Unit 2 AP World study guide

1. Explain the various factors that led to the growth of the Silk Road trade networks in the 1200 - 1450 time period:

• Improved commercial practices led to an extreme volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes. 

• The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, like the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.

• Turkish people who converted to Islam in the 7th century opened trade routes from China to the Middle East 

• Period of stability under the Mongol Empire during the 13th and 14 centuries

• Spread of religions like Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism 

• European travelers, such as Venetian merchant Marco Polo, traveled to China. Captivated the European audiences 

1. What luxury goods were often traded along the Silk Roads? 

• Textiles, Porcelain, Spices, Cotton, Silks, Paper, Gunpowder

• Johannes Gutenberg Moveable type

What transportation technologies facilitated trade along the Silk Roads?

• Caravans, Camel Saddles, and the use of pack animals(like horses/camels)

• Pax Mongolica(Peace/Stability created by the Mongol Empire) helped facilitate technological transfers 

What commercial technology facilitated trade along the Silk Roads?

Caravansaries used for lodging/resting.Forms of Credit, and the development of money economies such as Bills of exchange, banking houses, and the use of paper money

Explain how the Mongol Khanates developed:

• The khanate of the Great Khan, centered in Mongolia and China (after 1279 known as the Yuan dynasty) - Genghis Khan united the warring tribes under a common task and awards to give to followers. 

  • Yuan Dynasty - United the north(nomadic dynasties) and the south(song dynasty). Uniting China was an ideal valued by educated Chinese, so they assumed the Mongols had the Mandate of Heaven. 

• The Ilkhanate(Il-Khan Empire), in Persia - Mongol takeover in Persia was more abrupt than the extended process of conquering China, Sacking of Baghdad in 1298 put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate 

• The khanate of the Golden Horde, in the northwest - Used catapults and battering rams(adopted from the Chinese) to take city after city, and sent survivors to other Mongol lands or sold them into slavery. Did not occupy Russia as they already had China and Persia and Russia had little to offer

1. Explain how the Mongol Khanates facilitated trade in Afro-Eurasia:

• Pax Mongolica kept the Silk Road safe for approximately 150 years.

• New people were drawn into their conqueror’s economies and trade networks. 

• The stability brought by Mongol rule provided the safety and stability necessary to open trade routes

• Revitalized trade between Afro-Eurasia, transferred culture interregionally, which led to many places becoming rich off of trade, leading to an increase in demand for luxury goods. It was also a main cause of the transfer of the bubonic plague. 

Describe some of the cultural transfers that resulted from the Mongol khanates

• Yuan Dynasty/Khanate of the Great Khan - Growing idea in China that the Japanese were brave and would defend their land, Uniting China was an ideal valued by educated Chinese, so they assumed the Mongols had the Mandate of Heaven, Did not want to destroy Chinese culture, imposed rule only at top of society, Linked China to the outside world, Did not have a unifying ideology to keep the empire together 

• Khanate of the Golden Horde - The Russian Orthodox Church flourished under Mongol tolerance & was exempt from many taxes. Indirect rule meant that the Mongols were far less assimilated or influenced by Russian Culture 

• Il Khan Empire - Mongols who conquered Persia became Muslims, when their dynasty collapsed they assimilated into Persian society. 

• Transfer of Greco-Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe, Transfer of numbering systems to Europe, Adoption of Uyghur script

1. Explain the various factors that led to the growth of the Indian Ocean trade networks in the 1200 - 1450 time period: 

• Monsoon winds made trade reliable 

• Tang and Song dynasties(618-1279) revived sea trade after the collapse of the Han, provided unity and structure to support trade trade, China’s population shifted southward due to heavy use of southern ports in Indian Ocean trade, Importance of the North/South link of the Grand Canal 

• China undertook the largest and most impressive maritime expeditions the world had ever seen

• Enormous fleet commissioned by Ming Emperor Yongle was launched in 1405 

  • Captained by Muslim named Zheng He, Wanted to enroll distant peoples and states in the Chinese tribute system, Described as “bringing order to the world” 

• Islam was friendly to merchants(unlike Confucianism) and promoted commercial life 

• Muslim merchants intensified commercial activity, Rise of Islam stimulated their trade in the Indian Ocean 

• Cheaper to transport goods - cargo ships could carry more than camel caravans 

How did the Indian Ocean trade networks spread culture throughout the region?

• Muslim Merchants(as well as Jews and Christians) established communities of traders(diasporic communities) 

• Southeast Asian rulers and elites found attractive the Indian belief that leaders were god-kings 

• Srivijayan monarchs employed Indians as advisers, clerks, or officials 

• Swahili language is grammatically African with Bantu roots, written in Arabic script with Arabic loan words 

• Arab and Indian merchants settled on the coast creating new blended families 

• Diasporic Muslim communities 

What technologies facilitated trade in the Indian Ocean during the 1200-1450 time period?

• Better technology in shipbuilding and oceanic navigation drew on achievements

• Improvement in sails 

• New ships like Chinese junks and Indian/Arab dhows, The lateen became the favourite sail of the Age of Discovery, mainly because it allows a boat to tack “against the wind”. 

• New means of calculating latitude such as the astrolabe - used to determine the latitude of a ship at sea, Evolving versions of the magnetic needle or compass

1. Explain the impact that Indian Ocean trade had on the Swahili city-states: 

• Existing trade routes flourished and promoted the growth of powerful new trading cities 

• Merchants along the Swahili coast in East Africa brought Islam with them, winning many new converts. As Islam spread south, local Bantu languages, like Swahili, adopted several Arabic words and often used the Arabic script.

1. Describe a diasporic community that resulted from the Indian Ocean trade: 

• Arab and Persian communities in East Africa 

• Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia 

• Malay communities in the Indian Ocean basin 

• Muslim merchants(as well as Jews and Christians) established communities of traders(diasporic communities) from East Africa to the south China coast.

What role did (specific) environmental factors play in the development of the Indian Ocean trade network?

• Monsoon winds were the engine that drove trade because they predictably change direction twice a year. In the spring and summer, the Indian subcontinent heats up and draws cool air from the ocean over the continent. These winds blow northeast, dumping heavy rains on the coast. In the fall and winter, the winds change direction to the southwest as the land cools off. It makes more sense on the map below. 

• Monsoon winds improved trade because they changed direction at the same time every year. The monsoon winds allowed merchants to plan voyages and to know when they would arrive at a distant port. 

• Merchants could use the monsoon winds to make a round trip to Calicut and back in a single year. 

1. Explain the various factors that led to the growth of the Trans-Saharan trade networks in the 1200 - 1450 time period: 

• The growth of interregional trade was encouraged by innovations in existing transportation technologies. 

• Technology that encouraged interregional trade - Camel Saddle. Caravans, Caravanserai 

• Political - Islam spread to Spain, Persia, North Africa, and Arabian peninsula via conquest through establishment of Caliphates

• Cultural - Africa got introduced into these trade routes because of Arab conquests in the 7th century  

• Technology/Innovations -  Buildings of mosques and schools(madrassas)

1. What effects did this trade route have on the African continent (and beyond)? 

• Spread of Arabic and literacy. Arabic alphabet was used to write African languages as they often did not have written language 

• Timbuktu became a center of Islamic scholarship. Sankore University in Timbuktu was a major center of learning and source of many books 

• Teaching of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine 

• Ibn Battuta’s Rihla has remained a resource for historians to learn about the Muslim world in the 1320s.

• Islam changed in the regions it spread to, as many states used syncretism to incorporate Islam and their own culture into it 

• The development of written arabic improved record-keeping in West Africa 

• Arabic legal codes and written contracts increased trust between merchants 

• Expansion of empires including Mali in West Africa facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication. 

• Salt was a very valuable trading good as it was used to preserve goods, The Sahara grew greatly in wealth because of their salt trades 

1. What technologies facilitated trade along the trans-Saharan trade networks? 

•  The introduction of the camel was by far the most important of these. Camels are superior to horses for desert travel. Their wide toes are more suited to the terrain, and they can travel up to ten days without water. The Berbers improved the camel saddle, allowing them to carry even larger loads over greater distances. A single camel crossing the Sahara could carry around 400 pounds of trade goods. Over shorter distances, they could carry up to 1,200 pounds.

1. Explain the connection between Mali in West Africa and trade and communication. 

• Mali Empire of West Africa, started out as a caravanserai, or a pitstop for caravans, before it grew into a center of learning and commerce.

• The expansion of empires(including Mali) facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into the economies and trade networks. 

• Introduction of the Camel in North Africa helped the rise of the Trans-Saharan trade network because it allowed people to move around easier, and camels can go longer without water(stores water in their humps) so people would not have to stop often. Muslim merchants and Sufi missionaries also influenced people wanting to trade, especially since they had a ton of gold and they now knew it would be worth a lot.

• The cities of Timbuktu and Gao became very wealthy. The expansion of slave trade created a more social demographic. Prosperous trade led to the creation of powerful centralized states, they had strong government control and protected trade routes. The expansion of bureaucracies came with the new states.

1. Give a few examples of cultural transfers that occurred as a result of trade networks in the 1200-1450 time period: 

• Buddhism(from India) spread widely throughout Central and East Asia - thanks to merchants on the Silk Roads

• Prosperous Buddhist merchants could earn religious merit by building monasteries and supporting monks 

• Monasteries provided convenient and cultural familiar places of rest and resupply for merchants 

• Many cities became cosmopolitan centers of learning and commerce

• Use of Zoroastrian fire rituals became part of Buddhist practice 

• Gods of many people along the silk road were incorporated into Buddhism as bodhisattvas

• Tribute system with China ensured a cultural link between the two 

• Buddhism had a much longer cultural impact than that of Chinese Confucian culture 

• Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia is the largest religious monument in the world 

• Due to its central location in the Afro-Eurasian world 

• Commerce was valued positively within Islamic teaching because Muhammad himself had been a trader 

• Rapidly became Islamic, introduced by Arab traders

1. Give examples of the diffusion of scientific/technological innovations that occurred as a result of trade networks in the 1200-1450 time period. 

• Islamic civilization contributed to ecological change and agricultural products and practices which spread from region to region 

• New crops created an “Islamic Green Revolution” of increased food production, population growth, urbanization, and industrial development 

• Pax Mongolica spread technologies like gunpowder, magnetic compass, moveable type, and paper 

• Dar Al Islam - preservation of Greco-Roman philosophy and literature, medical advances, advances in astronomy, and advances in mathematics  

• Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world, Travelled much more extensively than Marco Polo, The Rihla, Ibn Battuta’s Rihla has remained a resource for historians to learn about the Muslim world in the 1320s.

• Marco Polo II Milione which introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China, Spent time with Kublai Khan(grandson of Genghis Khan), Inspired Christopher Columbus

1. Describe some positive environmental effects of the various networks of exchange from c. 1200 to 1450. 

• Song China experienced rapid population growth thanks to champa rice. Encouraged terrace farming which altered the environment and landscape 

  • Network(s) of exchange most facilitated the spread of champa rice: Sea trade, traded from Vietnam to China,

• Indonesian sailors traveled the Indian Ocean and introduced the banana to Sub-Saharan Africa. Allowed Bantu-speakers to migrate to areas where yams(their traditional crop) did not grow, giving them more freedom

  • Network(s) of exchange most facilitated the spread of bananas:Spread through conquest/introduction, Changed the Bantu-speakers from yams to Bananas, 

• Helped foster many states growth, Spread many different helpful crops to other states, such as Champa Rice from Vietnam causing a population boom in China 

• Spread Religions to areas they wouldn’t reach without these networks 

• Increased many states populations

• Allowed new forms of jobs to sprout up

1. Describe some negative environmental effects of the various networks of exchange from c. 1200 to 1450. 

• Plague - Decline of urbanization and trade, Ultimate Demise of the Mongol empire, Labor shortages, Peasant revolts undermined serfdom and the feudal system, Labor shortage may have fostered a greater interest in technological innovations, Disruption of the Mongol based land routes to the east made less safe, Desire to avoid Muslim intermediaries gave Europeans an incentive to take to the sea, Europeans became the “new Mongols” in the Indian Ocean 

  • Network(s) of exchange most facilitated the spread of the Plague?-Spread through Urbanization(people clustered together), Spread through the DRY climates of China and Egypt easily, Spread through trade networks, as people interacted with one another 

• Caused the Plague/Black Death and other diseases to spread much faster and easier 

• Unsanitary Conditions in major cities 

• High death rates due to no one being extremely focused on medicine