AP World Unit 2
The Silk Road was able to spread and facilitate trade across Eurasia through 1200-1450
There are multiple trade centers along the road which spread ideas and culture
Luxury items were usually spread here, with the most famous material being Chinese silk, which was required to make profit as you had to travel a long way with these goods.
Other goods were exchanged like olives, olive oil, and wine. Materials such as jade, silver, and iron.
Regions like India transported cotton, East Africa exported ivory, and Arabia exported incenses, spices, and tortoise shells.
The development of networks like the Silk Road happen because:
Development of money economies and how there was a safe way to use credit like money.
The rise of banks to hold money and the flow of trade
Caravanserai were spaced a day’s journey apart so merchants could rest there for the night which provided safety and cultural diffusion.
Saddles on camels were used to make riding easier, with frame and mattresses making to easier to load more goods if you had more than one camel.
Kashgar was a major trading city due to it having water and food that was easily accessible to people that stopped by.
Samarkand was also important and was similar to Kashgar
Things like Chinese porcelain and silk were able to keep the Silk Road alive due to its high demand.
Proto-industrlization is producing more than what the population can consume, which were then sold in distant lands.
The Mongols had the 2nd biggest land empire that stretched from Korea to Ukraine and were the main control of the Silk Road.
The Mongol Empire was created by a guy named Temujin who was thought to be a tough dude as he held a blood clot in his hand at a young age.
The Mongols used to be a nomadic tribe near the Gobi Desert
After affiliating himself with powerful and violent allies, he united the Mongol Empire in 1206 and titled himself as Chingis Khan
Chinggis Khan went on to take southern Russia, Northern China and Central Asia before dying in 1227 where his sons took over to reach the peak of the empire in 1279.
They were able to take these militaries by having a powerful organization of having groups by the power of 10 (10, 100, 1000, 10000). They also used special weapons like bows that can go much farther deep into the body as well as being able to shoot long-range.
They were also able to take these lands at the right time of corruption like the Song Dynasty and the Abbasid Empire with the sack of Baghdad in 1258
They were extremely adaptable and were able to take down castles and maritime empires using interrogation tactics, gunpowder, and boats.
People would surrender the second the Mongols got there due to how violent they were.
After 1279, Mongolia reached a central of peace known as the Pax Mongolia for at least 100 years and were religiously tolerant.
Kublai Khan, who used to be a Mongol, ruled over the Yuan Dynasty due to the Mandate of heaven and how he united the ruling states of China.
The Mongols to Persia however slaughtered them, but assimilated to their culture and became Muslim.
The Mongols were known for creating countries like Russia and Korea, as well as creating the basis for international law, also creating the first free trade zone
The Mongols were also known for improving the Silk Road by building roads and bridges
The Yam system was also created as a communication system to spread across the empire, with regions like China and Persia using it to trade to send artisans and military knowledge.
To increase their intellectual and cultural knowledge, they would purposely not kill people who were well educated.
They did not like people who stayed in one area and wanted people to move around and promote long distance trade for more tax money.
These transfers of long distance trade let to more knowledge in medical issues from Western Europe and the adoption of the Uyghur script which created the Mongolian writing system.
Despite what historians believe of the Mongols, they were still heavily ruthless
Genghis Khan’s definition of happiness was to rob people and vanquish your enemies
The Mongols were known to be brutal and would destroy entire cities with an estimate of millions being killed
The Mongols only lasted for aorund 80 years, as they transferred into a new dynasty called the Ming, and then migrated to the Persians during the 15th century and were unreconginzable.
The Mongols were allegedly responsible for the Black Death due to their openess of trade which lead to diseases and vectors spreading quickly throughout the Silk Road. There was also a trade that was happening in Europe that consisted of infected rats and animals transferring between ships that happened because of the Mongols.
The Indian Ocean trade network was a trade network based on maritime empire
Many ports through the Indian Ocean including Zanzibar, Mogadishu, Hormuz, and Canton.
During the Indian Ocean trade, monsoons were around 700 CE and were popular during 1000 CE to 1200 CE, but became cheap during the Pax Mongolia and the Mongols.
It then surged again during the 14th and 15th century, with people like the Swahili Coast, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Islamic Empires.
Inventions like the Lateen Sail and Astrolabe were important technologies in the Indian Ocean trade.
Arab sailors used Dhows for the Indian Ocean which were bigger and held more cargo
The strait of Malacca was powerful in both trade and religion
Gujart was a region that was able to trade massive goods to East and Southeast Asia and Africa due to its rich agricultural land as well as textiles like cotton.
People who were trading in these routes were Jewish, Islamic
A diaspora person who establish another place as home while retaining cultural customs
The cultural and technological exchange were important as the goods that were being exchanged during the Indian Ocean trade.
Zheng He was commissioned to explore the Indian Ocean and enroll other states in Chinese’s tributary states. Many as 27,000 men took place in these maritime explorations, they also used technology on their ships like gunpowder and cannons.
The Trans-Saharan trade route was from the Sahara Desert to West Africa (Benin, Gulf of Guinea)
The goods traded on the Trans-Saharan were Gold, Kola Nuts, Horses, and Salt.
Each region was known for creating goods which increased the demand to trade with each other as well as expansion.
The Empire of Mali, which was an Islamic state, grew extremely wealthy through participation of the Trans-Saharan trade, this is because they taxes merchants who came on their territory.
People like Mansa Musa got so rich by trading off the Trans-Saharan network by trading gold.
Chan Buddhism was created after Buddhist explained in Daoist terms, which led to a blend of ideas and syncretism
This is usually how different versions of religion and beliefs are created due to syncretism and sharing of ideas.
Hangzhou was situation near China and the Grand Canal, and was one of China’s most significant trading cities.
Despite many good connections happening between trade routes, there are still bad connections like military and conquering also happening in trade routes like the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258 or the fall of Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire by the Ottomans in 1453.
Ibn Battuta was a Muslim Scholar in Morocco who traveled all over Dar-al Islam within the span of 30 years and wrote notes about the people, place, and culture. This was made possible due to technologies that made travelling easier and safer like caravans, trade routes, boats, and camels and saddles.
Marco Polo traveled to regions like India, China, and the Indian Ocean. He wrote about his experiences in the court of Kublé Khan in China which grew popular among the European audience
Margery Kemp was a Christian mystic who went on journeys to Christian Holy Sites. Despite being illiterate, she had a very good memory and have people write all her observations down for her. This influenced how Christianity was perceived in Eirope and the Middle East.
Bananas which came from Southeast Asia were able to be transported to Africa through Indian Ocean Trade which came fro Lush rainforests, this caused an increase in diet and population growth and also let people move more out of their hometowns because of the bananas.
Citrus Fruits were introduced by Muslim traders which spread to Europe and Northern Africa
The Black Death or bubonic plague was a disease that was transmitted through infected fleas that bit into humans, then the bacteria will multiply which will overload your organs.
In the Middle East it killed a third of the population. and in Europe it killed half of the population.
The most famous book that was about the Black Death was “The Decameron”
This disease was spreading around for more than 1000 years but was largely famous during the 1300s and would come in waves.