AP World History - Unit 2 EVERYTHING

AP World History Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

Emphasis on how various states were connected through networks of exchange, facilitating economic interaction and cultural diffusion.

Major Networks of Exchange

  1. Silk Roads
  2. Indian Ocean Network
  3. Trans-Saharan Trade

General Developments (1200-1450)

  • Geographical Range Expansion: All three networks increased in geographic scale, enhancing connections among states.
  • Innovations: Commercial practices and technological innovations facilitated expansion.
  • Economic Growth: Increased connectivity led to wealth and power for participating states.
  • Rise and Fall of States: Interconnectivity caused some states and cities to rise while others collapsed.

Silk Roads

  • Location: Stretched across Eurasia.
  • Goods Traded: Mainly luxury goods like Chinese silk and porcelain. Common proverb: if it don't make the boom boom, I ain't got the room room to carry it on my camel.
  • Increased Production: Increased demand led to increased production by Chinese, Indian, and Persian artisans. Example: Peasants in the Yangtze River Delta scaled back on food production to produce more luxury goods.
  • Transportation Technologies: Caravan surai (inns and guesthouses) provided safety and a meeting place for merchants, facilitating cultural and technological transfers.
  • Commercial Practices:
    • Money Economies: Paper money (developed in China) facilitated exchange. The Chinese called it the flying money system.
    • Credit: New forms of credit and banking houses (introduced in Europe) eased transactions.
  • Trading Cities: Kashgar, located at the convergence of two major routes, grew in power and wealth due to its strategic location and lush valley.

Indian Ocean Network

  • Trade enabled by: Thorough understanding of monsoon winds.
  • Goods Traded: Common goods like textiles and spices, as well as luxury goods.
  • Technological Innovations:
    • Improved magnetic compass
    • Improved astrolabe to reckon latitude and longitude
    • New ship designs, such as the Chinese junk with large cargo holds
  • Commercial Practices: Credit
  • Growth of States: Swahili city states acted as brokers for goods from the African interior (gold, ivory, enslaved people), grew in power and wealth; became Islamic and connected to Dar al-Islam.
  • Diasporic Communities: Arab and Persian communities in East Africa led to cultural intermingling, the spread of Islam, and the emergence of Swahili language (mixture of Bantu and Arabic).
  • Zheng He: Led voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, enrolling states in China's tributary system and spreading advanced maritime technology.

Trans-Saharan Trade Network

  • Expansion: Expanded due to innovations in transportation technology, mainly the improved camel saddle for carrying larger loads.
  • Empire of Mali: Grew wealthy via gold trade and taxing merchants.
  • Mansa Musa: Further monopolized trade, increasing Mali's wealth and expanding trade networks.

Consequences of Increased Connection

Cultural Consequences

  • Transfer of Religion: 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. These works were then later transferred to Europe where they created the basis for a cultural awakening known as the Renaissance.
  • Scientific and Technological Innovations: Gunpowder spread from China to Muslim empires and later to Europe.
  • Rise and Fall of Cities: Hangzhou (China) grew wealthy due to its position on the Grand Canal. Baghdad was sacked by Mongol armies.
  • Travelers' Accounts: Ibn Battuta, a Muslim scholar from Morocco, traveled throughout Dar al-Islam and documented his experiences, providing firsthand accounts of life across the region.

Environmental Consequences

  • Transfer of Crops: Champa rice introduced to China via the tribute system, leading to increased food production and population growth.
  • Transfer of Diseases: Bubonic plague spread from China along trade routes (Silk Roads and Indian Ocean), causing widespread death in the Middle East and Europe.

Mongol Empire

  • Significance: Facilitated connections through trade networks.
  • Territorial Expansion: Established the largest land-based empire, replacing powerful empires across Eurasia (Song dynasty, Abbasid Empire).
  • Khanates: Ruled by four Khanates by the second half of the fourteenth century.
  • Increased Networks of Exchange: The Silk Roads flourished as the entire territory came under Mongol control (Pax Mongolica).
  • Facilitation of Trade: Mongols encouraged international trade and increased the safety of merchants along trade routes.
  • Cultural Transfers: Facilitated technological (Greek and Islamic medical knowledge to Western Europe) and cultural (Mongol adoption of the Uighur script) transfers.