Unit 2 AP World History WCHS Mr. Banig Test

What else did merchants spread across trade routes besides goods for sale?

Religions, languages, and technologies also spread

What interactions did networks of exchange facilitate?

Economic interactions & cultural diffusion/transfers

What were the three major networks of exchange?

Silk Roads, Indian Ocean Network, & Trans-Saharan trade

What were the general developments among the major networks of exchange?

• The geographical range of all of these networks expanded

• The range of these networks expanded due to innovations in commercial practices and technological innovations 

• Increased connectivity between all these places caused various states to grow wealthy and powerful due to their participation in these networks

Silk Roads

1. Luxury goods trading network that stretched across Eurasia (Chinese silk and porcelain)

2. Innovations facilitated the expansion of these networks (transportation technologies like caravanserai and commercial practices like money economies)

3. Increase in trade led to the rise of powerful trading cities that grew and flourished precisely because they were located along these routes (Kashgar)

How did increased demand for luxury goods affect production in China, India, and Persia?

The higher demand for luxury goods led Chinese, Indian, and Persian artisans to increase production of these goods

How did caravanserais contribute to cultural and technological exchange?

They brought together merchants from diverse cultures and backgrounds, creating opportunities for significant cultural and technological transfers

Money economy

Uses paper money to facilitate exchange, unlike a barter economy which uses goods as currency (first developed in China)

Results of Banking Houses

Made getting paid a lot easier, leading to an increase in trade along the Silk Roads

Indian Ocean trade network

1. A thorough understanding of monsoon winds

2. A large bulk of what was traded along these routes included more common goods like textiles and spices (a ship could hold more than a camel)

What caused the expansion of the Indian Ocean trade networks?

Due to technological innovations (improvements of the magnetic compass, astrolabe, & new ship designs) and innovations in commercial practices (various forms of credit)

Effects of Indian Ocean trade network expansion

1. Growth of states (Swahili city-states along Africa’s coast who acted as brokers for goods originating from Africa, eventually became Islamic and got connected to the larger trading world of Dar-al-Islam)

2. Diasproic Communities (Arab and Persian communities established in East Africa)

3. New languages emerge (Swahili language)

Diasporic communities

Settlements of ethnic people in a location other than their homeland

Zheng He

Sent by China’s Ming Dynasty to go throughout the Indian Ocean, enrolling states in China’s tributary system (China’s advanced maritime technology were spread to the places that Zheng He visited)

What was the impact of participation in the Trans-Saharan trade network on states?

Led to the increasing wealth and power of various states

Turning point for Mali

Conversion of its leadership to Islam, connecting the state to the larger trading network of Dar-al-Islam

How did the Mali Empire become so rich?

Through the trade of gold and by taxing merchants traveling to almost all parts of West Africa

Who was leading the Mali Empire when it reached its highest point of influence?

Mansa Musa— further monopolized trade between the North and the interior of the continent, increasing the wealth of Mali and facilitating the growth of existing trade networks

Cultural consequences from networks of exchange

1. Transfer of religion or belief systems (spread of Buddhism from south Asia to China, carried by merchants and missionaries through the Silk Roads)

2. Literary & artistic transfers (Islamic scholars translated Greek and Roman classics into Arabic)

3. Scientific & technological innovations (gunpowder spreading from China to Muslim empires, then eastern Europe)

4. Rise and fall of cities (rise: Hangzhou through the Grand Canal, fall: Baghdad destroyed by Mongol armies)

5. Travelers wrote about their experiences (Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta who wrote about their travels)

Environmental consequences from networks of exchange

1. Transfer of crops (Champa rice)

2. Transfer of diseases (Bubonic plague)

Significance of the Mongol Empire in terms of networks of exchange

The Mongol Empire facilitated connections between trade networks

Mongol Empire

1. Established the largest land-based empire of all time (replacing the Song Dynasty, the Abbasid Empire, and ruling through four Khanates)

2. Networks of exchange increased significantly

3. Entire Eurasian world came under their domination

4. Encouraged international trade and extracted great wealth as facilitators of commerce on the Silk Roads

5. Facilitated technological and cultural transfers (technological: created conditioins for transfer of Greek and Islamic medical knowledge, cultural: adopted Uyghur script)

When did the Silk Roads flourish the most, and why?

The Silk Roads flourished most under large empires because those empires could provide safety and stability along the trade routes

How did the Mongols impact communication and cooperation across their empire?

The Mongols facilitated an unprecedented increase in communication and cooperation throughout their vast empire