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DBQ (Portuguese Trade)

Since the age of exploration in the fourteen hundreds, the Portuguese have traveled to many different lands like Latin America and Japan. In the fithteen hundreds the Portuguese hve been trading in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese have transformed maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, many different ways. One way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is that they are taking control of the Malebra Coast and the Arabian sea from Muslim merchants. Another way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is the fact that they monopolized the spice trade in the Indian Ocean. Lastly, another way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is that the Portuguese controlled the channels that all the other merchants used to get to other ports.

One way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is that they are taking control of the Malebra Coast and the Arabian sea from Muslim merchants. In 1500 ce, a Muslim merchant was talking to the Hindu ruler of a city in the Malabar Coast called Calicut, in document one. The Muslim merchant didn’t like that the Portuguese were taking control of Malabar Coast and its ports. The Muslim merchant states that the Portuguese weren’t there to only trade but rather to take over Malabar coast. The Muslim merchant might be saying this to the Hindu ruler so that the rule will kick out the Portuguese and that would mean no competition for the Muslim merchant. The Muslim merchant might be right because the Portugues did take over many other places like a city in Brazil called Porto Seguro in 1500 ce. In document 2 a government official in a Portuguese trading post named, Duarte Barbosa states from his point of view that the Muslim merchants in Calicut are rich and live well, and that if it wasn’t for the Portuguese discovering Malabar that it would already be controlled by the Muslim. Also in document 2 it’s clearly saying that once the Portuguese got stronger the Muslim merchants left giving Portugal control of the Malabar Coast. In document 7 it’s clearly showing a picture of a box made for the Portuguese in a city called Gujarat off the coast of the Arabian Sea. The fact that the box looks nice and that the people of Gujarat made it for the Portuguese shows that the Portuguese clearly had power and control over the Arabian sea because they made the box for the Portuguese specifically for the Portuguese. The Portugueses clearly had control over the Malabar Coast and the Arabian Sea.

Another way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is the fact that they monopolized the spice trade in the Indian Ocean. A Portuguese official in document 3 was talking to King Sebastian about making a deal with the Ottoman Empire for free trade. He wrote the document to tell the King that in order for Portugal to monopolize the spice trade in the Indian Ocean they need to make a deal with the Ottoman Empire. This shows that the Portuguese did monopolize the spice trade in the Indian ocean. The Sultanate of Aceh in document 4 is pleading to the Ottoman sultanate to not trade with the Portuguese. The Sultanate clearly wrote this because he knew how powerful the Portuguese were and that the Muslims didn’t like the Portuguese. The Sultan states that the Portuguese took possession of their spices which meant that they didn’t have spice and that the Portuguese clearly monopolized the spice trade in the Indian Ocean. Like in document 1 the Sultanate didn’t like the Portuguese like the Muslim merchants, also the Sultanate might just be greedy like the Muslim merchants in document 1 and just want the spice trade for them self. Cesare Federici a Venetian trader in document 6 is talking about how the Portugueses trade worked in East India. He says that Arabia and Persia got the best spice because the Portugueses would buy it so cheap from Cochin. This shows how much spice and how little they could buy it for showing how they monopolized the spice trade in the Indian Ocean. The evidence from all the documents clearly show that the Portuguese were powerful and monopolize the spice trade in the Indian Ocean.

Lastly another way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is that the Portuguese controlled the Indian Ocean that all the other merchants used to get to other ports to trade. Again the Sultanate of Aceh in document 4 is talking to the Sultanate the Ottoman’s. He is talking to him because of how the Portuguese have been blocking ships at Maldives. He states a clear example of this. In 1565 an Ottoman ship from Aceh going to Istanbul was attacked at Maldives and the Portuguese took all the cargo and killed 500 muslim merchants and enslaved the rest. This is a clear sign that the Portuguese had control of the Indian Ocean that other merchant ships needed to pass to go to other ports to trade. Zainudheen Makhdoom Al Sageer a Muslim religious scholar and historian from Calicut of of the coast of the Indian Ocean in document 5. He writes a document about how the Portuguese had control of the Indian Ocean. One example of this is that he states every vessel had to pay a toll in order to pass through safely, and that if they didn’t the Portuguese would sink the vessel and take all the cargo from the vessel. He also states that the Portuguese deployed ships all over the Indian Ocean to lie in wait and then intercept any vessel. This was one way the Portuguese gained vast amounts of wealth and slaves. This clearly shows that the Portuguese were very powerful and clearly had control over the Indian Ocean.

The Portuguese have transformed maritime trade in the Indian Ocean in so many different ways. One way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is that they are taking control of the Malebra Coast and the Arabian sea from Muslim merchants. Another way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is the fact that they monopolized the spice trade in the Indian Ocean. Lastly, another way the Portuguese transformed trade in the Indian Ocean is that the Portuguese controlled the channels that all the other merchants used to get to other ports.