World Unit 2 Quiz 1

What were the major cause for increased trade via the silk road?

The Mongol empire unified much of Eurasia under their rule, resulting in stability and security which significantly facilitated trade, and was referred to as Pax Mongolia (Mongol Peace). In East Asia the Mongols defeated the Song Dynasty in 1279, and established the Yuan Dynasty, and Korea became a tributary state. In central Asia, they dominated the Silk Roads and established the Chagatai Khanate, (controlled silk road). In Southwest Asia/Middle East, they destroyed the Abbasid capital of Baghdad in 1258, and established the Llkhanate of Persia. In Eastern Europe, they conquered Russia and Ukraine, and established the Golden Horde. The Mongols allowed for safe passage along the Silk Roads, and supported diplomatic, religious, and commercial exchange. Regarding technological innovation, paper money, credit systems, banking houses, caravanserai (rest stops), and camel saddles that also facilitated trade along the silk road.

What were the major trading cities that rose along the Silk Road, and what were the characteristics of those cities?

Kashgar was located in Western China, where north and southern silk roads cross. Over time, it was an important center for Islamic Learning after it was incorporated into dar al-Islam with mosques and madrasas (educational institutions for learning in the Islamic World) throughout the city. Samarkand was located in present day Uzbekistan, which was at the crossroads of major trade routes connecting China, Persia, India, and the Middle East. It was known for its architecture, such as blue-tiled madrasas and mosques. It flourished under Tamerlane of the Timurid Empire in the late 14th century, who made it the capital of his empire and a center for artistic and scientific achievement. Both of these trading cities reflected long-distance, cross cultural exchange, making them diverse.

How did the Demand for luxury goods shift labor dynamics/ the economy?

Safer trade routes, exposure to new markets from long distance trade, and a growing urban elite all increased the demand for luxury goods like silk, porcelain, spices, steel, sugar, and cotton textiles, result in a small, but significant, shift towards industrialization, where traditional artisans and peasants in places like China, Eastern Europe, and India shifted to manufacture commodities to be exported in the broader, long distance, marketplace. In China, for example, they expanded manufacturing of iron and steel.

What were the impacts of increased cultural change on Religious exchange and technological diffusion?

The different categories of Cultural exchange include religion, technology, and agriculture. Regarding religious exchange (within the context of the silk road), Islam spread mostly due to Sufi Missionaries and Muslim Merchants. Monks and traders bought Buddhism into Central and east Asia, and Christian missionaries spread Chrstianity such as John and Rabban SUma. Technological diffusion/ spread also took place because the silk road, and as an example, gunpowder and the magnetic compass were two significant technologies that developed and were expanded during this period through both trade and military use. Gunpowder influenced the development of catapults, trebuchets, and cannons for military use, and the magnetic compass promoted trade and travel through more precise land and ocean navigation. Although these innovations originated in China, increased trade and travel through the silk road brought them to other parts of Afro-Eurasia, significantly changing world History.

What were the impacts of increased cultural change on Agricultural diffusion, and what occurred that resulted in agricultural troubles?

Agricultural diffusion was another significant effect of the silk road, and as an example, Muslim traders introduced citrus fruits, cotton, rice, and sugarcane to sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. Edible crops provided additional nutrition across the pre-industrialized world, and cash crops like sugarcane world be mass produced and sold on the global market (such as sugar, cotton, and tobacco). In order to mass produce these crops, stated developed massive plantation economies, and was expanded through the use of slave labor. Another accidental impact of increased trade during this period was the Bubonic plague, which originated in China, but spread globally, especially through Mongol campaigns. It killed up to 70% of the population In China and Europe, resulting in labor shortages, demands for increased wages, and peasant results. It had less of an impact n sub-Saharan Africa and India, but eventually led to the fall of the Mongol empire.

What were the three ways that the decline of Mongol Empire impacted China and Europe?

Increased trade and travel through the silk roads had other indirect effects on states and empires throughout Afro-Eurasia, especially as the Mongol Empire declined. The bubonic Plague wipes out much of Eurasia, and especially the Mongol empire. After Mongol Yuan rule collapsed in China, the Ming Dynasty followed and transitioned back to Confucian ideas. In Europe, states like Spain and Portugal began to centralize their power and began the age of exploration by finding sea-based alternatives to access recourses In Asia to cut out the middlemen found along the silk road. An example being Christopher columbus