In fact, by the time Marco Polo set out to explore East Asia in the 13th century, communities across Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean had been exchanging their wares for thousands of years in a vast network driven by the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean.

The Silk Road route was predominantly on land and crossed water ways at the Mediterranean Sea while the Indian Ocean trade route moved predominantly on water (Indian Ocean) between ports.

The Indian Ocean trade routes connected Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa, beginning at least as early as the third century BCE. Domestication of the camel helped bring coastal trade goods such as silk, porcelain, spices, incense, and ivory to inland empires, as well. Enslaved people were also traded.

Root Causes of Indian Ocean Trade In fact, knowledge of monsoon winds (when they blew at what times) was huge in making Indian Ocean trade happen. Once sailors could utilize where the monsoons were blowing at what times, they could make those winds blow their sails to wherever they wanted to go!

But despite this diversity, for the most part, especially on the Western half of the Indian Ocean basin, the trade was dominated by Muslim merchants. Why? Largely because they had the money to build ships, although we will see that in the 15th century, the Chinese state could have changed that balance completely.

The first theory is trade. The expansion of trade among West Asia, India and Southeast Asia helped the spread of the religion as Muslim traders brought Islam to the region. Gujarati Muslims played a pivotal role in establishing Islam in Southeast Asia. The second theory is the role of missionaries or Sufis.

In conclusion, the Portuguese transformed and influenced the maritime trade system in the Indian Ocean by force. They took over trading cities, destroyed Muslim trade ships, and imposed taxes to get their way. Now the Portuguese are dominant in the region and are very wealthy.