01:506:201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Ormus, Mercantilism, Kowtow
17 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Chapter 22
Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change
1. I. Introduction
1. i. Importance of Vasco de Gama
1. 1. Returned from Indies 1499 – first to find route
2. 2. Turning point in W. Europe – Portugal takes lead
2. ii. Asia not nearly as excited
1. 1. Little interest in European goods
2. 2. Little interest in converting to Christianity
3. 3. Too numerous to do anything about it
3. iii. Importance of Europe actually minimal
1. 1. Had their own domestic and regional issues to deal with
2. II. The Asian Trading World and the Coming of the Europeans
1. a. Introduction
1. i. No initial interest in European goods
1. 1. de Gama reaches Calicut, India, but no market for
goods
2. 2. Gee…we really didn’t need any cast-iron pots,
coarse cloth, or coral beads…thanks for asking
though
3. 3. Forced to give up silver for merchants to sell stuff
2. ii. Problems with Asian trade
1. 1. Little interest for goods
2. 2. Muslims already firmly embedded
1. 1. Difficulty in trading
2. 2. Resistant to conversion
3. iii. But…little did they know…they shouldn’t understand
group of smelly Europeans
2. b. Bonds of Commerce: The Asian Sea Trading Network
1. i. Asian trading network established for centuries
1. 1. West – Red Sea/Persian Gulf area
1. 1. glass, carpet, tapestry making
2. 2. Central – India
1. 1. cotton textiles
3. 3. East – China
1. 1. paper, porcelain, silk textiles
4. 4. Africa – supplied raw materials – metals, foods,
forestry
2. ii. Raw materials
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
1. 1. Long distance - usually light weight/luxury items –
spices/gems
2. 2. Short distance – rice, livestock, timber
3. iii. Routes determined by
1. 1. Weather – monsoon winds
2. 2. Coastal – unsafe open seas
4. iv. Why Europe could make progress in trade
1. 1. No central control to overthrow
2. 2. No military force protecting trade
1. 1. Exchanges relatively peaceful – each side
had something to offer
2. 2. But…they weren’t prepared for those smelly
Europeans…
3. c. Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at
Calicut
1. i. Can’t risk using all their bullion – silver/gold
1. 1. Mercantilism defined by not having bullion leave
country
2. 2. Don’t want to giver power to other nations
2. ii. Option B – take by force – now how did they do that?
1. 1. Superior vessels
2. 2. Element of surprise – figure that – trade had been
peaceful for 1000 yr
3. 3. Asians couldn’t unite
3. iii. Phases of control
1. 1. Sea patrols (aka piracy) and raids on towns
2. 2. Capture towns and build fortresses
1. 1. Malacca, Goa, Ormuz - 1510
2. 2. Naval bases
3. 3. Factories – storing of goods
4. 3. Create monopoly
1. 1. control price of spices
2. 2. licensing of merchant ships – any trader has to
register
4. d. Portuguese Vulnerability and the Rise of the Dutch and English
Trading Empires
1. i. Why weren’t the Portuguese successful – only first
decades
1. 1. Even though they cut off hands, amazingly they still
lost power
2. 2. Resistance of Asian rivals
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
3. 3. Lack of soldiers/ships
4. 4. Corruption among crown officials
5. 5. Shipping losses
1. 1. Overloading
2. 2. Poor design
2. ii. Dutch take over
1. 1. Take Malacca in early 1600s
2. 2. Set up port at Batavia – closer to source of spice
islands – Indonesia
3. 3. Why Dutch succeeded?
1. 1. Also used fortified towns, factories, warships,
monopoly
2. 2. But…more numerous/better armed ships
3. 3. Took control over all phases of production –
harvesting
4. 4. System evolved – eventually made money different
ways
1. 1. Regulated trade of other nations
2. 2. Buying Asian products and selling to other
traders
3. 3. This is a much more peaceful, happy-joy-joy
way of trading
5. e. Going Ashore: European Tribute Systems in Asia
1. i. Not the same military advantage on the interior
1. 1. Don’t have numbers or superior strategy
2. 2. Forced to kowtow to leaders
2. ii. Some go more internally though
1. 1. Dutch take over Java to control harvesting of raw
materials – coffee/spices
2. 2. Spanish take over Philippines
1. 1. Northern part divided – one at a time
2. 2. Southern part hard to take
3. iii. Set up tribute system – like in the Americas
1. 1. You can live how you want, but leaders must meet
tribute quotas
2. 2. Tribute paid by crops planted/harvested
6. f. Spreading the Faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and
Southeast Asia
1. i. Portuguese/Spanish much more excited about missionary
work than Brits/Dutch
2. ii. But…pretty hard to convert…curses…
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Asian transitions in an age of global change. Returned from indies 1499 first to find route: 2. Turning point in w. europe portugal takes lead: ii. Little interest in converting to christianity: 3. Too numerous to do anything about it: iii. Had their own domestic and regional issues to deal with: ii. The asian trading world and the coming of the europeans: a. No initial interest in european goods: 1. de gama reaches calicut, india, but no market for goods, 2. Gee we really didn"t need any cast-iron pots, coarse cloth, or coral beads thanks for asking though: 3. Forced to give up silver for merchants to sell stuff: ii. But little did they know they shouldn"t understand group of smelly europeans: b. Bonds of commerce: the asian sea trading network: i. asian trading network established for centuries, 1. West red sea/persian gulf area: 1. glass, carpet, tapestry making, 2. Central india: 1. cotton textiles, 3.
