2.1 : Silk Roads

The Silk Roads - Definition

• Vast network of roads and trails that facilitated trade and the spread of culture and ideas across Eurasia in and before the period 1200-1450

Mainly luxury items that were exchanges, especially Chinese Silk

Goods Traded:

Mostly luxury goods, this made things directed to upper class and more expensive.

• Silk

• Gunpowder

• Paper

• Tea

• Textiles

• Compass

• Porcelain

• Spices

  • Cardamom

  • Cinnamon

  • Nutmeg

  • Pepper

  • Saffron

  • Ginger

  • Salt

The Silk Roads Expand: Causes

• Supported by Empires

  • Controlled at some points by:

    • Roman Empire

    • Byzantine Empire

    • Abbasid Empire

    • Tang China

    • Mongol Empire

      • Controlled almost entire route at its height

      • Led to third Silk Road Golden age

      • Protected it

      • Spread the Black Plague to Europe

  • All these empires protected the merchants

  • Merchants felt safer

  • Trade started flourishing

• Innovations in Commercial Practices

  • Development of money economies

    • Chinese pioneered this innovation

    • Started using paper money to facilitate trade

    • Merchants could deposit bills in one location and then withdraw the same amount in another location thus increasing the ease of travel and the security of transactions

  • Increasing use of credit

    • Chinese called it “Flying money”

    • Similar to checks, pieces of paper could be exchanged for coins in separate regions

  • Rise of Banks

    • Europe introduced banking houses

    • Similar to the Chinese system

• Innovations in Transportation

  • Paper Money

    • Called “flying money,” was easier to carry

    • Facilitated trade growth

  • Caravanserai

    • Provided safety for merchants from plunderers

    • Became centers of cultural exchange & diffusion

    • Travelers could rest and trade their animals for new ones

  • Saddles

    • Introduced to make riding easier for long distances

    • Camel saddle- Made transportation easier- camels could carry 600 pounds

The Silk Roads Expand: Effects

• Effect 1: New Trading Cities

  • Grew in power and wealth because they were strategically placed along the Silk Roads

  • Kashgar

    • Located at a convergence of major routes

    • Built around a river, agriculture was abundant

  • Samarkand

    • Strategically located on Silk Roads

    • Cultural exchange occurred

    • Became a thriving center for Islamic scholarship and trade

• Effect 2: Increased Demand

  • Luxury goods became in high demand, especially Chinese porcelain and silk

  • Production for luxury goods increased, while production in others fell, such as agriculture

  • Set up the stage for Proto-Industrialization in China

    • Began producing more goods than their own population could consume, when were then sold in distant markets

• Effect 3: Cultural Diffusion

  • Neo-Confucianism

    • High moral standards of Buddhism

    • Veneration of ancestors

    • Combo of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism

  • Islamic merchants spread Islam; Buddhist merchants spread Buddhism

    • Buddhism changed as it spread

      • Focused more on material things

      • More wealthy and worldly

      • Mahayana Buddhism

        • The Buddha as deity

        • Emphasis on compassion

        • More widely accepted

2.2 : Mongol Empire

Rise of the Mongol Empire

• Mongols were pastoral nomads that lived in the Gobi Desert

• Temujin united various Mongol groups under him and ruled under the title Chinggis Khan

• Attacked and conquered in Northern China then in Central Asia and up to Southern Russia

• Died in 1227

• Chingiss’s sons continued to expand until the empire reached its peak in 1279

• Why did the win so many battles with inferior army

  • Chinggis organized his army into groups of 10,000, 1,000, 100, and 10, making controlling the groups very efficient

  • Mongol’s weapon of choice was a stronger, deadlier bow and arrow and they could often outride their opponents on horseback

  • They’re timing was also lucky, with the Song Dynasty declining and the Abbasid Empire declining

  • Very brutal in their takeovers, left only a few alive to warn other cities

• Even though they were very cruel while expanding their empire, after taking over, the Mongols were peaceful

• Resulted in a period of peace called the Pax Mongolica

• Mongols adopted the norms of people over which they ruled

  • Kublai Khan set up a new Chinese Dynasty, namely the Yuan Dynasty

  • United warring factions, so Confucian Elite believed that he possessed the Mandate of Heaven to rule China

  • Also styled themselves as a benevolent Confucian-style ruler

Mongols and Economics

• Silk Roads became more organized and prosperous under Mongol Rule

  • Previously, due to the Silk Roads spanning multiple states, some could be dangerous and others were safe

  • Now, with the entire trade route under Mongol control, only one state was responsible for keeping everyone safe and goods flowing

• Improved infrastructure

  • Built bridges and repaired roads which facilitated trade

• Increased Communications

  • Persian and Chinese worked together, sending skilled artisans back and forth, and exchanging ambassadors

  • Done through the Yam System

• Far-flung parts of the empire were more friendly, which increased trade and increased the wealth of all involved

Technological & Cultural Transfers

• Mongols had a high opinion of intellectuals and skilled artisans

• Because it was the Mongol policy to send skilled people to all different parts of the empire, that movement encouraged the transfer of technology and ideas and culture

• Medical Knowledge

  • Developed by ancient Greek/Islamic scholars to Western Europe

• Adoption of Uyghur Script

  • Mongols adopted it to write their own language

  • Became a widely adopted imperial language in the empire

• Despite their brutal rise, the Mongols facilitated many cultural transfers across many parts of Eurasia

2.3 : Indian Ocean Trade

The Indian Ocean Network Expands

• Network of sea routes that connected the various states throughout Afro-Eurasia through trade

• Causes of Expansion

  • Collapse of Mongol Empire

    • When Mongol Empire started falling apart, so did the safety and ease of the Silk Roads, which led to a greater emphasis on maritime trade in the Indian Ocean

  • Commercial Practices

    • Money economics and the ability to buy goods on credit made trade easier and therefore increased the use of these routes

  • Transportation Technologies

    • Magnetic Compass

    • Astrolabe

      • Used to measure stars to find out location

    • Lateen Sails

    • Knowledge of Monsoon Winds

    • Improvements in shipbuilding

      • Chinese Junk ships could hold tons of cargo

      • Dhows could also haul lots of cargo

  Silk Roads V.S Indian Ocean

  • Silk Roads: 

    • Silk

    • Porcelain

    • Luxury Goods

  • Indian Ocean: much easier to travel so common goods were also traded, not just luxury

    • Cotton Textiles

    • Grains

    • Luxury goods

• Spread of Islam

  • Islam was friendly to Merchants

  • Facilitated increased trade in sea trade routes

Growth of Trade-Cities & States

• Swahili City-States

  • Grew powerful and wealthy because they were strategically placed to benefit from the Indian Ocean trade

  • Built magnificent mosques and other public works to display wealth

• Malacca

  • Since they controlled the Strait of Malacca, they got stupid rich from Indian Ocean trade by taxing ships that went through the strait

• Gujarat

  • Midpoint between East and Southeast Asia and Africa

  • Because of its massive coastline and rich agricultural areas inland, they were able to trade goods like cotton textiles and indigo in exchange for gold and silver coming out of the Middle East

Diasporic Communities

• Diaspora = Disperse

• A group of people from one place who establish a home in another place while retaining their cultural customs

• Chinese merchants established permanent communities in Southeast Asia

• Arab and Persian merchants set up communities in East Africa

• Became a kind of connective tissue holding the Indian Ocean Network together and increasing its scope

Cultural & Technological Transfers

• Zheng He, who was commissioned by the Ming Dynasty to explore the Indian Ocean and enroll other states in China’s tributary system

• Zheng He’s ships were equipped with the latest in military tech like gunpowder cannons, which was later adopted by other regions

2.4 : Trans-Saharan Trade

• Series of trade routes that connected North Africa and the rest of the Mediterranean world with interior of West Africa and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa

• Causes of Expansion

  • Transportation Technologies

    • Camels could last longer without water and could travel for longer

  • Saddles

    • Both for riding and for carrying more goods to trade

  • Caravanserai

    • With merchants able to travel more comfortably and carry bigger load, the Trans-Saharan network expanded larger than ever before

• Trans-Saharan Goods

  • Gold

  • Kola nuts

  • Horses

  • Salt (big in demand)

  • Each region specialized in creating their own goods, which created the demand to trade with each other, helping with the expansion of the network

CARAVAN = GROUP OF PEOPLE TRAVELING TOGETHER

The Growth of Empires

• Empire of Mali

  • The empire converted to Islam, allowing for ease of access into the Trans-Saharan Trade Network and all of Dar-al-Islam

  • Became exceedingly wealthy

  • Sultanate of Malacca V.S Mali

    • Common:

      • Controlled strategic points along high traffic trade routes

      • Grew in power and wealth

  • Mansa Musa

    • During his Hajj, he gave so much gold into Egyptian economy, the value of gold diminished, almost running the economy 

2.5 : Cultural Effects of Connectivity

Trade Networks and Diffusion

• Cultural Transfers

  • Buddhism: India to East Asia via the Silk Roads

    • Buddhism also changed over time, mixing with Chinese Daoism

    • Syncretism between the two religions led to the formation of Chan Buddhism

    • Became popular in lower classes

    • Moved over to Japan, transforming into Zen Buddhism

  • Islam: Location and support for merchants made it widely accepting of all people

    • Inclusion into the giant Islamic network of states is what encouraged many rulers to convert their states to Islam

    • Swahili Civilization

      • Grew powerful through trade because they adopted Islam

      • Swahili is a mix of Bantu and Arabic

• Literary and Artistic Transfers

  • Muslim Scholars translated and commented upon classical works of Greek and Roman philosophy at the House of Wisdom

  • These works would be transferred to Southern Europe where they would spark the Renaissance

• Scientific and Technological Innovations

  • Chinese Papermaking technology spread to Europe by the 1200s along with Movable Type, which led to increased literacy

  • Gunpowder was also spread by the Mongols, who replicated Chinese gunpowder and used it in their conquests

Effects of Trade on Cities

• Networks of exchange led to the increasing wealth and power of trading cities

• Expansion of Cities

  • Hangzhou

    • Situated at southern end of Grand canal

    • Became one of China’s biggest trading cities

  • Samarkand & Kashgar

    • Grew in power and influence by facilitating trade along them, led to increased influence

• Cities in Decline

  • Baghdad

    • Capital of Islamic cultural and artistic achievement

    • Mongols sacked the city in in 1258, led to the end of the Abbasid EMpire

  • Constantinople

    • Political and religious capital of Byzantine Empire

    • Ottomans sacked Constantinople in 1453 and renamed it Istanbul

Increased Interregional Travel

• Happened due to increased safety of these routes, Pax Mongolica

• Ibn Battuta

  • Muslim scholar from Morocco

  • Traveled all over Dar-al-Islam

  • Took detailed notes about places, people, rulers, and cultures

  • His travels’ were important because he wrote about them, which helped his readers develop and understanding of far-flung cultures across the world

• Marco Polo

  • Traveled from Italy to China

  • Traveled throughout Indian Ocean

  • Wrote about court of Kublai Khan and China’s grandeur and wealth

• Margery Kemp

  • Christian mystic

  • Made pilgrimages to Christianity’s holy sites

    • Jerusalem, Rome, Spain, etc

  • Dictated her observations to be written down

2.6 : Environmental Effects of Connectivity

Diffusion of Crops

• New crops were being introduced to new places

• Bananas

  • First domesticated in SE Asia

  • Due to Indian Ocean Trade, they were brought over to East Africa, where the lush rainforests were perfect to grow bananas

  • The diet expanded, which led to population growth

  • Bantu people could now move to places where the yam couldn’t grow as they aren’t reliant on them anymore

• Champa rice

  • Introduced to China by the Champa Kingdom in Vietnam

  • Resulted in more food = more babies

  • Population explosion

• Citrus Fruits

  • Introduced by Muslim traders into Europe via the Mediterranean trade routes

Diffusion of Diseases

• Pax Mongolica led to increased trade and communication in Eurasia

• So when the Bubonic Plague erupted in Northern China, it was quick to spread to other regions via the trade routes

• In the Middle East, nearly ⅓ of the population died

• In parts of Europe, it killed ½ of the population