AP World History: Unit 2 - Networks of Exchange

The Silk Roads

An expansive land-based trade network that facilitated trade and cultural exchange between states across Afro-Eurasia.

Caravanserai

Lodgings at major intersections of the Silk Roads where merchants could stay to rest and replenish for the journey.

• Caravanserai played a major role in cultural and informational exchange between different societies

Banking Houses

Early versions of banks that greatly increased the security and ease of trade for merchants along the Silk Roads.

• Depositing & Withdrawing Money (from different banking houses)

  • Bills of Exchange

• Credit-based transactions

• Currency Exchange across different regions

Bills of Exchange

A written financial document that orders a party (e.g. Bank) to pay a specific amount of money to a designated person, either on demand or at a set future date.

• Widely used in historical trade networks

• Could be redeemed for money at banking houses or transferred as a form of credit.

Paper Money

Instead of physical gold/silver coins, states during this period transitioned to paper currency in order to facilitate trade

• Trade was safer; no need to carry around heavy coins

• Large transactions were easier

Luxury Goods

Laborious, hand-produced, and/or rare goods that were desired by the upper classes.

• Across the Silk Roads, mostly Luxury goods were traded because they produced profit

  • Common goods were less profitable

• Examples: Porcelain and Silk

Ghenghis Khan

United various Mongol groups and became their leader (1206)

• Known for his brutal & highly successful conquest of Northern China, Central Asia, and up to Southern Russia

• Died in 1227

Mongol Military Tactics

• Organized into groups of 10, 100, 1000 etc.

• Skillful horse-riding

• Feigned retreat, then counter-attacked

• Establishing a reputation of brutality

  • left some survivors to spread the word of the Mongols - many places surrendered before the Mongols even started to conquer

Khanates

After Ghenghis Khan’s death, his grandsons divided the empire into 4 separate military regions known as Khanates

Informational Transfers (Mongols)

• Greco-Islamic medical, scientific, and philosophical knowledge spread to Western Europe

• Numbering system spread to Western Europe

• Compass and gunpowder from China spread throughout the Empire

Astrolabe

Navigation tool that helps to measure latitude (in Northern Hemisphere)

• one of many helpful technologies that made navigating the Indian Ocean easier

Trade-cities / Trade-states

Cities/ States whose economies and wealth primarily revolved around trade with other civilizations.

• located in strategic geographic locations where they were in frequent contact with trade networks

Swahili Coast

The Swahili Coast was made up of several trade-cities which were involved in the Indian Ocean Trade Network

• many in this region would convert to Islam to get the benefits of being connected to Dar-al-Islam

Malacca Sultanate

Sultanate (Islam) and a major Trade-State in SE Asia that emerged after the decline of Srivijaya

• controlled the Strait of Malacca by taxing merchant ships that passed through, allowing themselves to become rich

Lateen Sail

Triangular sails that helped move the mast and capture winds more efficiently

• invented by Arabs

• allows ships to sail against the winds

Diaspora Communities

When Merchants would travel throughout the Indian Ocean network, they often settled in a new state and formed a diaspora community.

• cultural exchange

• diaspora communities helped keep the Indian Ocean network cohesive

The Saddle

Made traveling on camelback (Trans-saharan trade route) easier

Mali Empire

Muslim Trans-Saharan West African State that grew wealthy due to its participation in the Trans-Saharan trade network

• traded gold

• also imposed taxes on merchants passing through Mali

Commonly Traded Goods in Trans-Saharan Trade Route

• gold

• salt

• ivory

• slaves

Samarkand and Kashgar

Two major Trade-cities that emerged along the Silk Roads

• facilitated cultural transfers between Merchants

Papermaking Technique

Techniques on how to make paper which first developed in China eventually spread to other civilizations through trade-networks

Moveable Type

Moveable type, first invented in China, spread along trade networks to other states

• increased literacy rates in Europe

Bubonic Plague

Deadly disease that originated in Northern China and spread rapidly throughout Afro-Eurasia due to the interconnected trade networks

Introduction of Crops to New Areas

Food crops spread along trade networks and were sometimes successfully cultivated in New Areas

• New food sources → population growth

• Bananas, Champa Rice, and Citrus