Question

"In pursuance of the orders of God, I received orders from Shah Rukh to depart for India. His majesty provided me with provisions and post horses and I began my journey from southern Khurasan, arriving at the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran before departing by ship to the port city of Hormuz.

Hormuz is a port situated in the middle of the Persian Gulf and does not have an equal on the surface of the globe. Merchants from Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, China, India, and Southeast Asia bring rare and precious articles by sea. Bargains are made either by money or by exchange. Persons of all religions are found in this city, and no injustice is permitted toward any person whatsoever. I stayed here for two months until the favorable time came for departing by sea.

We then sailed from Hormuz to Calicut along the southwestern coast of India. Like Hormuz, Calicut brings together merchants from every city and from every country, and precious articles are brought there from mantime countries, especially from East Africa. From time to time, ships anve there from Mecca and other parts of Arabia. The town is inhabited mostly by Hindus, but it contains a considerable number of Muslims who are permanent residents and have built two mosques in which they meet every Friday to pray"

*a Muslim ruler who governed parts of Iran and Central Asia from 1405-1447
Abod-al-Razzak Samarqandi, Muslim ambassador, historical chronicle written circa 1442

Describe ONE similarity between the commercial interactions in the regions mentioned in the passage and commercial interactions along the overland Silk Roads in the period circa 1200-1450.

Answer 1

Both the Silk Roads and the Indian Ocean trade fostered hubs of commercial interaction involving diverse merchant populations that exchanged luxury goods and facilitated cultural exchange, with Muslim merchants playing a significant role in their expansion.

Step-by-step explanation:

One similarity between the commercial interactions in the regions surrounding the Persian Gulf and the Silk Roads was the presence of a diverse merchant population facilitating trade in luxury goods across a network of regions. Both routes attracted merchants from various regions, including Central Asia, the Middle East, and farther areas like China and Europe, in the case of the Silk Roads.

This connection fostered a cultural exchange and cosmopolitan cities, where people of different ethnicities and religions coexisted and traded goods ranging from spices and textiles to precious metals and stones. The Indian Ocean trade along the coast and the Silk Roads had in common the involvement of Muslim merchants, who played a crucial role in the expansion of these trade routes, which was made possible by the political stability provided by the Islamic caliphates, as well as the establishment of infrastructure like roads and rest houses to support travelers and commerce.