Unit 2: Networks of Exchange - In-depth Notes

Networks of Exchange

Topic 2.1: The Silk Roads

  • Historical Context: Examines trade networks established after 1200.

  • Trading Cities: Major centers include:

    • Kashgar
    • Samarkand

  • New Economic Practices:

    • Bills of exchange: Provided credit systems for merchants.
    • Banking houses: Facilitated efficient transactions and financial services.
    • Paper money: Emerged from existing monetary systems, enhancing trade.

  • Thematic Focus: Economic Systems:

    • Societal development influenced by production, exchange, and consumption.

  • Learning Objective A: Explain the causes and effects of the growth of exchange networks post-1200.

  • Key Developments:

    • Improved commercial practices increased trade volume and routes, especially the Silk Roads, bolstering powerful trade cities.
    • Innovations in transportation and technology, including caravanserai, fueled the demand for luxury goods leading to shifts in economies.
    • Demand in Afro-Eurasia pushed artisans in China, Persia, and India to increase textile and porcelain production; iron and steel manufacturing also grew in China.

Topic 2.2: The Mongol Empire

  • Connections:

    • Identify patterns and processes in historical state formations.

  • Key Developments:

    • Empires, particularly the Mongol Khantates, adapted after previous empires collapsed.
    • The Mongol Empire expanded trade and communication across Afro-Euraisa, integrating diverse economies.
    • Internal and external factors influence state formation and decline.

  • Learning Objective C: Explain how empire expansion shaped trade and communication.

Topic 2.3: Exchange in the Indian Ocean

  • Growth of States:
    • Influential states include:
    • City-states of the Swahili Coast
    • Gujarat
    • Sultanate of Malacca
  • Key Developments:
    • Transportation technology and commercial practices led to increased trade volume in the Indian Ocean, fostering new trading cities.
    • Interregional luxury good trade expanded through transportation innovations like the compass and astrolabe.

Topic 2.4: Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

  • Technological Innovations:
    • Use of camel saddles and caravans improved interregional trade efficiency.
  • Learning Objective H: Discuss causes and effects of trans-Saharan trade growth.

Topic 2.5: Cultural Consequences of Connectivity

  • Cultural Diffusion:
    • Spread of religions: Buddhism in East Asia, Islam into sub-Saharan Africa, and Hinduism in Southeast Asia.
  • Technological Transfers: Gunpowder and paper dissemination.
  • Influential Travelers: Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, and Margery Kempe, who documented cultural interactions.

Topic 2.6: Environmental Consequences of Connectivity

  • Crops Diffusion:
    • Bananas in Africa, new rice in East Asia, and citrus in the Mediterranean contributed to agrarian diversity.
  • Learning Objective K: Explain environmental effects of exchange networks; epidemic diseases followed trade routes, notably the bubonic plague.

Topic 2.7: Comparison of Economic Exchange

  • Argumentation Skill: Use evidence from the unit to support arguments concerning exchange networks from c. 1200 to c. 1450.
  • Key Concepts:
    • Increased interaction within and across regions drove cultural, technological, and biological diffusion.
    • Changes in trading patterns influenced social and environmental structures.
    • Rising demand for luxury goods increased productivity leading to shifts in trade practices and societal changes.