Making of a Global world

Write a short note on silk route

1. Silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between the distant parts of the world.

2. The term ‘silk routes’ points to the importance of west-bound chinese silk cragoes that travelled along this route.

3. Historians have identified several silk routes, over land and by sea, knitting together vast regions of Asia and linking Asia to Europe and Northern Africa.

4. These are known to have existed since before the Christian Era and thrived till the fifth century. However, Chinese pottery has travelled the same route as did textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia.

5. In return, precious metals - gold, and silver flowed from Europe to Asia

   
   
   

What was the fabled city of gold?

El dorado

Which disease proved a deadly killer for America’s original inhabitants?

Small pox

Which of the following was the most powerful means used by the Spanish to conquer America?

Germs

Which food travelled West from China to be called sphagetti?

Noodles

Which food was probably carried by the Arab traders to Sicily?

Pasta

Mention the two Asian countries that were counted among the world richest countries until the 18th century.

China and India

‘Silk routes’ known to have existed before the .......... and thrived almost till the ......... .

Christian era, 15th century

The most common food of the world was not known to:

Asians

. As early as ________ BCE an active coastal trade linked the Indus valley civilisation with present-day West Asia.

3000BCE

For more than a millennia, ____________ were used as a form of currency)

Cowries

Cowries from the ___________found their way to China and East Africa

Maldives

Around _________ Irish people died of starvation during the Great Potato Famine in 1840s.

1,000,000

What enhanced Europe’s wealth for trade in Asia?

Precious metals, mainly silver from mines now situated in modern day Peru and Mexico enhanced Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia.

Which common foods were introduced to our ancestors after Columbus discovered America ?

Potatoes, soya, maize, chillies, tomatoes, ground nuts and sweet potatoes were introduced to Europe and Asia after the discovery of America by Columbus.

How did food like 'Noodles' travel to various parts of the world and got adopted by different names?

Noodles were carried west from China to be called Spaghetti and Pasta in Italy. It is also believed that Arab traders carried pasta to fifth century Sicily, an island in Itlay

How did dependency on potatoes kill the poorest peasants of Ireland?

Ireland’s poor peasants were so dependent on potatoes, that when disease destroye dthe potato crop in the mid 1840s, hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation.

Where was El Dorado? For what was it famous?

El Dorado was located in Columbia in South America. Legends spread about South America’s wealth and expeditions set off is=n search of el dorado, the fabled city of gold.

“Trade and cultural exchange always go hand in hand”. Explain.

Trade and cultural exchange always went hand in hand.

1. Early Christian missionaries almost certainly travelled this route to Asia, as did early Muslim preachers a few centuries later.

2. Much before all this, Buddhism emerged from eastern India and spread in several directions through intersecting points on the silk routes.

“Food offers many examples of long-distance cultural exchange”. Explain with an example

Food offers many examples of long-distance cultural exchange

1. Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the lands they traveled to. Even ‘ready’ foodstuff from distant parts of the world may share common origins.

2. For example, noodles and spaghetti. It is believed that noodles travelled west from China to be called Spaghetti in Italy. Or perhaps, Arab traders carried pasta to fifth century Sicily, an island in Italy.

3. Similar foods are also found in India and Japan, so the truth about their origins may never be known.

4. Many of our common foods such as tomatoes, maize, soya, potatoes, groundnuts, etc. were not known to our ancestors till about five centuries ago.

5. They only became known to Asia and Europe after Columbus accidentally discovered the vast continents of the Americas.

What goods were exported and imported from silk routes?

Chinese pottery, tetiles and spices from India were exported to South East Asia and precious metals-gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia.

“Sometimes the new crops could make the differnce between life and death.” Explain by giving example of Ireland.

Sometimes the new crops could make the difference between life and death.

1. Europe’s poor began to eat better and live longer with the introduction of the humble potato.

2. Ireland’s poor peasants becaome so dependent on potatoes that when disease destroyed the potato crop in the mid 1840’s, hundreds of thousand’s of Irish people died of starvation.

Explain the Spanish conquest of America

1. The Portuguese and Spanish conquest and colonisation for America was decisively underway in the mid sixteenth century.

2. The European conquest was not merely a result of superior firepower. In fact the most powerful weapon of the Spanish conquerors was not a conventional military weapon at all.

3. It was germs, such as those of small pox that they carried on their person.

4. Because of their long isolation, the original inhabitants of America had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe.

5. Smallpox in particular proved to be a deadly killer. Once introduced it spread deep into the continent.

6. It killed and decimated entire communities, paving the way for conquest,

Explain why thousands fled Europe for America.

1. Until the 19th century, poverty and hunger were common in Europe.

2. Cities were overcrowded and deadly diseases were widespread.

3. Religious conflicts were common and religious dissenters were persecuted. Therefore thousands fled Europe for America.

Give reason why from the 15th century Europe emerged as a centre of world trade.

1. FRom the 15th century, China is said to have restricted its overseas contacts and retreated into its isolation.

2. China’s reduced role and the rising importance of the Americas made the centre of world trade shift westwards.

3. Europe now emerged as a centre of world trade.