Unit 2 Review: Networks of Exchange

Flashcards based on lecture notes about Unit 2: Networks of Exchange.

What are the three major networks of exchange covered in Unit 2?

The Silk Roads, Indian Ocean Networks, and Trans-Saharan Trade.

What role did Caravanserai play in the expansion of trade networks?

Caravanserai were guest houses that brought merchants together, increasing the transfer of technologies and culture.

Why was Kashgar a significant trading city?

Kashgar's location at the convergence of trade routes made it popular among traveling merchants.

How did innovations in transportation, like camel saddles, affect trade in the Trans-Saharan Trade Network?

Camel saddles allowed for increased trade and wealth for empires like Mali in the Trans-Saharan Trade Network.

What factors contributed to the growth of the Swahili States?

Swahili States grew due to trade in gold, ivory, and enslaved people along Africa's coast.

What are diasporic communities and where were they located?

Diasporic communities are settlements of ethnic people in a location other than their home, such as Arab & Persian communities in East Africa.

What are some cultural effects of connectivity?

Examples include the spread of Buddhism to China and the translation of Greek and Roman classics in the House of Wisdom.

What are the environmental consequences of connectivity?

The transfer of crops like Champa rice and the spread of diseases like the Bubonic Plague.

How did networks of exchange impact cities like Hangzhou?

Hangzhou, situated at one end of China's Grand Canal, experienced increased wealth and urbanization.

Who was Ibn Battuta and what did he do?

Ibn Battuta's detailed notes about different places, people, and cultures.

What were the main accomplishments of the Mongol Empire concerning trade?

They established the largest land-based empire and facilitated technological and cultural transfers.

How did the Mongols encourage trade?

They encouraged trade and extracted wealth as facilitators of commerce on the Silk Roads.

Silk roads

Stretched across Eurasia

Mainly used to transport luxury goods like Chinese silk and porcelain

What are commercial practices

Money economies, uses paper money and credit like banking houses

What were the effects of the trans Saharan trade network

-led to increasing wealth and power of various states

Ex: empire of Mali, flourished through the trade of gold and through taxing merchants

What are monsoon winds

Helped determine the wind, made trade along the Indian Ocean possible

Give details of the Indian Ocean network

Existed before 1200, but flourished during this period

-more common goods were sold, textiles and spices

Causes of Indian Ocean network expansion

-Magnetic compass: helped to know which direction to sail in

-Astrolabe: tool for measuring the stars and comparing them to star charts

-New ships: Chinese “junk” massive ships to carry big loads of goods

Cultural effects of connectivity

-transfer of religion EX. Spread of Buddhism to China through the silk roads

-literary & Artistic transfers EX. House of wisdom

-Scientic and technological innovations EX. Gunpowder: spread to Muslim empires, Europe, and eventually throughout the world

-rise and fall of cities EX. Hangzhou: facilitated all kinds of trade resulting in the increasement of wealth and urbanization EX. Baghdad: destroyed by mongol army

Environmental effects of connectivity

-Transfer of crops EX. Champs rice

-Transfer of disease

What did the mongol empire do during this period?

The mongol empire facilitated all the connections EX. Under them the silk roads flourished because the empire provided safety and continuity along them