But then Indian Ocean trade surged again in the 14th and 15th centuries. So who was trading? Swahili coast cities, Islamic empires in the Middle East, India, China, Southeast Asia, and not Europe, which is probably one of the other reasons that the monsoon marketplace isn't as famous as it should be. Let's go to the Thought Bubble. So if you live in China and you need some ivory to make the handle for a sword, you have to trade for it, because elephants only live in India and Africa. One of the reasons that Indian Ocean trade took off is that there were a wide range of resources available and a wide range of import needs, from ivory to timber to books to grain. But the most important thing was the wind.