trade routes

silk road

network of exchange across Eurasia - used during stable/prosperous times

goods that traveled on the silk road

luxury goods meant for the elite (ex. silk)

role of silk in society

played big role in elite society

role of silk

• was a currency/mean of gaining wealth in Central Asia

• symbol of elites in China and Byzantium

• became sacred to expanding Buddhism + Christianity

• became appeal for African nobility

social effects of silk road

• farmers would produce cash crops (silk) instead of goods for consumption, could either be very good or bad

• merchants got very rich/powerful quickly (ex. Ramisht)

• states would provided security - more prosperous conditions

how did states provided security on silk road

by setting up strong belts

other effects of silk road

• massive cultural exchange (ex. religion)

• spread of disease

• lots of economic development

caravanserai

guesthouse/inns for camel caravans for rest along the silk road

effects of caravanserai

• cultural exchange

• some became commercial cities

new technology on the silk road

• paper money (less heavy, more effective

• things for animals (more efficient for carrying things + travel)

impacts on buddhism

• changed its own values (adopted the material world)

• previous daily activities became symbols (ex. begging bowls)

• monasteries became decorated with items of the material world (going against originals values)

what happened to buddhism on the silk road

changed, turned to Mahayana branch (more of a religion)

• adopted new things from other cultures

pure land buddhism

• chinese

• didn't need lots of studying/meditation to be enlightened, only needed to repeat the name Amitabha

chan school of chinese buddhism

dominant in Song Dynasty, favored by court officials + scholars

effects of chinese buddhism on the elite scale

• impacted confucianism, neo-confucianism took religious aspects of daoism + buddhism

effects of chinese buddhism on the village scale

• buddhism became important to chinese religions, temples held shrines/statues of Buddha, Confucius + Laozi

impacts of chinese state policies on buddhism

• around 260,000 monks/nuns forced to return to normal life

• monasteries/temples/shrines either were destroyed or given public use

• state got land + money + serfs from temples

• Buddhists forbidden to use jewels/metals in constructing their image

difference between christianity and buddhism in society

christianity - became more popular than everything

buddhism - assimilated into chinese culture/society

what countries adopted cultural traits from china

vietnam, korea, japan

what was korea’s interactions with china like

• entered tributary relations to give legitimacy to their leaders + gave models for how to run politics/society

• trade (official+unofficial) brought luxury goods + chinese culture

• chinese Buddhism + confucianism spread to korea

what was japan’s interactions with china like

• chinese buddhism spread to japanese elite then to everyone

• neo-confucianism spread to japanese intellectuals, becoming official ideology

• the elite adopted chinese writing system

what did the sand roads connect

North Africa + Mediterranean with West Africa

what did the silk, sea and sand roads all have in common

all were rooted in environmental variation — needed tech innovations for trade routes to be used (ex. saddles & lateen sails)

what was a very important tech advancement for the sand roads

Arabian camels, they could cross the Sahara without water

what goods were wanted in Africa

gold, African ivory, kola nuts, cloth, dates, manufactured goods + salt

what goods came out of where

north (coastal) Africa - manufactured goods

great sahara - dates + copper

south - agriculture goods, mining, textiles, metals

what were the 2 ecological zones

savanna grasslands (grain) + forest areas (root/tree crops)

why did west African civilizations form

formed to take advantage of trade opportunities, stretched from Atlantic coast to Lake Chad

-included multiple states, empires + cities and towns

hausa speaking civilizations

resembled Swahili civilizations in the east, were independent city-states — acted as middlemen during trade, had good urban + commercial culture

what were similarities between Hausa city-states

• they were monarchies, had court life + complex admin. + military force

• gained wealth through trade by taxing participating merchants

what happened when Africa got integrated into international commerce

both social and gender hierarchies formed + gender roles

what was slavery like in these areas

mostly women, but there were some men — they came from non-islamic or stateless societies

what did west African states develop

urban commercial centers — led to trade + cultural exchange

how was Islam spread to western africa

spread by Muslim merchants, adopted in urban centers — conversion was peaceful + voluntary

benefits of converting to islam

• gave access to muslim trading partners

• gave literate officials to assist in ruling of states

• gave religious legitimacy

how did Islam change west African cities

• they became major centers for Islam, attracted lots of students

Islam mostly stayed with the culture of the elite

how did Arabic become part of west African society

• important for administration, education, religion, trade

never became the dominant language

advancements/spread of agriculture + technology?

agriculture - products/practices spread through regions (ex. sugarcane + water management practices)

• this led to the “Islamic Green Revolution”

technology - development on already created tech occured + creation of new things (ex. warheads/paper making)

what allowed for a prosperous commercialized economy

• forms of banking

• partnerships/business contacts

• ways to grant credit

all of these methods were used across Dar al Islam + china

how did transportation affect how goods traveled on the sea routes

• transportation costs were lower so ships carried heavier things + more things

(luxury goods stayed on the silk roads bc this)

how was trade in the Indian ocean possible

because of monsoons, people realized their wind patterns and traveled in certain ways because of them

diasporic communities

groups of merchants who learned local languages, cultures + trading patterns while having links to their home societies

why did srivijaya form

emerged due to Malay traders open commerce through the Malacca straights, ports competed with each other trying to get more foreign merchants — srivijaya formed as the dominant

what made srivijaya attractive for merchants

• good gold supply

• access to wanted spices

• lower taxes

this brought bureaucracy + military/naval force

what happened to society in srivijaya

people held local beliefs close but also adopted aspects of Buddhism and Indian politics

sailendra kingdom

found in central java, allied with srivijaya — adopted Buddhism/Hinduism, built lots of temples

what did the Champa kingdom do

adopted hinduism

what did the Khmer empire do

adopted Hinduism, built Angkor wat, then switched to Buddhism — they also traded exotic forest goods for things from China + India

what did Islam do in southeast asia

• it was adopted in commercial areas

• people would convert because they wanted to get Muslim merchants

• it blended with Hinduism, Buddhism and local religions

what was the city of malacca

the capital of the Malay Muslim sultanate, it grew rapidly due to its geographic location — was a globalized city that held loose imperial control over neighboring regions

what was attractive about the city of malacca

stable government, low custom duties, openness to all merchants

how did the city of Malacca grow

through its relations with china

they had tribute missions to china, served as a naval base for them and had good relations with Chinese merchants

what was the swahili civilization

urbanized city-states, from Somalia to Mozambique — grew from trading on the Indian ocean

what did being formed of independent city states do to the society of the swahili civilization

it formed social class distinctions between what people did (ex. peasants, merchants, nobility)

what did great Zimbabwe do

they got rich off cattle trade, but also from Indian ocean trade

what was the impact of bananas

they came from southeast Asia to Africa, they enhanced agricultural production which allowed for population growth, which they gave economic foundations for kingdoms to rise

what were the Chinese maritime voyages

voyages ordered by emperor yongle of the ming dynasty in order for distant peoples/states to be in tributary relations with china

what were the results of the Chinese maritime voyages

captain Zheng he managed to establish Chinese power/prestige in the indian ocean and they also exerted chinese control over trade

why did the expeditions stop and what occurred because of that

they stopped because the emperor died and the others thought they were useless

consequences = neglected from china’s history = the exit of the Chinese in the Indian ocean allowed for European entry

timbuktu

capital of Mali — center for trade, politics, cultural interactions & islam

ibn battuta

arab traveling scholar — witnessed cultural exchanges in africa - ex. how islam was incorporated into African society and how it was different in africa than arabia

factors that led to the growth of trans-saharan trade

• islam

• demand for African goods (gold & slaves)

• adopted tech : camels & saddles

borobudur

buddhist temple in central java — example of spread of Buddhism across the sea routes

marco polo

venatian explorer — one of first westerners to go to the eastern world, saw and brought Asia culture back to europe

why did silk roads develop

high demand for Asian luxury goods — Chinese silk