Ulaştırma ve Lojistik Kongreleri

Trade and Logistics in the Inca Empire

Rosario Consuelo Vicuña Jurado
Öğr. Gör., Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi, Aydın, Türkiye

Trade is one of the most important aspects to a civilization, without trade, civilizations cannot thrive or grow. It also keeps good relations with rival empires because the civilizations rely on each other. Trade was not as simple as today, even though it was hard to establish trade contacts between nations, they weren’t only trading money and resources but also religion, culture, tradition and wisdom. Therefore trade was extremely important. Trade routes have developed since ancient times to transport goods from places of production to places of commerce. Scarce commodities that were only available in certain locations, such as salt or spices, were the biggest driver of t rade networks, but once established, these roads also facilitated cultural exchange—including the spread of religion, ideas, knowledge, and sometimes even bacteria. Unlike most of the other route The Spice Routes were maritime routes linking the East to the West. Pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg were all hugely sought -after commodities in Europe, but before the 15th century access to trade with the East was controlled by North Africans and Arab middlemen, making such spices extremely expensive and rare. With the dawning of the Age of Exploration (15th to 17th centuries), as new navigation technology made sailing long distance possible, Europeans took to the seas to forge direct trading relationships with India, China and Japan. The spice trade was one of the reasons for the development of a faster ship, which encouraged the discovery of new lands. This is how the relationship between East and West was established, so it was that in the search of new routes for the trade of spices with the India that Christopher Columbus established and ended up finding the Continent of America in 1492

Keywords: Trade, International Trade