Trade Relations Trade relations were first established between countries situated along the sea coasts and the banks of rivers . At the end of the 3rd millennium B.C. the Phoenician slave owning city – states of the Mediterranean were chiefly commercial traders . They had established trade relations with Asia Minor , Cyprus , Crete , Greece and other Mediterranean coun tries . They bought silver , lead and iron in Asia Minor , copper in Cyprus , etc. In ancient times well – travelled trade routes which bound distant countries were established in Asia and Africa . The so – called ” spice route ” was a caravan route from Southern Arabia and the cities of the Mediterranean East Coast along the Red Sea Coast to the North . The trade was in lamp – oil , myrrh , Indian and African spices , gold and , later , slaves . Another caravan route from Southern Arabia led to Meso potamia . Merchants ferried their goods from East Africa across the narrow Bab el Mandeb Strait and then sent them on northward . The ancient caravan route through Central Asia connected China with Iran and the Mediterranean countries . The Chinese goods imported were metals , leather and , chiefly , silks . This route came to be known as the ” silk route ” . Central Asia was also a trading centre of note during the Kushan Kingdom . Kushan merchants took glass and jewel lery to China . Central Asia established trading ties with India , with the countries of the Mediterranean East Coast , Eastern Europe and the Roman Empire . The development of commodity exchange further increased economic inequality . In order to eke out a living , the poor were forced to rent their tools from the rich , to borrow money from them , etc. Non – payment of one’s debts meant debtors servitude . Thus , the army of slaves was swelled . Those who lent out money , on the other hand , were becoming ever richer , they were turning into usurers , persons who consciously amassed great sums in order to lend them out at great interest .