The Indian Ocean Case

The Indian Ocean trade had many changes and continuities. Economically, the Indian Ocean trade stayed the same with the spread of goods from one place to another, but changed because of the process goods were traded along the trade route. In cultural terms, the Indian Ocean trade stayed the same because of the same constant spread of religion and ideas, but also changed because of the spread of dominant religions already in some places. In the political aspect, the Indian Ocean trade stayed the same by growing while being successful under the control of various massive empires, and changed because of the change of which empires controlled the trade.

Over the course of the Indian Ocean Trade, a continuity was that the trade was always controlled by a strong empire. This continuity leads to how the politics of the trade changed because different empires controlled it at different times. At first the Portuguese dominated the trade. Later on in the early 17th century, the Dutch and English entered the trade and challenged the Portuguese. Together, the Dutch and the English took over the Portuguese, often by force. This shows continuity because a strong empire grew and controlled the trade, but shows change because of the different empires that controlled it.

An example of the continuity of the spread of goods from one place to another is the trade of wood and ivory from Africa in the very early stages in the Indian Ocean trade. Then, during the 15th and 16th centuries, at the center of Indian Ocean Trade merchant in India received the wood and ivory from the east and west, sold them within its borders, and added some Indian goods to the trade. Last, during the 17th and 18th centuries, luxury goods, like ivory, flowed into the Ottoman Empire from the Indian Ocean Trade. The actual way the goods went from point to point changed over time. At first, smaller ships were used. Around the 13th century, ships got bigger and could carry y roughly 500 tons. Eventually over t...