a. The Basics of Islam: Five Pillars of Islam

b. The Spread of Islam

c. The Teaching of Islam

d. Sectorial Conflicts and Syncretism

a. Economic Incentives for Europeans: Cut out the Muslim middleman

b. Early Explorations to Atlantic Africa

i. Prince Henry “the Navigator” (1394-1460) from 1415
ii. Bartholomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope, 1488

3. Portuguese Pioneer-Intruders in Asia

a.Vasco da Gama muscles into the Indian Ocean, 1497-98

i. Dealing with East African city-states
ii. Pepper and spices in Calicut

b. The Introduction of Armed Trading in the Indian Ocean

i. Portuguese return with armed vessels and soldiers
ii. Control of choke points in Indian Ocean trade:

• Kilwa, Mombasa, Sofala captured in 1505
• Hormuz in 1508
• Goa in 1510 (made into Portugal’s Asian capital)
• Malacca in 1511

c. How Did Poor Little Portugal Do It?

i. Desperate risk-taking to achieve economic benefits
ii. Took advantage of weak local governments
iii. Took advantage of differences in naval technologies
iv. Fortified networks of strategic defensive strongholds

d. Fragmentation and Decline of Portuguese “Empire”

i. Breakup of royal monopoly on India trade
ii. Assimilation with local culture and economy
iii. Actions by emerging Asian states
iv. Competition with Dutch and English