Asia

spices notes pg.484-491

The Asian Trading World and the Coming of the Europeans
 * main: Some Europeans went to asia for personal gain but others went to convert others to Christianity (missionaries as well as some traders)...they settled in areas along the coast.
 * a trading system went thousands of miles from the Middle East and Africa along the coasts of the Asian continent
 * Asian Sea Trading Network- focusing on major centers of handicraft manufacturing
 * arab zone (west): focused on glass, carpets, and tapestries
 * india zone (center): cotton textiles
 * china zone (east): paper, porcelain, silk textiles
 * spices were in highest demand...paid for the most
 * Arabs and Chinese who had compasses and navigational systems preferred (like everyone else) to establish coastal routes rather than the largely uncharted and less predictable open seas
 * there was no central control of the trading network
 * military force was usually absent from commercial exchanges withing network
 * arab sailors and merchants traded to make their own livelihood and to pay princes and merchants who financed their expeditions
 * trading vessels were lightly armed for protection against pirates, everything was mostly peaceful
 * summary: the Asia Sea Trading Network was highly used by everyone. Exchanges were very peaceful and everyone basically only traded to pay for their expeditions and to survive...there was no other purpose for making money or trying to control the network.

Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut
 * main: The portuguese had little or nothing to trade in the asian trading complex and they werent prepared to abide by the informal rules that had been around for centuries, they wanted to control it themselves
 * mercantilists- prominent economic terrorrists who taught that a state's power depended heavily on the amount of precious metals a monarch had in its coffers
 * the portuguese decided to take by force what they couldnt get by trading
 * no asian fleets could protect themselves against the port.
 * no one was expecting there to be so much violence in a peaceful exchange process...so the port. had an element of surprise
 * when da gama returned in 1502 he was able to force ports on both the african and the indian coasts to submit to a port. tribute regime
 * in 1507 the port. tried to capture towns and build fortresses in strategic points of the trading network to make sure that they were patriling and getting the goods that they wanted from the network
 * ormuz- southern end of persian gulf
 * goa- western indian coast
 * malacca- tip of malayan peninsula
 * these ports served as naval bases and factories- points where spices and other products could be stroed until they were shipped to Europe
 * ships and naval stations were key to the portuguese trading empire that was financed by the kings of port.
 * aim of empire was to create port. monopoly over asian products
 * summary- the port. shipped goods and products to asian and european markets where they were sold at high prices, which the poet. could dictate because they controlled the supply of these goods. the port. also wanted to impose a licensing system on merchant ships that traded from ormuz to melacca. this combination of monopoly and licensing system, backed by force, was intended to give the port. control of a sizeable portion of the asian trading network.

Portuguese Vulnerability and the Rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires
 * main: by the end of the 16th century, resistance of asian rivals, poor military discipline, corruption among the crown, and heavy port. shipping loses caused by overloading and poor design had taken a heavy load on the port. empire.
 * Dutch captured critical port. port (malacca) and built their own port at Batavia on the island of Java
 * the dutch concentrated on monopoly of certain spices rather than the whole trading network
 * the english fell back into india after losing battle for control of Spice Islands
 * Dutch Trading Empire- made up of fortified towns and factories, warships on patrol, and monopolies on certain products
 * they wiped out heir competition by removing the roots of the plants they controlled of island they did not controll
 * the demand for spiced declined and their futile efforts to gain control of spices scuh as pepper that were grown in many places became more and more expensive
 * they depended on profits gained by buying asian products and reselling them in another area for products that could be sold in europe at inflated prices
 * the english also adopted this peaceful trading pattern although they were more focused on the coasts of india and on cloth rather than spices.
 * summary- the dutch had conquered the port. empire but used it for a monopoly of products rather than trying to control the whole asian trading network which was probably a smarter idea, because they didnt have to ruffle so many feathers along the way. the english tried to get control over the new dutch empire but they didnt succeed and were pushed back to parts of india where they mainly focued on trading cloth rather than spices.

Going Ashore: European Tribute Systems in Asia
 * main: european ships and guns allowed them to force their way into the asian traind network, though they didnt have much that attracted the asians for trade rather than gold and precious metals, but as they moved inland and away from the sea, their military advancements and ability to dominate over asian people rapidly disappeared.
 * superior number of asian armies
 * the port. and dutch after them felt compelled to control coastal areas of Ceylon to control production of cinnamon
 * as the dutch moved inland at Java, they discovered that the forests were good for growing coffee and they soon controlled coffee-growing areas and were paramount power at Java
 * Luzon- conquered easily by spanish because they lived in small states that the spanish could conquer one by one
 * Mindanao- spanish failed to conquer; ruled by a single kingdom whose muslim rulers were determined to resist chrostian dominance
 * in each area the european went ashore they set up tribute systems that resembled those set up for natives in the new world
 * little was done to invade on daily life of conquered people as long as their leader met the tribute quotas
 * tributes paid in form of agricultural products
 * summary- in all cases, the demand for tribute took into account the local peasants' need to raise the crops on which they subsisted.

Spreading the faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia
 * main: althought the protestant dutch and english were little interested in winning converts to christianity, the spread of roman cathlocism was a fundamental part of the global mission of the portuguese and the spanish.
 * islam had arrived too long before da gama's arrival had much to do with the indifference or open hostility the port. met when they tried to convert the people of this region into christianity
 * india appeared to be one of the most promising fields of missionary work
 * Francis xavier- willing to minister to the poor, low-caste fishers and untouchables...converted thousands
 * contact with the untouchables made it almost impossible for these missionaries to reach the upper-caste people.
 * robert di nobili- italian Jesuit who learned several indian languages that allowed him to read the sacred texts of the hindus...all to win over upper-caste people
 * friars- priests and brothers who went out to convert and govern the populace...became main channel for transmitting european influence
 * friars served as government officials
 * many converted because spanish dominance and their own leader's conversion gave them little choice
 * others converted because they thought the christian God would protect them from illness and make them equal to their overlords in heaven
 * summary- even in the asian area where European control was the strongest, much of the preconquest way of life and approach to the world was mantained.

do now- 2/10/2011 describe the nature of the relationships that existed between traders in the indian ocean network before the portuguese arrives. -> what opportunities did it create for the portuguese?


 * Before the Portuguese arrived, people trading in the Indian ocean trusted each other and they didnt carry around in their ships any heavy weapons (only to protect from pirates) and it was a very peaceful exchange where there were no formal rules just natural ways in which everyone abided by. When the Portuguese got there everything changed because they wanted to control the whole network and because everyone trusted each other and were so peaceful, it was easy for them to conquer it. Since people didnt carry around big weapons, they feared the Portuguese who had more guns and weapons and better bigger ships. It also wasnt expected for someone to try and conquer everyone so the Portuguese also had the element of surprise.
 * they traded for individual benefit
 * more goods available to port. for trading
 * disunity and individualist attitudes also made domination easier
 * established factories in the ports (storaged goods until they were shipped to Europe)
 * able to create trade monopolies (nutmeg)
 * license for people to trade...tried to regulate trade