Indian Ocean Trade and the Monsoon Winds

windmills

AP Theme

Humans and the Environment

Learning Objective 2.3G

Explain environmental factors in the development of networks of exchange in the period c. 1200 to c. 1450.

Historical Development 1

Expansion of Indian Ocean commerce and trade depended on advanced knowledge of the monsoon winds.

Mariners and merchants used knowledge of monsoon winds to move across the Indian Ocean region.

Contents

Knowledge of Monsoons Led to Increased Trade in the India Ocean

Main idea

Mariners and merchants used knowledge of monsoon winds to move across the Indian Ocean region.

Monsoon winds are the seasonal change in the direction of a region’s winds. In tropical areas, monsoon winds cause wet and dry seasons. Monsoon winds are strongest in the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions.

How the monsoon winds work

Before modern sailing technologies, Navigation in the Indian Ocean depended on sailors’ understanding of the region’s monsoon wind patterns. Because the winds only switched direction once yearly, most merchants only made one roundtrip journey each year.

Monsoon wind patterns are predictable.

November to February
April to September
Cool winds
Warm winds
From the north
From the south
Toward India and Southeast Asia
Toward India and Southeast Asia