1. Knowledge of the Ocean Corridor in Antiquity (1000 BC – 50 AD)
The extent to which the maritime trade route from the Red Sea to Southeast Asia and Indonesia was known varied across cultures. The network was functional, but the Western world relied heavily on middlemen, which obscured the true origin of the final goods.
Persia
Persian cultures, particularly those along the Persian Gulf, had a high awareness of the route. They were strategically positioned and acted as crucial intermediaries in the extensive Eurasian network, maintaining significant connections with India, the gateway to Southeast Asian trade.
Greece and Rome
Their knowledge grew from indirect to direct access. After the Roman annexation of Egypt (30 BC) and the use of monsoon winds, Roman ships sailed directly to India from Red Sea ports. Texts like the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea showed sophisticated knowledge of the ports but were vague on the final, distant sources beyond India.
Jews
Jewish communities had indirect knowledge, primarily exposed to the goods as they flowed through the Levantine and Egyptian trade centers. Their focus was often on the high-value aromatics and spices mentioned in religious and commercial contexts, rather than the geographical route itself.
Perception of Origin
For Western consumers, the origin of Indonesian spices (like cloves and nutmeg) was generally a matter of exotic, distant, and fantastical lands. The spices were often conflated with products from India or South Arabia, their true Moluccan source hidden by middlemen to maintain high prices and preserve the mystique of luxury.
2. The Final Discovery of the Source (16th Century Europe)
Europe only discovered and understood the specific Indonesian source of the key spices after successfully navigating to the region and breaking the centuries-old secrecy maintained by Eastern traders.
The Portuguese Breakthrough
The pivotal moment was achieved by Portugal in the early 16th century, soon after establishing a direct sea route to India around the Cape of Good Hope (Vasco da Gama, 1498).
- In 1511, the Portuguese conquered Malacca, gaining access to crucial regional trade knowledge.
- In 1512, an expedition led by António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão reached the Moluccas (Spice Islands), specifically the Banda Islands (nutmeg/mace source) and Ambon (clove trading).
Awareness of "The Source"
There was an immediate and profound awareness that they had found the definitive, singular source of the world’s most valuable spices. This confirmed the long-held commercial objective of bypassing intermediaries entirely.
- The discovery of the Moluccas (the tiny islands that exclusively produced cloves and nutmeg) was considered the ultimate geographical and commercial prize of the age.
- This knowledge sparked intense competition and conflict between Portugal and Spain, particularly when the remnants of the Magellan expedition (sailing west) also arrived at the Moluccas in 1521, confirming the location from the opposite side of the globe.