GEOG 1000 Lecture 16: Making Asia: Trade, Colonization, & Orientalism
6 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
GEOG 1000
November 8, 2017
Professor Peter Vandergeest
Asia from Trade to Colonization
Asia as a world region
● Problematic due to the diversity
● Over half the world’s population, 4 billion people, within that is a huge amount of
diversity
● Sub-Regions
● Cultural and Political diversity
○ Indonesia has the largest Muslim population
○ Christianity in Philippines
Making Asia
● Three eras
● Trade (without control) to 1800’s
● Colonialism (territorial control, creating today’s states) 1800’s to post WW2
● Postcolonial - new countries based on colonial states
● Asia was made through colonialism
● Asia as a region does not have a long history
● Regions are produced, a forest does not pre-exist the forest department
The Dutch colonized a place we now call Indonesia, there are islands called “The Spice
Islands.” A trace of colonialism in the modern era.
The Spice Trade
● Key to understanding Europe’s relationship with Asia
● Existed since 1000 bce
● Arabs from the middle east dominated these trade routes, brought Islam to many
other places
● These arab traders control the spice market, spices were really valuable
● If you could fill a small boat with spices and make it to Europe you can make a
fortune
● Traders make up awful stories of monsters to stop Europeans from entering the East
or the latin word Orient
● Europeans produced this idea of Asia, even though they were not the dominant
people at the time
Europeans go searching for spices
● Marco Polo may have been the first, he wrote books about his travels
● Europeans get the idea of Asia from Marco Polo
Europeans figure out how to bypass Arab control
● 1497-98 Portugal sends Vasco da Gama to find alternate route
● He finds an alternate route to bypass Arabs by navigating by sea around Africa
● Not interested in territorial control or establishing a government, just want to establish
ports for trading; largely for spices and silk
Document Summary
Over half the world"s population, 4 billion people, within that is a huge amount of diversity. Colonialism (territorial control, creating today"s states) 1800"s to post ww2. Postcolonial - new countries based on colonial states. Asia as a region does not have a long history. Regions are produced, a forest does not pre-exist the forest department. The dutch colonized a place we now call indonesia, there are islands called the spice. Islands. a trace of colonialism in the modern era. Key to understanding europe"s relationship with asia. Arabs from the middle east dominated these trade routes, brought islam to many other places. These arab traders control the spice market, spices were really valuable. If you could fill a small boat with spices and make it to europe you can make a fortune. Traders make up awful stories of monsters to stop europeans from entering the east or the latin word orient.
