The history of the economic contacts between Asia and Europe dates back to at
least the early years of the Common Era. But it was only after the overcoming of
the transport technology barrier to the growth of trade between the two
continents following the discovery by the Portuguese at the end of the 15th
century of the all-water route to the East Indies that these contacts became
regular and quantitatively significant. The Portuguese were joined at the
beginning of the 17th century by the Dutch and the English East India companies.
The Europeans operated in the Indian Ocean alongside the Indian and other Asian
merchants with