1000 CE as Turning Point: The Birth of Globalization? - Arabs as Trans-regional leaders

5 important questions on 1000 CE as Turning Point: The Birth of Globalization? - Arabs as Trans-regional leaders

Where were Arab trading settlements established? What language was used?

- The Arab role in Indian Ocean trade was noteworthy, and this helped extend Indian Ocean activity particularly down the east coast of Africa, all the way to present-day Mozambique.
- Arab trading settlements were established at ports and on islands down the coast, and merchants mixed with local elites to form a network of connections.
- A new lanuage, Swahili (from the Arab word for "shores"), emerged for this trading and governing community, a clear sign of the cultural accompaniments to more consistent commercial exchange.

How was trading viewed by Islam? What resulted from this view? How did Muhammed see it?

- Trading and profit-taking were perfectly compatible with religious purity so long as certain ethical standards were observed, including refraining from directly charging interest on loans, and so long as religious obligations such as regular prayer and charity were fulfilled.
- Islam was more certain about this than Christians, who believed that it could disrupt spiritual goals. Islam claimed that trading success and religious devotion went hand in hand, which helped push Arab merchants to unusual heights.
- Muhammed himself was a former merchant and noted the value and satisfaction of merchant life, second only to a religious vocation.

Who did Muslims identify as dar al-harb, or land of war, outside the Islamic purview?

In the centuries around 1000 CE it particularly referred to Europe and East Asia.
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In what directions did the Islam spread itself?

- Expeditions in the Red Sea, both commercial and military, began in the seventh century. By the early eighth century Arabs had directly captured territory in what is today southern Pakistan, and planted commercial colonies in Indian port cities all along the Persian Gulf and also in Sri Lanka.
- Along with the growing activity in East Africa, this led to varied and vibrant exchanges of goods among Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, going well beyond the luxury level that had largely characterised interregional activity previously.
- Exchanges pushed farther east to Thailand and Burma but also to south China.

How did Arab connections cause further additional innovations?

- Partnerships developed between Arabs and local merchant houses, which helped organise more detailed commercial interactions.
- Bills of exchange were introduced, which facilitated payments for goods of distant origin.
- Arab commercial law was recognised in a number of different regions, and the Arabs helped create a precedent in which commercial regulations might be seen as transcending individual political units - with the individual states agreeing because of the profits the larger trading system brought to local merchants and their contributions to tax revenues.

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