Trade on the Indian Ocean

By oawtry001
  • 3000 BCE

    Movement

    Travelers in small canoes and rafts moved between towns and trading posts along the coastline of Africa to Indian subcontinent.
  • 2000 BCE

    Millet and Sorghum

    Millet and sorghum were introduced to trade. They were imported the East African coast to today's Pakistan
  • 1000 BCE

    Bananas and sugar cane

    Sugar canes entered India, bananas entered trade in 1000 BCE
  • 550 BCE

    Alexander the Great

    Alexander the Great founded Alexandria. Alexandria eventually became one of the centers for trade.
  • 332 BCE

    Alexandria

    Alexandria became the central trade and art market.
  • 271 BCE

    Ashoka

    Ashoka under rule, created trade between India and Central and Southeast Asia.
  • 206 BCE

    Cloves

    Earliest recorded use of cloves (outside of origin)
  • 138 BCE

    Zhang Qian

    Zhang Qian established contact between China and India and Central Asia.
  • 64 BCE

    Strabo the geographer born

    Strabo the geographer was essential in how we look at the trading world when it was in its prime. He traveled all over the world, documenting and sourcing.
  • 27 BCE

    Silk

    Silk flourished with the rise of the Roman Empire
  • 1347

    Spread of the plague

    The Bubonic Plague started in China. Through trade, the disease spread around the world.
  • 1498

    Portugal

    Portuguese sailors reached the east coast of Africa. They entered the Indian Ocean trade as sailors, robbing and extorting local producers.
  • 1501

    Connection

    Indian Ocean connected with the emerging Atlantic and Pacific European trade markets
  • 1509

    Takeover

    Portugal defeats the Muslims, taking over the trade in the Indian Ocean.

  • Dutch East India Company

    Dutch East India Company entered trade and monopolized trade of spices.

  • British East India Company

    The British joined the British East India Company and it led to the European powers trying to colonize parts of Asia. Resulting in the dissolvement of reciprocal trading, essentially ending trade in the Indian Ocean.