UNIT 2: NETWORKS OF EXCHANGE

UNIT 2: NETWORKS OF EXCHANGE

(1200-1450)

2.1: The Silk Roads

• Silk Roads: an ancient network of trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce between 130 BCE-1453 CE

• Flourished during times of strong governments to ensure protection of merchants (ie. Han China and Roman Empire; Song China, Delhi Sultanate, Abbasid Caliphate; Mongol Empire)

• Trading Cities

  • Samarkand: located in current day Uzbekistan; center of cultural and commercial exchange

  • Kashgar: located in west China; served as a trading post between China and western neighbors; an oasis that was a cultural & economic metropolis

  • The Crusader States and the Fatimid caliphate used commerce as a key mode of exchange

• Economic Innovations

  • Bills of Exchange: a written agreement for one person to pay another;  emergence of a global and modern economy

  • Banking Houses: Allowed for bills of exchange and letters of credit to serve as promises of payment

  • Use of Paper Money: developed in China around 800 CE; far easier to trade with than coins or barter system (flying cash); Paper currency provided an efficient means of carrying money, as people no longer had to carry bulky and heavy coins and bullion when a bill of exchange would suffice. 

  • Trade increased because of caravanserai and credit

• Exchange of Items

  • Goods: Due to the time it took to travel across the Silk Road, only luxury goods were transported. 

  • Chinese Silk: originated in China around 3000 BCE; and once people figured out how to make clothes out of it, the demand for silk spiked across the upper classes because it was considered a status symbol

• Effects of Growth Exchange Networks

  • Culture: Buddhism spread widely throughout central and East Asia because of the Buddhist merchanged who had carried it there (spread & changed)

    • Outward Change: rejected the material world as illusion → Buddhist monasteries that were located along the Silk Roads were often the grateful recipients of lavish gifts from travelling merchants

    • Inward Change: atheistic → Mahayana Buddhism developed: the Buddha became a deity and there was an increased emphasis on compassionate works and the earning of merit, incorporated Zoroastrian fire rituals into their devotional patterns in the Sogdian city of Samarkand 

    • Buddhist faith as it spreads is an example of syncretism (the combination or attempted combination of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought at a single area where different cultures leave their influence and combine over time)

  • Disease: Diseases spread along the Silk Road (Cultures that developed resistance to certain diseases spread it to other cultures that do not have resistance, leading to death)

    • Bubonic Plague (Black Death): nearly half of the European population died between 1346 and 1348, similar results in China and the Islamic World

2.2: The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World 

• Mongols: nomadic group from Central Asia (one of many); became largest contiguous land empire in history (Pacific Ocean to Asia) (1206-1368)

  • Led by Genghis Khan (his troops feared him, if they resisted, they were massacred; made them very loyal)

  • Their skill in horseback riding and their ruthlessness led to a takeover of large parts of Asia in the 13th century

    • Defeated Song Dynasty: established Yuan Dynasty

    • Abbasid Caliphate

    • Conquered Russia

  • Khanates/Hordes (separate Mongol groups/administrative regions)

    • The Golden Horde conquered the region of modern day Russia

    • Kublai Khan, grandson to Chinggis, ruled Yuan dynasty China

• Pax Mongolica: describes the stabilizing effects of the conquests of the Mongol Empire on the social, cultural and economic life of the inhabitants 

  • The Mongols encouraged long-distance trade across regions (safer and easier)

  • Strong government →  more trade

  • Mongol governance led to forced migration of many

• Mongolian Interactions with States

  • With China: made use of Chinese administrative practices, taxation practices, and traditional beliefs; improved on roads, canals, and infrastructure

  • With Persia: slaughtered the Persian people; agriculture declined, while wine and silk industries thrived; Mongols made use of the Persian bureaucracy; eventually they assimilated into Persian culture

  • With Russia: slaughtered the Russians; Russia wasn’t as profitable as the other agricultural civilizations; reinforced hold of the Russian Orthodox Church; had in indirect relationship via the Golden Horde, where they extracted Tribute and Taxes from Russian princes; adopted Mongol weapons, diplomacy, court life, taxation, and military systems

• Timur Lang (Tamerlan)

  • A Turkic warrior that brought immense devastation to Russia, Persia, and India

  • Conflicts between successors prevented a lasting empire

  • Last great military success of nomadic peoples from Central Asia

  • His large reliance on his military led to the ultimate downfall of the Mongols, as military expenses ravaged the economy, leading to the rise of new empires such as Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals

• Results of Mongol Rule

  • Technological and Cultural Transfers 

    • Transfer of Greco– Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe

    • Transfer of numbering systems to Europe

    • Commerce was further facilitated by standardized weights and measures

    •  Adoption of Uyghur script

    • Cultural exchanges between nomads and non-nomads included the spread of stirrups and gunpowder.

    • Contact with nomadic peoples led the Song dynasty of China to use war horses from Central Asia.

    • The spread of religions such as Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, or Zoroastrianism across Central Asia in the period before 1450 was facilitated by contact between nomadic and non-nomadic societies along the Silk Roads.

  • Massive movement of technology and knowledge 

  • they respected and adopted local customs of their subjects

  • Spread of religious ideas (but not a lot of converts; Mongols did not try to assimilate their people into a specific religion/culture)

  • New kingdoms/dynasties

  • The Black Death

  • Ascendancy of Europe

  • The Mongols were diffusers of culture, allowed trade connection across Asia and Europe that allowed for easier passage and opportunities across empires 

  • In some places Mongols assimilated into the cultures they conquered

    • Ex: in Persia, most Mongols became Muslim

  • In other places Mongolian culture remained separate. For example, in China, Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis) prohibited intermarriage and forbid the Chinese to learn the Mongol language

    • When the Chinese kicked out the Mongols in 1368, they made the Ming Dynasty rooted in traditional Chinese identity and practices.

  • There were 2 major consequences of Mongol rule:

    • Russia which was conquered by the Golden Horde and treated as a vassal state, didn’t unify or culturally develop as quickly as its European neighbors to the west

    • World trade, cultural diffusion and global awareness grew. The world was brought together. By 1450 as the Mongol Empire was well in decline, the world would never again be disconnected

2.3: Exchange in the Indian Ocean

• Indian Ocean Trade: featured a sea-based network where common goods (and some luxury) were exchanged (stretched from China to East Africa)

  • Desire for foreign goods: porcelain, spices!!, ivory

  • Traded common, bulk goods rather than luxury (Silk Road)

• Transformation of the Indian Ocean

  • Revival of the Chinese: economic revival in China during the Tang and Song dynasties → Chinese exported many goods/encouraged maritime trade

  • Rise of Islam: very positive toward merchant activity; vast land connected by Islam made trade much easier

  • Innovations and Knowledge

    • Magnetic Compass: allowed sailors to hold their bearing without sight of the sun

    • Astrolabe: allowed sailors to calculate latitude

    • Chinese Junks: Ming treasure ships; huge, flat-bottomed ships with six mast jutting out of their bellies, and enough room to carry 500 men, old trunks that could carry enormous payloads of goods for trade 

    • Knowledge of monsoon winds (predictable yearly storms) led to new technology (compasses, astrolabes) 

    • Zheng He: Ships were sponsored by the Chinese State, but were later decommissioned due to death of Emperor Yongle, opposition from elites, and government concern with domestic problems and frontier security

• Exchange of Items: common goods such as wheat, sugar, and rice

  • Exchanged both luxury goods and bulk commodities

• Results of the Indian Ocean Trade

  • Growth of States

    • Swahili City-States in East Africa: An African merchant class developed and villages began turning into cities and between 1000-1500 the Swahili urban commercial centers flourished (traded gold, ivory, and slaves)

    • Gujarat: Region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing

    • Sultanate of Malacca: in modern Malaysia, controlled the Malacca Strait and amassed lots of wealth through this because Chinese merchants could not travel without passing through

    • Srivijaya Kingdom: dominated trade in the Strait of Malacca and grew wealthy from it

  • Diasporic Communities 

    • Diaspora: mass dispersion of a population from its indigenous territories

    • Arabs and Persian communities in East Africa 

    • Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia

    • Malay communities in Indian Ocean

2.4: Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

• Trans-Saharan Trade: spanned across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. 

• The environments of these places varied so widely, so they produced different goods, and therefore created the incentive for trade (SALT for preserving food, gold, ivory, cloth)

  • North Africa: mainly produced manufactured goods like books, cloth, and glasswork

  • Southwest Africa: They were agricultural → grain crops, yams, kola nuts

• Technological Innovations

  • Camel saddle: Allowed for the utilization of domesticated camels for transportation of goods across the desert; enabled merchants to transport an increased volume of goods 

  • Camels: linked West African societies to the Mediterranian and merged them into other trade circuits; could resist dehydration and injury through the desert (introduced by Arabia)

  • Caravans: groups of merchants traveling together across the Sahara desert; prevented raiders from attacking

  • Caravanserai: roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey

• Exchange of Items

  • Gold: found in abundance in West Africa and highly sought after in Eurasia

  • Slaves: served as laborers

  • Exported ivory and kola nuts

  • Imported horses, cloth, manufactured goods, and salt

• Growth of States

  • Mali Empire: held a monopoly on the trade of horses and metals in the 14th century; levied taxes on salt and copper to generate revenue. 

    • A social hierarchy formed: royalty → elite classes → merchants → military and religious folk → peasants → slaves

    • Urban centers of trade and manufacturing: Timbuktu and Gao

2.5: Cultural Consequences of Connectivity

• Diffusion of Cultural and Technological Traditions

  • Religion

    • Buddhism in East Asia

    • Spread of Hinduism and Buddhism in Southeast Asia

    • Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

    • Christianity in Ethiopia 

    • Cultural Continuity influencing the development of African states were Christianity in Ethiopia and Islam in West Africa (Ghana, Mali)

  • Gunpowder: led to the development of firearms and weapons

  • Paper: allowed for easier spread of knowledge in the form of books

• Travelers

  • Ibn Battuta: traveled around Dar al-Islam; kept a detailed journal that documented his thoughts of the people he met; his writings affected the Muslim people

  • Margery Kempe: an English Christian mystic; wrote autobiography about her pilgrimage and visionaries 

  • Marco Polo: left his home in Venice and visited China; conversed with Kublai Khan and became ambassador to China; captured by enemies of Venetians; published stories that excited Europeans 

2.6: Environmental Consequences of Connectivity

• Diffusion of Crops 

  • Champa rice into East Asia

    • Drought-resistant, flood-resistant, yields twice annually, required less usage (came from Vietnam, spread to China)

  • Bananas into sub-Saharan Africa (from Indonesia/Southeast Asia): prompted migration and population, since originally, Africans only could grow yams in certain areas; when bananas are introduced, they are able to migrate to other places where yams couldn’t grow

  • Citrus crops around the Mediterranean 

• Main Environmental Impacts

  • Population increase 

    • pressure on resources, migrations

  • Increased cultivation of land for farming in Africa and Europe 

    • Deforestation and soil erosion

• Spread of Epidemics: Development

  • Diseases, including the Bubonic Plague, were spread along trade routes

    • Carried along both land and sea routes

    • Transmitted through human contact with animals and infected fleas

    • Spread from China to Afro-Eurasia

    • Can’t blame the Mongols fully; caravanserai along trade routes allowed for more spread of disease

• Spread of Epidemics: Impacts

  • Devastating loss of life throughout Afro-Eurasia

    • ⅓ of Europe

    • 25 mil Chinese and other Asians 

  • Social-Economic reforms in Europe

    • Fewer workers = higher wages

2.7: Comparisons of Economic Exchange

• Networks of exchange within and across regions contributed to cultural, technological, biological diffusion

• Changes in trade networks resulted from and stimulated increased productive capacity with implications for social gender structures and environmental processes

• In the period between 1200-1450 networks of exchange in Afro-Eurasia all expanded as empires and states experienced periods of political stability leading to the growth of new trading cities. However, these trade routes differed greatly in the types of goods transported due to their differences in modes of transportation

• Differences Among Networks of Exchange