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# Background of Explorations Before starting explorations that took place towards the end of the 15th century, the Europeans did not know about many parts of the world and countries in them except for Europe and a small part of North Africa and Asia. Europeans had only a limited knowledge that was...

# Background of Explorations Before starting explorations that took place towards the end of the 15th century, the Europeans did not know about many parts of the world and countries in them except for Europe and a small part of North Africa and Asia. Europeans had only a limited knowledge that was gained from traders and heroic authors such as Marcopolo about countries in Asia such as India and China, and little was known about other parts of the Asian region. Further, they had little understanding about the continents of America and Australia and most parts of Africa. Before explorations began, most of the world trade was limited to areas around the Mediterranean. Commercial cities such as Genoa, Alexandria and Venice which were located around the Mediterranean, and Constantinople located close to the Black Sea had flourished because of trade. There were three main routes along which trade relationships were maintained between Asia and Europe during this period: - **Silk route**, i.e., the route from the city of Constantinople to China through Persia and Central Asia. - Arriving in Misra (Egypt) from Constantinople through the Mediterranean and reaching the Indian Ocean sailing through the Red Sea. - Reaching the western coast of India from Constantinople through the Persian Gulf. The goods that were transported on land along the Silk Route were sent to the city of Constantinople. Pack animals were used to transport goods along overland routes that had to be taken while transporting goods along the sea routes which lay through the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The goods that were transported through the Persian Gulf were traded in Constantinople while those that were transported through the Red Sea and through Misra were bought at Alexandria by traders from Venice and Genoa. ## Factors that Influenced Carrying out of Explorations - **Conquest of Constantinople by Turks and blocking of the traditional trade routes of Europeans** Conquest of Constantinople by Turks can be considered as the leading cause for the beginning of explorations. City of Constantinople was the main commercial centre at which the European traders bought the goods that were transported to Europe through the trade routes mentioned above. However, this city was conquered by Muslim Turks in 1453 and it became difficult for European traders, who were Christians, to use the traditional trade routes that they had used earlier. Further, the trade activities of the European traders were disturbed due to several actions such as increasing of prices of goods, raising of duty on goods and not supplying essential items in time by the Turks who captured the city of Constantinople. As the traditional trade routes were blocked in this manner, the Europeans had to come to Asia in search of spices. By this time, the trade dominance in Asia was in the hands of Muslims and therefore, Europeans had the intention of gaining that dominance for themselves. Accordingly, there seem to have been economic interests or intentions of gaining profits behind the search of new sea routes to Asia. - **Having a fitting background formed in Europe for explorations** New scientific inventions and the transformation that took place in thought during the Renaissance era gave rise to the formation of a fitting environment in Europe for explorations. During this period mathematicians and astronomers such as Nicolaus Copernicus proved that the Earth is spherical and Ptolemy's map of the world helped expand the knowledge that people possessed about the position of the world. Use of the compass and measuring of the angle of the North Star in long voyages helped explorers carry out their long voyages. Further, the knowledge gained during the Renaissance era enabled explorers to build huge ships that had the capacity to sail in the high seas.