What areas were connected by the Silk Roads?
China, Europe, Central Asia and Southwest Asia.
What areas were connected by the Indian Ocean Trade Routes?
East Asia, East Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia
What areas were connected by the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes?
North Africa, Mediterranean Basin, and Sub-Saharan Africa
How were the trade routes similar?
All depended on the establishment of large states. Best example: Mongol Control of the Silk Road which increased safety. All led to new innovations in navigational technology & helped spread it. Examples: the magnetic compass, lateen sail, the sternpost rudder, & saddles for camels and horses. All led to shared culture. Examples: religions like Christianity, Islam & Buddhism spread by missionaries and monks who also traveled the routes. All led to the spread of agricultural products. Example: Champa rice from Vietnam to China. Bananas from Southeast Asia to Africa. All led to the growth of trade cities. Examples: Chang'an in China (Silk Roads) Calicut in India & Srivijaya in Southeast Asia (Indian Ocean Trae Routes), Timhuktu in Mali (Trans-Saharan)
Goods spread on the silk road
Luxury goods like silk & porcelain, gunpowder, horses, textiles.
Goods spread on Indian Ocean Trade Routes
Common goods & luxury goods like gold, ivory, fruit, textiles, pepper, rice.
Goods spread on Trans-Saharan Trade Routes
Horses, salt, gold, enslaved people.
Technology spread on Silk Road
Saddles, Caravanserai (rest stops)
Technology spread on Indian Ocean
Maritime technology like the astrolabe, magnetic compass, sternpost rudder, lateen sail.
Technology spread on Trans-Saharan
Saddles
Religion spread on Silk Road
Buddhism from South Asia to East & Southeast Asia. Neo-Confucianism from China to Japan, Korea & Vietnam. Islam from Southwest Asia to South Asia.
Religion spread on Indian Ocean
Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, and Islam here too, but also Christianity from Mediterranean Basin.
Religion spread on Trans-Saharan
Islam from Southwest Asia to North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
How did culture change due to connections on trade routes?
Zen Buddhism (a new form of Buddhism) started in China & spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
Swahili from Arabic & Bantu languages mixing in East Africa as Islam took root.
How were the writings of travellers on these trade routes influential?
Incited trade as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo's writings influenced many people to desire items from different regions
What were the environmental consequences of trade?
Other than agricultural exchange, disease also spread. The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) started in China and spread along trade routes to the rest of Afro-Eurasia. It was especially deadly, sometimes killing up to 75% of populations. In Europe, due to worker shortages survivors gained more power and the ability to demand wages.
Why is the Mongol Empire significant in World History?
Largest pastoral land-based empire in world history
Who united the Mongolian tribes and started their conquests?
Genghis Khan
Which territories did the Mongols take down? When?
Kievan Russia (1240), the Abbasid Dynasty (1258), and the Song Dynasty (1279)
How did the Mongols revitalize trade on the Silk Road?
Their conquests united the lands around the Silk Road and started the Pax Mongolica (Mongol Peace)
What epidemic was spread most likely spread by the Mongols on the Silk Road?
The Black Plague
How did the Mongols impact new states after the demise of the Mongol Empire?
New states had learned from their centralizing policies, and used many of the same techniques that the Mongols used to consolidate power
EX: Rise of Moscow in Russia which centralized power after the decline of the Mongols. They used Mongol administrative techniques, court rituals and military weapons.