The Indian Ocean trade routes were primarily utilized by European traders in the 14th and 15th centuries due to their advanced navigation technologies.

The claim is incorrect. Indian Ocean trade long before the 14th‑15th centuries was dominated by Arab, Persian, Indian, and Chinese merchants, who used simple but reliable monsoon‑based sailing and local knowledge. European traders did not become the main users until the late 15th and early 16th centuries, after the Portuguese reached Calicut in 1498. Their advantage was more in shipbuilding and gunpowder than in navigation technology, which had been developed earlier by the locals. For example, Vasco da Gama’s 1498 voyage proved that Europeans could join the trade, but it was a later development, not a 14th‑century phenomenon.