Following The Spice Route to Kerala
Starting around 1000 B.C., Europeans traded with Arabia. They bought incense from Arabia. Among the Europeans sea travellers the Portuguese were the first to reach India and Southeast Asia vis the cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. They dominated the spice trade routes in the 16th and 17th century. The stop in Africa also included the island of Madagascar. Later, propelled by the Age of Discovery, the Dutch and the English joined the trade.
There are many routes taken by the traders – some called cinnamon route, others known by the pepper route, incense route, and still others, silk route. The main centres can be identified as Roman cities –> Turkey –> Egypt –> Arabia –> Africa –> Muziris and Cochin in India –> Ceylon –> Indonesia and Java –> China –> Philippines and then Japan.
Spices that were traded were pepper, ginger, cinnamon, clove and turmeric. Traders also did business in silk, textiles and ebony. As the traders moved from one continent to another, their language and culture, too, moved to different parts of the world. Subsequently, along with the spices being made available in countries that never grew them, the language and culture of these travellers was also transferred.
Cochin port, with its strategic location in the Indian Ocean and its ever-welcoming culture, was an important trade centre on the Spice Route. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the Arabs and the British have all traded with Kerala. The abundant range of spices and its availability always assured Kerala of its consistent trade relations with the Middle East, Europe and Eastern Asia.
