AP World History: Unit 2.7 - Comparison of Economic Exchange

Comparison of Economic Exchange (c. 1200 - c. 1450)

Introduction: The "City of Spices" and Global Trade

• Calicut, "City of Spices" (1442): Described by Abdu Razzak, highlights a bustling market city where merchants traded Indian pepper and cinnamon, as well as diverse goods from other regions. Its ability to provide security and the diversity of its patrons resembled other major trading cities.

• Key Differences in Calicut: Distinguished itself through its currency type and how the government ("polity") generated revenue from trade.

• These similarities and differences observed in Calicut reflect broader patterns within the larger trading networks of the period.

Similarities Among Networks of Exchange

Several major trading networks connected people in Africa, Europe, and Asia between c. 1200 and c. 1450. Despite unique characteristics, they shared origins, purpose, and effects.

Major Trading Networks

• The Silk Roads:

  • Route: Traversed the Gobi Desert and mountain passes in China and Central Asia to Southwest Asia and Europe.

  • Specialization: Merchants focused on luxury goods.

• The Indian Ocean Trade Routes:

  • Dependence: Monsoon-dependent.

  • Connections: Linked East Asia with Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia.

  • Goods: Exchanged goods too heavy for land transport.

• The Trans-Saharan Trade Routes:

  • Route: From North Africa and the Mediterranean Basin across the desert to West and East Africa.

  • Goods: Traded salt from North Africa for gold from kingdoms south of the desert.

Shared Origins

• Ancient Roots: Interregional trade originated well before the common era with the consolidation of agrarian cultures into stable settlements.

• Building on Past Routes: The flourishing trade between c. 1200 and c. 1450 leveraged routes initially traced by early traders and conquerors.

• State Stability and Expansion: Trade routes expanded alongside the growth of kingdoms and empires. Stable states (kingdoms, caliphates, city-states, empires) were crucial for protecting merchants and routes, as exemplified by Calicut's secure environment.

• Technological Advancement: Stable polities supported technological upgrades that enhanced trade profitability, including:

  • Nautical Equipment: Magnetic compass, lateen sail.

  • Agriculture: High-yielding strains of crops.

  • Land Transport: Saddles for carrying heavy loads.

Shared Purpose

• Primary Economic Goal: To exchange goods people could grow or produce for what they desired, needed, or could use for further trade.

• Beyond Products: Networks also facilitated the exchange of:

  • Diplomats: Negotiating alliances.

  • Missionaries: Proselytizing for converts.

  • Ways of Life: Merchants, diplomats, and missionaries collectively exchanged cultural practices and ideas alongside economic goods.

Shared Effects

• Rise of Trading Cities: The "knots" of the trade networks, where routes converged and goods were exchanged. Examples include:

  • Silk Roads: Chang'an (present-day China), Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan), Aleppo (present-day Syria), Mosul (present-day Iraq).

  • Indian Ocean: Malacca (present-day Malaysia), Calicut (present-day India), Hormuz (present-day Iran), Mombasa (present-day Kenya), Alexandria (present-day Egypt).

  • Trans-Saharan: Gao, Timbuktu (both present-day Mali), Marrakesh (present-day Morocco), Cairo (present-day Egypt).

• Centralization: The growth of trading cities led to centralization.

  • Malacca Example: Grew wealthy from fees on ships passing through the Strait of Malacca, using this wealth to develop a strong navy to combat piracy, which required centralized planning.

  • Trading cities generally used their wealth to ensure the safety of routes and the cities themselves.

• Standardized Currency: A desire for widely accepted currencies encouraged centralization, speeding up transactions and enabling merchants to measure product value.

• Centers of Learning: Many trading cities became renowned educational hubs, such as the Ulugh Beg Madrasa in Samarkand (built between 1417 and 1422).

Differences Among Networks of Exchange

Networks varied significantly in goods, transportation, technologies, and religions spread.

Silk Roads

• Goods:

  • East to West: Horses, silk, tea, spices, dyes, porcelain, rice, paper, gunpowder.

  • West to East: Horses, saddles, fruit, domestic animals, honey, textiles, camels.

• Transportation: Camels.

• Technologies: Saddles, caravanserai.

• Religions: Buddhism (from South Asia to East and Southeast Asia), Neo-Confucianism (from China to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam), Islam (from Southwest Asia to South Asia).

Indian Ocean (and Mediterranean Basin)

• Goods:

  • From East Africa: Gold, ivory, quartz, animal skins.

  • From Southwest Asia: Citrus fruits, dates, books.

  • From Southern India: Textiles, peppers, pearls.

• Transportation: Junks, dhows.

• Technologies: Stern rudder, lateen sail, astrolabe, magnetic compass.

• Religions: Buddhism (from South Asia to East and Southeast Asia), Neo-Confucianism (from China to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam), Islam (from South Asia to Southeast Asia), Christianity (from Mediterranean Basin).

Trans-Saharan

• Goods:

  • North to South: Horses, books, salt.

  • South to North: Gold, ivory, cloth, slaves.

• Transportation: Caravans of camels for goods, people walked.

• Technologies: Saddles to increase load bearing capacity.

• Religions: Islam (from Southwest Asia and North Africa to Sub-Saharan Africa).

Unique Currencies and Commercial Practices

• Diverse Currencies:

  • Silk: Used as both a commodity and currency at one time.

  • Tin Ingots: Currency standard in parts of Southeast Asia.

  • Cowrie Shells: Used as currency by West African states.

• Shift to Money Economy: States eventually transitioned to economies based on gold and other metal coins.

• Chinese Innovations: To reduce the bulk of commerce:

  • "Flying Cash": Invented (Topic 2.1).

  • Precursors of Banks: Established, including the practice of extending credit.

Social Implications of Networks of Exchange

Economic Shifts and Production

• Luxury Goods Demand: Spurred greater production efficiency.

• Proto-Industrialization in China: China underwent a period of proto-industrialization to meet demand for iron, steel, and porcelain (Topic 1.1).

• New Business Practices: Emergence of partnerships to share investment risk.

• Increased Maritime Trade Volume: Production of goods like textiles, porcelain, and spices increased, leading maritime trade routes to surpass overland routes in volume.

• Technological Need: Required larger ships and improved navigational knowledge and technology.

Labor Practices

• Rising Labor Demand: Accompanied the growing demand for products.

• Continuity of Labor Forms: Existing forms of labor persisted:

  • Free peasant farmers.

  • Craft workers/artisans in cottage industries.

  • People forced to work to pay off debts.

  • People forced into enslavement.

• Slave Trade: Common along the Indian Ocean and Trans-Saharan routes.

• Large-Scale Projects: Irrigation canals, military defenses, and great buildings required thousands of organized laborers. Kinship ties often played a role in coordination.

  • Domingo Paes (Vijayanagara Empire, 1520-1522): Observed ext{15,000} to ext{20,000} men working on a giant reservoir, portioned among captains responsible for overseering the work.

Social and Gender Structures

• Dominant Structures: Still largely defined by class or caste, societal structures were overwhelmingly patriarchal, with rare exceptions.

• Areas of Greater Female Influence:

  • Mongol Empire: Though a patriarchy, Mongol women had more freedom than most Afro-Eurasian women. They moved freely, refused the burka and foot binding, and often served as top advisors to the Great Khan.

  • Europe: Women worked as farmers and artisans and formed their own guilds.

  • Southeast Asia: Women were skilled in marketplace practices, operating and controlling markets as representatives of powerful families.

• General Limitations: Outside these specific areas, women in other major regions continued to experience significantly fewer opportunities and freedoms than men in most aspects of life.

Environmental Processes

Disease Transmission and Population Decline

• Bubonic Plague (Black Death): Merchants, diplomats, and missionaries transferred the plague and other infectious diseases along trade routes, leading to a steep population decline.

• Impact on Cities: Contributed to the decline of once-great cities like Constantinople.

• Mortality Rates: Most believe at least ext{1/3} of Europe's population perished. China experienced outbreaks in the 1330s and 1350s, causing tens of millions of deaths.

Cultural Diffusion and Environmental Strain

• Cultural Diffusion: Changes in trade networks fostered cultural exchange.

• Development of Educational Centers: Led to the growth of learning hubs in cities such as Canton, Samarkand, Timbuktu, Cairo, and Venice.

• Environmental Strain: Political instability and increased agriculture put pressure on the environment.

  • Examples: Soil erosion from deforestation, overgrazing.

  • Consequence: Forced migrating populations to seek new areas for sustenance.