By Song times, dozens of Chinese junks regularly sailed west to Calicut, an entrepot on the Malabar Coast of India. Some Arab geographers even claim that the Chinese reached the East African coastline. This Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean culminated in Zheng He's famed treasure voyages, when the Ming government tried to get in the action.
Then in the later fifteenth century, the Chinese withdrew from the Indian Ocean and never returned.
Of course, the Ming ban on private maritime commerce (enforced around this date) probably had something to do with this. But why did the Chinese never return to India and beyond, not in the 17th century when Ming loyalists fanned across the seas, nor in the 18th century when Qing merchants controlled virtually the entire Southeast Asian economy?
I've speculated on whether this was caused by the increasing militarisation of the Indian Ocean, which put merchants without state backing at a disadvantage. Thoughts?
Then in the later fifteenth century, the Chinese withdrew from the Indian Ocean and never returned.
Of course, the Ming ban on private maritime commerce (enforced around this date) probably had something to do with this. But why did the Chinese never return to India and beyond, not in the 17th century when Ming loyalists fanned across the seas, nor in the 18th century when Qing merchants controlled virtually the entire Southeast Asian economy?
I've speculated on whether this was caused by the increasing militarisation of the Indian Ocean, which put merchants without state backing at a disadvantage. Thoughts?