Unit 2 Reading Questions

What is an essential factor that fostered long distance relationships

Commerce (the urge to trade)

Explain how long distance trade impacted social life

-merchants became distinct social group and were sometimes viewed as suspicious because of their ability to accumulate wealth without producing anything themselves

-encouraged workers to specialize in producing specific products

Explain how long distance trade impacted political life

Wealth from controlling and taxing trade motivated the creation of states and sustained those states

What other processes facilitated interaction between societies

-growth of large states (Inca and Ottoman empires)

-geographical proximity

-journeys of missionaries

-spread of religion (Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam)

-migrations (movement of Turkic-speaking peoples from Central Asia to Middle East)

Describe the journeys traders would take along the silk roads? How would they travel? Where would they stop? What is exchanged other than goods?

-goods were carried in large camel caravans

-harsh and dangerous steppes, deserts, oases of Central Asia

-caravans stoped at caravanserai located along trade route

-caravanserai facilitated cultural and religious exchange

What type of goods were exchanged along the Silk Roads? Why?

Luxury goods because the goods were expensive also the merchants were paid a lot of money, which made the long trip beneficial/motivational enough for merchants. Luxury goods were also light in weight and easy to travel with on land

What did silk symbolize

Wealth, power, status

Provide a list of technological innovations that increased Silk Road exchange

-yokes

-saddles

-stirrups

(Made the use of camels, horses, and oxen more effective to travel along Silk Road)

Provide a list of monetary inventions that increased Silk Road exchange 

-Chinese invention: “flying cash” (paper money so merchants didn’t have to carry around heavy metal coins)

-European invention: “bills of exchange” (a kind of contract promising payments)

-novel banking practices allowed urban-based banking houses to offer credit to merchants 

How did Silk Road exchange affect the lives of some farmers in china 

Farmers gave up farming to focus on producing luxury goods that would be sold on the silk road

Describe how Buddhism spread along the silk roads

Through religious merchants, missionaries, and migrants who traveled trade routes from India to Central Asia and china

-conversion to Buddhism was voluntary along the silk silk roads

How did Buddhism change as it spread along the silk roads 

EXAMPLE OF RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM 

-Pure Land Buddhism 

-Neo Confucianism 

-Chan school of Chinese Buddhism 

What did the cave in Dunhuang, China represent 

A center for Buddhist art, culture, and religious exchange

In what ways did Buddhism come under attack in China? Why?

-Han Yu (Confucian leader) believed Buddhism conflicted with Confucian values

Explain the characteristics of neoconfucianism  

-focused on the study and interpretation of classic Confucian texts

-appreciated high moral standards of Buddhist teachings 

What does the quote mean: “Every black-haired son of Han wears a Confucian thinking cap, a Daoist robe and Buddhist sandals”

Describes the syncretic and and pluralistic nature of Chinese culture, people can have appreciation for each religion while also applying different parts of each religion

Describe the ineractions between china and its Korean neighbor

-Korea sent tribute to china

-Chinas cultural traditions spread to Korea

-many Korean students were sent to China to study Confucianism, science, and arts

-Chinese Buddhism spread to Korea

-schools for Confucianism were established in Korea

-Korean capital city, Kumsong, was modeled directly on Chinese capital, Chagán

When did trading networks prosper the most

When large and powerful states provided relative security for merchants and travelers 

What was the impact of the Mongol rule throughout Eurasia

Conquered all of Eurasia and almost all of the Silk Road Empire

-this stability gave new life to long distance trade, fostered cultural and religious exchange, and facilitated the spread of disease

-brought major civilizations of outer Eurasia (Europe, china, and Islamic world) into closer contact

Where did the mongol empire expand under Ching is (ganghis) khan and his descendants 

China, Central Asia, most of Islamic Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe 

What factors led to the success of the mongol military

-china was divided and already lost control of its Northern Territory to the pastoral jurchen people

-Abbasid caliphate had already shrunk a lot

-Mongol armies were better led, organized, and disciplined than their opponents

How did mongols utilize the people the conquered

-incorporates them into their military

-forced them to build roads and bridges

-wealth from conquered civilizations provided resources for mongols

How did the mongols administer their vast empire

-taxation of conquered people

-centralized bureaucracies with specialized offices

-people who resisted being conquered would be killed, along with their families

-system of relay stations fostered communication and trade

What specific policies benefitted merchants

Mongol rules offered merchants 10%+ above asking price and gave them free use of relay systems for trade

What specific policies benefitted officials in conquered regions

We’re given lower-level positions in their respective conquered countries 

What specific policies benefitted religious individuals

Different religious traditions  were supposed as long as they didn’t become political opponents

How did mongol rule over Russia differ from Persia and china 

Mongols were far less influenced by Russian culture 

Describe the experience of Russia under Mongol rule

-tribute payments

-heavy taxes

-enslavement

Compare and contract the impacts of mongol rule in china and Persia

China

-mongols did not become Chinese

-mongols discriminated against Chinese

-mongols forbade intermarriage

-prohibited Chinese scholars a from learning scripts

-mongols treated Chinese like slaves

-Chinese rebelled and forced mongols out of china

Persia

-mongols who conquered Persia became Muslim

-some mongols married local people

-mongols abandoned pastoral ways and turned towards farming

-mongols were not driven out of Persia, unlike china

-Persia collapsed for lack of a suitable heir

Explain how mongol rule affect exchange in Eurasia in international commerce

-brought regions into single interacting network

-provided secure environment for merchants

-promoted international commerce so mongols can tax it and gain wealth

-brought two ends of Eurasia into closer contact

Explain how mongol rule affected exchange in Eurasia in diplomatic/political relations

-united vast territories under a single, powerful empire

-political authorities across Eurasia engages in diplomatic relations more than ever before

Explain how mongol rule affected exchange in Eurasia in religious and cultural exchange 

-religious tolerance and support of merchants

-Karakoram (mongol capital) had many place of worship fro Buddhists, Muslims, doaists, and Christians

-security of trade routes allowed the flow of religious and cultural ideas 

Explain how mongol rule affected exchange in Eurasia in goods/foods/technology 

-Chinese technology and artistic conventions (painting, printing, gunpowder, weapons, compass navigation, high temp furnaces, and medical techniques traveled westward)

-lemons and carrots traveled from Middle East went to china

Why did Europe benefit most from these new interactions

Because they were previously cut off from trade with Asia and were less technologically developed and could not benefit from new technology, new crops, and new knowledge

-they also didn’t suffer the devastating consequences of the Mongol conquest

Where did the plague start

China

How did the plague spread 

Spread across trade routes in the Mongol empire, carried by rodents and transmitted by fleas to humans 

Provide examples of population loss due to the plague

-death rates ranged from 50-90% of affected population 

-Middle East lost ~ 1/3 of population

-Europe lost half of population

-Italian man said “so many people died, people believed it was the end of the world”

-15th century European historian “within a month, Cairo had become an abandoned desert”

How did the plague affect trade

population decline = cities declined = volume of trade declined

-central Asian trade route largely closed

How did the disruption of land based trade post plague, and the desire to avoid Muslim intermediaries affect Europe

It provided incentives fro Europeans to take to sea to reach the riches of Asia

-Europeans were “Mongols of the sea” because they took on the role of fostering trade in the ocean

In what ways were Europeans similar to the mongols in their own maritime empire building efforts 

-both forcibly invaded and stole from wealthier civilizations 

-Europeans brought disease to the Americas like the mongols did to Eurasia 

In what ways was the European empire building different from Mongols

-European was more ocean based, while mongols were more land based

-Europeans brought more of their own culture

What regions are connected via the sea roads

Linked china and east Africa across the Indian Ocean basin and south China sea

Direction of monsoons

April-September (summer monsoons)- northeast

Winter monsoons- southwest

List examples of products that were exchange along the Indian Ocean networks

-porcelain (china)

-spices (southeast Asia, spice islands, present day Indonesia)

-cotton goods and pepper (india)

-ivory and gold (east African cost)

-incense (southern Arabia)

Compared to the Silk Roads, what type of goods were moved along the sea roads

Build goods and products designed for a mass market

-textiles

-timber

-rice

-sugar

-wheat

What natural phenomenon led to increased Indian Ocean trade

Monsoons

What technological innovations aided Indian Ocean trade and who invited them (

-dhows (type of ship- Indian and Arabs)

-junks (type of ship- China)

-astrolabe (told time, mapped the stars, and used for navigation- Greek)

-compass (china)

What was the role of Islam in Indian Ocean networks 

The shared cultural and legal (sharia law) foundation created trust among cultural different trading groups to facilitate trade among vast distances

Indian Ocean commerce facilitated the rise of new states. Can you remember a few examples from chapter 2?

-malacca

-Swahili city states

-Srivijaya empire

How was great Zimbabwe roped into Indian Ocean trade

There was a growing trade and gold, and great Zimbabwe has rich sources of gold and ivory

Why was the banana important 

The banana spread inland from the East African cost, where it enhanced agricultural productivity, enabled population growth, and laid economic foundation for the growth of chiefdoms and states in various parts of Africa 

Provide several examples of cultural diffusion that occurred as a result of Indian Ocean trade

-Buddhism and Hinduism spread to Southeast Asia

-Indian cultural traditions spread to Southeast Asia

-Vietnam was heavily influenced by china

In what ways did Indian influence manifest itself in Southeast Asia

Through seaborne trade, religion, political concepts, language literature (Indian alphabets such as Sanskrit and pallava) and art

How did the status of women in Southeast Asia differ from India and china

Women in Southeast Asia had more power and higher status

What religion spread to Southeast Asia more widely by 1400? How?

Islam

-through Indian Ocean trade

Describe the importance of Melaka 

-shortest sea route between Indian and pacific oceans, so travelers had to go through it 

-most important trade lane in the world

Based on the text, make an inference on about what diasporic communities are

Groups of people who are dispersed from their homeland and have settled in other countries, but maintain a connection to their original culture and homeland

Using evidence from the text, support or refute the claim: “Melaka was a globalized city”

-“it’s a strategic location on the strait of Melaka gave it a central role in trade of the entire Indian Ocean basin’s”

-“15,000 foreign merchants established themselves in Melaka, speaking dozens of languages hailing from china, japan, java, Vietnam, India, the Philippine islands, Egypt, East Africa and elsewhere”

-“some have called Melaka one of the worlds first globalized cities”

What was the relationships between china and Melaka

-Melaka sent tribute to china and served as a base for Chinese naval expeditions into the Indian Ocean world 

-many Chinese trading ships anchored in Melakas harbor 

Explain how islam helped to give rise to an international maritime culture by 1200 CE

-the prestige, power, and prosperity of the Islamic world stimulated widespread conversion, which in turn facilitated commercial transactions

-even non Muslims found it commercially useful to use muslim names

-sea-based trade network became increasingly Islamic

-unified cultural and legal system

-advanced navigation and shipbuilding technologies

What was the purpose of the Ming Dynasty fleet expeditions in the Indian Ocean? Who led them? Where did they go?

-purpose: to enroll distant people in the Chinese tribute system

-led by: Zheng He (Muslim eunuch)

-went to: Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Arabia, and East Africa

Why did the Chinese halt these expeditions

-emperor Yongle died and they new emperor and other high ranking officials  though it was wasteful of resources and too expensive 

-chines believed, due to their superiority, if they desire something from abroad, it will come to them

-they viewed the voyages as a project of the court eunuchs, whom the new officials despised

What did the Chinese effectively turn their back on

A large scale maritime empire in the Indian Ocean basic

-naval dominance, overseas expansion, engagement with the wider world

What were the consequences of this withdrawal

-facilitated the European entry

-cleared the way for the Portuguese to penetrate the region, where they faced the eventual naval power of the Ottoman Empire

-missed opportunities for economic and political development

What regions did the sand roads link 

Linked North Africa and the Mediterranean with the interior of west Africa 

What goods came from the North African coasts

Cloth, glassware, weapons, books

What goods came from the Sahara desert

Cooper, salt, dates

What goods came from the savanna grasslands (sub-saharan Africa)

Grain crops (millet and sorghum)

How did the Arabian camel transform trade

Made the long trek across the Sahara desert possible because it could go 10 days without water

How did trade across the Sahara facilitate state building? What are examples from chapter 2

Generated wealth to provide incentives and resources for building 

-Ghana 

-Malia 

-Songhai 

Why was islam attractive to some converts in west Africa

-largely peaceful and voluntary

-islam providing trust, a common language, and a common trade legal system (sharia law) among Muslim trading partners

-offered a source of literate officials for the monarchs

What was the significance of musas pilgrimage to Mecca

Reflected the growing penetration of islam in this emerging west African civilization

-established Mali empire as a major power, showcasing their large gold supply

What were you ale to learn about Islamic societies from this passage 

-Islamic world was very interconnected and wealthy

What evidence does the text provide to suggest that West Africa was becoming roped into the larger Islamic world 

-Timbuktu became a center of Islamic learning 

-construction of mosques in West Africa 

-west African cities became major centers for Islamic life 

In what areas/groups of people was islam most popular in west Africa

Urban elites

Why do you think the book keeps mentioning ibn battuta? What conclusion can you make about about him

He was a medieval Muslim traveler who wrote one of the world’s most famous travel longs, the RihlahRihlah

Explain how islam created a massive “trading zone” across Afro-Eurasia 

-commerce was valued in Islam 

-islam was practiced along major trade routes

-sharia law created a predictable framework for exchange 

What foods circulated in the Islamic world

-sugarcane, rice, apricots, artichokes, eggplants, lemons, oranges, almonds, figs, bananas

-water-managament practices 

What technologies circulated the Islamic world

-irrigation technologies (gave rise to food production, population growth, urbanization, and industrial development)

-rockets

-paper-making (emergence of books)

What ideas were utilized and expanded upon in Islamic civilizations 

-islam drew on Jewish and Christian precedents

-bureaucratic practice, court ritual

-Greek scientifical, medicinal, philosophical texts were translated into Arabic

-house of wisdom

-mutazilites- Islamic thinkers who argued that reason, rather than revelation, was the best way to truth