2nd Half of Time Period 2

1200-1450

Describe the Silk Roads.

- The Silk Roads continued to serve as vital trade routes connecting East Asia with the Mediterranean world, facilitating the exchange of goods, ideas, and cultures across vast distances. Despite facing challenges such as governmental changes and the spread of disease like the Black Death, the Silk Roads remained essential for the transmission of silk, spices, technology, and religion.

Describe the impact of the Silk Roads on urbanization.* -

Long distance trade — including the Silk Roads — led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities. (eg. Trading Cities: Kashgar, Samarkand)

How did innovation encourage trade along the The Silk Roads?* -

The long distance trade along the Silk Road was encouraged by innovations and improvements to existing transportation and business methods (eg. caravanserai, forms of credit such as Bills of exchange, Banking houses, paper money).

What types of products were traded along the Silk Road c.1200-1450? -

Generally, luxury goods were traded along the Silk Roads. Due to the cost of transportation and limited quantities that could be carried across land, a profit for a merchant was only possible with higher priced goods. More specifically, silk, spices and porcelain traveled westward, while horses and jade traveled eastward.

What were the impacts of Silk Road trade c. 1250-1400?

- Silk Road trade between 1250 and 1400 aided the diffusion of technologies such as printing and gunpowder, spreading the process of making steel, fostering cultural exchange and innovation across Eurasia. Additionally, it spurred economic growth in participating regions, leading to the rise of powerful empires and the establishment of cosmopolitan urban centers along the trade routes.

How did the Mongols rise and come to dominate much of Asia? -

The Mongols rose to power under the leadership of Genghis (Chinggis) Khan, who unified the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian steppes through military conquest and strategic alliances. Employing innovative military tactics using horse mounted soldiers and benefiting from a period of political fragmentation in Eurasia, the Mongols swiftly expanded their empire, eventually controlling the largest contiguous land empire in history by the early 13th century.

Describe the political organization of the Mongol Empire circa 1250-1400.

- After Genghis (Chinggis) Khan conquered his vast empire across Asia, it was organized into a decentralized system of khanates, each ruled by a khan who maintained allegiance to the Great Khan. This structure led to a reliance on local administration while ensuring overarching control and unity under the supreme authority of the Great Khan.

What was Pax Mongolica?

- The Pax Mongolica, or Mongol Peace, was a period of relative stability and security across much of Eurasia during the Mongol Empire's rule in the 13th and 14th centuries. This facilitated unprecedented trade and cultural exchange along the Silk Roads, leading to economic prosperity, technological diffusion, and the formation of interconnected commercial networks spanning from China to Europe.

What were the cultural impacts of the Mongol conquests?*

- In the majority of instances, each khanate deferred to the local cultural traditions, helping to facilitate cross-cultural contacts across the larger empire. Eventually, Mongol culture disappeared as it was overtaken by the local culture. (e.g. - cross cultural exchange - adoption of Uyghur script, Transfer of Greco-Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe, Transfer of numbering systems to Europe)

1258 CE (HUB DATE) -

Mongols sack Baghdad.~ Represents the end of the Islamic Golden Age and the end of the Song Dynasty in China along with the height of the Mongol Empire. This era is also the beginning of the massive connection of Afroeurasia.

How did innovation encourage trade along the Indian Ocean Trade Network?* -

The growth of long-distance trade in standard consumer goods like that of the Indian Ocean Trade Network was encouraged by innovations in maritime technologies (e.g. use of the magnetic compass, the astrolabe and larger ship designs).

What environmental factor(s) played a role in the Indian Ocean Exchange? -

The study of the monsoon winds which merchants considered when planning their maritime voyages. The expansion and intensification of long-distance trade routes often depended on environmental knowledge.

What new states developed as a result of the Indian Ocean Exchange and why?*

- Due to increased wealth, influence and population, the Indian Ocean trading network caused the growth of states/empires (e.g. city-states of Swahili Coast, Gujarat, Sultanate of Malacca).

How did the Indian Ocean Exchange lead to the development of Diasporic communities?*

- As foreign merchants set up communities where they introduced their own cultural traditions into the indigenous cultures and, in turn, indigenous cultures influenced merchant cultures. (e.g. Arab and Persian communities in East Africa, Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia, Malay communities in the Indian Ocean Basin)

Who was Zheng He and what was his significance? -

Zheng He was a Chinese admiral who led seven exploratory expeditions (1405-1433) around the Indian Ocean. He traveled to Southeast Asia, India, Persian Gulf, Arabia and east African coast where he established tributary relationships. These voyages created significant technological and cultural transfers between regions, but also demonstrated China's ability to be a military, political and economic power in the Indian Ocean.

1405-1433 CE (HUB DATE) -

Zheng He Voyages.Represents the era of heightened connectivity amongst Afro-Eurasia resulting from long-distance trade. While this connectivity will foster cultural syncretism, advanced economies and a diffusion of scientific and technological innovations, it also shows China's political, cultural and economic dominance of Afro-Eurasia.

How did innovation encourage trade along the Trans- Saharan Network?*

- The growth of long distance trade was encouraged by improvements to existing transportation technologies throughout the Trans-Saharan trade routes (e.g. Caravans & Camel Saddles)

What was the cultural and economic impact of the Trans-Saharan Trade Network?

- The Trans-Saharan Trade Network facilitated the spread of Islam, an increase in scholarship, and urbanization in West Africa. Economically, it fueled the growth of prosperous trading cities such as Timbuktu and facilitated the exchange of gold, salt, ivory, and enslaved people across the desert, contributing to the wealth and power of participating societies.

What new states developed as a result of the Trans Saharan Network and why?*

- As increasing trade led to new wealth in North Africa, states and empires expanded as they facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication. (eg. Mali, Ghana and Songhai empires in West Africa)

1324 CE (HUB DATE) -

Mansa Musa's pilgrimage.~ Represents an era of wealth and power of new states/empires spreading along new long-distance trade routes. This date also represents the spread of Islam to North Africa along with the associated spread of the importance of learning and knowledge.

How did belief systems spread due to the cultural diffusion of 'Connectivity' c.1200-1450?* -

Merchants and missionaries brought their religions as they traveled. This often results in the spread of religion to new regions. Often new religions mixed with existing religions bringing elements of both resulting in a new form of an old religion. (e.g. The influence of Buddhism in East Asia, The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia, The spread of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia)

How did literary and artistic traditions spread due to the cultural diffusion of 'Connectivity' c. 1200-1450?*

- Merchants and missionaries brought ideas, learning and art as they traveled. Muslim scholars, such as those of the House of Wisdom (Baghdad) commented on and improved elements of Greek and Roman culture that later helped spark the Renaissance in Europe. (e.g. Revival of Classical Greek & Roman philosophy)

How did scientific and technological innovations spread due to cultural connectivity c. 1200-1450?*

- Merchants and missionaries exchanged ideas including technological innovations resulting in the diffusion of inventions throughout Afro-Eurasia. (e.g. Gunpowder from China, Paper from China, Algebra from India, Medical advances from West Asia)

Describe the impacts of trade on large urban areas (cities) due to 'Connectivity c. 1200-1450.*

- The impacts on cities are mixed. Some cities along various trade routes grew in terms of cultural and economic significance. Other cities faced destruction as they were at the crossroads of war. (eg - rising city - Kashgar, declining city - Baghdad)

Describe the impact of 'travelers' on the 'Connectivity' of the era c. 1200-1450.*

- As exchange networks intensified, an increasing number of travelers within Afro-Eurasia wrote about their travels and peaked the interest of domestic populations to products, knowledge and lifestyles from abroad (e.g. - Ibn Battuta, Margery Kempe, Marco Polo)

Who was Ibn Battuta and why was he significant?

- Ibn Battuta, an Islamic scholar known for his extensive travels, whose accounts of which were published. Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands. His written works were an important document that shed light on many aspects of the social, cultural, and political history of a great part of the Muslim world and beyond contributing to our understanding of global interconnectedness and cultural diffusion during that time.

Describe the impact on the environment from the 'Connectivity' of the era c. 1200-1450.* -

There was continued diffusion of crops and epidemic diseases, including the bubonic plague, along trade routes. (e.g. Bananas in Africa, new rice varieties in East Asia, spread of citrus in the Mediterranean)

1346 - 1351 CE (HUB DATE) -

Bubonic Plague across Afroeurasia.~ Represents the beginning of the era of heightened connectivity amongst Afro-Eurasia. While this connectivity will foster cultural syncretism, advanced economies and a diffusion of scientific and technological innovations, it will also bring a biological exchange including that of disease (epidemic and pandemic).