Week 2 Timeline on the Indian Ocean Trade Route

Zanzibar may have been settled as early as this time by fishing folk from mainland Africa.

4000 BCE

The northernmost tombs date from 3000-2600 BCE and are simpler than those appearing further south and dating from 2600-2000 BCE.

3000 BCE

Magan was a very prosperous region, connected with and important to the other major civilizations of the period.

2800 BCE

As early as around 2750 BCE, archeological evidence shows that these regions began to import their copper from Oman, which had large natural deposits of the metal.

2750 BCE

Sumerian and Akkadian texts from around 2300 BCE mention trade by sea with Magan, which was especially rich in timber, copper, and the stone diorite. All of these materials were very important for building (art, and making everyday utensils such as pots)

2300 BCE

The kamal is a simple navigation device used by Arab navigators in the Indian Ocean since ancient times. It consists of a small, rectangular card with a knotted cord passed through it.

1500 BCE

Diffusion of cholera, smallpox, plague and influenza in the Indian Ocean area

1500 BCE

Trade Began to take place

800 BCE

Trade Goods (silk, spices, incense, etc)

800 BCE

Major Exports (iron, coal, rubber, etc)

800 BCE

Recognizable Monsoon Marketplace

700 BCE

Cylax of Caryanda made a voyage into the Indian Ocean. He went exploring in the service of King Darius of Persia, who had heard of the riches of India and wanted to discover the mouth of the Indus River.

515 BCE

Before the Indian trade was discovered

300 BCE

Exchange of ideas

1 BCE

As all trade networks did, the Indian Ocean trade fostered the exchange of ideas, such as Buddhism to Southeast Asia, and Islam across Eurasia. Additionally, many famous travelers such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and eventually Ming Admiral Zheng He utilized these key routes, and their records would soon spread to much of the world.

The Swahili city-states steadily grew and prospered, and were a major world economic power by the 1400’s.

1400

Declined in the 1500's when Portugal invaded and tried to run the trade for it's own profit.

1500

Portuguese completed their control of the chokepoint by taking the strategic island of Hormuz, where they built a fort protected by cannon and a permanent troop presence.

1514