Abu Part 3

Part three goes into detail about the trading that went on in the Indian regions that were muslim and the Indian regions that were Buddhists, and the Persian and Arab traders. All of this had impacts on the Chinese as well. India supplied many products for trade. Trade flourished in the west despite the Plague and the west advanced out its dark period to become the dominant force. African slavery served the west to expand into the Americas and North America and offered a source of commerce and labor. It appears that China really was growing technologically in many ways as well. Though they were a somewhat closed system, they made huge advancements. It's interesting that China did not focus on expanding its influence through naval projection as the west had done and that China could have easily have been the biggest world influence do to its technology and unmatched labor force should it have made expansion the focus of its policy like many of the western nations had. All the while, the straight lost some of it's trading importance as newer routes opened up.

I found this reading to be very interesting because it really shows how circumstantial some of the progress in developing nations and trade was do to conditions that could not have been predicted. Nobody had any idea that the Plague would wipe out 40-60% of the populations and how that would influence trade and trade routes. Nobody could have seen the importance of projecting power (naval) yet since countries like China possessed so much promise for dominance and chose to go a different route. I also see how the interconnectivity of each region allowed some to become major players of supply, trade, and power, while others balanced those rises with a less significant role in world influence.

On the other hand, this reading again shows that China was advanced in many ways that we westerners take for granted since we focus on western history and not a balanced world history view. In some ways, the west made huge gains after the plague because it was able to adapt its ways and technologies to match the potentials for global commerce and conquest. It seemed that the east did not see this potential as meaningful and thus might have chosen a different path. It's neat to see a balanced perspective from this book.