Trade Routes Resources Blog: March 2008

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31 March 2008

Spice Ports: The Nutmeg and Pepper Trade

artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/english/cdaeley/hwc22/plans.htm

[Preliminary bibliography from Austin College, Sherman, Texas]

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Labels: bibliography

Ports of the Arabian Peninsula : a guide to the literature.

http://dro.dur.ac.uk/161/

Dodgeon, H. and Findlay, A. M. (1979) Ports of the Arabian Peninsula : a guide to the literature. Working Paper. University of Durham, Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham.

Full text available in PDF format
3.5MB

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Arabian Trade and Pilgrimage Routes - 2003 lectures

http://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/mappingarabia/lectures/lectures.html

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Lectures
MAPPING THE TREASURES OF ARABIA

28 January - 21 March 2003

There is to be a series of public lectures accompanying the exhibition, initiated and organised by Marian Bukhari, presented in association with LMEI (London Middle East Institute) and the Department of Art & Archaeology, School of Oriental and African Studies, chaired by Dr. Anna Contadini:

5th February
Dr Geoffrey King
"Coastal Pilgrim routes from Syria to the holy cities"
12th February
John Lawton
"Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh trade routes"
19th February
Dr Majeed Khan
"Petroglyphs and Rock Art of Arabia"
26th February
Jonathan Potter
"Cartography and the mapping of Arabia"
5th March
Dr. Martin Lings
"Mecca, Madinah and the Pilgrimage"
12th March
Dr Saad Al Rashid
"Darb Zubaidah and the Hajj routes"
19th March
Dr Mustafa Aksay
"Hejaz Railway as one of the Hajj routes"

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24 March 2008

Transportation Modes, Costs and Infrastructure in the 17th c.

Two resources (with logistical data) from afficionados of books from the "Ring of Fire" (RoF) anthology.

* Cooper, Iver P. 2007.
Hither and Yon: Transportation Modes, Costs and Infrastructure in 1632 and after.
Grantville Gazette, Vol. 11, May 2007.
http://www.grantvillegazette.com/articles/hither

* Bergstralh, Karen. 2007.
Adventures in Transportation: An Examination of Drags, Carts, Wagons and Carriages Available in the 17th century.
http://www.grantvillegazette.com/articles/Adventures_in_Transportatio.
Grantville Gazette, Vol. 11, May 2007.

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Trade Routes and Distances by Existing Lines and by the Panama Canal Authority

http://qed.princeton.edu/main/
Image:Trade_Routes_and_Distances_by_Existing_Lines_and_by_the_Panama_Canal.jpg

Source: U.S. Hydrographic Chart, 1912. W.S. Morison.
Trade Routes and Distances by Existing Lines and by the Panama Canal Authority

The Map shows global routes for full-powered steam vessels and routes for sailing vessels in nautical miles.
High resolution version (4000x1571, 2546 KB)

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Islamic Region: Major Trade Routes from 10th to 15th century

http://qed.princeton.edu/index.php/User:Student/Islamic_Region_-_Major_Trade_Routes

Source:
Medieval Routes to India: Baghdad to Delhi - A Study of Trade and Military Routes
Produced by H.C. Verma (Department of History - University of Delhi), Published by Mustafa Waheed, Printed at Islamia al Saudia Printers, Lahore, 1983.
http://qed.princeton.edu/index.php/User:Student/Islamic_Region_-_Major_Trade_Routes

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India - District Gazetteer - Nasik District: Trade Routes

http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/nasik/009%20Bank/010%20TradeRoutes.htm

India - District Gazetteer - Nasik District
Trade and Commerce - Trade Routes

Early Routes:
The ThaI pass had been an important trade route between the Deccan and the coast from the earliest times. [This account is based on the description of routes published in the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Nasik District, 1883, Chapter VI.] The Nasik caves and mention of the town by Ptolemy point to Nasik as a place of importance from the second century before, to the second century after, the Christian era. About a hundred years later, the author of Periplus (247) mentions that trade passed from Broach in Gujarat to Paithan on the Godavari and to Tagar ten days further east. A part of this trade probably went through the Kundai pass, crossed the Nasik district, and left it by the Kasari pass in the Satmalas. From the ninth to the thirteenth century, while Devgiri, or Daulatabad, was one of the greatest capitals in the Deccan, and Supara was one of the chief centres of trade on the coast, the Thal Pass must have been the main route of traffic. Afterwards, in the fifteenth and early part of the sixteenth centuries, the bulk, of the trade passed further south between Ahmednagar and Chaul and between Bijapur and Dabhul or Kudal. In the sixteenth century, the establishment of Portuguese power at Bassein brought a large trade back to its old route by Nasik. In the seventeenth century, when foreign trade centered in Surat, the bulk of the commerce of the Deccan passed along the north and south routes mentioned in the Periplus. When Bombay took the place of Surat, trade once more set along the earliest route through the ThaI Pass, and this, for the last fifty years, has been the chief line of traffic in Western India.

Routes during British Period:
At the beginning of British rule there were no made roads. The chief routes of trade passed through Nasik and Malegaon. The Poona-Surat road with a length of 254 miles through Chakan, Narayan Gaon, the Viscera Pass, and Dothan, entered by the Sinnar pass, and touching Nasik and Dindori, left the district by the Rahud Pass and continued its course to Surat through Umbarthana the Nirpan Pass, the Vagh Pass and Gondevi. The Ahmednagar-Nasik road ninety-seven miles long passed through Rahuri, Sangamner and Sinnar. The Aurangabad-Nasik road and the road linking Malegaon with Baroda served the need of traffic.
The Bombay-Agra trunk road was the chief trade route traversing through Chandor, Nasik, Igatpuri, the ThaI pass, Shahapur and Bhiwandi. The Poona-Nasik road, the Nasik-Balsar road, the Malegaon-Kopargaon road, and the Nandgaon-Aurangabad road were the principal routes of trade. During the course of the present century the Bombay-Agra trunk road and Provincial roads were improved. A number of bridges were also constructed to facilitate easy transport.

Present Routes of Trade: The Bombay-Bhusaw [...]

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Ecology and Empire Along the Ancient Silk Roads

http://www.esri.com/mapmuseum/mapbook_gallery/volume19/conservation11.html

Ecology and Empire Along the Ancient Silk Roads
http://www.esri.com/mapmuseum/mapbook_gallery/volume19/conservation11.html
Seattle, Washington, USA
By Rob Harris
Contact
Rob Harris
rob--at--rob-harris.net
Software
ArcGIS 8.3 and Windows XP
Printer HP Designjet 5500
Data Source(s)
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration/National Aeronautics and Space Administration Pathfinder Program, United Nations Environment Programme, U.S. Geological Survey, and historical and archaeological monographs and reports

[Elevation, Mean Annual Precipitation, Soil Production Index)
http://www.esri.com/mapmuseum/mapbook_gallery/volume19/images/cons_11a.jpg

The goal of this map is to provide a way to visualize the ecological context of the Silk Roads. The broad ecological zones of Asia and Europe - the steppes, deserts, montane forests, and alluvial floodplains - are approximated by modern land cover. Traversing these distinct ecological zones is a complex set of medieval trade routes that connected major cities and empires of the day. By examining the complex geography of these trade routes, the map seeks to enrich our understanding of the relationship between ecology, economy, and empire during one of the most important periods in human history.

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Tea-Horse Road, or 茶马古道 (Cha Ma Gu Dao)

http://www.chinaexpat.com/article/2007/04/11/history/ancient-tea-horse-road.html

Gartner, Josh. 2007.
The Ancient Tea-Horse Road
Published April 11th, 2007

Tea-Horse Road, or 茶马古道 (Cha Ma Gu Dao)
(Gartner 2007).

[...]
During the Song Dynasty (960-1127) the Tea-Horse Road flourished and posts saw up to 2,000 traders per day. Annual volume of tea going to Lhasa - and often beyond - reached 7,500 tons, carried over the laborious 2,300 km trek from Xishuangbanna to the Tibetan capital. Each war horse fetched between 20 and 60 kgs of tea depending on quality and the going rate. [...]

[tmc's note: the above figures suggest that Tibet exported annually up to approx. 7,500,000 kg/20kg of tea for a horse = 375,000 horses (which is an improbably high figure), and that the volume of imported tea head to be carried by some 7,500,000 kg/60kg per carrier = 125,000 porters. tmc, 1 Nov 2007]

Please note that the above details were correct on the day this post was published. To suggest an update, please email the site's editor at tmciolek@ciolek.com