Write an essay that:

Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with appropriate historical evidence
Addresses all part of the question
Uses world historical context to show continuities and changes over time
Analyzes the process of continuity and change over time

2008 CCOT Essay Sample 9

Analyze the changes and continuities in commerce in the Indian Ocean region from 650 CE to 1750 CE.
The Indian Ocean has always been a power trading region, a corridor between East Africa and China
that encouraged the spread of religion, crops, languages, and people. Through the rise and fall of
powerful land and sea empires, trade routes have shifted and domination has switched hands numerous
times over history. While the goods traded have remained fairly constant, the actual traders and the
powers behind them changed from 650 C.E. to 1750 C.E.
Spices, textiles, manufactured goods, and raw goods have remained staples on the many routes that led
from the coast of Zimbabwe all the way to the ports of China. Early traders from Polynesia even traveled
to Madagascar showing the breadth of such a vast region. With the rise of the Islam and the Mongol
Empire, overseas trade slowed slightly because of the importance of the Silk Road as the main connection
between China and Europe. However, as the Mongols declined, Indian Ocean trade became of utmost
importance to the imperial kingdoms of China and the regional powers of India. Under the Ming Dynasty
especially the Chinese engaged heavily in foreign trade, eager to display their wealth with giant treasure
ships and junks that sailed the day from China through the important port of Malacca to the east coast of
India. The ships carried silks and porcelain, goods in high demand in Europe and Arabia, as well as
picking up spices and hardwoods from the Southeast Asian islands. Once in India, the majority of these
goods were sent on dhows to the Arabian Peninsula, stopping at crucial ports like Aden, and continuing on
to East Africa and the Swahili Coast states of Mogadishu, Kilwa, and Sofala. Sailing on the monsoons
and returning laden with gold and ivory from Africa, the cycle would restart when the Chinese received
these goods. Eventually with the Mughal Empire in India, coastal states like Gujurat and Calicut grew in
important with manufacturing and textile production of cotton. The powers around the Indian Ocean
remained in control fro some time until the arrival of the Europeans at the turn of the 16th century.
While Silk Road trade with Europe was high in volume, Europeans sought to cut out the Arab
middlemen and wanted direct access to Asian goods. As the tools of navigation developed and new
nation-states promoted trade and exploration, the Portuguese led the continent in the race to Asia. When
Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498 by sailing around the tip of Africa, he was greeted with mocking
laughter and derision a the poor goods he had to trade. The powerful merchants of Gujarat and
neighboring states were used to the highest quality goods and da Gamas poor attempts were met with
disdain. However, before long, the Portuguese machine took over almost all trade in the Indian Ocean,
establishing ports like Goa in India and controlling strategic areas in their imperialistic manner. Around
the same time, Britain also began its expansionist conquests and in conjunction with joint-stock
companies like the Dutch East India Company, proceeded to dominate the region as well, taking land
where it suited their purposes. The establishment of these sea empires and the cut off of foreign trade by
the later Ming did not greatly change the products traded but did affect the overall nature of the system.
Now goods were produced for the success of mercantilist economies in European countries, not the
enrichment of local powers.
While the trade routes and the goods that passed through them may not have been severely altered, the
impact of the rise of powerful European trading empires and the decline of nations like India and China
changed who benefited from Indian Ocean trade and who was specifically involved.