Abu-Lughod Asia.pdf

PART III: ASIA
The Indian Ocean System: Divided Into Three Parts
It was divided into three circuits:
The westernmost circuit was inhabited largely by Muslims.
The middle circuit connected the south Indian coast—both Malabar on the
west and Coromandel on the east—with the region of Sumatra and Malay
that flanked the Strait of Malacca and with Java and the other islands of
Indonesia.
The easternmost circuit was Chinese space.
Key: Though individual traders might, from time to time, overlap these circuits, in
general “no single power ever exercised dominance over the entire system.” (p. 253)
The boundaries of the circuits were set by natural forces rather than imperial reach.
(p. 254)

See pp. 256-­‐57 for tables on winds/sailing conditions and times of year.
When the Chinese (Ming Dynasty) withdrew from the sea in 1435, it created a
power vacuum that would be filled by the Portuguese.
Chapter 8: The Indian Subcontinent: On the Way to Everywhere.
India has two macroecological zones: the Malabar Coast and the Coromandel.
Sea trade to and from Gujarat, and possibly the Malabar Coast was already
happening in 2000 BCE.
The Abbasids were revitalizing this route in the 8 th century CE.

In the Mediterranean a perpetual state of naval warfare existed from the ninth
century onward, and commercial ships, therefore, always traveled in military
convoys. That was not true in the Indian Ocean since sea warfare did not
characterize commerce there. The trade was essentially peaceful. (p. 275)
It was a system of laissez-­‐faire and multiethnic shipping, established over long
centuries of relative peace and tolerance. In December 1500 the Portuguese captain,
Cabral decided to attack and seize two Muslim ships loading pepper at Calicut. He
was “sinning” against an “unwritten law.” (p. 276)

This use of violence, force, and extortion characterized the Portuguese approach in
the early 16 th century.
Lessons from the Indian Case
India seems to have been indifferent to much of the items traded.
Indian wealth kept her from being more aggressive in being involved in the
sea trade.
This meant that she was vulnerable to the expansion of sea power on either
side of her.

Chapter 9: The Straight and Narrow
The entrepot’s on the straight were important, but geography was somewhat
arbitrary. Any port along the straight could have become an important
intermediary.
Sometimes, as in the case of Srivijaya, representatives could become important
because they gained access to Chinese ports.

Lessons from the Straits:
Comprador states that serve as gateways or interchange points for others are
fully dependent upon the industrial production and commercial interests of
the regions that use them.
The existence of locally produced assets (even aromatics, spices, and
precious metals) by no means guarantees a market; it only makes one
possible.
Whenever the Chinese moved aggressively outward, the intermediary ports
paradoxically became more prosperous but less important. Whenever the
Chinese pulled back from the western circuit or, even worse, interdicted
direct passage of foreign ships into their harbors, the ports in the straits
flourished, but only because Chinese vessels took up the easternmost circuit
slack by meeting their trading partners at Palembang, Kedah, or, later,
Malacca.
When Europe filled that defenseless vacuum in the sixteenth century, the
‘old’ world system of the thirteenth century became the embryo of the
‘modern’ system that still shapes our world today, albeit with declining
power. (p. 313)
Today, Singapore most closely resembles its predecessor, Malacca.

Chapter 9: All the Silks of China
Without question, the most extensive, populous, and technologically
advanced country of the middle ages was China.
Abu-­‐Lughod questions the usual interpretations that see the Chinese as anti-­merchant,
especially if that is used as an explanation for their withdrawal
under the Ming Dynasty.
Furthermore, historians have pondered what would have happened if China
had not withdrawn? What if the Portuguese met a Chinese navy instead of
undefended merchant vessels?
Factors related to textile production:
Wool. The demand for grazing land comes into competition with land
for agriculture, thus displacing farmers whose labor is made available
for processing the wool—women largely spinning and men
predominantly fulling, dyeing, and weaving. Wool is easily
transportable in its raw state, which permits a separation between
where it is raised and where it is transformed into cloth.
Cotton and linen follow a different course. Agricultural land remains
under cultivation and crop rotation (with legumes) is required to keep
the soil fertile. This means that there is neither a division of labor
between cotton and flax growers and ordinary farmers nor any
displacement of labor from the land. The raw materials may be
transported for further refining or may receive preliminary
processing and cleaning before being shipped to spinners and
weavers.
The production of silk is very different. It involves a large portion of
rural workers who must be close to the processing area. This leads to
the establishment of agro-­‐urban settlements. See pp. 329-­‐330 for a
description of the process. This process was not easily transferred to
factories.
Why China Withdrew
It’s often blamed on Confucianism, but why would Confucianism have
been more important under the Ming?
She thinks it is due to the Ming desire to present themselves as the
restorers of Chinese autonomy and values after Mongolian rule.
They also had to divert attention elsewhere as they consolidated their
rule.
The Black Death also contributed to a general economic collapse.

Lessons from the Chinese Case
Geographic position was very important. When the Mongols created
the northern route, China was the place were the circuit could be
complete, as it had sea routes linking to the Indian Ocean.