Silk Road SAQ Review

2.1 Daily Video 1

What caused the expansion of the Silk Road?

• “Peace proceeds prosperity”

• political stability

What were the effects of the expansion of the Silk Road?

• Emergence of Cities/Oases

  • Samarkand

    • located in modern-day Uzbekistan

    • center of cultural and commercial exchange

  • Caravanserai

    • inns/guesthouses along trade routes that supported the flow of commerce

    • helped traders rest and replenish both themselves and their camels

    • centers of CULTURAL exchange

• Commercial innovations

  • paper money

  • banking houses (bills of exchange and letters of credit to serve as promises for pavement)

• increased production of luxury goods

  • industrialization of silk, porcelain, and increased steel production in CHina to satisfy growing demand for goods

Why might political stability cause more trade?

• Initial Answer: Political stability may cause more trade as it allows for regulation which helps to ensure fairness, boosting the viability of trade and total benefit. For example, the Song Dynasty’s invention of paper money helped to standardize currency, giving traders a backed currency to work with which led to an increase in trade as everyone could agree on its value.

• Video Answer Points:

  • Trade routes flourish when empires expand their control over large geographical areas

    • i.e. Abbasid and Song dynasties

  • political stability often allows for allocation of state resources away from military to building or strengthening of infrastructure (i.e roads) and investment into agricultural production (irrigation system)

    • roads increase trade through ease of transport

    • irrigation + agricultural developments provide greater raw materials for trade

  • Agricultural innovations

    • fast ripening rice, qanat system → economic growth

  • More wealth = greater desire for luxury goods

Deepseek SAQ Prep

• Question 1:

  • a) Identify ONE specific technological innovation developed in China that facilitated maritime trade on the Silk Roads.

    • Magnetic compass

    • don’t forget the rudder

  • b) Explain ONE way this innovation improved sea-based trade.

    • Magnetic compass made it easier for Chinese merchants to navigate themselves to various places such as Arabia

  • c) Identify ONE specific Chinese ship design that used this technology.

    • Junkers were huge and carried thousands of men and tons of trade resources → magnetic compass helped these ships to reach their destination safely

• Question 2:

  • a) Identify ONE major city that grew as a direct result of the Silk Roads.

    • Kashgar

    • Samarkand

  • b) Explain ONE specific economic OR cultural function of this city for travelers and traders.

  • c) Provide ONE piece of specific evidence from the text about the religious diversity of a major Silk Road city.

• Question 3:

  • a) Identify ONE specific financial innovation developed in China to manage long-distance trade.

  • b) Explain how this innovation worked.

  • c) Explain ONE broader effect this innovation had on the growth of exchange networks.

• Question 4:

  • a) Identify ONE cause for the "second golden age" of the Silk Roads after 1200.

  • b) Explain ONE specific policy or action taken by the Mongol Empire that increased the safety and volume of trade.

  • c) Identify ONE luxury good that China imported via the Silk Roads during this period.

  • Question 5:

  • a) Describe ONE challenge faced by merchants traveling the overland Silk Roads.

  • b) Identify ONE specific infrastructural development that emerged to address this challenge.

  • c) Explain how this development supported trade.