12-07-2014, 07:13 PM
http://www.euleev.de/images/Beitraege/UP..._trade.pdf
History Of the Spice Trade — The Middle Ages The Muslim Age As we shall see, the early history of Islam and the resurgence of the Arabic hold on the spice trade are inexorable intertwined. To understand why we have to go back to the very beginnings of the Muslim faith.
Indeed, Muhammad's first wife, Khadijeh was the widow of a spice trader and her wealth and prestiege were a driving force behind Muhammad himself. In 622 CE (1 AH [after Hajira in the Muslem calendar]), Muhammad made his journey from the 'pagan and wicked community' of Mekka to Yathrib (modern Medina) where the peoples 'lived in accordance with the moral teachings of Islam'. Muhammad's path on this journey was prepared by the local traders who eased his way.
At Yathrib Muhammad obtained more converts and began building a powerful base for himself. This brought him into conflict with his Qurashi neighbours, quite probably as a result of a dominance struggle for the trade routes south. Desire for mastery of these trade routes brought the most significant expansion of the religion of Islam and saw its return to its homeland of Mekka.
In effect Muhammad engendereda far more aggressive and expanionist form of Islam that still respected his own interest in the spice trade. Indeed, the spice routes became one of the main ways that early Islam was exported to other lands. As Islam can only be expressed in classical Arabic this meant the export of Arabic culture and language as well as belief.
Over the next three centuries the nature of Islam solidified and crystallized so that by the tenth century CE the Qu'ran had been written and was widely distributed, the hadith had been codifeied (this is a collection of the sayings and deeds of Muhammad). The rights of Muslims and non-Muslims in a Muslim world had also been codified and though Jews and Christians had some protection as 'peoples of the book' they were still second-class citizens and if you were a true infidel then you had no protection under Muslim law. This distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim invariably led to the view of a dichotomous world where the Muslims lived in Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam [or Submission]) and everyone else dwelt in the Dar al-Harb (the House of War).
Just as Islam was fortifying itself and consolidating its identity and steps were being taken to convert more followers Arabs were also becoming more and more involved in trading. Obviously Arabs had been involved in the spice trade for millennia already, but the conversion of the Arab world to the Muslim faith brought with it a characteristic Muslim attitude to improving the spice trade. Prior to Muslim conquest most trade was indirect and created by overlapping networks of local merchants who traded exclusively in their own domains. To make the spice trade exclusively Muslim the main staging posts along the spice route were conquered my Muslim forces. This way Muslims could travel the entire length of the trade routes themselves and did not have to rely on intermediaries. This also markedly increased their ability to spread the word of both Allah and Muhammad. By the end of the tenth century the entire spice route had been converted into a Muslim spice route under the exclusive control of Arab traders.
In taking Alexandria in 641 CE and in stopping all communication with Europe by the mid eighth century the Muslim world brought down what's been termed the 'Islamic Curtain' between Europe and Asia and effectively ended the westward flow of spices with considerable consequences for Europe.
European Dark Ages This represents the period from about 641–1096 CE, the time of the 'Islamic Curtain' where all trade between Chirstian Europe and the Muslim East was curtailed. The westward flow of spices almost dried-up completely with only a few Jewish taders (who could dwell in both the Christian and Muslim worlds) briniging-in tiny amounts of very expensive spices. So expensive did these become that they could only be afforded by the very wealthy (we know that the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties were able to source cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper). By the tenth century, however, the rise of the great city states of Venice and Genoa proved an almost irresistible source of wealth to Arab traders and spiecs began to trickle into Europe via these ports.
We know little of European diets from these times. There are no recipe books and what little information comes to us originates only from the largest courts. The reality is that spices would have been extremely expensive and by-and-large Feudal Europe was to poor to afford luxuries such as spices.
Fig 1: Map showing the ancient spice route from China to the spice islands of Indonesia and from Arabia to India and then to the Spice Islands. As well as the Mediterranean routes to Europe the old raoute across North Africa is shown. Also included on the map (blue lines) is the silk road extending from the Middle East to China.
The Crusades and After This period in European history covers 1097 to 1490 CE. It represents what is probably the most successful period in the Catholic Church's history, culminating in the Christianization of all of Northern Europe. This led to a large number of warrior peoples (such as the Vikings, Slavs and Magyars) being brought into the Christian fold. Christendom now had thousands of warriors within its borders with little to do. Many of these warriors were employed in the Reconquista in Spain and this is where the idea of a holy war to regain Christendom emerged. After the Byzantine emperor Alexius I called for help with defending his empire against the Seljuk Turks, in 1095 at the Council of Clermont Pope Urban II called upon all Christians to join a war against the Turks, a war which would count as full penance. Crusader armies marched to Jerusalem, sacking several cities on their way. In 1099, they took Jerusalem and massacred the population. The returning crusader knights brought with them treasure chests from the East. Chests filled not with treasures of gold and silver but rather peppercorns and rare spices.
These rare spices were brought back to Northern Europe and they began to be used in regular cookery. Both the tastes and the modes of living of the East created a lasting impression on the Crusader knights and they had a profound effect on the cuisine and habits of Europe. Oddly enough trade with the East opened up and the ports of Genoa and Venice in the south and Antwerp and Bruges began to supply the increasing demand for spices. It is interesting in fact, when looking at recipes from recipes from this period in the Medieval age just how highly spiced some of the dishes are. However, Venice's almosot exclusive deal with the Arab traders meant that by the thirteenth century almost the entire profits from the European spice trade went to Venice. Yet the Venetian traders wanted a greater slice of the spice pie for themselves and in about 1271 Marco Polo set out overland from Venice across the Crimea in search of the fabled gems and spices of the far east.
Once again spices became an essential part of everyday European life. So much so that 1180 a Pepperers' guild had been established in London that was rapidly transformed into a Spicers' guild. The members of these guilds were in effect the forerunners of apothecaries and spices beceame one of the most important ingredients in the medical practice of the age. This period in history also corresponds with the great Mongol expansion, beginning with the conquests of Genghis Khan (1162–1227). The Mongolian Khans effectively controlled the entirety of the Silk Road and trade with Europe redoubled. Many merchant families (especially from Venice) funded their own caravans to the east and became wealthy on the proceeds. Such a family were the Polos of Venice and in 1271 who travelled with his father Niccòlo and uncle Maffeo (who had previously journeyed to Cathay [China]) with the Pope's response to Kubulai Khan's request for educated people to come and teach Christianity and Western customs to his people. They travelled to Kubulai Khan's court where Marco became a favourite of the Khan and was employed for 17 years. In 1291 Kublai entrusted Marco with his final duty, to escort the Mongol princess Koekecin to her betrothed, the Ilkhan Arghun. They reached the Ilkhanate in 1293 and from there moved to Trabzon where they set sail for Venice. On their return from China in 1295, the family settled in Venice where they became a sensation and attracted crowds of listeners who had difficulties in believing their reports of distant China. Marco Polo was later captured in a minor clash of the war between Venice and Genoa, He spent the few months of his imprisonment, in 1298, dictating to a fellow prisoner, Rustichello da Pisa, a detailed account of his travels in the then-unknown parts of the Far East. This journey became on of the most celebrated early travelogues and became one of the inspirations for the later 'Age of Discovery'.
As well as bringing spices to Europe it is also quite possible that the Spice route brought with it the Black Death that first struck Europe in 1347–1351 CE. Indeed, the disease first seems to have struck China in the mid 1330s and spread along the overland trade routes, first to the Middle East and then Europe. The high mortality of the Black Death caused major social upheaval in the lands which it struck. This led to pressure on the overland trade routes as the Khanate of the Mongols collapsed and various factions vied for dominance across the Arab world. Raiding became rife and the overland routes to the East became unsafe. However, a small amount of spice still managed to find its way into Europe by way of Constantinople. But a resurgent Ottoman Empire was slowly closing-off all the trade routes and by 1453 with the fall of Constantinople the final overland route for spices into Europe was closed off. This effectively left Venice with a virtual monopoly on all spice reaching Europe by the sea routes. So confident were the Egyptians of the Venetian monopoly (they controlled the port of Alexandria from whence the spice reaced Venice) that in 1453 they intorduced a tarrif on all the spices leaving Alexandria that ammounted to a third of the total value of the spices.
Obviously, the situation for the remainder of Europe was untenable and the only solution was to find the sea route to the spice lands. This was the impetus for the period in European history that later became known as 'The Age of Discovery'.
The tiny innocent-acting nutmeg is the root of everything. It was not alone though. The spice gang of clove, pepper and cinnamon were full accomplices.
Nutmeg is not really a “root”; it’s a nut. Well actually botanically it not even a nut, it’s a seed. I’m getting distracted here; so anyway it still is the root of everything. What is ‘everything’? Read on.
It all started around 4600 years ago. The mighty Egyptians were building their great pyramids. They needed lots of men, lots of strong men. Of course they didn’t have so many strong men, so decided to take whomever they could get. Then they fed them good food and spices, yes spices from Asia – clove, mace, and nutmeg, among others. They brought the spices from Indonesia, which was the only place at that time which grew nutmegs and cloves.
Within the next thousand years, the Egyptians had built their mountains of pride and the first and one of the grandest mega empires in human history. Spices were used for both embalming and medicinal purposes, giving the human race its first mummy and medical doctors.
During these ancient times the spice trade was just a normal trade between peoples. No big marketplace, or empires controlling trade routes.
Soon though it begun to grow bigger and bigger. Spices were arriving in the Middle East from all over Asia – China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, everywhere. The time was ripe, to give rise to the first truly global traders and power brokers. The top players were the north Arabians, who started sending caravans and ships to India, China, everywhere. With the sea route cornered, they bypassed the Persians, and traded the spices to Europe through Greeks. The spice trade was almost the entire maritime trade in those days. The Greeks and Persians were bitter enemies, so land trade of spice from Asia to Europe was tougher. The Arabs were not good friends with the Persians either (kind of like it still is now).
By around 5th century BC, the Arabs had cornered the entire global spice trade. They were the only source of spices for the Europeans. European demand for spice grew by leaps and bounds; they just couldn’t get enough of it. The rich bought spices like nutmeg, and the poor bought clove and pepper. Arabs wanted to keep monopolizing the trade, obviously since they had a profit margin of 4000%! I’m not joking here, they actually sold them for more than 40 times the price they paid. Corporations would kill to make profits that big (and they did! But that was later).
Much of the trade originated from Malabar coast in Kerala, India. To keep Europeans away from the honey pot, Arabs kept the source of the spices a secret. To even cooked up elaborate stories of fighting huge birds on sheer cliffs in distant and magical lands to get the spices. Europeans innocently actually believed these cock and bull stories. However, the Arabs greed was beginning to take its toll and by 3rd century Europeans were sure that the Arabs fooling them, and that spices were coming from India.
Then began Europe’s global search for India, and the Arab struggle to keep them away from Asia. The Romans launched an invasion on Arabia. However, they suffered a humiliating defeat. This strengthened their resolve to find India even more. Around 40 BC, the Greek discovered a way to India. Direct trade between Rome and India blossomed, and the Arab monopoly was finally broken.
The Arabs were not going to give up easily. They needed to control all of the Spice trade routes to protect their golden goose. However, the Arabs were not united, with many tribes who did not get along well with each other. They needed a leader, not just ‘a leader’ but in a fact ‘a great leader’, who would unite them in to an unstoppable force. They did get such a leader, a very famous gentleman you surely know about. Muhammad. He was the lightning rod that galvanized the entire Arab nation. Arabs united hands under the banner of Islam. Once all of Arabia was united, they controlled the Persian Gulf and hence the naval routes through the gulf. They went on to conquer Persia, thereby controlling the land routes as well. Finally in 624 with the taking of Alexandria the blockade of Europe from Asia was almost complete.
Asia was now behind an Islamic Iron Curtain for Europe. Trade between Europe and Arabia dried up. A few spices trickled through via Jewish merchants (Muslims had no problem with Jews in those days, and many still don’t). However, spices were now extremely expensive and only the super rich could afford them. Within 500 years of Prophet Muhammad’s rise, Islam had swept like wildfire across the entire Middle East and the Mediterranean from Spain to Libya came under the control of the Muslims.
But of course what’s the point of controlling a trade when you have no customers to dupe (or sell). So around 1000 AD they struck a deal with the great city states of Venice and Genoa to be exclusive distributors of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper in Europe. Venice grew incredibly rich with the trade, and the massive wealth funded an unprecedented rise in art, literature and science. The period is known as renaissance, and was the precursor to the industrial revolution of Europe. Great men like Leonardo da Vinci were born during the renaissance. The flow of nutmegs, cinnamons, and cloves was restored to Europe. However, by now much of Europe was very poor and could ill-afford such luxuries. Nutmeg was worth more than gold, and soldiers were paid salaries in cloves and peppers.
By now Muslims had all of Middle East, southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Russia (through the Persian, Afghan, Mongol and Mughal empires). They had everything; except of Europe. Arab traders did sail to America, but did not find anything of interest there, just like the Chinese, much earlier, had not found it interesting either. They would both regret this forever.
Europe was now totally surrounded and in danger of being overrun by the ever expanding and ever more powerful Islamic empires. It needed a great uniter to take on the Muslims. It found it in Christianity. During the years 1000 to 1500, entire northern Europe was Christianized. The Christian forces now had powerful and fearsome warrior tribes – Slavs, Vikings, Magyars (even the tribes’ names were scary!). The Christian pope became one the most powerful man in Europe. He launched the re-conquest of Spain from the Muslims. This was the beginning of the end of the vast Islamic empire. After Spain was re-conquered, it was rid of all Muslims in a very impolite way (I’m being nice here okay - they were either killed or forced to convert). They did not trust the Muslims who converted to Christianity, so they launched the brutal and bloody Spanish Inquisition, which saw the power of Pope grow even more.
Once Spain was freed of the Muslims, the ruler of Spain used the captured maps and ships from Moors and set sail in search of India (they somehow mistakenly ended up with maps of America and discovered America instead of India!). The warriors who rid Spain of the Muslims were now sitting idle. This was the perfect opportunity for the emboldened pope to launch the first crusade, or holy war. Crusader armies from Europe marched in the name of religion against Muslim Turks. They reached Jerusalem in 1099, destroying several cities along the way. In Jerusalem, they massacred the cities population. They returned not with gold and jewels, but chest full of pepper, nutmeg, and clove.
The crusades were a momentous event in history. It was now no longer empires and traders against each other. It was now Islam against Christianity. Europeans were no longer the David against the Islamic goliath. Unfortunately while the Europeans stopped the Muslims in their tracks and removed them from Europe, the Middle East was still very much under Islamic control. By 1300 AD a resurgent Ottoman empire had conquered Constantinople and Europe was threatened again. Curiously this actually opened up trade links between Europe and Asia. Venice and Genoa was still the exclusive distributor of spices. The Venetian traders controlled the entire spice supply to Europe. But they were eager to get a bigger piece of the pie for themselves. In 1270 Marco Polo set sail for the east. He brought back tales of fabulously rich lands full of gold, diamond, rubies, and spices growing on trees. His travelogue became the most famous of the early travelogues, and was the inspiration for Europe’s great age of discovery when they sailed all over the world in search of lands with great riches and spices.
Venetian control of the spice trade was irritated rest of Europe, and they began to look for sea routes to India. The Portuguese set sail around Africa to find India. Vasco Da Gama reached India first, with the help of an Arab navigator and cartographer. Spain paid Christopher Columbus to sail the other way, to find India from the east. His route was blocked by America!
The Spanish were not ready to give up control to Portugal. The rivalry grew so fierce, that the pope has to finally mediate. The world outside Europe was divided between Spain and Portugal in to two halves (east of Africa and west of Africa). By that time though Portugal had already colonized Brazil. They stopped all further excursions in the West.
Next Portugal attacked the city of Calicut India and captured it; how nice of themJ. Determined to break Muslim domination of the spice routes they next attached the Sultanate of Malaysia. Portuguese troops stayed there for a year and slaughtered the entire Muslim population. From Malaysia as a base, the Portuguese discovered the world’s only source of nutmeg and mace – Banda islands off Indonesia – the last secret of the Arabs.
Portugal was now the superpower of European spice trade, and Spain was left with South America. Spain finally had enough, and all this Portuguese fun sadly ended, when Spain conquered Portugal.
Spain cut out every other player in the market and started raising prices. Now France, England and Holland were upset for being left in the cold. In 1600 Queen Elizabeth created the 'East India Company'. The Dutch formed their own Dutch East India Company (known as VOC) in 1602. Other countries such as Portugal, France, Sweden and Austria also created their own East India Companies. The Dutch VOC was the most successful of all. Within another 100 years, the Dutch East Indian Company was the richest corporation in the world and paid its shareholders 40% dividend. Their secret for success? They had no moral scruples, had standing armies and navies, and used them to brutal effect. Sad, corporations today can’t do such thing any more L Imagine a stock that pays 40% dividends!
But of course, all good things end. The British and French gave the Dutch a run for their money. Britain emerged victorious in the Anglo-Dutch war and gained controlled of the Asiatic ports. The Dutch East India Company went bankrupt, and Britain was now the most powerful global player. By 1800 though, the spice trade grew in to a vibrant international market, with no one country dominating the trade. Trade also expanded in to other goods. The British had found that they could make even more money in trading cotton, indigo, salt, tea and other products from India. By hook and crook they established control over most of India and gained fabulous wealth from there. They also ran a lucrative drug trafficking business by growing poppy in Afghanistan and selling opium (ganja) to China. Afghanistan today has inherited the drug trafficking from Britain and supplies 90% of global heroin supplies.
By 1900 the massive wealth from the colonies, allowed Europe to spend time on science and technology and an industrial revolution was in full bloom. The industrial boom brought even more wealth to Europe. With the world wars weakening all European powers, and finding alternative means of wealth through the industrial revolution, spice trade, and the lands of spices were no longer worth the effort. Oil was discovered in the Middle East further reducing the need for bloody control of Asia. Most of these conquered countries including India soon gained independence.
Who knows if the wars are finally over? Oil has taken the place of spices as the most valuable global commodity. Arabs are dominating it, and Europeans are fighting wars over it, and rest of the world suffers its effect. The script is surprisingly familiar.
History Of the Spice Trade — The Middle Ages The Muslim Age As we shall see, the early history of Islam and the resurgence of the Arabic hold on the spice trade are inexorable intertwined. To understand why we have to go back to the very beginnings of the Muslim faith.
Indeed, Muhammad's first wife, Khadijeh was the widow of a spice trader and her wealth and prestiege were a driving force behind Muhammad himself. In 622 CE (1 AH [after Hajira in the Muslem calendar]), Muhammad made his journey from the 'pagan and wicked community' of Mekka to Yathrib (modern Medina) where the peoples 'lived in accordance with the moral teachings of Islam'. Muhammad's path on this journey was prepared by the local traders who eased his way.
At Yathrib Muhammad obtained more converts and began building a powerful base for himself. This brought him into conflict with his Qurashi neighbours, quite probably as a result of a dominance struggle for the trade routes south. Desire for mastery of these trade routes brought the most significant expansion of the religion of Islam and saw its return to its homeland of Mekka.
In effect Muhammad engendereda far more aggressive and expanionist form of Islam that still respected his own interest in the spice trade. Indeed, the spice routes became one of the main ways that early Islam was exported to other lands. As Islam can only be expressed in classical Arabic this meant the export of Arabic culture and language as well as belief.
Over the next three centuries the nature of Islam solidified and crystallized so that by the tenth century CE the Qu'ran had been written and was widely distributed, the hadith had been codifeied (this is a collection of the sayings and deeds of Muhammad). The rights of Muslims and non-Muslims in a Muslim world had also been codified and though Jews and Christians had some protection as 'peoples of the book' they were still second-class citizens and if you were a true infidel then you had no protection under Muslim law. This distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim invariably led to the view of a dichotomous world where the Muslims lived in Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam [or Submission]) and everyone else dwelt in the Dar al-Harb (the House of War).
Just as Islam was fortifying itself and consolidating its identity and steps were being taken to convert more followers Arabs were also becoming more and more involved in trading. Obviously Arabs had been involved in the spice trade for millennia already, but the conversion of the Arab world to the Muslim faith brought with it a characteristic Muslim attitude to improving the spice trade. Prior to Muslim conquest most trade was indirect and created by overlapping networks of local merchants who traded exclusively in their own domains. To make the spice trade exclusively Muslim the main staging posts along the spice route were conquered my Muslim forces. This way Muslims could travel the entire length of the trade routes themselves and did not have to rely on intermediaries. This also markedly increased their ability to spread the word of both Allah and Muhammad. By the end of the tenth century the entire spice route had been converted into a Muslim spice route under the exclusive control of Arab traders.
In taking Alexandria in 641 CE and in stopping all communication with Europe by the mid eighth century the Muslim world brought down what's been termed the 'Islamic Curtain' between Europe and Asia and effectively ended the westward flow of spices with considerable consequences for Europe.
European Dark Ages This represents the period from about 641–1096 CE, the time of the 'Islamic Curtain' where all trade between Chirstian Europe and the Muslim East was curtailed. The westward flow of spices almost dried-up completely with only a few Jewish taders (who could dwell in both the Christian and Muslim worlds) briniging-in tiny amounts of very expensive spices. So expensive did these become that they could only be afforded by the very wealthy (we know that the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties were able to source cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper). By the tenth century, however, the rise of the great city states of Venice and Genoa proved an almost irresistible source of wealth to Arab traders and spiecs began to trickle into Europe via these ports.
We know little of European diets from these times. There are no recipe books and what little information comes to us originates only from the largest courts. The reality is that spices would have been extremely expensive and by-and-large Feudal Europe was to poor to afford luxuries such as spices.
Fig 1: Map showing the ancient spice route from China to the spice islands of Indonesia and from Arabia to India and then to the Spice Islands. As well as the Mediterranean routes to Europe the old raoute across North Africa is shown. Also included on the map (blue lines) is the silk road extending from the Middle East to China.
The Crusades and After This period in European history covers 1097 to 1490 CE. It represents what is probably the most successful period in the Catholic Church's history, culminating in the Christianization of all of Northern Europe. This led to a large number of warrior peoples (such as the Vikings, Slavs and Magyars) being brought into the Christian fold. Christendom now had thousands of warriors within its borders with little to do. Many of these warriors were employed in the Reconquista in Spain and this is where the idea of a holy war to regain Christendom emerged. After the Byzantine emperor Alexius I called for help with defending his empire against the Seljuk Turks, in 1095 at the Council of Clermont Pope Urban II called upon all Christians to join a war against the Turks, a war which would count as full penance. Crusader armies marched to Jerusalem, sacking several cities on their way. In 1099, they took Jerusalem and massacred the population. The returning crusader knights brought with them treasure chests from the East. Chests filled not with treasures of gold and silver but rather peppercorns and rare spices.
These rare spices were brought back to Northern Europe and they began to be used in regular cookery. Both the tastes and the modes of living of the East created a lasting impression on the Crusader knights and they had a profound effect on the cuisine and habits of Europe. Oddly enough trade with the East opened up and the ports of Genoa and Venice in the south and Antwerp and Bruges began to supply the increasing demand for spices. It is interesting in fact, when looking at recipes from recipes from this period in the Medieval age just how highly spiced some of the dishes are. However, Venice's almosot exclusive deal with the Arab traders meant that by the thirteenth century almost the entire profits from the European spice trade went to Venice. Yet the Venetian traders wanted a greater slice of the spice pie for themselves and in about 1271 Marco Polo set out overland from Venice across the Crimea in search of the fabled gems and spices of the far east.
Once again spices became an essential part of everyday European life. So much so that 1180 a Pepperers' guild had been established in London that was rapidly transformed into a Spicers' guild. The members of these guilds were in effect the forerunners of apothecaries and spices beceame one of the most important ingredients in the medical practice of the age. This period in history also corresponds with the great Mongol expansion, beginning with the conquests of Genghis Khan (1162–1227). The Mongolian Khans effectively controlled the entirety of the Silk Road and trade with Europe redoubled. Many merchant families (especially from Venice) funded their own caravans to the east and became wealthy on the proceeds. Such a family were the Polos of Venice and in 1271 who travelled with his father Niccòlo and uncle Maffeo (who had previously journeyed to Cathay [China]) with the Pope's response to Kubulai Khan's request for educated people to come and teach Christianity and Western customs to his people. They travelled to Kubulai Khan's court where Marco became a favourite of the Khan and was employed for 17 years. In 1291 Kublai entrusted Marco with his final duty, to escort the Mongol princess Koekecin to her betrothed, the Ilkhan Arghun. They reached the Ilkhanate in 1293 and from there moved to Trabzon where they set sail for Venice. On their return from China in 1295, the family settled in Venice where they became a sensation and attracted crowds of listeners who had difficulties in believing their reports of distant China. Marco Polo was later captured in a minor clash of the war between Venice and Genoa, He spent the few months of his imprisonment, in 1298, dictating to a fellow prisoner, Rustichello da Pisa, a detailed account of his travels in the then-unknown parts of the Far East. This journey became on of the most celebrated early travelogues and became one of the inspirations for the later 'Age of Discovery'.
As well as bringing spices to Europe it is also quite possible that the Spice route brought with it the Black Death that first struck Europe in 1347–1351 CE. Indeed, the disease first seems to have struck China in the mid 1330s and spread along the overland trade routes, first to the Middle East and then Europe. The high mortality of the Black Death caused major social upheaval in the lands which it struck. This led to pressure on the overland trade routes as the Khanate of the Mongols collapsed and various factions vied for dominance across the Arab world. Raiding became rife and the overland routes to the East became unsafe. However, a small amount of spice still managed to find its way into Europe by way of Constantinople. But a resurgent Ottoman Empire was slowly closing-off all the trade routes and by 1453 with the fall of Constantinople the final overland route for spices into Europe was closed off. This effectively left Venice with a virtual monopoly on all spice reaching Europe by the sea routes. So confident were the Egyptians of the Venetian monopoly (they controlled the port of Alexandria from whence the spice reaced Venice) that in 1453 they intorduced a tarrif on all the spices leaving Alexandria that ammounted to a third of the total value of the spices.
Obviously, the situation for the remainder of Europe was untenable and the only solution was to find the sea route to the spice lands. This was the impetus for the period in European history that later became known as 'The Age of Discovery'.
The tiny innocent-acting nutmeg is the root of everything. It was not alone though. The spice gang of clove, pepper and cinnamon were full accomplices.
Nutmeg is not really a “root”; it’s a nut. Well actually botanically it not even a nut, it’s a seed. I’m getting distracted here; so anyway it still is the root of everything. What is ‘everything’? Read on.
It all started around 4600 years ago. The mighty Egyptians were building their great pyramids. They needed lots of men, lots of strong men. Of course they didn’t have so many strong men, so decided to take whomever they could get. Then they fed them good food and spices, yes spices from Asia – clove, mace, and nutmeg, among others. They brought the spices from Indonesia, which was the only place at that time which grew nutmegs and cloves.
Within the next thousand years, the Egyptians had built their mountains of pride and the first and one of the grandest mega empires in human history. Spices were used for both embalming and medicinal purposes, giving the human race its first mummy and medical doctors.
During these ancient times the spice trade was just a normal trade between peoples. No big marketplace, or empires controlling trade routes.
Soon though it begun to grow bigger and bigger. Spices were arriving in the Middle East from all over Asia – China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, everywhere. The time was ripe, to give rise to the first truly global traders and power brokers. The top players were the north Arabians, who started sending caravans and ships to India, China, everywhere. With the sea route cornered, they bypassed the Persians, and traded the spices to Europe through Greeks. The spice trade was almost the entire maritime trade in those days. The Greeks and Persians were bitter enemies, so land trade of spice from Asia to Europe was tougher. The Arabs were not good friends with the Persians either (kind of like it still is now).
By around 5th century BC, the Arabs had cornered the entire global spice trade. They were the only source of spices for the Europeans. European demand for spice grew by leaps and bounds; they just couldn’t get enough of it. The rich bought spices like nutmeg, and the poor bought clove and pepper. Arabs wanted to keep monopolizing the trade, obviously since they had a profit margin of 4000%! I’m not joking here, they actually sold them for more than 40 times the price they paid. Corporations would kill to make profits that big (and they did! But that was later).
Much of the trade originated from Malabar coast in Kerala, India. To keep Europeans away from the honey pot, Arabs kept the source of the spices a secret. To even cooked up elaborate stories of fighting huge birds on sheer cliffs in distant and magical lands to get the spices. Europeans innocently actually believed these cock and bull stories. However, the Arabs greed was beginning to take its toll and by 3rd century Europeans were sure that the Arabs fooling them, and that spices were coming from India.
Then began Europe’s global search for India, and the Arab struggle to keep them away from Asia. The Romans launched an invasion on Arabia. However, they suffered a humiliating defeat. This strengthened their resolve to find India even more. Around 40 BC, the Greek discovered a way to India. Direct trade between Rome and India blossomed, and the Arab monopoly was finally broken.
The Arabs were not going to give up easily. They needed to control all of the Spice trade routes to protect their golden goose. However, the Arabs were not united, with many tribes who did not get along well with each other. They needed a leader, not just ‘a leader’ but in a fact ‘a great leader’, who would unite them in to an unstoppable force. They did get such a leader, a very famous gentleman you surely know about. Muhammad. He was the lightning rod that galvanized the entire Arab nation. Arabs united hands under the banner of Islam. Once all of Arabia was united, they controlled the Persian Gulf and hence the naval routes through the gulf. They went on to conquer Persia, thereby controlling the land routes as well. Finally in 624 with the taking of Alexandria the blockade of Europe from Asia was almost complete.
Asia was now behind an Islamic Iron Curtain for Europe. Trade between Europe and Arabia dried up. A few spices trickled through via Jewish merchants (Muslims had no problem with Jews in those days, and many still don’t). However, spices were now extremely expensive and only the super rich could afford them. Within 500 years of Prophet Muhammad’s rise, Islam had swept like wildfire across the entire Middle East and the Mediterranean from Spain to Libya came under the control of the Muslims.
But of course what’s the point of controlling a trade when you have no customers to dupe (or sell). So around 1000 AD they struck a deal with the great city states of Venice and Genoa to be exclusive distributors of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper in Europe. Venice grew incredibly rich with the trade, and the massive wealth funded an unprecedented rise in art, literature and science. The period is known as renaissance, and was the precursor to the industrial revolution of Europe. Great men like Leonardo da Vinci were born during the renaissance. The flow of nutmegs, cinnamons, and cloves was restored to Europe. However, by now much of Europe was very poor and could ill-afford such luxuries. Nutmeg was worth more than gold, and soldiers were paid salaries in cloves and peppers.
By now Muslims had all of Middle East, southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Russia (through the Persian, Afghan, Mongol and Mughal empires). They had everything; except of Europe. Arab traders did sail to America, but did not find anything of interest there, just like the Chinese, much earlier, had not found it interesting either. They would both regret this forever.
Europe was now totally surrounded and in danger of being overrun by the ever expanding and ever more powerful Islamic empires. It needed a great uniter to take on the Muslims. It found it in Christianity. During the years 1000 to 1500, entire northern Europe was Christianized. The Christian forces now had powerful and fearsome warrior tribes – Slavs, Vikings, Magyars (even the tribes’ names were scary!). The Christian pope became one the most powerful man in Europe. He launched the re-conquest of Spain from the Muslims. This was the beginning of the end of the vast Islamic empire. After Spain was re-conquered, it was rid of all Muslims in a very impolite way (I’m being nice here okay - they were either killed or forced to convert). They did not trust the Muslims who converted to Christianity, so they launched the brutal and bloody Spanish Inquisition, which saw the power of Pope grow even more.
Once Spain was freed of the Muslims, the ruler of Spain used the captured maps and ships from Moors and set sail in search of India (they somehow mistakenly ended up with maps of America and discovered America instead of India!). The warriors who rid Spain of the Muslims were now sitting idle. This was the perfect opportunity for the emboldened pope to launch the first crusade, or holy war. Crusader armies from Europe marched in the name of religion against Muslim Turks. They reached Jerusalem in 1099, destroying several cities along the way. In Jerusalem, they massacred the cities population. They returned not with gold and jewels, but chest full of pepper, nutmeg, and clove.
The crusades were a momentous event in history. It was now no longer empires and traders against each other. It was now Islam against Christianity. Europeans were no longer the David against the Islamic goliath. Unfortunately while the Europeans stopped the Muslims in their tracks and removed them from Europe, the Middle East was still very much under Islamic control. By 1300 AD a resurgent Ottoman empire had conquered Constantinople and Europe was threatened again. Curiously this actually opened up trade links between Europe and Asia. Venice and Genoa was still the exclusive distributor of spices. The Venetian traders controlled the entire spice supply to Europe. But they were eager to get a bigger piece of the pie for themselves. In 1270 Marco Polo set sail for the east. He brought back tales of fabulously rich lands full of gold, diamond, rubies, and spices growing on trees. His travelogue became the most famous of the early travelogues, and was the inspiration for Europe’s great age of discovery when they sailed all over the world in search of lands with great riches and spices.
Venetian control of the spice trade was irritated rest of Europe, and they began to look for sea routes to India. The Portuguese set sail around Africa to find India. Vasco Da Gama reached India first, with the help of an Arab navigator and cartographer. Spain paid Christopher Columbus to sail the other way, to find India from the east. His route was blocked by America!
The Spanish were not ready to give up control to Portugal. The rivalry grew so fierce, that the pope has to finally mediate. The world outside Europe was divided between Spain and Portugal in to two halves (east of Africa and west of Africa). By that time though Portugal had already colonized Brazil. They stopped all further excursions in the West.
Next Portugal attacked the city of Calicut India and captured it; how nice of themJ. Determined to break Muslim domination of the spice routes they next attached the Sultanate of Malaysia. Portuguese troops stayed there for a year and slaughtered the entire Muslim population. From Malaysia as a base, the Portuguese discovered the world’s only source of nutmeg and mace – Banda islands off Indonesia – the last secret of the Arabs.
Portugal was now the superpower of European spice trade, and Spain was left with South America. Spain finally had enough, and all this Portuguese fun sadly ended, when Spain conquered Portugal.
Spain cut out every other player in the market and started raising prices. Now France, England and Holland were upset for being left in the cold. In 1600 Queen Elizabeth created the 'East India Company'. The Dutch formed their own Dutch East India Company (known as VOC) in 1602. Other countries such as Portugal, France, Sweden and Austria also created their own East India Companies. The Dutch VOC was the most successful of all. Within another 100 years, the Dutch East Indian Company was the richest corporation in the world and paid its shareholders 40% dividend. Their secret for success? They had no moral scruples, had standing armies and navies, and used them to brutal effect. Sad, corporations today can’t do such thing any more L Imagine a stock that pays 40% dividends!
But of course, all good things end. The British and French gave the Dutch a run for their money. Britain emerged victorious in the Anglo-Dutch war and gained controlled of the Asiatic ports. The Dutch East India Company went bankrupt, and Britain was now the most powerful global player. By 1800 though, the spice trade grew in to a vibrant international market, with no one country dominating the trade. Trade also expanded in to other goods. The British had found that they could make even more money in trading cotton, indigo, salt, tea and other products from India. By hook and crook they established control over most of India and gained fabulous wealth from there. They also ran a lucrative drug trafficking business by growing poppy in Afghanistan and selling opium (ganja) to China. Afghanistan today has inherited the drug trafficking from Britain and supplies 90% of global heroin supplies.
By 1900 the massive wealth from the colonies, allowed Europe to spend time on science and technology and an industrial revolution was in full bloom. The industrial boom brought even more wealth to Europe. With the world wars weakening all European powers, and finding alternative means of wealth through the industrial revolution, spice trade, and the lands of spices were no longer worth the effort. Oil was discovered in the Middle East further reducing the need for bloody control of Asia. Most of these conquered countries including India soon gained independence.
Who knows if the wars are finally over? Oil has taken the place of spices as the most valuable global commodity. Arabs are dominating it, and Europeans are fighting wars over it, and rest of the world suffers its effect. The script is surprisingly familiar.