Trade Routes in Early Southeast Asia SEA ROUTE (PART 2)

Case Study: Marco Polo’s Sea Journey What can we learn about the attractiveness of the maritime route from Marco Polo’s sea journey back home?

Why did Marco take the sea route back home instead of Silk Road?

Why? Wasn’t there the Mongolian Empire? The land route to China grew increasingly dangerous after the end of his journey Why? Wasn’t there the Mongolian Empire? A Mongolian coin commemorates Marco Polo’s Visit to The Court of Kublai Khan

The land route became dangerous as it was blocked by warfare between Mongol factions. A sea journey was considered safer. Why was there warfare? Wasn’t there the Mongolian Empire? Camels along Silk Road

Case Study: Marco Polo’s Sea Journey What can we learnt about spices from Marco Polo’s sea journey back home?

1. Can you identify these items? Class Discussion 1. Can you identify these items? 2. What are they used for? Cloves Ginger Nutmeg Cinnamon Pepper Corns Star Anise

Various Uses Preserve Food: Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger inhibit mold and bacteria in cookies and cakes Flavor: Star Anise is an ingredient of the traditional five-spice powder of Chinese cooking Medicine: Cinnamon cures cold and diarrhoea Freshen Breaths: Wealthy ladies used to keep spices in lockets around their necks so they could freshen their breaths easily

Particularly in Europe, though, food came to matter most Particularly in Europe, though, food came to matter most. Spices preserve, and they also make the poorly preserved palatable, masking the appetite-killing stench of decay. After bad harvests and in cold winters the only thing that kept starvation at bay was heavily salted meat-with pepper. And there was never enough of it. When the Mary Rose, an English ship that sank in 1545, was raised from the ocean floor in the 1980s, nearly every sailor was found with a bunch of peppercorns on his person, the most portable store of value available.

What can you conclude about the value of spices?

Confused about spices’ origins Arabs controlled spices because they kept the source of the spices a secret. They did everything possible to confuse consumers about the spices' origins. They would make wild stories like the following…

A story told to Herodotus (an ancient Greek historian) “Cinnamon is found only on a mountain range somewhere in Arabia. The spices are jealously guarded by vicious birds of prey, which make their nests out of cinnamon on steep mountain slopes. We Arabs will leave out large chunks of fresh donkey meat for the birds to take back to their nests. The donkey meat will make the nests crash to the ground because it is too heavy. Then our brave volunteers will grab these nests from under the talons of their previous owners” Why do you think the Arabs made up this story instead of telling the truth?

How Cinnamon is truly made

Case Study: Marco Polo’s Sea Journey Context: Spices during Marco Polo’s time Great demand for spices due to their various uses and thus prices soared Moreover, one pound of pepper from India was traded dozens of times, before it reached Europe. Each time it was traded, the price of the pepper was increased. Each person who traded the pepper had to make a profit. Some spices like black peppers were so rare that they were often used in place of money to pay taxes, ransom, dowries and rent

Harvesting of Pepper in Southern India The principal sources for black pepper were India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Marco saw spices growing in various parts of Asia and spice trading in India Significance: Source of spices no longer a secret and Arabian monopoly of the spice trade declined

1st Port of Call: Sumatra 2nd and 3rd Port of Call: Sri Lanka and Southern India 1st Port of Call: Sumatra Marco Polo sailed through the China Sea, the Malacca Strait and the Indian Ocean on his way home to Venice.

Maluku’s reputation as the Spice Islands Banda Islands in Maluku, Indonesia was the only source of rare nutmeg for a long time

Was SEA an Emporium in the Pre-Colonial Period? How does your answer change or become improved now that we’ve covered this new information?