The Impact of the Interaction of Religion and Trade with Civilizations in 500-1500 - Essay Example

of Lecturer] History and Political Science The Impact of the Interaction of Religion and Trade with Civilizations in 500-1500 Introduction Trade and religion are two of the major factors that played crucial roles in causing and shaping the direction of early civilization in the period between the sixth and the sixteenth centuries. Many historians and authors attest to this fact in the many primary and secondary literary sources available. One of the authors that have vastly covered early civilization, its causes, and effects is Robert W. Strayer. In his book “Ways of the World: A Brief Global History,” Strayer covers a wide range of topics critical to the understanding of world history, particularly civilization, the rise and fall of early empires, and the effects of religion, trade, and agricultural revolution on these historical periods. In the first three chapters of his book, Strayer discusses the first people, religion, and civilization in reference to cities, states, and the then unequal societies. In chapter eight, the author discusses commerce and its interactions with culture in the 500-1500 period. In chapters 10 and 11, the author covers the European Christendom and the worlds of Islam. In these two chapters, the role of religion in early civilization becomes rather apparent. In fact, the role of Islam in spreading early civilization to Africa and Eurasia is a core focus of chapter 11 while chapter 10 focuses on the connected and divided European Christendom and its influence on civilization and globalization. This paper explores the impacts of religion and trade on civilization and empires in 500-1500. Trade and Religion Impact on Civilization Trade, more so the Atlantic slave trade was of great influence and significance to early civilization in places such as the Mesopotamia and Europe and its subsequent spread to other parts of the globe. However, this slave trade was just among the many trades, trade routes, and networks that would eventually shape world civilization between 1450 and 1750. For instance, through trade, Europeans were able to venture into the Indian Ocean’s spice trade even as the American silver promoted European participation in the East Asian trade. Trade also allowed changed business as a human activity interacted with the natural environment through exploitation of natural resources such as fur and spices. Civilization also increased and spread through long distance trade in which the Europeans had become increasingly prominent although other regions also took part in this trade in the 500-1500 period. In addition to trade and religion, the other factor that promoted globalization and civilization between 500 and 1500 was empire building, which in turn depended on trade and religion for prosperity and expansion. As a result of the trade routes and networks, a new single world was created from the many pre-modern old worlds, which hitherto existed alone. Quite influential on the early civilization was the European-Asian trade, which provided commercial connections between the continents. Through the efforts of traders and navigators such as Columbus and Vasco Da Gama, trade routes to Asia were sought, driven by the desire for spices and other items from Asia in Europe. Consequent to these opening trade routes with Asia and the Eastern lands, the European early civilization managed to recover from the Black Death it had suffered and the European monarchies then started to rule more effectively as they interacted with Asia and other Eastern traders. Since trade also led to the acquisition of weapons such as gunpowder and other weapons, empires gathered more skills and weapons, resulting in significant military upsurge (Strayer, P. 123). With increased trade, more marketplaces became major local and international trade centers, prompting the emergence of more cities, powerful empires, and capitalist economies. It should however not be assumed that these early traders had few or no problems, more so during their movements by land or by sea. In fact, the Indian Ocean trade network had quite a number of challenges that hindered the flow of people and goods, thus derailing globalization and civilization. First among these problems was that the Muslim world wanted and managed to control trade supplies through the route, hindering trade movements to other regions. Intermediaries such Venice were also resented by other traders who would sometimes shy off from certain routes and opt for others. Therefore, while trade promoted early civilization and its spread throughout the world, certain commercial practices and empires derailed trade due to the numerous trade barriers, greed, and their need to control trade routes, thus derailing and delaying globalization and civilization. Among the early empires and civilizations that trade created was the Portuguese Empire of commerce, which immensely benefitted from the diverse and rich Indian Ocean trade. Although the Portuguese lacked quality goods to exchange with other traders, they took to piracy on the sea lanes and grabbed goods from traders with their ships, which had arms such as cannons and were easier to maneuver. Among the bases that the Portuguese built as a result of their piracy and trade in the Indian Ocean trade route include Malacca, Macao, Mombasa, Hormuz, and Goa. Consequent to the flourishing Indian Ocean trade, the Portuguese created a trading post empire with the objective of controlling commerce rather than territories. This trading post empire was run by force and not by economic prowess or competition. In fact, at its height, the Portuguese trade empire controlled half the spice trade route in Europe. Later, the Portuguese Empire would assimilate her Indian Ocean trade partners and soon started ferrying Asian goods to Asian ports. Some Portuguese even settled Asian and African seaports. The other empire and civilization created by early trade was Spain, which challenged the Portuguese control of the control of the Asian trade. The Spaniards first established a base in the Philippines. Although the Philippines were in small and competitive chiefdoms, the Spaniards managed to established full colonial control over them for a period running up to 1650. Because of the Spanish invasion and the interactions of Spanish settlers and Filipino elite, and trade and stiff competition from Muslim traders, Manila turned into large trade and cultural center with a rather diversified population and economic base. In addition to commerce, religion played a decisive role in causing and spreading civilization and globalization. Among the major religions that caused and spread civilization are Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Confucianism, Taoism, and Islam. Among the empires and civilizations that were established due to trade and religion include the Ottoman, the Mughals, and the India Empires, all of which had land- and sea-trading routes, which prompted their economic growth and religious expansion to hitherto unopened lands. As these empires occupied and converted uncharted lands such as Greece, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and parts of Egypt to their religions, they expanded their trade as well. In addition, the religious centers they set up later turned into urban centers and cities as people begun to settle in uninhabited areas. The development and interactions of cultures also led to the emergence of Muslim Empires, more so from the Turkic nomadic cultures, which had unfulfilled religious desires, enthusiasm, and crave to convert others to Islam. While the Ottomans were a mix of Muslims (mostly Sunni Muslims) and Christians, the Mughals were non-Muslims who practiced the same belief as the Muslims (Strayer, P. 231). Because of these religions, these empires were raised to greater heights, which also caused and spread early civilization to other lands. All these religions were equally important to the empires and their prosperity and civilization as new religions brought with them new ideas, cultures, and trade items. Nonetheless, the religions most important to the Ottoman Empire were Islam, Christianity, and the Jewish religion since churches, mosques, and temples became impressive and great pieces of architecture and centers, which regulated activities under the watch of the governments. Further, these worship centers controlled significant activities and arts such as ceramics, poetry, architecture, carpet manufacturing, thus leaving a lasting legacy and civilization. Religion and civilization thus interacted in quite a number of ways. In fact, there were instances in which modernity posted a lot of challenges to these religions. For instance, with the coming of more advanced thinkers and scholars, there was a spreading belief that supernatural religion would eventually be extinct and would not be useful in solving scientific and technological problems. Thus, with increased intelligence and advanced thinking, religious beliefs and practices sharply declined in certain areas. What is more, the emergence and spread of scientific revolution, inventions, and culture convinced many people, particularly the minorities that things that could be measured scientifically were the only realities that should have been considered. In spite of these civilization challenges to religion, the major world religions such as Christianity and Islam continued to spread and with their spread, the already achieved civilization reached other regions. In addition, these religions experienced resurgence in new forms and denominations, and continued their attacks on the elements of a secular and global modernity. The influence of religion on civilization is mainly evident in the major divisions of civilization namely the Sinic, Japanese, Hindu, Islamic, Orthodox, Christian/Western, African, and Latin American civilizations. From these divisions, the role of religion in causing and spreading civilization and empires is quite obvious. While Sinic civilization occurred within the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean communities of Southeast Asia, the Japanese civilization was quite distinct rent from the rest of Asia. The Hindu civilization on the other hand was unique for the Indians. Islamic civilization originated in the Arabian Peninsula and spread across the Arab, Iberian Peninsula, Central Asia, North Africa, Turkic, Persian, and Malay. Finally, Orthodox and Western originated in Russia and Europe and North America respectively and were correspondingly influenced by the Orthodox and Christian religions. Trade and religion are thus two crucial forces, which helped in shaping world civilization between the sixth and the sixteenth centuries. In fact, even in contemporary society, trade and religion continue to interact between themselves and with globalization and civilization to directly and indirectly affect peoples’ lives. What is important is that people understand and appreciate the nature and the possible effects of these relationships among trade, religion, civilization, and globalization. For example, it is good to know when religion and trade conflict and when their interaction furthers not only civilization but also the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge and truth. Unlike the common perception and belief that religion and civilization, more so scientific and technological advancements must always clash, historical and current evidences show that the two have constantly supported each other. In fact, instance abound in which religion and civilization share many aspirations, ideas, methods, objectives, and a tradition of dialogue. Religious people are thus advised against ignoring civilization, science, and globalization and instead consider the possible positive effects that they may have on one another. That is, even as religious people interpret their cultures, beliefs, customs, and literatures, they should be guided by the contemporary state of demonstrable knowledge, technology and civilization. Conclusion Trade and religion are two of the most influential factors that affected early civilization and globalization, particularly in the 500-1500 period during which many empires came up and flourished. As empires such as the Ottoman and the Indian Empires prospered and expanded, religion was a rather instrumental factor as it was an integral part of society and government. Through trade, empires amassed wealth and power/weapons with which they expanded. The desire to spread their religions and convert as many people as possible also helped civilization to spread to far lands. Thus contrary to most stereotypical perceptions, religion and civilization have had a positive relationship in historical and current times Work Cited Strayer, R. W. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, Volume 1, 2011. Bedford/St. Martins Read More