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'''Indian Ocean Trade''' has been a key factor in East–West exchanges throughout history. Long-distance trade in [[dhows]] and [[proa]]s made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from [[Southeast Asia]] to [[East Africa|East]] and [[Southeast Africa|South East Africa]] and [[Eastern Mediterranean|East Mediterranean]] in the West in prehistoric and early historic periods. Cities and states on the Indian Ocean rim focused on both the sea and the land.

==Early period==
{{further | Meluhha | Indus-Mesopotamia relations }}
[[File:Akrotiri blue monkeys.jpg|thumb|178x178px|Monkeys with S-shaped tail depicted in 18th and 17th century BCE frescoes at [[Akrotiri (prehistoric city)|Akrotiri]] on the Aegean island of Thera were recently identified as South Asian [[gray langur]]s<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Wu|first=Katherine J.|title=Painted Bronze Age Monkeys Hint at the Interconnectedness of the Ancient World|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/painted-bronze-age-monkeys-hint-interconnectedness-ancient-world-180973789/|access-date=2021-03-06|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref>]]
There was an extensive maritime trade network operating between the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Harappan]] and [[Mesopotamian]] civilizations as early as the middle Harappan Phase (2600-1900 BCE), with much commerce being handled by "middlemen merchants from [[Dilmun]]" (modern [[Bahrain]] and [[Failaka]] located in the [[Persian Gulf]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Neyland|first=R. S.|year=1992|chapter=The seagoing vessels on Dilmun seals|editor=Keith, D.H. |editor2=Carrell T.L.|title=Underwater archaeology proceedings of the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference at Kingston, Jamaica 1992|pages=68–74|location=Tucson, AZ|publisher=Society for Historical Archaeology}}</ref> Such long-distance sea trade became feasible with the development of plank-built watercraft, equipped with a single central mast supporting a sail of woven rushes or cloth.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Several coastal settlements like Sotkagen-dor (astride Dasht River, north of Jiwani), [[Sokhta Koh]] (astride Shadi River, north of [[Pasni City|Pasni]]), and Balakot (near Sonmiani) in Pakistan along with Lothal in western India, testify to their role as Harappan trading outposts. Shallow harbours located at the estuaries of rivers opening into the sea allowed brisk maritime trade with Mesopotamian cities.

=== Indo Mediterranean trade network ===
Recent archaeological study has highlighted the growing corpus of evidence supporting direct maritime contacts between bronze age egypt and India via red sea.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Scott|first1=Ashley|last2=Power|first2=Robert C.|last3=Altmann-Wendling|first3=Victoria|last4=Artzy|first4=Michal|last5=Martin|first5=Mario A. S.|last6=Eisenmann|first6=Stefanie|last7=Hagan|first7=Richard|last8=Salazar-García|first8=Domingo C.|last9=Salmon|first9=Yossi|last10=Yegorov|first10=Dmitry|last11=Milevski|first11=Ianir|date=2021-01-12|title=Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=118|issue=2|pages=e2014956117|doi=10.1073/pnas.2014956117|issn=0027-8424|pmid=33419922|pmc=7812755|hdl=10550/76877|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Scholars such a as [[Gregory Possehl|Gergory Possehl]] have also proposed maritime activities between [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley Civilization]] and [[East Africa]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Possehl|first=Gregory L.|date=4 July 2012|title=Were There Commercial Communications between Prehistoric Harappans and African Populations?|journal=Scientific Research|volume=2|pages=169–180}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Scott|first1=Ashley|last2=Power|first2=Robert C.|last3=Altmann-Wendling|first3=Victoria|last4=Artzy|first4=Michal|last5=Martin|first5=Mario A. S.|last6=Eisenmann|first6=Stefanie|last7=Hagan|first7=Richard|last8=Salazar-García|first8=Domingo C.|last9=Salmon|first9=Yossi|last10=Yegorov|first10=Dmitry|last11=Milevski|first11=Ianir|date=2020-12-17|title=Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=118|issue=2|pages=e2014956117|language=en|doi=10.1073/pnas.2014956117|pmid=33419922|pmc=7812755|issn=0027-8424|hdl=10550/76877|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The maritime activity in the eastern Indian ocean trade network had extended to include [[Japan]] as early as early [[Yayoi period]] (3rd century BCE) as evidenced by the discovery of [[Indo-Pacific beads]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Sunil|date=1999–2000|title=From Eastern Indian Ocean to the Yellow sea interaction sphere: Indo-Pacific beads in Yayoi Japan|url=http://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/84172.pdf|journal=Puratattva|volume=30|pages=93–97}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Katsuhiko|first1=Oga|last2=Gupta|first2=Sunil|date=2000-01-01|title=The Far East, Southeast and South Asia: Indo-Pacific Beads from Yayoi Tombs as Indicators of Early Maritime Exchange|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2000.9628581|journal=South Asian Studies|volume=16|issue=1|pages=73–88|doi=10.1080/02666030.2000.9628581|s2cid=191984538|issn=0266-6030}}</ref>

==Austronesian maritime trade network==
[[File:Austronesian maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean.png|thumb|[[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] [[Spice trade|proto-historic]] and [[Maritime Silk Road|historic]] maritime trade network in the [[Indian Ocean]]<ref name="Manguin2016">{{cite book|first1=Pierre-Yves |last1=Manguin|editor1-first=Gwyn |editor1-last=Campbell|title =Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World |chapter =Austronesian Shipping in the Indian Ocean: From Outrigger Boats to Trading Ships|publisher =Palgrave Macmillan|year =2016|pages=51–76|isbn =9783319338224|chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XsvDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50}}</ref>]]
The first true maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean was by the [[Austronesian peoples]] of [[Island Southeast Asia]],<ref name="Manguin2016"/> who built the first ocean-going ships.<ref name="Meacham">{{cite news |last1=Meacham |first1=Steve |title=Austronesians were first to sail the seas |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/austronesians-were-first-to-sail-the-seas-20081211-gdt65p.html |access-date=28 April 2019 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=11 December 2008}}</ref> They established trade routes with [[Southern India]] and [[Sri Lanka]] as early as 1500 BC, ushering an exchange of material culture (like [[catamaran]]s, [[outrigger boat]]s, [[lashed-lug]] and sewn-plank boats, and [[paan]]) and [[cultigen]]s (like [[coconut]]s, [[sandalwood]], [[banana]]s, and [[sugarcane]]); as well as connecting the material cultures of India and China. [[Ethnic groups in Indonesia|Indonesians]], in particular were trading in spices (mainly [[cinnamon]] and [[Cassia bark|cassia]]) with [[East Africa]] using [[catamaran]] and outrigger boats and sailing with the help of the [[Westerlies]] in the Indian Ocean. This trade network expanded to reach as far as [[Africa]] and the [[Arabian Peninsula]], resulting in the Austronesian colonization of [[Madagascar]] by the first half of the first millennium AD. It continued up to historic times, later becoming the [[Maritime Silk Road]].<ref name="Manguin2016"/><ref name="Doran1974">{{cite journal |last1=Doran |first1=Edwin, Jr. |title=Outrigger Ages |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |date=1974 |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=130–140 |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_83_1974/Volume_83%2C_No._2/Outrigger_ages%2C_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.%2C_p_130-140/p1}}</ref><ref name="Mahdi1999">{{cite book|author=Mahdi, Waruno|editor =Blench, Roger |editor2=Spriggs, Matthew|title =Archaeology and Language III: Artefacts languages, and texts|chapter =The Dispersal of Austronesian boat forms in the Indian Ocean|volume = 34|publisher =Routledge|series =One World Archaeology |year =1999|pages=144–179|isbn =0415100542}}</ref><ref name="Doran1981">{{cite book |last1=Doran |first1=Edwin B. |title=Wangka: Austronesian Canoe Origins |date=1981 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9780890961070}}</ref><ref name="BlenchFruits">{{cite journal |last1=Blench |first1=Roger |title=Fruits and arboriculture in the Indo-Pacific region |journal=Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association |date=2004 |volume=24 |issue=The Taipei Papers (Volume 2) |pages=31–50 |url=https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/BIPPA/article/viewFile/11869/10496}}</ref>

==Hellenistic and Roman period==
[[File:Periplous of the Erythraean Sea.svg|thumb|Roman trade with India according to the ''[[Periplus Maris Erythraei]]'', 1st century CE.]]
[[File:Indian ship on lead coin of Vashishtiputra Shri Pulumavi.jpg|thumb|Indian ship on lead coin of [[Vasisthiputra Sri Pulamavi]].]]
[[File:Borobudur ship.JPG|thumb|Relief panel of a ship at [[Borobudur]], 8th–9th century.]]
{{see also|Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations}}
{{Main | Indo-Roman trade relations | Periplus of the Erythraean Sea }}

Trade between India and the Greek [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] was started by [[Eudoxus of Cyzicus]] in 130 BCE. From Egypt, goods could be sent on to ports throughout the Mediterranean. The Kingdom's opening of Red Sea ports and improved knowledge of the seasonal monsoons resulted in a substantial increase in trade.

The consolidation of the administration of the [[Mediterranean]] basin under the Roman empire led to the strengthening of direct maritime trade with India and the elimination of the taxes extracted previously by the middlemen of various land-based trading routes.<ref name=Lach1>Lach 1994: 13</ref> Trade between the Roman Empire and Indiae peaked during the first two centuries of the Common Era, facilitated by the peace and prosperity that arose beginning with the reign of [[Roman Emperor]] [[Augustus]] (27 BCE – 14 CE) and ending with the [[Antonine plague]].

According to [[Strabo]]:<ref name=Strabo1>{{cite web| title = The Geography of Strabo published in Vol. I of the Loeb Classical Library edition, (II.5.12.) 1917|url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/2E1*.html}}</ref>

{{quote|At any rate, when [[Cornelius Gallus|Gallus]] was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the [[Nile]] as far as [[Aswan|Syene]] and the frontiers of [[Kingdom of Aksum]] ([[Ethiopia]]), and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from [[Myos Hormos]] to the subcontinent, whereas formerly, under the [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Ptolemies]], only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise.|Strabo}}

Strabo's mention of the vast increase in trade following the Roman annexation of Egypt indicates that the monsoon was known and utilized for trade in his time.<ref>Young 2001: 20</ref> So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the [[Kushan Empire]] (Kushans) for their own coinage, that [[Pliny the Elder]] (NH VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:<ref>"minimaque computatione miliens centena milia sestertium annis omnibus India et Seres et paeninsula illa imperio nostro adimunt: tanti nobis deliciae et feminae constant. quota enim portio ex illis ad deos, quaeso, iam vel ad inferos pertinet?" Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.</ref>

===Roman ports===
The three main Roman ports involved with eastern trade were [[Arsinoe (Gulf of Suez)|Arsinoe]], [[Berenice Troglodytica|Berenice]] and [[Myos Hormos]]. Arsinoe was one of the early trading centers but was soon overshadowed by the more easily accessible Myos Hormos and Berenice.

====Arsinoe====
[[File:Egypt-region-map-cities-2.gif|thumb|260px|right|Sites of Egyptian Red Sea ports, including Alexandria and Berenice.]]
The Ptolemaic dynasty exploited the strategic position of [[Alexandria]] to secure trade with the subcontinent.<ref name=Lindsay1>Lindsay 2006: 101</ref> The course of trade with the east then seems to have been first through the harbor of Arsinoe, the present day [[Suez]].<ref name=Lindsay1/> The goods from the [[East Africa]]n trade were landed at one of the three main Roman ports, Arsinoe, Berenice or Myos Hormos.<ref>O'Leary 2001: 72</ref> The Romans repaired and cleared out the silted up canal from the Nile to harbor center of Arsinoe on the Red Sea.<ref name=Fayle1>Fayle 2006: 52</ref> This was one of the many efforts the Roman administration had to undertake to divert as much of the trade to the maritime routes as possible.<ref name=Fayle1/>

Arsinoe was eventually overshadowed by the rising prominence of Myos Hormos.<ref name=Fayle1/> The navigation to the northern ports, such as Arsinoe-Clysma, became difficult in comparison to Myos Hormos due to the northern winds in the [[Gulf of Suez]].<ref name=Freeman1>Freeman 2003: 72</ref> Venturing to these northern ports presented additional difficulties such as [[shoals]], [[reef]]s and treacherous [[Ocean current|currents]].<ref name=Freeman1/>

====Myos Hormos and Berenice====
Myos Hormos and Berenice appear to have been important ancient trading ports, possibly used by the [[Pharaonic]] traders of ancient Egypt and the Ptolemaic dynasty before falling into Roman control.<ref name=Shaw1>Shaw 2003: 426</ref>

The site of Berenice, since its discovery by Belzoni (1818), has been equated with the ruins near [[Ras Banas]] in Southern Egypt.<ref name=Shaw1/> However, the precise location of Myos Hormos is disputed with the latig Abu Sha'ar and the accounts given in [[classical literature]] and [[satellite images]] indicating a probable identification with Quseir el-Quadim at the end of a fortified road from [[Koptos]] on the [[Nile]].<ref name=Shaw1/> The Quseir el-Quadim site has further been associated with Myos Hormos following the excavations at el-Zerqa, halfway along the route, which have revealed [[ostraca]] leading to the conclusion that the port at the end of this road may have been Myos Hormos.<ref name=Shaw1/>

===South Asian ports===
[[File:ArikameduRomanCeramic.jpg|thumb|Roman piece of pottery from [[Arezzo]], [[Latium]], found at Virampatnam, [[Arikamedu]] (1st century CE). [[Musee Guimet]].]]
The regional ports of [[Barbarikon|Barbaricum]] (modern [[Karachi]]), [[Wari-Bateshwar|Sounagoura]] (central [[Bangladesh]]) [[Bharuch|Barygaza]], Muziris in Kerala, [[Korkai]], [[Kaveripattinam]] and [[Arikamedu]] on the southern tip of present-day India were the main centers of this trade, along with [[Kodumanal]], an inland city. The [[Periplus Maris Erythraei]] describes Greco-Roman merchants selling in Barbaricum "thin clothing, figured linens, [[topaz]], [[coral]], [[storax]], [[frankincense]], vessels of glass, silver and gold plate, and a little wine" in exchange for "[[costus]], [[bdellium]], [[boxthorn|lycium]], [[spikenard|nard]], [[turquoise]], [[lapis lazuli]], Seric skins, cotton cloth, [[silk]] yarn, and [[indigo dye|indigo]]".<ref name=Periplus1/> In Barygaza, they would buy wheat, rice, sesame oil, cotton and cloth.<ref name=Periplus1/>

====Barigaza====
Trade with Barigaza, under the control of the [[Indo-Scythian]] [[Western Satrap]] [[Nahapana]] ("Nambanus"), was especially flourishing:<ref name=Periplus1>{{cite web| last = Halsall | first = Paul | title = Ancient History Sourcebook: The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century| publisher = Fordham University| url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html}}</ref>

{{quote|There are imported into this market-town ([[Barigaza]]), wine, Italian preferred, also Laodicean and Arabian; copper, tin, and lead; coral and topaz; thin clothing and inferior sorts of all kinds; bright-colored girdles a cubit wide; storax, sweet clover, flint glass, realgar, antimony, gold and silver coin, on which there is a profit when exchanged for the money of the country; and ointment, but not very costly and not much. And for the King there are brought into those places very costly vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thin clothing of the finest weaves, and the choicest ointments. There are exported from these places spikenard, costus, bdellium, ivory, agate and carnelian, lycium, cotton cloth of all kinds, silk cloth, mallow cloth, yarn, long pepper and such other things as are brought here from the various market-towns. Those bound for this market-town from Egypt make the voyage favorably about the month of July, that is Epiphi.|Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (paragraph 49).}}

====Muziris====
[[File:TabulaPeutingerianaMuziris.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Muziris, as shown in the [[Tabula Peutingeriana]], with a "Templum Augusti".]]
[[Muziris]] is a lost port city on the south-western coast of India which was a major center of trade in the ancient Tamil land between the Chera kingdom and the Roman Empire.<ref name=BBC1>{{cite news | title = Search for India's ancient city| publisher = BBC| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4970452.stm | date=11 June 2006 | access-date=4 January 2010}}</ref> Its location is generally identified with modern-day [[Cranganore]] (central Kerala).<ref>George Menachery, Kodungallur City of St. Thomas,Azhikode,1987alias Kodungallur Cradle of Christianity in India, 2000</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090803/jsp/frontpage/story_11313800.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204015251/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1090803/jsp/frontpage/story_11313800.jsp|archive-date=February 4, 2016 |title=Signs of ancient port in Kerala - Pattanam mentioned in Indian & Greek texts |last=Mudur |first=G.S. |date=August 3, 2009 |url-status =dead }}</ref> Large hoards of coins and innumerable shards of [[amphora]]e found at the town of [[Pattanam]] (near Cranganore) have elicited recent archeological interest in finding a probable location of this port city.<ref name=BBC1/>

According to the [[Periplus]], numerous Greek seamen managed an intense trade with Muziris:<ref name=Periplus1/>

{{quote|Then come Naura and Tyndis, the first markets of [[Damirica]] (Limyrike), and then Muziris and Nelcynda, which are now of leading importance. Tyndis is of the [[Chera Dynasty|Kingdom of Cerobothra]]; it is a village in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same Kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twenty stadia"|The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (53–54)}}


====Arikamedu====
The [[Periplus Maris Erythraei]] mentions a marketplace named Poduke (ch. 60), which [[G.W.B. Huntingford]] identified as possibly being [[Arikamedu]] in [[Tamil Nadu]], a centre of [[Early Cholas|early Chola]] trade (now part of [[Ariyankuppam]]), about {{convert|3|km|mi}} from the modern [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]].<ref name=Huntingford1>Huntingford 1980: 119.</ref> Huntingford further notes that Roman pottery was found at Arikamedu in 1937, and [[archeology|archeological]] excavations between 1944 and 1949 showed that it was "a trading station to which goods of Roman manufacture were imported during the first half of the 1st century AD".<ref name=Huntingford1/>

===Decline and legacy===
Following the [[Roman-Persian Wars]], the areas under the Roman [[Byzantine Empire]] were captured by [[Khosrow II]] of the [[Persian Empire|Persian]] Sassanian Dynasty,<ref>Farrokh 2007: 252</ref> but the Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]] reconquered them (628). The Arabs, led by [['Amr ibn al-'As]], crossed into Egypt in late 639 or early 640 CE.<ref name=Meri1>Meri 2006: 224</ref> This advance marked the beginning of the [[Islamic conquest of Egypt]]<ref name=Meri1/> and the fall of ports such as Alexandria,<ref name=Holl>Holl
2003: 9</ref> used to secure trade with the subcontinent by the Roman world since the Ptolemaic dynasty.<ref name=Lindsay1/>

The decline in trade saw the [[ancient Tamil country]] turn to [[Southeast Asia]] for international trade, where it influenced the native culture to a greater degree than the impressions made on Rome.<ref>Kulke 2004: 106</ref>

== Greater India Hindu-Buddhist period ==
{{ See also | Greater India | Indosphere | History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia | Indianization of Southeast Asia | Indianised kingdom | Balinese Hinduism | Buddhism in Southeast Asia | List of Hindu Empires and Dynasties }}

The [[Satavahana dynasty|Satavahanas]] developed shipping ventures in Southeast Asia.

The 8th century depiction of a wooden double [[outrigger]] and sailed [[Borobudur ship]] in ancient [[Java]] suggests that there were ancient trading links across the Indian Ocean between [[Indonesia]] and [[Madagascar]] and [[East Africa]] sometimes referred to as the 'Cinnamon Route.' The single or double outrigger is a typical feature of vessels of the seafaring [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]]s and the most likely vessel used for their voyages and exploration across Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Indian Ocean.<ref>[http://www.swahiliweb.net/ziff_journal_3_files/ziff2006-04.pdf Borobudur Ship Expedition]</ref> During this period, between 7th to 13th century in Indonesian archipelago flourished the [[Srivijaya]] [[thalassocracy]] empire that rule the maritime trade network in [[maritime Southeast Asia]] and connecting [[India]] and [[China]].

==Chinese travel==
{{See also | Silk route}}

[[File:Stellardiagram-Zhengho.jpg|thumb|left|Part of [[Zheng He]]'s [[Mao Kun map|navigation map]] providing instruction for aligning ship to travel from Hormuz to [[Kozhikode|Calicut]], 1430]]
Chinese fleets under [[Zheng He]] crisscrossed the Indian Ocean during the early part of the 15th century. The missions were diplomatic rather than commercial, but many exchanges of gift and produces were made.

==Japanese trade==
[[File:JapanesePortolanMap.jpg|thumb|left|Japanese [[Portolan chart|portolan]] sailing map, depicting the [[Indian Ocean]] and the East Asian coast, early 17th century.]]
During the 16th and 17th century, [[Japan]]ese ships also made forays into Indian Ocean trade through the [[Red Seal ship]]
system.

==Muslim period==

During the Muslim period, in which the Muslims had dominated the trade across the Indian Ocean, the [[Gujaratis]] were bringing spices from the [[Moluccas]] as well as [[silk]] from [[China]], in exchange for manufactured items such as [[textiles]], and then selling them to the Egyptians and Arabs.<ref name="Diffie">''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, hi lo millo1415–1580'' Bailey Wallys Diffie p.234''ff'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZtMBLJ7GgC&pg=PA236]</ref> [[Kozhikode|Calicut]] was the center of Indian [[black pepper|pepper]] exports to the [[Red Sea]] and [[Europe]] at this time<ref name="Diffie"/> with Egyptian and Arab traders being particularly active.<ref name="Diffie"/>

Arabic missionaries and merchants began to [[Spread of Islam#East Africa|spread Islam along the western shores of the Indian Ocean]] from the 8th century, if not earlier. A [[Swahili culture|Swahili]] stone mosque dating to the 8th–15th centuries have been found in [[Shanga, Pate Island|Shanga]], Kenya. Trade across the Indian Ocean gradually introduced Arabic script and rice as a [[Staple food|staple]] in Eastern Africa.<ref>{{Harvnb|LaViolette|2008|loc=Conversion to Islam and Islamic Practice, pp. 39–40}}</ref> Muslim merchants traded an estimated 1000 African slaves annually between 800 and 1700, a number that grew to {{circa|4000}} during the 18th century, and 3700 during the period 1800–1870. Slave trade also occurred in the eastern Indian Ocean before the Dutch settled there around 1600 but the volume of this trade is unknown.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview2">{{Harvnb|Allen|2017|loc=Slave Trading in the Indian Ocean: An Overview, pp. 295–299}}</ref>

In Madagascar, merchants and slave traders from the Middle East (Shirazi Persians, Omani Arabs, Arabized Jews, accompanied by Bantus from southeast Africa) and from Asia ([[Gujaratis]], [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malays]], [[Javanese people|Javanese]], [[Bugis]]) were sometimes integrated within the indigenous Malagasy clans<ref>Larson, 2000</ref><ref name="Larson">{{cite book | last = Larson | first = Pier M. | year = 2000 | title = History and Memory in the Age of Enslavement. Becoming Merina in Highland Madagascar, 1770–1822 | publisher = Social History of Africa Series. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, 414 p. | isbn = 0-325-00217-7}}</ref> New waves of [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] migrants arrived in [[Madagascar]] at this time leaving behind a lasting cultural and genetic legacy.<ref>Lawler. "Ancient crop remains record epic migration to Madagascar". ''Science'': 30 May 2016</ref>

==European colonial exploration period==
{{ see also | Chronology of European exploration of Asia | l1= European exploration of Asia }}

===Portuguese period===
{{Further|Portuguese India|Cape Route}}
[[File:Descobrimentos e explorações portuguesesV2.png|thumb|250px|[[Portuguese discoveries]] and explorations: first arrival places and dates]]
The Portuguese under [[Vasco da Gama]] discovered a naval route to the Indian Ocean through the southern tip of [[Africa]] in 1497–98. Initially, the Portuguese were mainly active in [[Kozhikode|Calicut]], but the northern region of [[Gujarat]] was even more important for trade, and an essential intermediary in east–west trade.<ref name="Diffie"/>

European slave trade in the Indian Ocean began when Portugal established [[Portuguese India|Estado da Índia]] in the early 16th century. From then until the 1830s, {{circa|200}} slaves were exported from Mozambique annually and similar figures has been estimated for slaves brought from Asia to the Philippines during the [[Iberian Union]] (1580–1640).<ref name="Allen-2017-overview2"/>

[[File:Anonymous Venetian orientalist painting, The Reception of the Ambassadors in Damascus', 1511, the Louvre.jpg|thumb|left|Reception of Venetian ambassadors in [[Damascus]] in the time of [[Qaitbay]].]]
Venetian interests were directly threatened as the traditional trade patterns were eliminated and the Portuguese became able to undersell the Venetians in the spice trade in Europe. Venice broke diplomatic relations with Portugal and started to look at ways to counter its intervention in the Indian Ocean, sending an ambassador to the Egyptian court.<ref name="Diffie230">''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580'' Bailey Wallys Diffie p.230''ff'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZtMBLJ7GgC&pg=PA230]</ref> Venice negotiated for Egyptian tariffs to be lowered to facilitate competition with the Portuguese, and suggested that "rapid and secret remedies" be taken against the Portuguese.<ref name="Diffie230"/> The Mamluks sent a fleet in 1507 under [[Amir Husain Al-Kurdi]], which would fight in the [[Battle of Chaul]].<ref name="Diffie230"/>

The Ottomans tried to challenge Portugal's hegemony in the Persian Gulf region by sending an armada against the Portuguese under Ali Bey in 1581. They were supported in this endeavor by the chiefs of several local principalities and port towns such as [[Muscat, Oman|Muscat]], [[Gwadar]], and [[Pasni (city)|Pasni]]. However, the Portuguese successfully [[Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1580–89)|intercepted and destroyed the Ottoman Armada]]. Subsequently, the Portuguese attacked Gwadar and Pasni on the [[Mekran]] Coast and sacked them in retaliation for providing aid and comfort to the enemy.

===Dutch and English period===
[[File:Fortress of Hormuz.jpg|thumb|The island of Hormuz was captured by an Anglo-Persian force in the 1622 [[Capture of Ormuz (1622)|Capture of Ormuz]].]]
During the 16th century the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] had established bases in the [[Persian Gulf]]. In 1602, the Iranian army under the command of [[Imam Quli Khan (governor)|Imam-Quli Khan]] [[Undiladze]] managed to expel the Portuguese from [[Bahrain]]. In 1622, with the help of four English ships, Abbas retook [[Hormuz Island|Hormuz]] from the Portuguese in the [[Capture of Ormuz (1622)|capture of Ormuz]]. He replaced it as a trading centre with a new port, [[Bandar Abbas]], nearby on the mainland, but it never became as successful.

The establishment of the [[Dutch East India Company]] in the early 17th century lead to a quick increase in volume of the slave trade in the region; there were perhaps up to {{formatnum:500000}} slaves in various [[Dutch Empire|Dutch colonies]] during the 17th and 18th centuries in the Indian Ocean. For example, some 4000 African slaves were used to build the [[Fort (Colombo)|Colombo fortress]] in [[Dutch Ceylon]]. Bali and neighbouring islands supplied regional networks with {{circa|{{formatnum:100000}}–{{formatnum:150000}}}} slaves 1620–1830. Indian and Chinese slave traders supplied Dutch Indonesia with perhaps {{formatnum:250000}} slaves during 17th and 18th centuries.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview2"/>

The [[East India Company]] (EIC) was established during the same period and in 1622 one of its ships carried slaves from the [[Coromandel Coast]] to [[Dutch East Indies]]. The EIC mostly traded in African slaves but also some Asian slaves purchased from Indian, Indonesian and Chinese slave traders. The French established colonies on the islands of [[Réunion]] and [[Mauritius]] in 1721; by 1735 some 7,200 slaves populated the [[Mascarene Islands]], a number which had reached {{formatnum:133000}} in 1807. The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] captured the islands in 1810, however, and because the British had [[Slave Trade Act 1807|prohibited the slave trade in]] 1807 a system of clandestine slave trade developed to bring slaves to French planters on the islands; in all {{formatnum:336000}}–{{formatnum:388000}} slaves were deported to the Mascarane Islands from 1670 until 1848.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview2" />

In all, Europeans traders deported {{formatnum:567900}}–{{formatnum:733200}} slaves within the Indian Ocean between 1500 and 1850 and almost that same amount were deported from the Indian Ocean to the Americas during the same period. Slave trade in the Indian Ocean was, nevertheless, very limited compared to {{circa|{{formatnum:12000000}}}} slaves deported across the Atlantic.<ref name="Allen-2017-overview2" />

==See also==
{{portal|Oceans}}
{{columnslist|colwidth=22em|
* [[Ancient maritime history]]
* [[Chantal Radimilahy]]
* [[Greater India]]
* [[History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia]]
* [[Illegal drug trade in the Indian Ocean region]]
* [[Indian diaspora]]
* [[Indianised kingdom]]
* [[Indianization of Southeast Asia]]
* [[Indian Maritime History]]
* [[Indian Ocean slave trade]]
* [[Indosphere]]
* [[Maritime Silk Road]]
* [[Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew]]
* [[Winds in the Age of Sail]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite journal
| last = Allen | first = R. B.
| title = Ending the history of silence: reconstructing European slave trading in the Indian Ocean
| year = 2017 | journal = Tempo | volume = 23 | issue = 2 | pages = 294–313
| url = http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tem/v23n2/1980-542X-tem-23-02-00294.pdf | access-date = 30 June 2019
| doi = 10.1590/tem-1980-542x2017v230206 | doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal
| last = LaViolette | first = A.
| title = Swahili cosmopolitanism in Africa and the Indian Ocean world, AD 600–1500
| year = 2008 | journal = Archaeologies | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 24–49
| url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227153543 | access-date = 23 February 2019
| doi = 10.1007/s11759-008-9064-x | s2cid = 128591857
}}

{{Africa topics}}
{{Asia topics}}

[[Category:Indian Ocean trade| ]]
[[Category:26th-century BC establishments]]
[[Category:Indian Ocean| Trade]]
[[Category:History of international trade]]
[[Category:Trade routes]]
[[Category:Economic history of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Tamilakam]]

Indian Ocean trade - Revision history

UpdateBot at 18:15, 28 June 2022