Heimler APWH Unit 2

Luxury Goods

The main trade goods found on the Silk Roads, especially Chinese silk and porcelain. Because it was expensive and arduous to travel from one side of the world to the other, common goods wouldn’t sell for a profit. Increased demand in these goods caused an increase in their production by Chinese, Indian, and Persian artisans and a scale back in food production.

Caravanserai

An important transportation technology that led to increased trade on the Silk Roads. They were a series of inns and guesthouses that sprang up along the Silk Roads about a day’s journey apart. Since merchants were mainly hauling luxury goods, they provided safety from theft and also brought merchants from different culture together, creating the occasion for cultural and technological transfers.

Flying Money

First developed in China and used paper money to facilitate exchange rather than goods. Since metal based money was heavy, this increased the ease of travel and security of transactions since merchants could deposit bills in one location and withdraw the same amount in another.

Kashgar

A powerful trading city that grew because it was located at the convergence of two major routes of the Silk Roads that passed through difficult terrain. It was built around a river, so its lush valley made it an attractive stop for travelers. As trade across the Silk Roads expanded, so too did this city grow in power.

Monsoon Winds

When Indian Ocean merchants developed an understanding that these winds predictably blew in one direction or another depending on the season, they could take advantage of them to reduce travel time and increase the reliability of trade routes.

Common Goods

Since the hull of a ship could carry much more cargo than the back of camel, these types of goods were mainly found in Indian Ocean trade, especially textiles and spices.

Navigation Technologies

An improved magnetic compass, astrolabe, and ship designs (i.e. Chinese “junk”) led to increased trade on the Indian Ocean. The magnetic compass helped merchants know which direction to sail, the astrolabe measured the stars to compare them to star charts which helped determine latitude and longitude, and new ship designs had enormous cargoes that could hold an abundant amount of goods.

Credit

A type of innovation in commercial practices that was prevalent on both the Silk Roads and Indian Ocean trade.

Swahili City-States

A collection of independent city-states along Africa’s east coast. By playing the role of brokers for goods originating in the Africa interior (gold, ivory, enslaved people, etc.), they grew significantly in power and wealth. By converting to Islam, they becomes connected into the larger world of Dar al-Islam and increased their power and economic prosperity.

Diasporic Communites

A settlement of ethnic people in a location other than their homeland. Arab and Persian communities were established in East Africa that led to intermarriage with the women there. This ensured that trading partners in different states were trustworthy.

Swahili

Thanks to Indian Ocean trade between East African coastal communities and parts of Dar al-Islam, this language emerged as a mixture of traditional Bantu languages and Arabic.

Zheng He

Sent by China’s Ming Dynasty to travel throughout the Indian Ocean and enroll states in China’s tributary system. Major technological transfers occurred because of his voyage. China’s advanced maritime technology, especially navigation tools and shipbuilding methods, were spread to the various places he visited.

Camel Saddles

Developed for transporting much larger loads of cargo across the desert.

Empire of Mali

Turning point was the conversion of its leadership to Islam in the 19th century, which folded the state into the exceedingly prosperous merchant network throughout Dar al-Islam. This state grew extremely wealthy through the trade of gold and by taxing merchants traveling to West Africa.

Mansa Musa

Mali reached the height of its wealth and influence in the 14th century under this leader. He further monopolized trade between the North and interior of the continent, increasing Mali’s wealth and facilitating the growth of existing trade networks.

Buddhism

Belief system that originated in South Asia, but entered China via the Silk Roads.

House of Wisdom

At this library, scholars translated Greek and Roman classics into Arabic and made extensive commentaries on works, including their own developments in philosophy and medical practices. They were later transferred to Europe where they became the basis for the Renaissance.

Gunpowder

The most significant innovation/technological transfers occurred that took place due to increased trade. It was invented in China, but through networks of exchange spread to Muslim empires and eventually Eastern European states. The harnessing of this good fundamentally altered the balance of global power.

Hangzhou

A Chinese city at one end of the Grand Canal. It facilitated much trade so it became increasingly wealthy and urbanized.

Baghdad

A city that declined due to the spread of networks of exchange. Militaries also traveled along these networks, and this city was destroyed in 1258 by Mongol armies

Ibn Battuta

A young Muslim scholar from Morocco who traveled all of Dar al-Islam over the course of 30 years. Because he took detailed notes about places, people, rulers, and cultures, later scholars had a firsthand account of life across Dar al-Islam. His travels were made possible because of trade routes.

Bubonic Plague

First erupted in China in 1331 and represents the environmental effects of increased trade. This disease was carried by fleas who attached themselves to camels and merchants traveling across the Silk Roads and rates that found hidden corners in merchant ships traveling across the Indian Ocean.

Pax Mongolia (“peace of the Mongols”)

As the largest land-based empire of all time, the Mongol empire facilitated an unprecedented increase in communication and cooperation across their empire. Persian and Chinese courts sent emissaries and artisans to each other, increasing trade and wealth between either side of the empire.

Silk Roads under the Mongol Empire

The Silk Roads flourished the most when large empires controlled them because they could provide safety and continuity along the routes. Since the entire Eurasian world came under the rule of the Mongols, it encouraged international trade and they extracted great wealth as the facilitators of commerce on the Silk Roads by paying high prices for foreign goods and increasing safety of merchants.