This unit aims at introducing students to the role of trade in global history. The exchange of commodities was one of the most global activities in the medieval and early modern world. Land and maritime routes connected ports and cities in Afro-Eurasia. This unit covers the period from the 10th to the 18th century and considers the importance of land routes such as the famous silk roads; the maritime routes of the India Ocean; the intercontinental trade in silver across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; and the trade between Europe and Asia organised by the European East India companies.

Introductory Readings

Bentley, Jerry, Old World Encounters (New York, 1993).

Chauduri, K.N., The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company, 1660-1770 (Cambridge, 1978).

Chaudhuri, K. N., Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean (Cambridge, 1985).

Curtin, Philip, Cross-cultural Trade in World History (Cambridge, 1984).

Flynn, Dennis O., and Giráldez, Arturo (eds.), Metals and Monies in an Emerging Global Economy (Aldershot, 1997).

Gunder Frank, Andre, ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age (Berkeley, 1998)

McNeill, J.R. and William H. McNeill, The Human Web. A bird's Eye View of World History (2003).