“The mariners of the Frankish lands [Europeans] have recently entered the Southern Seas, using vessels of mixed rig—carrying both square sails for speed and our own triangular sails for turning against the wind. They determine their latitude by the height of the stars, using brass plates inscribed with circles, a method they learned from our scholars, yet they still lack a true understanding of the seasonal winds that blow across the Great Gulf.”
—Adapted from a commentary by Ahmad ibn Mājid, Arab navigator and cartographer, *The Book of Useful Information on the Rules of Navigation*, c. 1490
The technological adaptations described in the passage most directly allowed Western European mariners to resolve which of the following maritime challenges during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries?
- Navigating contrary winds along the African coast and across open oceans by combining square and lateen rigging.Cevap
- BFinancing the high costs of transoceanic exploration and shipbuilding through the deregulation of trade by joint-stock companies.
- CNavigating the Indian Ocean trade network without relying on seasonal monsoon wind patterns.
- DSustaining crews on long voyages by importing agricultural crops from the Americas to cultivate in Indian Ocean colonies.