Spices timeline

See also the article on spices, European Maritime Exploration, and European Navigators.

Introduction – Spices timeline

The history of the spice trade can be traced back to ancient times, and its impact on global trade, exploration, and cultural exchange has been profound. Spices have been valued for their ability to enhance the flavor of food, preserve it, and even for their medicinal properties. The spice trade has played a crucial role in shaping the world as we know it today.

The origins of the spice trade can be traced back to the Middle East and South Asia. Spices such as cinnamon, pepper, cloves, and ginger were highly prized and were considered to be rare and exotic. In ancient times, these spices were primarily sourced from countries such as India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, and were transported through trade routes to the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. The demand for spices was high, and they were often used as a form of currency in some regions.

The ancient Egyptians were known to have used various spices in their culinary practices, as well as for embalming their dead. The use of spices can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia, where they were used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The Greeks and Romans also had a penchant for spices, and their trade and consumption of spices played a crucial role in the development of global trade networks.

During the Middle Ages, the spice trade reached its peak, with the demand for spices in Europe increasing dramatically. The spice trade became a highly lucrative business, and the desire to discover new and faster trade routes to the spice-producing regions of Asia led to a period of exploration and discovery. The need to find new routes to the Spice Islands and India was one of the motivating factors behind the Age of Discovery and the exploration of the Americas.

The discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492 was a significant event in the history of the spice trade. The Columbian Exchange, the exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds, had a profound impact on the spice trade. It led to the introduction of new spices, such as chili peppers, vanilla, and allspice, to Europe, and the Americas became significant consumers of spices from Asia.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the spice trade was dominated by European powers such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and England. The Portuguese were the first to establish direct trade routes to the East Indies, followed by the Dutch and the English. The establishment of these trade routes not only had a significant impact on global trade but also led to the creation of large colonial empires.

The Dutch East India Company, established in 1602, was one of the most powerful and influential trading companies of the time. It had a virtual monopoly on the spice trade in the East Indies and was instrumental in shaping the colonial landscape of the region. The Dutch also established a presence in the Moluccas, the Spice Islands, and the Malabar coast, where they controlled the production and trade of spices.

The impact of the spice trade on the global economy was enormous. The high demand for spices in Europe led to a sharp increase in their prices, making them one of the most valuable commodities of the time. Spices were often used as a form of currency, and their trade led to enormous profits for the European powers involved in the spice trade.

The spice trade also had a significant impact on cultural exchange and the spread of ideas and knowledge. The trade routes that were established for the spice trade also facilitated the exchange of goods, ideas, and technologies between East and West. The spice trade led to the exchange of new agricultural practices, culinary techniques, and medicinal knowledge, which had a profound impact on the cultures of both the East and the West.

While the spice trade was a lucrative business for the European powers, it also had its dark side. The desire to control the spice trade led to conflicts, wars, and the exploitation of indigenous peoples in the spice-producing regions. The Dutch, in particular, were notorious for their ruthless tactics in maintaining their control over the spice trade.

The spice trade continued to be a profitable business well into the 18th and 19th centuries, though the demand for spices in Europe began to decline as new sources of spices were discovered in other parts of the world. The development of steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 also made it easier and faster to transport goods from Asia to Europe, reducing the importance of the traditional spice trade routes.

Today, the spice trade continues to be a significant part of the global economy, though its impact is not as profound as it once was. Spices are now readily available in most parts of the world, and their prices have decreased significantly. However, the history of the spice trade continues to be a fascinating and important part of the history of global trade and cultural exchange. The spice trade has left an indelible mark on the world, shaping the way we eat, trade, and interact with one another (AI-GPT-4o).

Spices timeline

BCE

Egyptians were renowned for their highly developed medicine involving many aromatic and strongly flavoured herbs and spices some of which were used to assist the process of embalming. In Europe the desire for and trade in herbs and spices marked the initial phase of systematic plant acquisition from foreign sources – a first hint of the plant globalization to come.

1721 – Cloves excavated from a kitchen in Terqa, Syria dating back to this time
1508-1458 – Pharaoh Hatshepsut returns live myrrh plants from an expedition to Punt
200 – Han Dynasty records report the use of cloves
138 – Silk Road established across Central Asia
50 – Greco-Roman trade with India

CE

77 – Pliny the Elder mentions cloves in his Naturalis Historia
618 – Tang Dynasty and Silk Road stability for 300 years
661 – Damascus the trading centre of Muslim world
671 – Arab traders arrive in Guangzhou
750 – Muslim focus turns to Baghdad
1291 – Islam established in Northern Sumatra<
1402 – Spain finally occupies the Canary Islands
1405 – First voyage of Admiral Zheng He Treasure Fleet
1402 – Portugal occupies the Madeiras
1427 – Portugal occupies the Azores around this time
1453 – Ottoman Turks overrun Constantinople, gaining control of the Spice Road
1484 – Islam reaches Ternate
1488 – Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Diaz rounds the Cape of Good Hope; Columbus suggests to Portuguese court a westward voyage to find the Spice Islands
1492 – Columbus following a western route to the East Indies arrives in the Bahamas thus discovering the Americas but believing he has landed in the East Indies
1494 – Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world between Spain and Portugal
1498 – Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, follows the uncharted West African coast and crosses the Indian Ocean to anchor off Calicut: Europe’s first direct sea voyage to Asia
1510 – Alfonso de Albuquerque captures Goa for Portugal
1511 – Alfonso de Albuquerque captures Malacca for Portugal
1512 – Antonio de Abreu arrives in Banda and Francisco Serrão in Ternate
1513 – Portuguese armada from Malacca reaches Banda to trade nutmeg
1517 – Ferdinand Magellan suggests to Spanish court a westward voyage to the Spice Islands
1519 – Magellan sets sail for Moluccas
1521 – Magellan dies in Mactan, Philippines but the armada proceeds to Ternate
1522 – Juan Sebastian El Cano completes the Moluccan expedition & is the first to circumnavigate the world
1523 – Fort Gamalama constructed on Ternate
1529 – Spain signs the Treaty of Saragossa ceding the Moluccas to Portugal
1575 – Portuguese driven from Ternate
1579 – Englishman Francis Drake in the Golden Hind meets Sultan Baabullah on Ternate and in 1580 completes the second circumnavigation of the world
1596 – Dutch fleet arrives in East Indies
1600 – Second Dutch fleet makes contact with Ternatan Sultan
1601 – English East India Company formed
1602 – Dutch East India Company (VOC) formed
1605 – Portuguese take the fort on Tidore
1607 – Spanish take Fort Gamalama on Ternate
1619 – Dutch establish the town of Batavia based on Amsterdam
1667 – English with the Treaty of Breda exchange the island of Run for Manhattan
?1673 – Spanish abandon Ternate
1669 – Dutch establish a monopoly of the Spice Islands with the capture of Macassar
1754-1770 – Nutmeg plants established by Pierre Poivre in Mauritius
1795 – Cloves and nutmeg well established in the French colonies of the Caribbean

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First published on the internet – 1 March 2019