Sleepy Owl

The Spice Trade was critical to the Eurasian World as it provided a way of communication between the two regions. Economics and geography were crucial to the prices and expansion of spices. Middlemen were a crucial aspect in monopolizing the economics of spice trade. As the demand for spices grew in Europe, the prices increased massively. One of the main factors of the rise of prices were the middlemen. The middlemen were the merchants that passed down the product down the route, as one merchant can’t travel the entire way. Just like any other merchant, the middlemen wanted to earn money when they pass down the spices, so they raise the price up a notch every time the product was sold to another merchant. By the time it ends up in the consumers hands, the price will have raised up to an incredible amount. For example, in “Spice It Up”, it explained that “Arab traders sold their cargoes of these precious goods to Italian shippers, who, in turn, sold them to people in European towns and cities. Other merchants, in addition to Arab traders, such as Indian, Chinese, and Malay, were actively trading as well. Each time these goods changed hands, their price increased” (Spice It Up 2). The raising of the price of spices was a crucial part of what happened afterwards in the Spice Trade.

Geography influenced sea travel, making it an even more practical way of trade. In a Crash Course video by John Green, he explained that the patterns of the monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean were crucial to the development of trade. The patterns of the winds, discovered by a Greek merchant, helped safer and quicker trade. After grasping the patterns of the monsoon winds, the merchants would ride the winds across the ocean, and back, as shown in the map above. In the map, the arrows show the direction of the winds during different times of the year. The winds helped spice trade become less risky and more efficient, bringing the spices, to and fro, quicker and safer. Even more, the geography of the trade route affected the entire Spice Trade significantly. The Spice Route, also known as the Maritime Routes, went through the Indian Ocean. “…the Europeans did not have the maritime technology, skills, and knowledge needed to participate in these oceanic ventures in the early fifteenth century” (Spice It Up 11). At that time, the Europeans didn’t have the skills to navigate the oceans; therefore, they couldn’t go to the Spice Island themselves. Therefore, the sea merchants were able to control spice trade, and how they traded. However, “Europeans borrowed basic maritime technology, such as the compass and stern-post rudder from China, the Arab lateen sail, and Muslim charts and maps” (Spice It Up 12). After gathering necessary maritime knowledge, the Europeans could go to the  Spice Islands themselves, wage war, decrease prices, etc. The Social Studies subjects significantly contributed to the Spice Trade, linking the two continents and carving the Eurasian world today.

Citations:

“Crash Course: World History – Episode 09: The Silk Road and Ancient Trade.” WatchDocumentary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.