Unit 2: Networks of Exchange

Magnetic Compass (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Chinese scientists developed it

-Helped aid navigation and ship control on the seas

-Magnetism to locate true north

Rudder (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Chinese scientists improved it

-Helped aid navigation and ship control on the seas

-Gave ships more stability, making them easier to maneuver

Junk (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Developed in the Han Dynasty

-A boat similar to the Southwest Asian dhow

-Multiple sails and was as long as 400 feet

-Used for rough voyages at sea and made sinking less likely

Mongol Empire (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Conquered the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258

-In the 14th century, China came under their control

-Improved roads and punished bandits on the Silk Roads

Kashgar (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Located at the western edge of China (where the northern and southern routes of the Silk Roads crossed), leading to destinations in Central Asia, India, Pakistan, and Persia

-Travelers on the Silk Roads depended on them for water and food

Samarkand (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-In present-day Uzbekistan, in the Seravshan River valley

-A stopping point on the Silk Roads between China and the Mediterranean

-Center of cultural exchange as much as it was a center for trading goods

Caravanserai (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Often 100 miles apart

-Provided shelter, food, and water for travelers and their animals on the Silk Roads

Money Economy (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Using money rather than bartering with such commodities as cowrie shells or salt

Flying Cash (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Paper money or credit that emerged in China

Paper Money (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-A form of currency made from paper

-Replaced the need for heavy metal coins

Banking Houses (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-Location for exchanging flying cash

-Provided currency exchange, loans, secure deposits, and bills of exchange

Bill of Exchange (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-A document stating the holder was legally promised payment of a set amount on a set date

-Receive that amount of money in exchange

Hanseatic League (2.1 The Silk Roads)

-In the 13th century, cities in northern Germany and Scandinavia formed a commercial alliance

-Controlled trade in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

Malacca (Melaka) (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-Muslim city-state

-Wealthy by building a navy and by imposing fees on ships that passed through

Gujarat (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-The western Indian region

-Thrived as a vital hub in the Indian Ocean trade network

Swahili City-States (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-The Indian Ocean trade also created thriving city-states along the east coast of Africa

Calicut (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-City on the west coast of India

-Thriving centers of trade due to interactions with merchants from East Africa and Southwest Asia

-A bustling port city for merchants in search of spices from southern India

-Foreign merchants from Arabia and China met there to exchange goods from the West and the East

Spice Island (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-Modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia are known as this

-Fragrant nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom were exported

Indian Ocean Basin (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-South Asia, with its location in the center of the Indian Ocean, benefited enormously from the trade

Monsoon Winds (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-Essential for trading in the Indian Ocean

-In the winter months, winds originated from the northeast

-In the spring and summer, they blew from the southwest

-Merchants timed their voyages because of this

Lateen Sails (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-Triangular shape

-Easily catch winds coming from different directions

Stern Rudder (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-Chinese sailors incented this

-Gave their ships more stability and made them easier to maneuver

Astrolabe (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-Improved by Muslim navigators in the 12th century

-Allowed sailors to determine how far north or south they were from the equator

Indian Ocean Slave Trade (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-System of capturing and transporting enslaved people from primarily sub-Saharan Africa

-Sometimes from South Asia and Southeast Asia, to markets in the Middle East, India, and other parts of the Indian Ocean basin

Diaspora (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-Settlements of people away from their homeland

Zheng He (2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean)

-A Chinese Muslim eunuch, mariner, and diplomat who led large-scale maritime expeditions

-Did for the Ming Dynasty from 1405-1433

Mongols (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Nomadic people from Central Asia

-Ruler was Genghis Khan 

-Created the largest contiguous land empire in history 

-Connected Eurasia through conquest and trade

Khan (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-A title of a ruler or a political entity ruled by a Mongol leader

-Means supreme ruler

Also known as king

Kurlitai (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-In 1206, Temujin gathered the Mongol chieftains at a meeting

-He was elected khan of the Mongolian Kingdom during this meeting

Genghis Khan (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Birth name was Temujin

-Born in 1162

-Founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Khanates (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Kingdom

-A political entity or state ruled by a khan

Pax Mongolica (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-The period of Eurasian history between the 13th and 14th centuries

-Mongolian peace

Batu (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Genghis Khan’s grandson

-In 1236, the son of Khan’s oldest son, led a Mongolian army of 100,000 soldiers into Russia

-Founder of the Golden Horde

Golden Horde (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-A Mongol khanate established by Batu Khan in the 13th century

Moscow (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Transformed from a small settlement into a significant political center

-Rulers from this city-state began collecting additional tributes, which they set aside to develop an army to resist the Mongols.

-Began building an anti-Mongol coalition among the Russian city-states

Helegu (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Grandson of Genghis Khan

-Took charge of the southwest region

-In 1258, he led the Mongols into the Abbasid territories

-They destroyed the city of Baghdad

-Killed the caliph and about 200,000 people

Il-Khante (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Helegu’s kingdom

-In Central Asia stretched from Byzantium to the Oxus River

-Mongols ruled this kingdom, but Persians served as ministers and provincial and local officials

Kublai Khan (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Grandson of Genghis Khan

-During 1235-1271, he and his army attempted to conquer China

-In 1260, he got the title of Great Khan

-1271, he defeated the Chinese

Yuan Dynasty (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Kublai Khan established this

-He rebuilt at Zhongdu, calling it Dadu

-He instituted a policy of religious tolerance

-He brought prosperity to China because of cultural exchanges and improved trade with other countries

Zhu Yuanzhang (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-A Buddhist monk from a poor peasant family

-In 1368, he led a revolt that overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and founded the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Zhu Yuanzhang found it

-Lasted from 1368-1644

Gobi Desert (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-In East Asia

-In the 12th century, Mongols herded goats and sheep and were hunter-foragers.

-The Mongols were north of this place

Siege Weapons (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Trebuchets, battering rams, catapults, and siege towers

-Enable the breaching of fortified cities

Cannon (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-A Mongol invention

-Cobbled together using Chinese gunpowder, Muslim flamethrowers, and European bell-casting techniques

Uyghur Alphabet (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Genghis Khan directed a scribe captured in 1204 to adapt this system to represent the Mongols

-Genghis Khan’s effort to unify his empire

-The effort to establish this system through out the empire failed

White Lotus Society (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-Quietly organized to put an end to the Yuan Dynasty

-Religious and political movement in imperial China

-Contributed to the fall of the Yuan Dynasty

Bubonic Plague (2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World)

-The Mongol conquests helped to transmit the fleas that carried this disease

-From southern China to Central Asia, and from there to Southeast Asia and Europe

-It followed familiar paths of trade and military conquest

Champa Rice (2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity)

-Quick-ripening

-Introduced to the Champa states by Vietnam, a Hindu state, and then offered to the Chinese as tribute

-Drought-resistance, flood-resistance, and capable of yielding two crops a year

-Contributed to the growth of population in China

Bananas (2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity)

-Indonesian seafarers traveling across the Indian Ocean had introduced this to Sub-Saharan Africa

-The nutrition-rich food led to a spike in population

-To grow it, farmers increased land for cultivation, which enriched diets and led to population growth

Sugar (2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity)

-As caliphs conquered lands beyond the Arabian Peninsula, they spread this

-A valuable and rare luxury good traded across Afro-Eurasian networks, primarily controlled by Arab and then Italian merchants

Citrus Crops (2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity)

-As caliphs conquered lands beyond the Arabian Peninsula, they spread this

-Originating in Southeast Asia, were spread westward through Islamic conquests, agricultural advancements, and trade networks, becoming prominent in the Mediterranean and Middle East

-Luxury item

Overgrazing (2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity)

-Excessive grazing which causes damage to grassland

-An environmental degradation

Deforestation (2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity)

-Overuse of farm land and this led to soil erosion, reducing agricultural production

-The permanent removal of forests and woodlands, converting them to non-forest uses such as agriculture, logging, or mining

Soil Erosion (2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity)

-The natural process where wind and water, or other agents, detach and move soil particles from one location to another, resulting in the loss of topsoil and degradation of the land