Commodity and Market 15
East Asia early in the seventh century.”^46 It would be quite natural for
them to have continued their voyages to Guangzhou. The presence of
Arab merchants in large numbers in that city by the ninth century offers
strong support for the claim. Other evidence has been provided by the
salvage of a well-preserved ninth-century sunken ship off the Indonesian
island of Belitung that testiβies to the presence of Arab shipping between
the western Indian Ocean and China. Its cargo consisted almost entirely
of Chinese ceramics.^47
The Asian Waters
Traders from the Indian Ocean in the Early Centuries
The seasonal change in the direction of the trade winds facilitated
travel between the sub-regions of maritime East Asia. There was also
an eastward movement of Indian ships and travelers to Southeast Asia
across the Bay of Bengal in the early centuries. One might reasonably
assume that the cultural inβluence of the high-caste Indians in Southeast
Asia enhanced the Indian trading position in the region. G. Cœdès says,
“an international network of trading relationships had indeed existed
since early times”, in which the Indians played a part.^48 Merchandise from
India was shipped to the Isthmus from the Indian ports and unloaded
on the west coast to be transported overland and then re-shipped to the
ports of the Gulf of Siam, or farther to South China, as G. Cœdès adds.^49
As mentioned earlier, one important development in the seventh
and eighth centuries was the presence of the Persians and Arabs in the
East Asian Seas.^50 They contributed to the building of direct trade links
between the Indian Ocean and China.
- Paul Wheatley, The Golden Khersonese, p. 211.
- Michael Flecker, “A Ninth-century AD Arab or Indian Shipwreck in Indonesia:
First Evidence for Direct Trade with China” (Singapore, 2001). The sunken ship
later proved to be of Arab style. - G. Cœdès, The Making of South East Asia (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul,
1962), p. 51. - Ibid., p. 53.
- Wang Gungwu, “The Nanhai Trade”, p. 75. J.C. van Leur is of the view that “Arab
and Persian shipping appears as a rule not to have made its way further than
the ports of western and southern India. Arab and Persian traders, however,
followed the trade route all the way to the Chinese ports. There seems to have
been an Arab trading colony established in Canton (Guangzhou) as early as the
fourth century. Settlements of Arabs were mentioned again in 618 and 626.”
See J.C. van Leur, Indonesian Trade and Society (The Hague: W. van Hoeve Ltd.,
1955), p. 111.