The Spice Ports

Mapping the Origins of Global Sea Trade

Nicholas Nugent

• Publisher: Brandeis University Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9781684582440
• eBook ISBN:
  9781684582457
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Social History
• Index: History

A first-class narrative writer blends his unique cartographic and topographic understanding of the key ports of early seaborne commerce.
 
We may think of "globalism" as a recent development but its origins date back to the fifteenth century and beyond, when seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade, and profit.
 
These voyages only became possible after certain technical innovations—improvements in ship design, compasses, and mapping—enabled navigation across unprecedented distances. The mariners' embarkation points were the vibrant ports of the West—Venice, Amsterdam, Lisbon—and their destinations the exotic ports of the East—Malacca, Goa, Bombay—where they tracked down the elusive spices, so much in demand by Western palates.
 
This development of maritime communication brought benefits apart from culinary delights: the spread of ideas on art, literature, and science. But it was not necessarily beneficial for everyone concerned: colonial ambitions were often disastrous for local populations, who were frequently exploited as slave plantation labor.
 
This wide-ranging account of a fascinating period of global history uses original maps and contemporary artists' views to tell the story of how each port developed individually while also encouraging us to consider contrasting points of view of the benefits and the damages of the maritime spice trade.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. The Merchants of Venice
• 2. Alexandria, Gateway to the East
• 3. Goa and the Malabar Coast
• 4. Lisbon, Queen of the Sea
• 5. Malacca and the Malay World
• 6. Amsterdam and the Birth of the Netherlands
• 7. Batavia and the Spice Islands
• 8. Cape Town, Mauritius and Other Taverns of the Seas
• 9. Bombay, Gateway of India
• 10. London, Warehouse of the World
• 11. New York, Salem and the Manhattan Transfer
• 12. Singapore, Lion City
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Selective Bibliography
• Picture Credits
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• Copyright Page