Book contents
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps and Charts (in Color Plates)
- Illustrations (in Color Plates)
- Figures
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Indian Ocean between Tang China and the Muslim Empire (Seventh–Tenth Century)
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Tang China and the Rise of the Silk Roads
- Chapter 2 Islam: The Conquest of Lands and Oceans
- Chapter 3 India: A Core with Four Centers
- Chapter 4 Southeast Asia: The Rise of the Srīwijayan Thalassocracy and the Javanese Kingdoms
- Chapter 5 East Africa: Dawn of the Swahili Culture
- Chapter 6 Madagascar (Seventh–Eleventh Century): Early Cultural Hybridization
- Part II Globalization during the Song and Mongol Periods (Tenth–Fourteenth Century), and the Downturn of the Fourteenth Century
- Part III From the Globalization of the Afro-Eurasian Area to the Dawn of European Expansion (Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries)
- Bibliography
- Index of Geographical Names
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Introduction
from Part I - The Indian Ocean between Tang China and the Muslim Empire (Seventh–Tenth Century)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 October 2019
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps and Charts (in Color Plates)
- Illustrations (in Color Plates)
- Figures
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Indian Ocean between Tang China and the Muslim Empire (Seventh–Tenth Century)
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Tang China and the Rise of the Silk Roads
- Chapter 2 Islam: The Conquest of Lands and Oceans
- Chapter 3 India: A Core with Four Centers
- Chapter 4 Southeast Asia: The Rise of the Srīwijayan Thalassocracy and the Javanese Kingdoms
- Chapter 5 East Africa: Dawn of the Swahili Culture
- Chapter 6 Madagascar (Seventh–Eleventh Century): Early Cultural Hybridization
- Part II Globalization during the Song and Mongol Periods (Tenth–Fourteenth Century), and the Downturn of the Fourteenth Century
- Part III From the Globalization of the Afro-Eurasian Area to the Dawn of European Expansion (Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries)
- Bibliography
- Index of Geographical Names
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Summary
The fifth and early sixth centuries saw a sharp economic decline in the Afro-Eurasian world-system. The Silk Roads towards Afghanistan and northwestern India were shut as of the end of the fifth century. This situation favored the development of maritime routes between China and the Persian Gulf, although trade activity remained limited in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of the following century. The sixth century, however, saw a revival in trade within the Eurasian sphere. It was marked by the founding of a Turkish Empire in 552 in Central Asia – in this empire, the western khānate controlled Sogdiana – and the reunification of China by the Sui dynasty in 589. During the third century, the collapse of the Han and the downturn of the Roman Empire had triggered a global recession of the world-system; the reappearance of a Chinese empire under the Sui, succeeded by the Tang in the early eighth century, relaunched a phase of overall growth. This upturn coincided with a period of climatic changes that probably played a major role: milder conditions prevailed and rainfall increased in northern China and part of Central Asia.
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- Information
- The Worlds of the Indian OceanA Global History, pp. 3 - 17Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019