Report by a Dutch East India Company (VOC) official in Batavia (Jakarta), 1650:
'Although we have established our fortresses and seek to control the trade in fine spices from the Moluccas, we find that the Chinese, Malay, and Moorish [Muslim] merchants continue to transport vast quantities of pepper, textiles, and porcelain through the straits. They navigate small vessels through channels where our large warships cannot go, avoiding our customs duties. Furthermore, the king of Banten continues to welcome these merchants, offering them lower prices and protection, thereby challenging our attempts to establish a complete monopoly in the region.'
Which of the following continuities in the Indian Ocean trade network in the period 1450–1750 is best illustrated by the persistence of the merchant groups described in the passage?
- AThe spread of Neo-Confucian state philosophy as the primary unifying ideology among merchant guilds in the region.
- The resilience of traditional regional trade networks and indigenous merchants despite European efforts to monopolize commerce.Cevap
- CThe organization of Southeast Asian spice production under European-style feudal manorial systems.
- DThe commercial decline of regional Islamic states following the political fragmentation of the Abbasid Caliphate.