The Rise and Development of the Indian Ocean World Trading Network

There is considerable debate about the emergence and early development of the maritime trading network of the western Indian Ocean world. Some scholars such as K.N. Chaudhuri associate its rise with the development of Islam, others such as Janet L. Abu-Lughod consider it arose from the tenth to thirteenth centuries C.E., while yet others, such as Gunder Frank, argued that it arose by the B.C.E./C.E. changeover or even earlier. Again, the conventional view is that the Persian Gulf region (notably present-day Iran and Iraq) and India, together with China, were the major players in the development of the Indian Ocean maritime trading network, and that Africa played at most a marginal and passive role. This paper examines the debate to date, and reassesses the role played in by Africa in the development and structure of that network.