2.6

Environmental Consequences of Connectivity

Introduction

• Essential Question: What were some of the environmental effects of trade in Afro-Eurasia from c. 1200 to c. 1450?
• Notable Quote: "Dead bodies filled every corner." - Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)

Major Environmental Effects of Trade

• Trade networks led to the spread of novel agricultural products.
• Most dramatic consequence: Disease spread, notably the Bubonic plague.

Bubonic Plague (Black Death)

• Origin: Swept from Central Asia.
• Timeline: Struck China, India, Persia, and Egypt; arrived in Europe in 1347.
• Estimated death toll: Between 75 million to 200 million people in Eurasia.
• Epidemic Peaks: 1347 to 1351 in Europe.
• Literary Reference: Boccaccio's "The Decameron" describes the horrors witnessed during the plague.

Agricultural Effects of Exchange Networks

• Merchants introduced crops to areas where they had not previously grown, impacting land use and population dynamics.
• In some instances, crops led to sustainable production, whereas in others, they resulted in environmental degradation.

Key Crop Migrations

• Champa Rice:

  • Origin: Introduced to the Champa states (present-day Vietnam) from India as tribute to China.
  • Characteristics: Drought-resistant, flood-resistant, capable of yielding two crops a year.
  • Impact: Contributed to population growth in China. Expanded cultivation through terraced farming and paddies.
  • Result: People migrated southward to rice-growing regions, fueling urban growth.

• Bananas:

  • Introduced by Indonesian seafarers to Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Benefits: Nutritionally rich, contributing to a spike in population growth.
  • Cultural Impact: Enabled Bantu-speaking peoples skilled in metallurgy and farming to migrate to traditionally less fertile areas.
  • Farmers expanded land for cultivation, enriching diets.

Spread of Islam and Agricultural Products

• As caliphs conquered lands beyond the Arabian Peninsula, they spread essential agricultural knowledge and practices, including:
  • Cotton cultivation.
  • Sugar and citrus crops.
• Markets along trade routes, e.g., in Samarkand, introduced new agricultural products to Europe.
  • Importance of sugar: Increasing European demand led to slave labor in the Americas starting in the 1500s.

Environmental Degradation

• Population growth exerted pressure on resources:
  • Example: Overgrazing near Great Zimbabwe led to the city's abandonment in the late 1400s.
  • In feudal Europe, overuse of farmland and deforestation resulted in soil erosion, impacting agricultural productivity.
• The Little Ice Age (c. 1300-c. 1800) further exacerbated agricultural declines.
• Environmental degradation similarly contributed to the decline of the Mayans.

Spread of Epidemics Through Trade Networks

• Despite advancements in medicine, knowledge at the time could not prevent the spread of infectious diseases through trade.
• Role of the Mongol Conquests:
  • Transmitted fleas that carried the bubonic plague from southern China to Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
  • Caravanserai: Lodging that housed people and animals together may have facilitated disease spread due to animal-borne fleas.

Impact of the Black Death on Europe

• Population loss: Approximately one-third of Europe's population perished in a few years.
• Consequences:
  • Decline in agricultural production.
  • Shift in labor dynamics due to fewer workers led to increased value of labor; workers could demand higher wages.
  • Set the stage for economic transformations as feudalism started to wane.

Other Regions Affected by the Black Death

• Similar mortality rates observed in:
  • North Africa.
  • China and Central Asia: About 25 million deaths between 1332 and 1347.
• Regions spared: South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa due to limited trading ports.

Key Terms by Theme

• ENVIRONMENT: Crop Diffusion

  • Champa rice
  • Bananas
  • Sugar
  • Citrus crops

• ENVIRONMENT: Disease and Degradation

  • Bubonic plague
  • Overgrazing
  • Deforestation
  • Soil erosion