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Indian Ocean Trade in the 1320s

Type Event Region Asia Time 1321–1330

From 1321 to 1330, the Indian Ocean monsoon trade system linked the Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf, India's west coast, Sri Lanka, and the Swahili c…

Timeline

  1. 1321–1325Aden · YemenIn the early 1320s, ports such as Aden and Jeddah received spices, cotton cloth, and slaves from India and East Africa, then transshipped them to Alexandria in Egypt and the Mediterranean. Mamluk sultans maintained Red Sea trade security through tariffs and convoy policies; Mansa Musa's 1324 pilgrimage also spread information about West African gold through this network.
  2. 1326–1330Calicut · KeralaIn the late 1320s, Malabar ports such as Calicut and Cochin exported cotton cloth and metalware by monsoon to Kilwa and Zanzibar in East Africa, in exchange for gold, ivory, and slaves. Arab and Gujarati merchants dominated shipping, forming a polycentric, seasonal, and highly integrated trading sphere in the western Indian Ocean.

Sources