CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To consider the significance of trade in human history

• To explore the interconnections created by long-distance trade in the period of third-wave civilizations

• To examine the full range of what was carried along trade routes (goods, culture, disease)

• To explore the differences between the commerce of the Eastern Hemisphere and that of the Western Hemisphere and the reasons behind those differences

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Opening Vignette

A. An Apple iPod ordered in the United States can be shipped from China in 40 hours.

1. speed of transaction is a very recent development

2. but also evoke older patterns of global commerce

B. The roots of economic globalization lie deep in the past.

1. exchange of goods between people of different ecological zones is a major feature of human history

2. at times, some societies have monopolized desirable products (like silk)

3. long-distance trade became more important than ever in 500–1500 C.E.

   1. most trade was indirect

   2. creation of a network of communication and exchange across the Afro-Eurasian world; a separate web in parts of the Americas

C. Why was trade significant?

1. altered consumption

2. encouraged specialization

3. diminished economic self-sufficiency of local societies

4. traders often became a distinct social group

5. sometimes was a means of social mobility

6. provided prestige goods for elites

7. sometimes the wealth from trade motivated state creation

8. religious ideas, technological innovations, plants and animals, and disease also spread along trade routes

D. The network of long-distance commerce is a notable feature of the third-wave civilizations.

2. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia

A. Silk Roads form one of the world’s most extensive and sustained networks of exchange.

1. largely a relay trade

2. provided unity and coherence to Eurasian history

B. The Growth of the Silk Roads

1. Eurasia is often divided into inner and outer zones with different ecologies

   1. outer Eurasia: relatively warm, well-watered (China, India, Middle East, Mediterranean)

   2. inner Eurasia: harsher, drier climate, much of it pastoral (eastern Russia, Central Asia)

   3. steppe products were exchanged for agricultural products and manufactured goods

2. creation of second-wave civilizations and imperial states in the last five centuries B.C.E. included efforts to control pastoral peoples

3. trading networks did best when large states provided security for trade

   1. when Roman and Chinese empires anchored commerce

   2. in the seventh and eighth centuries, the Byzantine Empire, Abbasid Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty created a belt of strong states

   3. in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Mongol Empire controlled almost the entirety of the Silk Roads

C. Goods in Transit

1. a vast array of goods traveled along the Silk Roads, often by camel

   1. mostly luxury goods for the elite

   2. high cost of transport did not allow the movement of staple goods

2. silk symbolized the Eurasian exchange system

   1. at first, China had a monopoly on silk technology

   2. by the sixth century C.E., other people produced silk

   3. silk was used as currency in Central Asia

   4. silk was a symbol of high status

   5. silk industry only developed in Western Europe in the twelfth century

3. the volume of trade was small but of economic and social importance

   1. peasants in the Yangzi River delta of southern China produced market goods (silk, paper, porcelain, etc.) instead of crops

   2. well-placed individuals could make enormous profits

D. Cultures in Transit

1. the cultural transmission was more important than the exchange of goods

2. the case of Buddhism

   1. spread along Silk Roads through Central and East Asia

   2. had always appealed to merchants

   3. the conversion was heavy in the oasis cities of Central Asia

   4. conversion was voluntary

   5. many of the Central Asian cities became centers of learning and commerce

      1. e.g., Buddhist texts and cave temples of Dunhuang

   6. spread much more slowly among Central Asian pastoralists

   7. in China, was the religion of foreign merchants or rulers for centuries

   8. Buddhism was transformed during its spread

E. Disease in Transit

1. the major population centers of the AfroEurasian world developed characteristic disease patterns and ways to deal with them

2. long-distance trade meant exposure to unfamiliar diseases

   1. early case: the great epidemic in Athens in 430–429 B.C.E.

   2. during the Roman and Han empires, smallpox and measles devastated both populations

   3. in 534–750 C.E., bubonic plague from India ravaged the Mediterranean world

3. the Black Death spread thanks to the Mongol Empire’s unification of much of Eurasia (thirteenth–fourteenth centuries)

   1. could have been bubonic plague, anthrax, or a collection of epidemic diseases

   2. killed as much as one-half of the European population between 1346 and 1350

   3. similar death toll in China and parts of the Islamic world

   4. Central Asian steppes were badly affected (undermined Mongol power)

4. disease exchange gave Europeans an advantage when they reached the Western Hemisphere after 1500

3. Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian Ocean

A. The Mediterranean Sea was an avenue for commerce from the time of the Phoenicians.

1. Venice was a center of commerce by 1000 C.E.

2. controlled trade of imports from Asia

3. linked Europe to the much greater trade network of the Indian Ocean

B. The Indian Ocean network was the world’s most important until after 1500.

1. trade grew from environmental and cultural diversity

2. transportation was cheaper by sea than by land

3. made transportation of bulk goods possible (textiles, pepper, timber, rice, sugar, wheat)

4. commerce was possible thanks to monsoons (alternating wind currents)

5. commerce was between towns, not states

C. Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World

1. Indian Ocean trade started in the age of the First Civilizations

   1. Indus Valley writing may have been stimulated by cuneiform

   2. ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians traded down the Red Sea

   3. Malay sailors reached Madagascar in the first millennium B.C.E.

2. the tempo of commerce increased in early centuries C.E. with a greater understanding of monsoons

   1. merchants from Roman Empire settled in southern India and the East African coast

   2. the growing trade in the eastern Indian Ocean and the South China Sea

3. the pivotal point of trade was India

4. two great encouragers for the Indian Ocean exchange:

   1. economic and political revival of China

   2. rise of Islam in the seventh century C.E.

D. Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: Southeast Asia

1. ocean commerce transformed Southeast Asia and East Africa

   1. Trade stimulated political change

   2. introduction of foreign religious ideas

2. Southeast Asia: location between China and India made it important

   1. Malay sailors opened an all-sea route between India and China through the Straits of Malacca ca. 350 C.E.

   2. led many small ports to compete to attract traders

3. Malay kingdom of Srivijaya emerged from the competition and dominated trade from 670 to 1025 C.E.

4. Gold, access to spices, and taxes on ships provided resources to create a state

5. Inland states based on rice production also participated

   1. Funan (0b–600 C.E.) in modern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia hosted merchants from India and China

   2. Khmer kingdom of Angkor (800–1300 C.E.) exported exotic forest products and attracted Chinese merchants

   3. Champa in modern Vietnam tried to control trade between China and Southeast Asia provoking warfare

6. Elements of Indian culture spread to South East Asia, Chinese culture to Vietnam

   1. Indian alphabets, artistic forms, political and religious ideas, and especially Buddhism

7. Sailendras kingdom (central Java) was also influenced by India

   1. massive building of Hindu and Buddhist centers (eighth–tenth centuries)

   2. shows Buddhist cultural grounding in Javanese custom

8. Hinduism also found a place in Southeast Asia, especially in Champas and Angkor

9. “Indianization” of Southeast Asia is a voluntary process

   1. traditional practices mixed or existed alongside new Indian ideas and practices

   2. little conflict between

   3. less patriarchal traditions of Southeast Asia persist

10. Islam penetrated later

E. Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa

1. Swahili civilization of East Africa developed from a blend of Bantu with the commercial life of the Indian Ocean (especially Islamic)

   1. growing demand for East African products (gold, ivory, quartz, leopard skins, some slaves, iron, wood products)

   2. African merchant class developed, with towns and kingships

2. Swahili civilization flourished on the East African coast between 1000 and 1500 C.E.

   1. very urban, with cities of 15,000– 18,000 people

   2. each city was politically independent, ruled by a king

   3. accumulated goods from the interior and traded for Asian goods

   4. sharp class distinctions

3. most of the trade was in Arab ships; Swahili craft traveled coastal waterways

4. deep participation in the Indian Ocean world

   1. regular visits by Arab, Indian, and Persian merchants; some settled

   2. many ruling families claimed Arab or Persian origins

   3. Swahili was written in Arabic script, with Arabic loan words

   4. widespread conversion to Islam

5. Islam and Swahili culture didn’t reach much beyond the coast until the nineteenth-century

   1. but the Swahili region traded with the interior, which had an impact

   2. trade with the interior for gold led to the emergence of Great Zimbabwe (flourished in 1250–1350 C.E.)

4. Sand Roads: Exchange across the Sahara

A. Commercial Beginnings in West Africa

1. trans-African trade was also based on environmental variation

   1. North Africa manufactured goods

   2. Sahara had copper and salt deposits, dates

   3. Agricultural peoples further south grew crops, produced textiles, mined gold

2. earliest trade in the region was among agricultural peoples in the Sudan

   1. emergence of urban clusters in the early centuries C.E.

   2. most famous was Jenne-jeno (Niger Valley civilization)

B. Gold, Salt, and Slaves: Trade and Empire in West Africa

1. introduction of the camel in early centuries C.E. was a turning point

   1. camels can go 10 days without water

   2. made it possible to cross the Sahara

2. regular trans-Saharan commerce by 300– 400 C.E.

3. merchants especially wanted gold from West Africa (along with ivory, kola nuts, and slaves)

4. the Sahara became a major international trade route

   1. huge caravans (as many as 5,000 camels)

   2. caravans traveled the desert for over 1,000 years

5. trade encouraged new and larger political structures

   1. creation of a series of states in western and central Sudan between 500 and 1600 C.E., including Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem, and Hausa city-states

   2. all were monarchies with elaborate court life and at least some administration and military forces

   3. all had a reputation for great riches

6. slavery was present in West Africa

   1. at first, most slaves were women

   2. with the development of civilization, male slaves were used as officials, porters, craftsmen, miners, and agricultural laborers

   3. most slaves came from societies raided farther south

   4. some 5,500 slaves a year came from across the Sahara between 1100 and 1400

7. substantial urban/commercial centers (such as Koumbi-Saleh, Jenne, Timbuktu)

   1. some became manufacturing centers

   2. Islam was established in towns

5. An American Network: Commerce and Connection in the Western Hemisphere

A. No sustained interaction occurred between the Western and Eastern hemispheres before the voyages of Columbus.

B. American trade networks were not as dense as Afro-Eurasian ones.

1. important limitations:

   1. lack of domesticated large mammals, wheeled vehicles, large oceangoing ships

   2. geographical or environmental obstacles, including north/south orientation

2. local and regional commerce flourished, but not long-distance trade

3. cultural traditions did not spread as widely as in Eastern Hemisphere

C. A “loosely interactive web” existed from the Great Lakes to the Andes.

1. cultural elements spread gradually

2. evidence of at least indirect contact

3. Cahokia was at the center of a widespread trading network

4. Amazon and Orinoco River exchange networks

5. Caribbean peoples conducted interisland trade

6. Chincha people traded along the Pacific coast of South America

D. A major trade network operated in Mesoamerica.

1. Chaco Canyon culture also interacted with Mesoamerica

2. Maya and Teotihuacán traded by land

3. Maya traded by sea on both coasts (with dugout canoes)

4. Aztecs of the fifteenth century had professional merchants (pochteca)

E. Major trade network in the Andes was largely state-run.

1. Inca distributed supplies from great state storehouses

2. 20,000 miles of road

3. some local exchange at fairs and along borders of the empire

6. Reflections: Economic Globalization— Ancient and Modern

A. The interconnections of the modern era have their roots in much earlier patterns.

B. But premodern networks had important differences:

1. most people still produced for their own consumption

2. a much smaller range of goods was exchanged

3. far fewer wageworkers

4. trade was in luxury goods

5. circuits of commerce were more limited

6. had no single center; units were much more equivalent to

C. The world of third-wave civilizations was more balanced and multicentered than that of the modern era.

1. relationships among major civilizations were much more equal

2. perhaps the twenty-first century is returning to that pattern