AP World History Unit 2 Flashcards

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

Big Picture

  • Time period: 1200-1450.
  • Focus: How various states and empires are connected through networks of exchange.
  • Networks of exchange: Not just trading routes; involve the transfer of religion, language, and technology.
  • Impact: Facilitated economic interaction, cultural diffusion, and transfers.

Major Networks of Exchange

  • Silk Roads
  • Indian Ocean Network
  • Trans-Saharan Trade

General Developments Among Networks

  • Expanded Geographical Range: All three networks existed before 1200, but expanded geographically during this period, leading to more connections between states.
  • Innovations: Expansion due to commercial practices and technological innovations.
  • Wealth: Increased connectivity made states wealthy and powerful.
  • Rise and Fall: Interconnectivity caused some states and cities to rise while others collapsed.

The Silk Roads

  • Stretched across Eurasia.
  • Trade: Mainly luxury goods like Chinese silk and porcelain.
  • Reason for luxury goods: High travel costs made it impractical to transport common items.
    • "If it don't make the boom boom, I ain't got the room room to carry it on my camel."
  • Increased demand: Led to increased production of luxury goods by Chinese, Indian, and Persian artisans.
  • Example: Peasants in the Yangtze River Delta shifted from food to luxury goods production.

Innovations Facilitating Expansion

  • Transportation Technologies:
    • Caravan Serai: Inns and guesthouses along the Silk Roads, about a day's journey apart, providing safety and cultural exchange opportunities.
  • Commercial Practices:
    • Money Economies: Paper money developed in China, facilitating trade by allowing merchants to deposit and withdraw funds in different locations (the "flying money" system).
    • New Forms of Credit: Pioneered by the Chinese and later adopted in Europe with banking houses, where merchants could present a bill of exchange to receive payment.

Rise of Trading Cities

  • Kashgar: Located at the convergence of two major Silk Road routes, grew in power and wealth due to its strategic location and lush environment.

Indian Ocean Network

  • Expanded significantly during this period due to understanding of monsoon winds.
  • Trade: Common goods like textiles and spices, as well as luxury goods.
    *Note: Ships could hold much more cargo than camels.

Technological Innovations

  • Magnetic Compass: Improved navigation.
  • Astrolabe: Measured stars to determine latitude and longitude.
  • Chinese Junk: Massive ships with large cargo holds.

Commercial Innovations

  • Similar to Silk Roads: Use of credit and other financial instruments.

Growth of States

  • Swahili City States: Independent city-states along Africa's East Coast, acting as brokers for goods like gold, ivory, and enslaved people. Became Islamic under the influence of Muslim merchants, connecting them to Dar al-Islam.

Diasporic Communities

  • Definition: Settlements of ethnic people in a location other than their homeland.
  • Example: Arab and Persian communities in East Africa, leading to intermarriage and the spread of Islam, fostering the growth of Swahili states.
  • Swahili Language: Mixture of native Bantu and Arabic words.

Zheng He

  • Ming Dynasty: Sent by China's Ming Dynasty to enroll states in China's tributary system.
  • Impact: Facilitated technological and cultural transfers, such as China's maritime technology.

Trans-Saharan Trade Network

  • Expanded due to innovations in transportation technology, notably the improved camel saddle to carry larger cargo loads.
  • Empire of Mali: Grew wealthy through gold trade and taxing merchants.
    • Conversion to Islam: In the 9th century connected the state to the Dar al-Islam merchant network.
    • Mansa Musa: Further monopolized trade in the 14th century, increasing Mali's wealth and influence.

Consequences of Increasing Connection

Cultural Consequences

  • Transfer of Religion/Belief Systems:
    • Buddhism: Spread to China via the Silk Roads.
  • Literary and Artistic Transfers:
    • Islamic scholars in Baghdad's House of Wisdom translated Greek and Roman classics into Arabic, influencing the European Renaissance later on.
  • Scientific and Technological Innovations:
    • Gunpowder: Invented in China, spread to Muslim empires and Eastern Europe, altering power dynamics.
  • Rise and Fall of Cities:
    • Rise: Hangzhou in China, due to its location at the end of the Grand Canal.
    • Fall: Baghdad sacked by Mongol armies.
  • Travelers' Accounts:
    • Ibn Battuta: A Muslim scholar from Morocco who traveled throughout Dar al-Islam, documenting his experiences and providing firsthand accounts of life in the region.

Environmental Consequences

  • Transfer of Crops:
    • Champa Rice: Introduced to China via the tribute system, increasing food production and population growth.
  • Transfer of Disease:
    • Bubonic Plague: Spread from China along trade routes (Silk Roads and Indian Ocean), causing massive death tolls in the Middle East and Europe.

The Mongol Empire

  • Facilitated connections through trade networks.
  • Key Aspects:
    • Replaced powerful empires: Song Dynasty and Abbasid Empire.
    • Under Mongol rule: Networks of exchange increased; Pax Mongolica.
      • Mongols encouraged international trade.
      • Increased communication and cooperation across the empire between Persian and Chinese courts.
    • Technological and Cultural Transfers: Greek and Islamic medical knowledge to Western Europe; adoption of the Uighur script.