ottomons to interdict established European trade routes to the East. It was this Ottoman control of the spice trade routes that was a factor in pushing the European voyages of discovery.

European Voyages of Discovery

The account of Marco Polo with actual descriptions of China and the Spice Islands fueled a desire by Eurpdeans to establish direct trading links. At the same time Europeans by the 14th century had significantly imroved their navigational and ship building skills. The astrolabe helped mariners determine latitude. (Longitude proved a much more difficult undertaking. The magnetic compass permitted mariners to determine which direction was north. Great improvements were made in maps. Here Portuguese cartographers played a key role. Information provided by travelers was refined by explorers who began to sail south along the African coast. Europeans also made great strides in shipbuilding. Large capacity ships called galleons were adopted. Powered by sail and woth large holds, they greatly reduce the cost of transporting good over distances. These developments permitted Europeans them to begin to make voyages od substantial distances and the goal was to reach the East to develop direct trade contacts with China. Many of the advances were made by the Itlalian mariners of the eastern Mediterranean. It was, however, the western European countries of the Atlantic that would conduct the great voyages of discovery. Finally Portuguese sailors in the 15th century established direct contact with the source of spices, undercutting both the Arabs and Venetians. One of te great disappointments with Columbus and other explorers sailing west was the failure to find cloves, nutmegs, and other spices. [Turner]

Sources

Turner, Jack. Spice: The History of a Temptation (Knopf, 2004), 352p

silk routs map