Diamond Shipwreck and Tang Shipwreck as the Milestones in the World Trade Relationship - Essay Example

Critical Analysis of “Diamond Shipwreck” and “Tang Shipwreck” as the Milestones in the World Trade Relationship Introduction The two shipwrecks mentioned in Roff Smith’s article, “Diamond Shipwreck”, and Simon Worrall’s article, “Tang Shipwreck”, provide a fragmentary view of the Indian Ocean Trade Relationship among the countries of the European continent, Middle East and the far-east Asia, during a period from the 8th century to the 17th century. Though the material evidences procured from these two shipwrecks are not sufficient enough to depict the whole trade relationship among the countries of the world, they are quite powerful as proofs to support the historians’ claims about the world trade relationship, which had been greatly influenced by the contemporary power politics of that time. The shipwrecks, being located at thousands miles of distance and occurring at an interval of nine hundred years, significantly serve as milestones in the ups and downs of power relations as well as trade relations among the countries. Shipwreck depicted by Roff Smith occurred on an unknown date in the 1533 and is located at “the beach sands of the Sperrgebiet” (Smith 3) on Namibia’s south coast, whereas Worrall’s shipwreck is located under the blue water of “the Gelasa Strait, a funnel-shaped passage between the small Indonesian islands of Bangka and Belitung” (Worrall 2). Depending on a date inscribed on one of the Changsha bowls, Worrall assumed that the shipwreck might occur on an anonymous date in the A.D. 826. The Overall Picture of Asia-Europe Trade Relationships among the Countries The material evidences found at the shipwreck site in the Java Sea fairly prove to be strong support for the historians’ claims about the Chinese commercial relationship with the Arab countries, especially with the economic powerhouse in Baghdad. Worrall claims that ‘The Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Route, which had linked China to the world, lapsed into disuse [after 878 AD]’ because of “[the Confucian] distrust of merchants and the foreign influences” (Worrall 3). The truth is that “[the Confucian] distrust of merchants and the foreign influences” was the one and only cause of the lapse of the Silk Route and the Maritime Silk Route. Rather it was one of a number of causes –such as, the Ottoman barricade and dictation, Mongol barbarism, decay of security, etc on along the Silk Route- that were remapping the political power-relationships among the countries. These reshaped power-relations among the countries were then influencing the Arab-China, Arab-Europe and, therefore, China-Europe trade relationship. Consequently, China turned inward and the European explorers were earnestly searching for an alternate route to Fareast. The European exploration of the Atlantic and the New World was motivated by a number of financial, religious and technological reasons. Following by the industrial revolution in Europe, the Age of Exploration was essentially an age of growing trade and commerce. In later half of the 15th century, the growing strife between Europe and the Ottoman Empire began to narrow the scope of trading silk and spice including incense, medicinal herbs, drugs and opium, etc through the silk route and the spice trade routes. As a response to this shrinking scope of trading along the eastward land and sea route, the Portuguese and the Spanish were motivated to opt for another two alternatives: first they were searching for an alternative route to east and Southeast Asian Markets; second, they were trying to find out markets of cheap slave-labors, other valuable goods like gold, silver, ivory, etc in the African region. Consequently, in 1418 the Portuguese began exploration along the African coast of the Atlantic. But being geared up by the Ottoman blockade on the Silk route and on other eastward sea-routes Vasco Da Gama, funded by the Spanish monarch, traveled the African Seacoast of the Atlantic and reach India in 1498. Material Evidences Procured from the Shipwrecks The shipwreck on the Namibia’s south coast, mentioned in Smith’s article, can be read as a sequel to the discovery of the Asian trade relationship, discussed by Worrall, of the time. The loss of “Bom Jesus” is a fair proof of the European practice of seafaring along the Vasco Da Gama discovered route to India. Obviously, the excavated materials: “more than 2,000 beautiful, heavy coins—mainly Spanish excelentes bearing the likenesses of Ferdinand and Isabella….a smattering of Venetian, Moorish, French, and other coinage” (Smith 4) tell much about the trade on this route. By an effort to build a relationship between the shipwreck and the archival resources that survived the earthquake in 1755 Smith attempts to date the voyage of the wrecked ‘Bom Jesus’ as Friday, the seventh of March, 1533. Indeed the coins of King Joao III excavated from the shipwreck site and the findings from historical resources such as the “Relacoes das Armadas, the so-called narratives of the fleets” which asserts that “the Bom Jesus, which sailed in 1533 and was ‘lost on the turn of the Cape of Good Hope’ (Smith 3) seem to support the researchers’ claims about the voyage of the ship. The copper ingots found at the site also supports the researchers’ claim that the ship was bound for India, with a view to trading Indian spices, silk and other materials. Also a letter unearthed by archaeologist Monteiro helps researchers to find out the date of voyage of the Bom Jesus, as Smith says: Another intriguing pointer to the Bom Jesus comes from a letter Monteiro unearthed in the royal archives. Dated February 13, 1533, it reveals that King Joao had just sent a knight to Seville to pick up 20,000 crusadoes' worth of gold from a consortium of businessmen who had invested in the fleet that was about to sail for India—the fleet that included the Bom Jesus. (Smith 3) The materials discovered from the “Tang Shipwreck” at Belitung: “White ceramicware as well as green-splashed bowls and ewers” inscribed with “Buddhist lotus symbols and motifs [for Central Asian and Persian consumers], geometric decorations and Koranic inscriptions….aimed at the Islamic market” (Worrall 4) establish the truth about the historians’ claim of the Arab-Chinese Trade along the Maritime Silk Route. The evidences obtained from the Belitung Shipwreck fairly support such claims of the historians about the Arab-China trade-relationship as well as the traded products. In an article, John Guy refers that the detailed written accounts describing the trade in the mid ninth century were recorded in the “Arabic geographical and mariner’s literature describing trade routes and the circulation of goods. In addition to providing a catalogue of place-names, they list the most desirable commodities of each port enroute” (Guy 12). One of these most compelling documentations is the “Akhbar al-sin Wa’l-Hind (c. 851), attributed to the merchant Sulayman Al-Tagir” (Guy 12). The detailed descriptions of the China-India-Arab trade were absorbed into an Arabic travel-account by Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, published in 916 as Silsilat al-Tawarikh” (Guy 12). Indeed though Worrall has failed to draw any connection between these documentations and the Tang Shipwreck, the discovery of the ship along with traded materials strongly establishes the claims of these documentations. Worrall’s “Tang Shipwreck” has another significant thing missing: the coinage system of the time. Referring to various historical resources documentations and travel-logs, Guy claims that, by the eighth century Arabic occupied the place of Persian and Malay as the principal lingua franca for the Asian maritime world and the Abbasid gold dinar assumed the status of an international currency in Indian Ocean - South China Sea trade, as Guy says in this regard: “An eighth-century Tang source speaks of Arab gold coins regularly used in trade exchanges in Guangzhou…Arab gold coins were widely accepted among the Chinese elite, judging by their appearances in Tang-period tombs and excavations” (Guy 12). But in his article Worrall fails to mention the discovery of any Arabic Gold coin among the materials found in the Tang Shipwreck. Simultaneously, the discoveries from the shipwreck on the Namibian coast tell about the changes in the Arab-Chinese Trade relationship as well as the changes in the power-politics of that age. Historians claim that the Ottomans increasingly tightened their holds and, therefore, suffocated the trade between Europe and Asia. As a result, the Europeans ensured their entrance into the Asian Market along the Vasco-da-Gama discover route. Thus both the Diamond Shipwreck and the Tang Shipwreck complementarily support a broader historical truth about the ups and downs of the world trade relationship between the 9th Century and the 17th century. Especially the discoveries from Tang Shipwreck are supposed to establish the claims of Arabic Chinese historical sources about the Arab-China trade. In this regard, Guy comments as following: This is the first medieval dhow to be identified in Southeast Asian waters; indeed to be found outside the Arabian Peninsula. In short, the Belitung provides the first archaeological evidence to confirm the claims of the Arabic sources. (Guy 13) Conclusion Indeed, the findings at the two shipwreck sites themselves are not sufficient enough to depict the whole trade relationship during their occurrences. Whereas the materials found in the Belitung shipwreck tell about the trade between the Chinese and the Arabs, Roff Smith’s article tells about the trade between Europe and India. But the changes in this east-west trade relationship are to be supported by other historical resources. For example, the worsening Christian-Muslims and Chinese-Muslims relationship and its effect on the trade along the Silk Route and the Maritime Silk Route are discovered by the historians from various resources. But the findings of the two shipwrecks provide evidential supports to the diachronically fragmented pictures of the trade relationship among the countries. Obviously, these fragmented parts of the same picture of the trade relationship of that age should be brought together by historians to build up a broader image. Works Cited Guy, John. “Early ninth-century Chinese export ceramics and the Persian Gulf connection: the Belitung shipwreck evidence”, Oriental Ceramic Society of France. 31 Jannuary, 2006. 16 October, 2012. Print. Smith, Roff. “Diamond Shipwreck”, National Geography Magazine. October 2009. October 16, 2012. Web. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/shipwreck/smith-text/1 Worrall, Simon. “Tang Shipwreck”, National Geography Magazine. June 3, 2009. October 16, 2012. Web. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/tang-shipwreck/worrall-text/1 Read More