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6. Economic Transformations

Europeans and Asian commerce

European empires in Western Hemisphere grew out of accident: Columbus discovering Americas

Europeans in Asia: no accident

Portuguese mariner Vasco da Gama

Europeans sailing to India for first time

deliberate, systematic, century-long Portuguese effort to explore a sea route to the east

creep slowly down West African coast

around tip of South Africa

up East African coast

across Indian Ocean to India

encountered ancient and rich network of commerce from East Africa to China

aware of wealth of that network but largely ignorant of its workings

Desire for tropical spices

immediate motivation

examples

cinnamon

nutmeg

mace

cloves

pepper

used for condiments, preservatives, medicines, aphrodisiacs

other products

Chinese silk

Indian cottons

rhubarb for medicinal purposes

emeralds

rubies

sapphires

Population recovery

general recovery of European civilization after Black Death in 15th

Europe population growing again

national monarchies (Spain, Portugal, England, France) learning to:

tax subjects more effectively

build substantial military forces with gunpowder weapons

growth of cities

some became centers of international commerce

gave both to economies based on:

market exchange

private ownership

accumulation of capital for further investment

Eastern goods to Mediterranean

through Middle East from Indian Ocean trade network

from viewpoint of Europe: several major problems

source of supply for much-desired goods comes from Muslims (most immediately in Egypt)

Venice largely monopolized European trade in Eastern goods

annually sent convoys of ships to Alexandria in Egypt

Venice resented Muslim monopoly on Indian Ocean trade

other Europeans disliked relying on Venice and Muslims

religious and political motivations for Portuguese to attempt sea route to India

bypassing Venice/Muslim intermediaries/monopoly

join with mysterious Christian monarch (Prester John) who ruled somewhere in Asia or Africa to continue Crusades/combat common Islamic enemy

Paying for Eastern goods

few European products were attractive in Eastern markets (economically less-developed)

Europeans required to pay cash (gold or silver)

contributed to intense desire for precious metals

attracted early modern European explorers, traders, conquerers

Portuguese voyages along West African coast seeking direct access to African goldfields

silver deposits in Mexico and Bolivia were temporary solution

Portuguese empire of commerce

Conditions

Vasco de Gama and successors sailed into Indian Ocean commercial network: nothing like anything they’ve seen

vast in geographic extent and in diversity

East Arabs, Persians, Indians, Chinese, others

most Muslim, but also Hindu Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Chinese

European trade goods were crude and unattractive

Indian Ocean merchant ships were not heavily armed, lacked onboard cannons of Portuguese

no major power to dominate

smaller-scale merchants traded openly, but piracy was sometimes a problem

Takeover

ships could outgun and outmaneuver competing naval forces

onboard cannons could devastate coastal fortifications

established fortified bases at key locations within Indian Ocean world

Mombasa in East Africa

Hormuz at entrance to Persian Gult

Goa on west coast of India

Malacca in Southeast Asia

Macao on south coast of China

obtained forcibly against small and weak states

e.g. Mombasa: commander of Portuguese fleet responded to local resistance by burning and sacking, seizing large quantities of cotton and silk textiles, carpets

exception: Macao: bribery and negotiations with Chinese authorities

Trading post empire

aimed to control commerce, not large territories or populations

did so by force of arms instead of economic competition

Portuguese king called self “Lord of the Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India”

authorities tried to require all merchant vessels to purchase a cartaz (pass) and pay duties of 6-10% on cargoes

partially blocked Red Sea route to Mediterranean

for about a century: monopolized the highly profitable route around Africa to Europe

never succeeded in controlling more than about half the spice trade to Europe

mid-16th - 18th: older routes by both land and sea through Ottoman into Mediterranean were revived and prospered

Ancient patterns

failed to dominate Indian Ocean commerce, gradually assimilated to ancient patterns

heavily involved in “carrying trade”

transporting Asian goods to Asian ports

selling shipping services since they largely could not sell goods

Portuguese were outnumbered by Asian traders

many married Asian women

hundreds of Portuguese escaped control of their government

settled in Asian or African ports

learned local languages

sometimes converted to Islam

become one more group in the diverse trading culture

Decline

by 1600

overextended

rising Asian states actively resisted Portuguese commercial control

Japan

Burma

Mughal India

Persia

Oman Sultanate

other Europeans also gradually contested Portugal’s efforts to monopolize spice trade to Europe

unwilling to accept dominant Portuguese role in Indian Ocean

Spain and the Philippines

Conditions

Spanish were first to challenge Portugal’s position

established selves on Philippine Islands

named after Spanish king Philip II

archipelago of thousands of islands

occupied by culturally diverse peoples

organized in small, highly competitive chiefdoms

local chief later told Spanish: “There is no king and no sole authority in this land; but everyone holds his own view and opinion, and does as he prefers”

some chiefdoms involved in tribute trade with China

small number of Chinese settlers in port towns

region of little interest to China and Japan (major powers in area)

conditions

proximity to China and Spice Islands

small and militarily weak societies

absence of completing claims

Takeover

outright colonial rule, not an imitation of Portuguese trading post empire

accomplished largely from Spanish Mexico

conquest and colonization involved

small-scale military operations

gunpowder weapons

local alliances

gifts and favors to chiefs

pageantry of Catholic ritual

contributed to relatively easy and often-bloodless Spanish takeover of islands in century or so after 1565

Features

features of Spanish colonial practice in Americas

major missionary effort turning Filipino society into only major outpost of Christianity in Asia

also opened new front in long encounter of Christendom and Islam

southern island of Mindanao: Islam gaining strength

ideology of resistance to Spanish encroachment for 300 years

remains contested parts of Philippines

people living in scattered settlements persuaded or forced to relocate to more concentrated Christian communities

tribute, taxes, unpaid labor

large landed estates emerged

owned by Spanish settlers, Catholic religious orders, or prominent Filipinos

women now displaced by male Spanish priests

previously major roles as ritual specialists, healers, midwives

ceremonial instruments deliberately defiled and disgraced

Response

short-lived revolts

flight to interior mountains

flee to Malina: new capital of colonial Philippines

by 1600: flourishing, culturally diverse (over 40,000 people)

home to many Spanish settlers and officials, growing numbers of Filipino migrants

attracted 3,000 Japanese

attracted 20,000 Chinese

traders, artisans, sailors

Chinese became essential element in Spanish colony’s growing economic relationship with China

economic prominence and resistance earned Spanish hostility and discrimination

periodic Chinese revolts followed by expulsions and massacres

1603: Spanish killed about 20,000 people, nearly entire Chinese population of island

East India companies

Dutch and English

entered Indian Ocean commerce in early 17th

quickly overtook and displaced Portuguese

often by force

competed vigorously with each other

16th: Dutch highly commercialized and urbanized

English envied business skills and maritime shipping operations

organized through private companies

raise money and share risks among substantial number of merchant investors

received charters from their respective governments

granted trading monopolies

power to make war and govern conquered peoples

Dutch: islands of Indonesia

English: India

similar French company in Indian Ocean basin (started 1664)

Dutch East India Company

in region of fragmented and weak political authority

control shipping and production of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace

seized control of number of small spice-producing islands

forced people to sell only to Dutch

destroyed crops of people who refused

Banda Islands (famous for nutmeg)

killed, enslaved, or left to starve virtually entire population (15,000)

replaced with Dutch planters using slave labor force from other parts of Asia

in 17th: able to monopolize trade in nutmeg, mace, cloves, sell spices in Europe and India 14-17x the price they paid in Indonesia

Dutch profits soared; Spice Islands local economy shattered, people impoverished

British East India Company

less well-financed and less commercially sophisticated than Dutch

fell back on India, established three major trading settlements in 17th

Bombay (now Mumbai) on west coast

Calcutta and Madras on east coast

British naval forces gained control of Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, largely replacing Portuguese

on land: no match for Mughal Empire

unable to practice “trade by warfare” like Dutch in Indonesia

secured trading bases with permission of Mughal authorities/local rulers

substantial payments and bribes as price of admission

when some independent English traders plundered Mughal ship in 1636, local authorities detained British officials for two months, forced to pay whopping fine

pepper and other spices important but more focus on Indian cotton textiles

becoming widely popular in England, American colonies

hundreds of villages in interior southern India became specialized producers

Both

became heavily involved in trade within Asia, just like Portuguese

profits from “carrying trade” enabled purchase of Asian goods without paying in gold or silver from Europe

began to deal in bulk goods for mass market

pepper

textiles

later tea and coffee

second half of 18th: slowly evolved into more conventional form of colonial domination

British ruled India

Dutch controlled Indonesia

both were join-stock companies

allowed investors to limit risk taken in business ventures

still enjoy benefits of success

granted royal charters (permission to form company by monarchy)

great latitude to investors and employees

companies could form own armies and print own money

Asians and Asian commerce

European presence less significant in Asia than in Americas or Africa

European political control limited to Philippines, parts of Java, few Spice Islands

Siam (small Southeast Asian state) able to expel French in 1688

outraged by aggressive religious efforts at conversion

their plot to extend French influence

to great powers of Asia (Mughal India, China, Japan): Europeans represented no real military threat, minor roles in their large and prosperous economies

Japan

Support of Europeans

when Portuguese traders, missionaries first arrived (followed by Spanish, Dutch, English), Japan plagued by frequent conflict

among daimyo (numerous feudal lords) each with own samurai

European newcomers found hospital welcome; aspects were useful or attractive to various elements in Japan’s fractious and competitive society

military technology

shipbuilding skills

geographic knowledge

commercial opportunities

religious ideas

second half of 16th: growth of substantial Christian movement (300,000 converts, Japanese-led church)

Removal of Europeans

early 17th: series of military figures unified Japan politically under shogun (supreme military commander from Tokugawa clan)

with end of Japan’s civil wars, successive shoguns began viewing Europeans as threats to newly established unity rather than opportunity

expelled Christian missionaries

violently suppressed practice of Christianity

execution, often under torture, of some 62 missionaries, thousands of converts

Japanese forbidden from traveling abroad

banned most European traders

exception: Dutch at single site (appeared less interested in spreading Christianity)

Closed Country Edict (1635) limited trade only to artificial island of Dejima (rented by Dutch)

allowed Japan to remain connected with advances in Western technology, medicine

cultural exchange with Dutch called Rangaku (Dutch learning)

helped Japan’s rapid and successful modernization in 19th

1650-1850: largely closed off from emerging world of European commerce

maintained trading ties to China, Korea, Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

early 17th: large number of Japanese traders began operating in Southeast Asia

behaved like Europeans: frequently used force to support commercial interests

Tokugawa shogunate explicitly disavowed responsibility for or connection with these merchants

lacked support from government that Europeans received

Other Asian merchants in Indian Ocean

despite European naval dominance

many benefited from upsurge in seaborne commerce

Arab, Indian, Chinese, Javanese, Malay, Vietnamese

long-term movement of Chinese merchants into Southeast Asian port cities continued into early modern era

enabled Chinese to dominate growing spice trade between Southeast Asia and China

Southeast Asian merchants (many women) continued tradition of involvement in international trade

Malay proverbs from 16th: “teaching daughters how to calculate and make a profit”

overland trade within Asia wholly in Asian hands, grew considerably

New Julfa near capital of Safavid: Christian merchants originally from Armenia

active in commerce linking Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, India

few travelled as far as Philippines and Mexico

tens of thousands of Indian merchants and moneylenders lived throughout Central Asia, Persia, Russia

mostly Hindus representing sophisticated family firms

connected this vast region to markets in India

continued to operate successfully even as Europeans militarized seaborne commerce of Indian Ocean

large and wealthy family firms were able to monopolize buying and selling of particular products

e.g. headed by Virji Vora in 17th

often only source of loans for cash-strapped Europeans

forced them to pay interest rates as high as 12-18% annually

Europeans had little choice

products like pepper and coral

could dictate terms and prices to European trading companies

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