Page 87 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1864 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

and coastal regions that connect inland to ocean have
Trading Patterns, been as essential to trade as the ocean itself.

The seas, gulfs, and straits of the Indian Ocean, includ-
Indian Ocean ing the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the
Bay of Bengal, and the Strait of Malacca, have been areas
he physical features of the Indian Ocean have fun- of intense trading activity from the beginning of human
Tdamentally shaped the development of trading pat- seafaring. But it is the unique nature of the Indian Ocean
terns in the region throughout history. Historians offer wind patterns that have enabled the development of
different perspectives on the chronology and regional maritime trading patterns around the it and linking it to
boundaries of Indian Ocean trade depending on their the Atlantic in the west and the South China Sea and
vantage points, but the basic elements of states and Pacific Ocean in the east. Although the advent of air traf-
empires, navigation and mapping, goods and services, fic has altered the global networks of trade, the com-
and transportation technologies need to be taken into plexities of interaction in the Indian Ocean have not
account in any long-range analysis of trading patterns in diminished.The trading patterns of the Indian Ocean link
the Indian Ocean. the most populous regions in the world. Moreover, the
Indian Ocean incorporates those regions that together
Geography and Climate constitute the bulk of the global oil trade, which has
of the Indian Ocean always been a maritime commodity.
The Indian Ocean is the site of the most ancient and The earliest maritime technologies were based on sail-
complex maritime migrations and trading networks of all ing craft that by nature depended on the vagaries of wind
Earth’s oceans. Covering an area of over 73.4 million patterns and ocean currents that carried the vessels across
square kilometers, extending approximately 6,400 kilo- the sea. Absolutely basic to any long-term historical
meters at the equator and more than 9,900 kilometers at analysis of the Indian Ocean is a consideration of the
its widest point from the tip of southern Africa to the west monsoon winds. The Indian Ocean is unique in having
coast of Australia, the Indian Ocean is the smallest of the a seasonal pattern of winds that facilitate transoceanic
three major global oceans. It is bounded on the east by shipping.The monsoons are caused by differences in the
Africa, on the north by Asia, on the west by Australia and temperature of air above land and sea, which generate
on the south by Antarctica.Twenty-six continental nations wind that blows from cold to hot regions. In the Indian
have coastlines with access to the Indian Ocean. The Ocean the biannual monsoons blow from the south and
Indian Ocean is home to four island nations and three west during April through August, reversing direction
archipelagic nations. It has more major rivers flowing between December and March. Seasonal patterns of
into its waters than any other ocean, and these river out- high and low rainfall correspond with these winds to
lets have been essential to the ebb and flow of trading net- varying degrees outside the equatorial regions, although
works. The Zambezi and Limpopo enter the ocean in in peripheral areas the impact on rainfall is minimal.The
Mozambique; at the border region of Iraq and Iran, the word monsoon derives from an Arabic word, mausim, and
Tigris and the Euphrates meet at the confluence of the the Arabs, Indians, and Persians called the Indian Ocean
Shatt al Arab near the coast; in Pakistan the Indus meets area “the land below the winds” in recognition of the
the ocean; and on its path through India the Ganges importance of these wind patterns.
meets the Brahmaputra to create the delta region of The second major wind pattern is the trade winds of
Bangladesh. The Irrawaddy flows through the length of the southern Indian Ocean that occur between 10
Myanmar (Burma) to the waters where the Bay of Bengal degrees and 30 degrees South and that blow consistently
meets the Andaman Sea.This complex network of rivers from the southeast. This trade route directly across the