Unit 2 Notes: Networks of Exchange and Cultural Diffusion

Networks of Exchange

Big Idea 1: Expansion of Networks and Interactions

  • Unit 2 focuses on how states are connected through networks of exchange during the same time period as Unit 1.
  • Unit 1 focused on state building, power dynamics and territorial expansion.

Three Key Trade Networks

  1. Silk Roads:

    • Luxury goods, especially silk, were traded.
    • Cities along the Silk Roads grew in prominence (e.g., Kashgar, Samarkand).
    • Innovations:
      • Caravan Surai: Inns and guesthouses facilitated merchant travel.
      • Animal Technology: Yokes, saddles, and stirrups improved travel comfort.
      • Commercial Technologies:
        • Money economies (paper money originated in China) made trading easier due to lighter weight compared to silver or gold.
        • New forms of credit and banking houses (European innovation based on a Chinese model).

  2. Indian Ocean Network:

    • Most significant sea-based trade network until about 1500.
    • Causes of Growth:
      • Desire for goods not available locally (e.g., Chinese porcelain, Indian cotton and pepper, spices from Southeast Asia).
      • Technological Innovation: Lateen sails, magnetic compass, astrolabe, new ship designs like Chinese junks and Arab dhows.
      • Spread of Islam: Facilitated friendly relations and trade among Muslim traders.
    • Growth of Cities: Swahili city-states in Eastern Africa acted as brokers for goods from the African interior (gold, ivory, enslaved people), leading to wealth and power. The Sultanate of Malacca controlled the Strait of Malacca, growing wealthy through trade.
    • Effects of Growth:
      • Diasporic Communities: Settlements of people living apart from their homeland (e.g., Arab and Persian communities in East Africa, Chinese communities in Southeast Asia) facilitated trade.
      • Cultural and Technological Exchange.
      • Voyages of Zheng He: During the Ming Dynasty, increased Chinese power and influence in the Indian Ocean trade by enrolling distant places in the Chinese tribute system.

  3. Trans-Saharan Trade:

    • Connected North Africa and the Mediterranean with the interior and West Africa.
    • Growth Factors: Innovations in transportation technologies.
    • Technology: Introduction of the Arabian camel and saddles increased trade and expanded trade routes.
    • Empires: New empires arose in Africa (e.g. the empire of Mali), influenced by and influencing trade.
    • Mali: Islam was introduced in the ninth century, connecting them commercially to Muslim merchants across Afro-Eurasia. Mansa Musa, a powerful and influential ruler, monopolized trade, increasing Mali's wealth.

Big Idea 2: Cultural Diffusion

  • A major effect of trade routes was cultural diffusion.

Cultural Transfers

  • Religion and Belief Systems:
    • Buddhism entered China from India via the Silk Road, evolving into Chan Buddhism. Then, it was exported to Japan as Zen Buddhism and underwent further changes.
    • Hinduism and Buddhism also spread throughout Southeast Asia through trade.
    • Islam spread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia as a result of trading and conquest. For example, Swahili is a blend of Arabic and Bantu languages that facilitated trade.