AP World History: Modern — Unit 2 Exam Review

1. Trade Networks and Commercial Development

 Indian Ocean trade: By the fifteenth century, Chinese merchants participated in

extensive maritime trade across the Indian Ocean, connecting East Asia with

South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa.

 Indian Ocean trade networks: Trade connected most regions bordering the Indian

Ocean, including East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and

China.

 Trans-Saharan trade: Mali became wealthy and powerful by controlling important

trans-Saharan trade routes, especially the gold and salt trade.

 West African trade: Before 1450, sub-Saharan Africa exported gold to the Middle

East and Europe through long-distance trade networks.

 Trans-Saharan trade routes: Muslim merchants played a major role in trans-

Saharan commerce, connecting North Africa with West Africa.

 Growth of cities: The expansion of interregional commerce helped cities

throughout Afro-Eurasia grow between 800 and 1350 CE.

 Middle Eastern commerce: Between 1000 and 1450 CE, the Middle East

maintained regular trade connections with China, India, and sub-Saharan Africa.

 Indian Ocean navigation: Omani merchants used their knowledge of seasonal

monsoon winds and ocean currents to plan efficient voyages between the Middle

East, East Africa, and China.

 Maritime technology: Innovations such as the astrolabe and lateen sail helped

Arab and Omani merchants navigate the Indian Ocean and take advantage of

changing wind patterns.

 Caravanserai and trade: Commercial facilities such as caravanserai provided

support for merchants traveling overland and helped expand trade networks

across North and West Africa.

 Money and banking: Paper currency and banking systems developed to make

commercial activity easier. Paper money made transporting wealth more

convenient, while credit gave merchants greater access to funds for trade.

 Commercial growth: The expansion of long-distance trade in Eurasia increased

the need for convenient currencies and access to credit, helping merchants

participate in the growing trade in luxury goods.

2. The Mongol Empire and Eurasian Integration

 Mongol expansion: The Mongol conquests led to the defeat and collapse of

several existing states, including the Song dynasty in China.

 Mongol fragmentation: After the Mongol Empire fragmented, separate Mongol

khanates developed across parts of Central Asia and other regions.

 The Silk Roads: Mongol rule encouraged Silk Road trade by reducing the

dangers of bandit attacks and limiting the number of local rulers demanding

payments from traveling merchants.

 Trade and integration: The Mongol Empire connected previously separate

regional trade networks, increasing the exchange of goods, technologies, and

ideas across Afro-Eurasia.

 Global integration: Historians who argue that Afro-Eurasia became more

interconnected by the end of the thirteenth century point to the expansion of

exchange networks following the Mongol conquests.

 Cultural integration under the Yuan dynasty: Turks, Uighurs, Persians, Tibetans,

and other peoples served in high-level positions in the Yuan bureaucracy,

demonstrating cultural interaction across Eurasia.

 Khubilai Khan and Chinese rule: Khubilai Khan used a Chinese name for his

dynasty and established his capital at Dadu, modern Beijing, to help legitimize

Mongol rule in China.

 Religious tolerance under the Yuan: Mongol rulers generally allowed different

religious communities to practice their faiths. Evidence of this tolerance includes

support for religious institutions such as Christian churches.

 Mongol attitudes toward commerce: Yuan rulers portrayed themselves as

supporters of commerce.

 Mongol technology transfers: The Mongols adopted and spread technological

innovations from different parts of their empire, including Chinese agricultural

technologies, to promote economic growth.

 Mongol military expansion: The Mongols attempted to invade Japan but were

unsuccessful.

 Mongol rule in the Middle East: Hulegu Khan's conquest of Baghdad in 1258

helped the Mongols establish political and economic control over the former

Abbasid territories. The caliph represented a potential challenge to that control.

 Short-term consequences of Mongol conquest: Mongol invasions caused

destruction, population losses, and economic disruption in parts of Central Asia

and the Middle East. In later periods, Mongol rulers often promoted trade and

economic recovery.

 Trade and technology: Mongol rule facilitated cultural and technological

exchange between China and the Islamic world.

 Mongol administration: The Mongols did not consistently impose their own

religious beliefs on conquered populations; they often permitted different religious

practices.

 The Mongol Empire and trade routes: The Mongol road system across Central

Asia helped connect distant cities and facilitated the movement of merchants,

goods, and diseases.

3. The Spread of Islam

 Islam and trade: Islam spread into West Africa partly through Muslim merchants

traveling across the trans-Saharan trade routes from North Africa.

 Islam in Southeast Asia: Muslim traders and Sufi missionaries played a major

role in spreading Islam throughout Southeast Asia between approximately 1250

and 1500 CE.

 Islam and local cultures: Islamic religious practices often adapted to local

traditions rather than completely replacing existing cultural practices. The

Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu, for example, incorporated West African building

materials and design features.

 Trade and Islamic institutions: The growth of the gold and salt trade helped

support Islamic institutions in West Africa, including mosques and religious

schools.

 Mansa Musa's pilgrimage: Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324

demonstrates the spread and influence of Islam throughout Afro-Eurasia and its

connections to West African rulers.

 Ibn Battuta's travels: Ibn Battuta's extensive travels across Africa, the Middle

East, and Asia demonstrate the unifying influence of Islam across different

regions.

 Religious architecture: Mosques in West Africa provide evidence of how Islam

spread from North Africa through trans-Saharan trade networks while adapting to

local artistic traditions.

 Religion and maritime travel: Ships traveling across the Indian Ocean transported

Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, illustrating the connection between maritime

transportation and Islamic religious practices.

4. The Black Death and Epidemic Disease

 The Black Death: The bubonic plague spread throughout Eurasia during the

fourteenth century, partly as a result of increased connections created by Mongol

expansion and long-distance trade.

 Transmission of the plague: The Mongol road system across Central Asia helped

spread the plague to major cities, including Cairo, Beijing, and Florence.

 The plague and urban populations: Epidemic diseases caused significant

population declines in many Eurasian cities during the fourteenth century.

 The plague and trade: The movement of merchants and goods along Eurasian

trade routes helped carry the bubonic plague from one region to another. The

disease reached western Europe in 1347.

 The plague's economic effects: The Black Death devastated many urban areas,

disrupting commerce and reducing populations across Afro-Eurasia.

5. African Empires and Trade

 Mali and economic power: The Mali Empire grew wealthy through its involvement

in the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade. Control over valuable trade routes

helped strengthen the empire.

 Trade and African state-building: Economic interests, including control of trade

and valuable resources, contributed to the rise and decline of major African

empires.

 The Sankore Mosque and Madrasa: The establishment of Islamic religious

schools in Timbuktu reflects the spread of Islam from North Africa into West

Africa through trans-Saharan trade.

 African and Islamic cultural exchange: West African mosques combined Islamic

religious practices with local building materials and architectural traditions,

demonstrating cultural adaptation.

 West African trade networks: Improved transportation and commercial

infrastructure, including caravanserai, helped merchants travel farther and

expand trade across North and West Africa.

 Gold and salt: Gold from West Africa and salt from Saharan and other sources

were important commodities in trans-Saharan commerce. This trade connected

African economies with North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

6. Chinese Exploration and Maritime Commerce

 Zheng He's voyages: In the early fifteenth century, Chinese Admiral Zheng He

led maritime expeditions to ports across the Indian Ocean, including East African

coastal cities.

 Chinese maritime exploration: The Chinese government eventually ended its

major voyages of exploration partly because officials prioritized domestic

concerns and the security of China's northern frontiers.

 Indian Ocean transportation: Sailing vessels were essential to the movement of

merchants, pilgrims, and goods across the Indian Ocean. Images of ships can

help historians study maritime transportation technology.

 Monsoon winds: Merchants such as the Omanis planned their voyages around

seasonal monsoon wind patterns, which changed direction during the year and

influenced sailing schedules.

7. Mongol Rule and Cross-Cultural Encounters

 Mongol military strategy: Hungarian King Béla IV invited the Cumans into

Hungary because they were nomadic warriors familiar with the military tactics

used by the Mongols.

 European responses to the Mongols: During the thirteenth century, Béla IV

sought assistance from other Christian rulers and the papacy against the Mongol

threat. His letter criticized the papacy for supporting Christian territories overseas

while failing to provide sufficient help to Hungary.

 European religious campaigns: Béla IV's criticism referred to papal support for

European military campaigns in the Middle East, which he believed received

more attention than Hungary's defense against the Mongols.

 Mongol conquest and Islamic power: The conquest of Baghdad in 1258

demonstrated that Mongol expansion could destroy established political

institutions and threaten existing centers of Islamic authority.

 Mongol cultural exchange: The Mongols facilitated the exchange of Chinese

inventions and other technologies across the regions they controlled.

 Mongol rule and religious diversity: Although the Mongols sometimes destroyed

cities and political institutions during conquest, their rule often allowed multiple

religions and cultural traditions to coexist.

Key concepts to remember

Concept Main idea

Indian Ocean

trade

Connected East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast

Asia, and China.

Trans-Saharan

trade

Connected North and West Africa through the exchange of gold,

salt, and other goods.

Mongol Empire Expanded trade networks and cultural exchange while also causing

destruction during conquest.

Black Death Spread along trade routes and caused major population losses and

economic disruption.

Spread of Islam Advanced through trade, missionaries, pilgrimage, and cultural

interaction.

Commercial

innovations

Paper currency, banking, credit, caravanserai, and maritime

technologies supported trade.

African empires Wealth from long-distance trade contributed to the growth of states

such as Mali.

Cultural diffusion Ideas, technologies, and religious practices spread between

societies through trade, migration, and conquest.

Study focus: Be prepared to explain not only what happened but why. Many questions

in this unit ask you to connect trade, empire-building, technological innovation, religious

diffusion, and epidemic disease to larger historical changes across Afro-Eurasia. You

will also need to interpret images and passages and how they relate to material in the

unit, such as the spread of the Black Plague.