### p33 European navies were more militant than contemporaries - Indo-Arab sphere (Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf & Red Sea), dominated by emporia between Chinese, Malay, Persian, Arab and African markets. Spices flowed from East to West along with porcelain and silk in exchange for precious metals. Lots of internal trade in bulk goods like rice, salt, base metals, horses, cotton. Mostly dhows and junks. Individual merchants (ship owners / captains) and lots of piracy. No large-scale-state sponsored warfare. - Malay sphere is the Indonesian archipelago; they traded with Indo-Arab and Chinese in the Straits of Malacca. Pretty similar to trade in the Indian Ocean except they totally controlled almost all of the spice trade. See also: [[Harvesting ‘True Cinnamon’ The Story of the Ceylon Spice by Zinara Rathnayake]] (the only spice not controlled by this sphere). Small jukung were the main ships, except long distance they copied Chinese junks. Merchants and sailors were appreciated for their tax revenues but not really sponsored or protected except when literally in port. Sometimes the princes launched invasions against each other. - Chinese sphere stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Straits of Malacca. Lots of changes in how they handled sea trade depending on who was in charge. Treasure fleets and spice trade existed. - European sphere was divided into Baltic, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. It's the only sphere with lots of military seagoing interactions. - [[Galleons and Galleys - John Francis Guilmartin#p33 European navies were more militant than contemporaries|View in Vault]]