Notes pages 484-491 The Asian Trading World and the Coming of the Europeans Main Idea: The Asian sea trading network was divided up into three zones, one controlled by the Arabs and the other two controlled by China and India, each focusing on a major center of handicraft and manufacture. · Trading system at Calicut and the ports of east Africa stretched thousands of miles from the Middle East and Africa, along Asian continent coasts · Asian sea trading network was in 3 zones each focused on major centers of handicraft and manufacture · West- Arab zone focus on glass, carpets, tapestries of the Islamic heartlands at the head of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf · India (superb cotton textiles) dominated central part of the system · China produced paper, porcelain, and silk textiles which formed the eastern pole · Other countries like Japan incorporated metals, foods, and forest products into the network · Broadest demand and highest prices were paid for spices (from Ceylon) · Long-distance trade was high priced, like spaces, as well as stones · Monsoon winds and the nature of ships and navigational instruments directed sailors around the routes in the Asian network · The Arab and Chinese had compasses and well-built ships that could cross large expanses of water; yet all preferred the coastal routes than the unpredictable seas · Red Sea and Persian Gulf were two crucial points where segments of the trade converged · When the European attempted to regulate and dominate the system, there was no central control and military forces were absent from commercial exchanges within it · Arab sailors and merchants had no sense of common cause- traded/sailed for their own livelihood and made profits for the princes or merchants who gave them money to make their expeditions possibleà similar to the Chinese · Trading vessels were ready for protection against pirate attacks in the seas Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut Main Idea: The Portuguese lacked goods to offer other than gold and silver, and therefore set about from 1507 onward to capture towns and build fortresses. Their key goal was to establish Portuguese monopoly control over key Asian products. · Portuguese weren’t prepared to tolerate the informal rules for commercial and cultural exchanges in the Asian trading complex · After a trip to Calicut, the Portuguese knew they had little other than gold and silver to exchange · In an age where prominent economic theorists called mercantilists taught a state’s power depended heavily on the amount of metals a monarch had in his coffers, a steady flow of gold to Asia was improbable · Objectionableà it would enrich and strengthen merchants and rulers from rival kingdoms and religions, particularly the Muslims · Portuguese decided to use force to extract spices and other goods from Asia · No Asian people could muster fleets able to withstand the strength of the Portuguese squadrons who appeared in the Asian waters · Portuguese forces were small but united for drive for wealth and religious converts; took advantage to break apart Asian forces · Da Gama returned on a 2nd expedition to Asian waters in 1502à forced ports on African and Indian coasts to submit to a Portuguese tribute regimeà towns refused to cooperate · Portuguese founded that sea patrols and raids weren’t sufficient to control the trade. 1507à they captured towns and build fortresses · Portuguese took Ormuz; 1510 they took Goa, then Malaccaà naval bases · Portuguese aim was to monopolize control over Asian products such as spices · Spices would be shipped- high prices Portuguese Vulnerability and the Rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires Main Idea: Despite that the profits the Dutch gained from sale of spices such as cloves, nutmeg, and mace helped to maintain Holland’s state, they eventually realized the best thing for them was to take part in the Asian trading system. · Portuguese goal never achieved; controlled some spices, but were limited · confrontation of Asian rivals, poor military discipline, out of control corruption among crown officials, and serious Portuguese shipping losses caused by overloading and pitiable design had taken a bad toll on the empire · Trading empire was not matched up for the Dutch and English · Dutch captured Portuguese port and fortress at Malacca and built a new port called Batavia · The Dutch trading empire was made up of basic components similar to the Portuguese; fortified towns and factories, warships on patrol, and monopoly control of a limited number of productsà however Dutch had better ways to monopoly control, the uprooted the plants they did not control · Dutch found that their greatest profits came from peacefully working into the long-established Asian trading system · Dutch came to rely on the fees they charged for transporting products from one area in Asia to another, also bought Asian products for profit · English also adopted the same peaceful trading patterns Going shore: European Tribute Systems in Asia Main Idea: The Europeans forced their way into the Asian trading network, while several states such as the Portuguese and the Dutch, worked to conquer places and attain control of different products and plants. · Europeans forced their way into the Asian trading network with their ships and gunsàmilitary advantages disappeared · Vastly superior numbers of Asian armies, small kingdoms could resist European inroads to their domains · Europeans learned their place in China, India, and Persia zones · Europeans were drawn inland away from their forts, factories, and war fleets in the early centuries of their expansion · Europeans, Dutch, Portuguese wanted to conquer coastal areas of Ceylon to control production and cinnamonà Dutch soon controlled coffee-growing areas · Spanish invaded the islands in 1560sà conquest of Luzon and the northern islands were facilitated by the fact that the amistatic inhabitants lived in small states the Spanish could subjugate one by one · Spanish continued to failed to conquer Mindanao · European overlords were content to let people along the shore they set up tribute regimes live in their settlements · Tribute was paid in the form of agricultural products by the peasantry under forced labor systems · New crops such as coffee and sugar cane were introduced, demands for tribute took into account the local peasants’ need to raise the crops Spreading the Faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia Main Idea: · Protestant Dutch and English weren’t that interested in converting people to Christianity during centuries of early oversea expansion, but the spread of Roman Catholicism was a primary part of the global operation of the Portuguese and Spanish · Islam arrived in much of maritime south and southeast Asia centuries before da gama’s arrival had a lot to with the unconcern or open opposition of the Portuguese · The dream of a Christian Asia joining the Iberian crusade against the Muslims was also setback by the discovery that the Hindus had a sophisticated set of religious ideas and rituals · India had a promising field for religious conversion · Franciscan and Dominican missionaries, as well as the Jesuit Francis Xavier, who were willing to minister to the poor, converted thousands · To overcome the high-caste groups they created, an Italian Jesuit named Robert di Nobili created a new strategy in which he learned new languages to read the sacred texts of the Hindus, wore the garments such as the ones of Indian Brahmans and adopted a vegetarian dietà tried to reason that he could succeed in converting the high-caste Hindus and therefore the rest of the Hindus(failed) · Di Nobili’s strategy was undoneà his rivals pointed out that the refusal of his high-caste converts to worship with untouchable Christians defied that equality of all believers before God · Conversion aside from the untouchables, occurred in isolated areas in Asia · The Asians launched a major missionary effortà friars or priests and brothers that went out to convert, became the major influences · The friars built new settlements in Iberia and the New World · Most Filipinos were converted to Catholicismà their Christianity represented their traditional beliefs and customs · People of the Filipino islands continued public bathing and ritual drinking, commune with deceased members of their families as well
The Asian Trading World and the Coming of the Europeans
Main Idea: The Asian sea trading network was divided up into three zones, one controlled by the Arabs and the other two controlled by China and India, each focusing on a major center of handicraft and manufacture.
· Trading system at Calicut and the ports of east Africa stretched thousands of miles from the Middle East and Africa, along Asian continent coasts
· Asian sea trading network was in 3 zones each focused on major centers of handicraft and manufacture
· West- Arab zone focus on glass, carpets, tapestries of the Islamic heartlands at the head of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf
· India (superb cotton textiles) dominated central part of the system
· China produced paper, porcelain, and silk textiles which formed the eastern pole
· Other countries like Japan incorporated metals, foods, and forest products into the network
· Broadest demand and highest prices were paid for spices (from Ceylon)
· Long-distance trade was high priced, like spaces, as well as stones
· Monsoon winds and the nature of ships and navigational instruments directed sailors around the routes in the Asian network
· The Arab and Chinese had compasses and well-built ships that could cross large expanses of water; yet all preferred the coastal routes than the unpredictable seas
· Red Sea and Persian Gulf were two crucial points where segments of the trade converged
· When the European attempted to regulate and dominate the system, there was no central control and military forces were absent from commercial exchanges within it
· Arab sailors and merchants had no sense of common cause- traded/sailed for their own livelihood and made profits for the princes or merchants who gave them money to make their expeditions possibleà similar to the Chinese
· Trading vessels were ready for protection against pirate attacks in the seas
Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut
Main Idea: The Portuguese lacked goods to offer other than gold and silver, and therefore set about from 1507 onward to capture towns and build fortresses. Their key goal was to establish Portuguese monopoly control over key Asian products.
· Portuguese weren’t prepared to tolerate the informal rules for commercial and cultural exchanges in the Asian trading complex
· After a trip to Calicut, the Portuguese knew they had little other than gold and silver to exchange
· In an age where prominent economic theorists called mercantilists taught a state’s power depended heavily on the amount of metals a monarch had in his coffers, a steady flow of gold to Asia was improbable
· Objectionableà it would enrich and strengthen merchants and rulers from rival kingdoms and religions, particularly the Muslims
· Portuguese decided to use force to extract spices and other goods from Asia
· No Asian people could muster fleets able to withstand the strength of the Portuguese squadrons who appeared in the Asian waters
· Portuguese forces were small but united for drive for wealth and religious converts; took advantage to break apart Asian forces
· Da Gama returned on a 2nd expedition to Asian waters in 1502à forced ports on African and Indian coasts to submit to a Portuguese tribute regimeà towns refused to cooperate
· Portuguese founded that sea patrols and raids weren’t sufficient to control the trade. 1507à they captured towns and build fortresses
· Portuguese took Ormuz; 1510 they took Goa, then Malaccaà naval bases
· Portuguese aim was to monopolize control over Asian products such as spices
· Spices would be shipped- high prices
Portuguese Vulnerability and the Rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires
Main Idea: Despite that the profits the Dutch gained from sale of spices such as cloves, nutmeg, and mace helped to maintain Holland’s state, they eventually realized the best thing for them was to take part in the Asian trading system.
· Portuguese goal never achieved; controlled some spices, but were limited
· confrontation of Asian rivals, poor military discipline, out of control corruption among crown officials, and serious Portuguese shipping losses caused by overloading and pitiable design had taken a bad toll on the empire
· Trading empire was not matched up for the Dutch and English
· Dutch captured Portuguese port and fortress at Malacca and built a new port called Batavia
· The Dutch trading empire was made up of basic components similar to the Portuguese; fortified towns and factories, warships on patrol, and monopoly control of a limited number of productsà however Dutch had better ways to monopoly control, the uprooted the plants they did not control
· Dutch found that their greatest profits came from peacefully working into the long-established Asian trading system
· Dutch came to rely on the fees they charged for transporting products from one area in Asia to another, also bought Asian products for profit
· English also adopted the same peaceful trading patterns
Going shore: European Tribute Systems in Asia
Main Idea: The Europeans forced their way into the Asian trading network, while several states such as the Portuguese and the Dutch, worked to conquer places and attain control of different products and plants.
· Europeans forced their way into the Asian trading network with their ships and gunsàmilitary advantages disappeared
· Vastly superior numbers of Asian armies, small kingdoms could resist European inroads to their domains
· Europeans learned their place in China, India, and Persia zones
· Europeans were drawn inland away from their forts, factories, and war fleets in the early centuries of their expansion
· Europeans, Dutch, Portuguese wanted to conquer coastal areas of Ceylon to control production and cinnamonà Dutch soon controlled coffee-growing areas
· Spanish invaded the islands in 1560sà conquest of Luzon and the northern islands were facilitated by the fact that the amistatic inhabitants lived in small states the Spanish could subjugate one by one
· Spanish continued to failed to conquer Mindanao
· European overlords were content to let people along the shore they set up tribute regimes live in their settlements
· Tribute was paid in the form of agricultural products by the peasantry under forced labor systems
· New crops such as coffee and sugar cane were introduced, demands for tribute took into account the local peasants’ need to raise the crops
Spreading the Faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia
Main Idea:
· Protestant Dutch and English weren’t that interested in converting people to Christianity during centuries of early oversea expansion, but the spread of Roman Catholicism was a primary part of the global operation of the Portuguese and Spanish
· Islam arrived in much of maritime south and southeast Asia centuries before da gama’s arrival had a lot to with the unconcern or open opposition of the Portuguese
· The dream of a Christian Asia joining the Iberian crusade against the Muslims was also setback by the discovery that the Hindus had a sophisticated set of religious ideas and rituals
· India had a promising field for religious conversion
· Franciscan and Dominican missionaries, as well as the Jesuit Francis Xavier, who were willing to minister to the poor, converted thousands
· To overcome the high-caste groups they created, an Italian Jesuit named Robert di Nobili created a new strategy in which he learned new languages to read the sacred texts of the Hindus, wore the garments such as the ones of Indian Brahmans and adopted a vegetarian dietà tried to reason that he could succeed in converting the high-caste Hindus and therefore the rest of the Hindus(failed)
· Di Nobili’s strategy was undoneà his rivals pointed out that the refusal of his high-caste converts to worship with untouchable Christians defied that equality of all believers before God
· Conversion aside from the untouchables, occurred in isolated areas in Asia
· The Asians launched a major missionary effortà friars or priests and brothers that went out to convert, became the major influences
· The friars built new settlements in Iberia and the New World
· Most Filipinos were converted to Catholicismà their Christianity represented their traditional beliefs and customs
· People of the Filipino islands continued public bathing and ritual drinking, commune with deceased members of their families as well