Colonialism: 1600- the present.

25/09/2007
09:56:00
Guest Lecturer from the religious department, emph. Arabic/Muslim studies.

AN: Heads up, the guy was very quiet so this is pretty much a collection of what I
assumed I heard him say---- enjoy.

I. 1550-1600: Situation worldwide in cultural exchange.

• Arabs and Persians became equal (?)
• Trade was dominated in settlements.
o Cairo-Venice third trade settlement.

II. West vs. Asia.

• Europeans only present in small trading outposts. However, mere
present of Europeans cause manufacturers to produce towards
Europeans.
o Europeans come to enjoy a social power due to their present.
• WHY? Growth of Science in Europe correlates with trade.
o Charting the world and gaining commodities (such as spices) .
• More so--- the sponsorship by the monarchy for exploration.
o Risks of exploration = ships sinking and losing a lot of money
(gambling essentially).
 To reduce risk, the invention of shares came into being.

III. Loyalties (European) [in terms of European Shares]

• Religious loyalties and Family loyalties did not matter as much in
terms of trade.
• Mostly nationalist loyalty.
• In order to trade it was required to purchase shares.
o The shares companies fell into the archives that tracked the
charts and maps of which routes they took [done by
geographers and astronomers].
 Led to archiving knowledge. And out-trade, out-sell
their Asian competitions.
IV. New Goal: Trade and Spices.
• Set up trade colonies on islands of Indonesia. [Dutch]
o First use of the term colonies in the sense of trade: Latin.
Cultivate, to inhabit > colonnus, a tenant farmer, settler in a
new land. Land that is contact with the mother country.
• British move in, Dutch get angry…
o Surround the islands and starve the inhabitants. Get new-
comers the Africans (slave-population) - to cultivate the
goods and cheap work.

V. Mughals: What did they do?

• Persian as language of learning.
• Arrive in India as refugees.
• Set up their own consolidating power in India.
o They created their own colonies?
 Lecturer opinion: no. Temporary setup simply for trade.
Only learn the language for trade aspects, family
outside the colony. // Mughals set up to live there.
Set up to learn the language and assimilate into
the culture. [not just for trade]

VI. Trade and some new issues:

• Due to the creation of new factories: Manufactured factory products
become available at a much cheaper price than home-made items.
o Leads to a change in trade.
 Major loss in jobs due to cheaper production and cost of
factory manufactured items.
o Cash Crop v Food Crop: To make of the loss cash that factory
manufactured items have caused.
 Food Crop: A crop that can be eaten and forms a staple
of a communities’ diet: rice, wheat.
 Cash Crop: A crop used to manufacture something of
commercial value or one that cannot form the staple of
a communities nutritious needs: rubber, tea, cocoa,
indigo, nutmeg.
o Indentured Servitude v. Slavery:
  Indenture: A contract binding one to work for another
for a fixed period of time.

VII. Growth and Decay

• Heavy with age. Bow under the weight of their own progress.
o Culture as an old man. [Asian atleast]
 England comes in as the youth.
• Colonized culture as an infant in a sense.
o Need helping hand and guidance.
• Colonized culture lacking something—too feminine?
o Causes them to succumb. Due to irrational?

* ¾ of the lecture, I gave up out of being lost and not hearing much of wth
he was saying.
25/09/2007 09:56:00
25/09/2007 09:56:00