1492 is associated with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. By 1498, when Vasco da Gama opened up the sea route via the Cape of Good Hope to Asia via Africa, trade became truly globalised. Prior to 1492, trade between Europe and Asia was dominated by Islamic traders from Spain to Malacca, via the sea route and also overland via Bagdad to China through the Silk Road.
1492 was an important watershed for globalisation because it also marked the re-conquest of Spain by the Catholic King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabel of Castile when the last Islamic fortress of Alhambra in Granada surrendered. That year began the expulsion of Jews and Moors from Spain, drawing a line on the Golden Age of Islam (8th to 15th century) when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived for 700 years in Spain, changing the intellectual landscape of Europe.
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