Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

Vocabulary flashcards for key terms from lecture notes on Networks of Exchange (1200-1450).

Silk Road

Trade route across Asia

Caravanserais

Major cities that functioned as rest stops where people could form caravans along the Silk Road.

Flying Cash

Allowed merchants to deposit money in one location and pick it up in another to avoid thieves; introduced in China.

Pax Mongolica

Period of relative peace when the Silk Road was under one government (1250-1350).

Mongols

Nomadic people from eastern central Asia; conquerors.

Genghis Khan

created a unified military and conquered lots of land.

Khanates

Khan's heirs divided the realm into four regional empires.

Yuan Dynasty

First and only time non-Chinese ruled China (1279-1368).

Kublai Khan

Grandson to Genghis Khan (AKA Great Khan) who created the Yuan Dynasty.

Golden Horde

Group of Mongols who went into Russia, Poland, Hungary, & Germany (1240s-1502).

Ilkhanate

Mongols attacked Baghdad, realized they wanted governors, promoted trade, and converted to Muslim (1258-1335).

Indian Ocean Trade

Important trade route used for bulkier goods.

Monsoon Winds

Predictable wind patterns in the Indian Ocean.

Lateen Sails

Triangular sails that could move merchants used to speed up travel in the Indian Ocean.

Sultanate of Malacca

Ensured travel through Strait of Malacca was safe from pirates.

Ming Dynasty

Hongwu tries to get rid of Mongol & reestablished Confucianism exam.

Zheng He

Chinese Muslim who led expeditions commissioned by China.

Trans-Saharan Trade

Important trading post across North Africa; introduction of camels allowed trade to flourish.

Mali Empire

Taxed everything that went through west Africa.

Mansa Musa

Richest man in the world who ruled Mali, gave out gold & built mosques on his pilgrimage to Mecca.

Marco Polo

Venetian who traveled along the Silk Road, became an ambassador, and wrote a book while imprisoned.

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim who traveled throughout Dar al-Islam and wrote in detail.

Margery Kempe

Englishwoman who had an autobiography.

European Renaissance

Rebirth of ancient Greek & Roman worlds (14th-early 17th centuries) helped by printing press.