How Trade Helps Development of Cities?
Trades in a city play an important role in spreading goods over the world. Major trade routes across the world are the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean trade routes. The cities with a large population, easy and major access to all the necessary resources like food and goods and developed a complex network of roads and trades at the natural centers of urbanization will automatically support the development and growth of trades. The best example of the most important trading cities in Hangzhou, Timbuktu, and Malacca.
All these cities are located in strategic locations with major waterways and roadways for facilitating the traders. This article explains how the major trading cities developed and the impact of urbanizations in detail.
Key Concepts: Development of New Trading Cities
Hangzhou
Hangzhou is a popular port in China and it is surrounded by rolling hills and mountains. So, many poets represent Hangzhou as “the paradise on the earth”. In the late thirteenth century, an Italian explorer, Marco Polo, visited the city in his middle age. During that time, he noticed millions of people rushing and exchanging their goods and products. Native people of Hangzhou enjoyed the surpluses of fish, rice, and other goods in the city. They have utilized all the products of China within the city.
Even foreign merchants of the city enjoyed their own quarter or house in the city. At that time, Marco Polo got impressed by the Grand Canal, which is the world’s largest artificial river with the age of 600 years in the 13th century. Through this canal, people could travel around 800 miles. The main purpose of the Grand Canal was to transport grains to Beijing. This canal helped China to easily connect with global traders and also helped China to actively participate in global trade. Hangzhou was located at the southernmost stop of the Grand Canal and east of the China sea. So, the city emerged as the natural center for trade and can easily access the ocean and maritime trade routes. During the thirteenth century, the Song dynasty ruled the city with the capital of Hangzhou.
The Song dynasty had a strong economic structure and successfully ruled Hangzhou for the long term. The song dynasty mainly concentrated on producing surplus food and goods like rice, porcelain, silk, iron, steel, gunpowder, and paper. Also, people and merchants from Hangzhou sent their goods to various cities across the world through the silk road and other maritime trade routes via the Indian ocean. Hangzhou was the popular city to supply Spices to China from South Asia.
Timbuktu
Timbuktu or Tombouctou is another well-known trade city, which lies in a strategic location. Timbuktu is located in the Mali of West Africa and is situated on the bank of River Niger, which links North Africa with tropical regions farther south. From the thirteenth century to the fifteenth century, Timbuktu city was a part of the Mali empire. At that time, Malian rulers collected taxes for trades that passed through their range. So that they increased the wealth of the empire. People from North Africa named the city as an economically stable city and peaceful center for traders. Malian rulers invited Muslim scholars from various places across the world and offered places to eat and sleep to encourage learning.
The most valuable trade items that passed through Timbuktu are rock salt from Saharan pans and Gold from the south city called Ghana. Imprisoned people also choose the same route for exchanging their goods. The traders from North Africa mostly used these routes for reaching Saharan salt mines. Also, non-muslim people were chosen this path for reaching the southern part of Africa. Meanwhile, Timbuktu helped goods to travel from north to south. Timbuktu remains as the head of the south to trade horses, books, weapons, and brass bowls from North Africa. The massive camel caravans supported the trade between Mali and North Africa and the canal has about 25,000 camels.
Timbuktu city played an influential part in the African trade system. As Timbuktu city provided huge returns to the Mali empire in terms of tax on trade goods, the empire became economically stable and Also, it provided the necessary peaceful environment for making a trade. In addition, Malian rulers encouraged scholars to settle in the city for supporting both learning and trade.
Malacca
Malacca, which is also known as Melaka is another popular city for making a trade. This city is currently called Malaysia. In the 1390s, Malacca city was established as a port city, by laying one end of a straight narrow passage, which connects two big water bodies. The location of Malacca was also known as a maritime chokepoint. This transport route made transportation easy. The shortest path between China and India is the Strait of Malacca, so people and merchants used this trade route for all transportation.
Malacca was an independent Muslim state, which was under the control of the Malacca sultanate. The Malacca sultanate also took various measures to create safe waterways. They also oversaw and controlled the traffic through the straits. The native residents near the Strait of Malacca, Orang Laut, or sea people also received pay from Malacca rulers to look over the transportation along the strait. Orang Laut also guided the merchants and travelers, who are traveling to the city of Malacca. So, travel to Malacca was usually considered a safe travel and trade destination. The taxes collected through trade helped Malacca rulers to maintain the stabilized economy and to flourish the city.
(Image Will be Updated Soon)
Impacts of Urbanization
By Urbanizing the cities like Hangzhou, Timbuktu, and Malacca. People around the city can easily access the wealth, knowledge and goods from far places. The taxes collected on trades eventually increased the wealth of the empire and city. The trading cities were providing huge job opportunities for native residents and also for migrants. But, urban areas have fewer healthy places for human habitat because of high pollution. Also, these cities remain the best place for exchanging cultures, ideas, and technological innovations on a large scale. These are the impacts of urbanization.
This article gave complete information about the development of new trading cities and key concepts behind the development of new trading cities with the advantages of trading cities in detail.
FAQs on Development of New Trading Cities
1. How did the growth of trade change cities?
Usually, If the trade grows, the city becomes familiar and popular. A city is a place where a group of people gathers together to produce or trade goods on a large scale. Merchants could come and either buy goods or sell their goods in large quantities. So, the cities or towns grow as trade increases.
2. What new trading cities came about because of the Silk Roads?
The new trading cities that developed because of the silk roads are Kashgar and Samarkand. Because merchants from various parts of the world gathered here and traded on a large scale. Through this, the economy of the country expanded as the demand for their goods increased.
3. Why did cities develop along trade routes?
As merchants traveled across the inhospitable deserts and dangerous oceans, the trading cities provided an opportunity for merchants to take a rest and buy or sell their goods. Also, cities helped merchants to meet other travelers and exchange their goods, skills, languages, customs, and ideas.
