Silk Road and Indian Ocean Trade Routes

Silk Road

Caravan routes connecting China and the Middle East across Central Asia and Iran.

Maritime

Connected with the sea, especially in relation to seafaring commercial or military activity.

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.

Flying money

Chinese credit instrument that provided credit vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at the end of the voyage; reduced danger of robbery; early form of currency

Kashgar

A central trading point where the Eastern and Western Silk Roads met.

Samarkand

During the rule of Timur Lane was the most influential capital city, a wealthy trading center known for decorated mosques and tombs.

Bills of Exchange

A written order to a person requiring the person to make a specified payment to the signatory or to a named payee; a promissory note.

Banking Houses

Handled the financial transactions of a variety of merchants. Specialized in money changing, loans, and investments. Banking was introduced to encourage the exchange of money and goods over a large distance.

Caravans

Groups of people traveling together for safety over long distances

Caravanserai

An inn with a central courtyard for travelers which offered a place to stay and protections along trade routes like the Silk Road.

Junk

A very large flatbottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Diasporic

The spread or dissemination of something originally confined to a local, homogeneous group, like a language or cultural institution.

Swahili Coast

The Swahili people converted to and used Islam to help facilitate trade in the Indian Ocean. Diasporic communities were established there that helped to spread Islam, one of these groups was the Shirazi from Persia.

Gujarat

Gujarat was located on India's westernmost coast and was vital in Indian Ocean trade. The Gujarati people used Islam to help facilitate trade and made many contacts throughout the Indian Ocean.

Malacca Sultanate

This was a powerful maritime and commercial empire that helped to shape the political, cultural, and social systems of the Malay peninsula.