The Indian Ocean has a deep history of trade networks that saw travelers from different countries convene at its coastline. These interactions cemented the Indian Ocean world as an interconnected space that saw travelers exchange goods and languages. However, this connection was threatened by the slave trade, whereby Africans were the targets of ownership from foreigners. Overall, the Indian Ocean connected the world, which yielded positive and negative results like slavery, language exchange, and the exchange of goods.
One of the definitions of the Indian Ocean pertains to the ocean’s rich historical culture that dates back to the 1600s, when traders convened along the shore of the Indian Ocean. Obviously, the convention of different nationalities implied that there was limited communication during trade exchanges due to language barriers. Hence, one of the definitions of the Indian Ocean is a cultural hub that yielded new languages and methods of communication. In this way, the Indian Ocean played a unifying role in regard to the different cultures represented by the diverse traders. Traders developed creative ways of communicating and negotiating during trading exchanges. For instance, in the pearl trade, sheikhs used various methods to show their interest in the goods from the pearlers. One of these strategies involved grabbing a piece of red flannel or black sock to express their interest in the goods. In other situations, the seller would grab the entire hand of the buyer to indicate that he wanted to sell the goods at 1000. If the seller grabbed only five fingers of the buyer, that meant he was selling at 500, and so on.
Through these interactions, the traders across the Indian Ocean eventually started influencing each other’s languages. For instance, Swahili had Bantu roots and had mixtures of Arabic influences. Based on the language perspective, the Indian Ocean is definitely an interconnected system constituting numerous regional influences. At the same time, based on the exploits of travelers like Ibn Battuta point to the Islamic world that pervaded the Indian Ocean. The traveler also stated that the Indian Ocean was an interconnected and multiethnic world. Another instance of the ocean’s interconnectedness is depicted by the fact that the oceans served as the most crucial trade network for goods such as textiles, gems, and silk. The Julfans were sort of aliens since they had long been displaced from their home regions. This lack of identity allowed them to be well-traveled and develop international trade connections. The Julfans were also Christians, which meant that other warring religions perceived them as being neutral. The Indian Ocean was the first place that these purveyors established settlements, and the ocean served as the hub of Julfan trade operations. Due to their interactions with people from different ethnic backgrounds, the Julfans acted as cross-cultural brokers, primarily through translating for traders from various nationalities. Hence, the Indian Ocean was a cultural hub that brought different cultures together, albeit Islam was the dominant religion. These cultural elements and events were one of the things that bound the Indian Ocean basin together.
Despite the interconnectedness that defined the Indian Ocean, there were factors that threatened to fracture this system. For one, the slave trade became a booming trade activity, whereby African slaves would be sent to Arab countries. Scholars estimate that more than 800000 slaves were expected from the East African coast to Islamic countries in the nineteenth century. Considering the mortality on slave ships and during slave raids, East Africa lost a considerable amount of manpower. Even after the abolition of the slave trade in the Indian Ocean world, ex-slaves continued to face the stigma. Furthermore, one must consider that the growing interest in the Indian Ocean exposed African countries to the eventual fate of colonization, which would compromise the interconnectedness of the ocean region. This created room for racism, whereby people with darker skin were looked down upon by the Europeans. The Dutch and the British, for instance, formed a white caste that was the ruling class. Therefore, as much as the Indian Ocean was an interconnected world that constituted different cultures and ethnicities, this connected system faced threats. One of these threats was the slave trade, which separated many Africans from the other players in the region.
In conclusion, the Indian Ocean is defined as a cultural and economic hub that saw the interaction of people from different cultures and countries. The ocean world has a deep history of activities like the slave trade and other forms of trade that signified how the region was connected to the rest of the world. However, this connection was threatened by the slave trade, whereby Africans were the targets of ownership from foreigners. Furthermore, trade along the coastline opened the door to colonization and the racism associated with the phenomenon. Nonetheless, one cannot take away from the fact the Indian Ocean was an economic and cultural hub that yielded things like trade networks, languages, and other modes of communication.
References
Alpers, Edward A. The Indian Ocean in world history. Oxford University Press, USA, 2014.
Aslanian, Sebouh David. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean: the global trade networks of Armenian merchants from New Julfa. Vol. 17. Univ of California Press, 2011.
Curtin, Philip D. Cross-cultural trade in world history. Cambridge University Press, 1984.
Pearson, Michael. “Communication in the early modern Indian Ocean world.” Transforming Cultures eJournal 4, no. 2 (2009).
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