May 19th: Before European Hegemony (p. 185 – 373)

1. Summary:

In the second part of the book author Janet Abu-Lughod on the importance of India, the rise to power of Egypt (especially Cairo and Alexandria), the retreat of the Chinese, and the Portuguese sweep of control of the Indian Ocean (starting the European dominance). Janet explains that the Persian Gulf route of trade lost its importance once the collapse of both neighboring parts of the world economy collapsed or suffered (mostly due to the Black Death). Instead of remaining as a major route, it became a competitor of the Red Sea – which allowed for Egypt to capture and maintain control over the access between Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Egypt established a monopoly over trading by blocking the Italians (and other Europeans) access to the Red Sea. This forced the Italians to have to dock their ships in the harbor of Egypt (within a specific period) and then were strictly watched as the unloaded their boats for trading. The Karimi merchants played a huge role in bringing eastern goods to Egypt. The Black Death hit Egypt hard because the citizens were not able to migrate out of the cities to the forests to avoid the plague, unlike Europeans citizens. The Black Death forced Egypt to become solely reliant on the India trade as their main source of wealth.

Janet then goes on to discuss the three circuits that made up Asia. These three circuits were: the western part (from the Red Sea/Persian Gulf to the southwest part of India), the middle part (from the southeastern part of India to the Strait of Malacca and Java), and the eastern part (from the Straits of Malacca and Java to the ports of southeast China). It is believed that the monsoons patterns encouraged these three circuits. Although India had the upper hand in the geographic location to dominate or play a large part in the world economy, it did not as much as it could have. This was largely due to how naturally self-sufficient India was; other countries were much more interested in buying from India, then India was with any other locations. I do not think that the Black Death had as severe an effect as the plague did on India compared to other countries and I think this was largely due to how naturally rich they were in natural resources. However, the Black Death (in part) did cause the Chinese to pull out of the Indian Ocean which led to an easy takeover by the Portuguese later on.

She then discusses how large a part China had in the world trade system. The Chinese were far more advanced in medicine, physics, mathematics, and practical technological applications than the Europeans or Middle Easterners. Some of these advances in technology include paper, steel, the discovery of gunpowder (and more advanced weaponry), silk, and porcelain. These last two became the primary manufactured good that was exported to other locations. After a change in political/country leadership combined with the Black Death, China wanted to expand the power. The solution became to start naval expansion with new ships since the Mongols had regained control over the land. The navy expansion idea failed though after they were defeated in an Annam province. This defeat combined with economic problems forced the Chinese to retreat home – thus leaving the Indian Ocean for around 70 years before the Portuguese took over.

The last chapter of the book is a review of the lessons learned by looking at the past events and how they can be related to the present and potential future conditions. She makes an interesting point that Europe did not create the world market nor did they rise to power; instead the world market already existed and they became active participants in. Also, their supposed “rise to power” can better be explained by the fall and retreat of the East. It seems if any country or society was able to move into the Indian Ocean and “sweep control” once the Chinese left – and the Europeans (really the Portuguese) were the first to act in such a manner.

2. What was interesting/what did you learn:

I think it is interesting how if the Chinese had chosen to rebuild their naval expansion or had retreated and left the Indian Ocean, they could have become the hegemonic leader, instead of Europe. I also cannot help but wonder if the Portuguese had not taken a hold of the world market, what would have happened. Before this had happened, there was no sole dominant country over the system; instead, a distribution of power and wealth was spread across a balance of countries.

3. Discussion Point:

Would the system have returned to how it was (the balance of the few core leading countries) after China left or was the system bound to change by a country (Portugal) seizing control of the market?