Silk Roads
Land and ocean trade routes that linked Eurasia
Why did the Silk Road begin where it did?
The pastoral peoples' demands for food.
Why are political systems important for trade?
They organized trade and provided security
How were goods transported along the Silk Road to sustain the networks of exchange among its diverse people?
stimulated by pastoral societies, moves from section to section, several connected legs of trade routes, aka relay trade
Why was silk such a desired commodity across Eurasia?
Silk was a luxury item and implies a very high social status if you wear silk (shows prestige)
What are some theories on how the silk making process left Asia?
1. Chinese princess grew angry and stole the silk worms 2. Euro mink stole silk worms and hid them in his walking cane
What was silk used for? Make sure you mention all the Empires.
China- used for writing India- religious ceremonies Central Asia- currency Byzantine Emp & China- a way to acquire wealth
What was the major economic consequence of Silk Road Commerce?
Job opportunities increase, Roman elite spent all their money on Chinese items, and merchants became extremely wealthy
What was the major social consequence of Silk Road Commerce?
Silk can allow people to advance socially, encouraged farmers to change what they produced which lead to a decrease in food production
What was the major cultural consequence of Silk Road Commerce?
The spread of religions along the Silk Roads.
What diseases were spread on the Silk Road and where did they come from an go?
Small pox and measles spread in Rome and Han China Bubonic plague spread in China, the Byzantine Empire, Europe, Islam, and Mongol
Bubonic Plague
Highly fatal disease transmitted by fleas
Where did the Bubonic Plague begin?
China
How was the Bubonic Plague transmitted?
By the fleas on rats that bit the rat and then went and bit humans.
Who benefitted from the plague? How?
Peasants because, since the majority of their population died, they could charge higher wages for their work.
Who traded and what was traded before the official beginning of the Sand Roads?
The peoples of Sudanic West Africa; metals were traded for gold, cotton textiles, and a variety of food products
Long distance trade in Africa provided...
Circumstances that led to development of new political entities (empires and city-states)
Muslims traded what along the Sahara?
Gold, slaves, ivory, salt, horses
Sudanic states developed...
As empires or city-states
Describe the Mali Kingdom?
Ibn Battuta
Famous Muslim trader; participates in African slave trade; famous for travels & writes about his travels around Afroeurasia
Who made up the slaves at this time? How were they treated?
Mostly women made up the slaves at this time. Thy were treated as domestic servants and concubines. Later, men were enslaved to work as agricultural workers.
Describe some factors that inhibited the development of long distance exchange networks in the Americas?
Lack of technological advances, geographical differences ( difficult to reign north to south orientation trade), no wheeled vehicles, ocean-going ships go up and down coastlines not across oceans, no religion that could be used to connect trade centers
What were the Inca roads used for?
Goods were traded, cultural diffusion, communication, goods were collected by Inca state because people work for state ( early form of socialism)
Why did the Andean Inca Empire largely control trade, not allowing a professional merchant class to emerge?
Empire believed that, if merchants became too wealthy, they would overthrow them; also controlling trade was a way to secure the Empire
What was the product that spreads north and south of Mesoamerica?
Maize
During whose reign did the Silk Roads begin?
Han dynasty
How were the Silk Roads and Indian Ocean trade similar?
The Silk Roads and Indian Ocean trade are similar in that both armed to connect the east to the west; both connect Eurasia; both spread cultural ideas and ship luxury goods.
How did the transportation operation of the Indian Ocean trading network differ from that of the Silk Roads?
Indian Ocean trade networks used ships and therefore could ship more cargo, sold less expensive, necessity products, traded with more locations, more efficient travel times, centered in India.
Monsoons
A seasonal prevailing wind in the region of south and southeast Asia, blowing from the southwest between May and September and bringing rain, or from the northeast between October and April.
How did monsoons make Indian Ocean trade possible?
Monsoons alternated wind currents that predictably blew eastward during the summer months and westward in the winter. When people understood what monsoons did, they accumulated different ways to build ships and developed oceanic navigation.
When did Indian Ocean trade begin?
Indian Ocean commerce began during the time of the First Civilizations. ( early Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus River civilization, Shang China)
Why did the tempo of Indian Ocean commerce pick up in the era of classical civilizations?
Indian Ocean commerce picked up in the era of classical civilizations due to the mariners learning how to ride monsoons and merchants generating a growing commerce. Also merchants from different classical civs move to where there is more trade and set up communities.
What region became the center of the Indian Ocean trade network?
India became the center of the Indian Ocean trade network.
What changes occurred in the ARab empire during the flourishing of Indian Ocean commerce after the rise of Islam in the seventh century?
Brought together in a single political system, had an immense range of economies and cultural traditions, and provided a vast arena for the energies of Muslim traders
What changes occurred in the middle east during the flourishing of Indian Ocean commerce after the rise of Islam in the seventh century?
Middle eastern gold and silver flowed into southern India to purchase pepper, pearls, textiles, and gemstones.
What changes occurred in Muslim merchants during the flourishing of Indian Ocean commerce after the rise of Islam in the seventh century?
Muslim merchants and sailors, as well as Jews and Christians living within the Islamic world, established communities of traders from east Africa to south China coast.
What changes occurred in Mesopotamia/East Africa during the flourishing of Indian Ocean commerce after the rise of Islam in the seventh century?
They used wasteland in Mesopotamia to cultivate sugar and dates, which brought thousands of slaves there from east Africa for plantations and salt mines in terrible conditions.
How did the Indian Ocean trade affect southeast Asia?
Trade stimulated political change as ambitious rulers use well derived from commerce to construct larger and more centrally governed states or cities; experienced cultural change as local people were attracted to foreign religious ideas from Hindu, Buddhist, or Islamic sources.
How did the Indian Ocean trade affect East Africa?
Trade gave rise to civilization known as Swahili.
Srivijaya
Malay kingdom that dominated the critical choke of Indian Ocean trade from 670 to 1025.
Why did Srivijaya have an important role in Indian Ocean trade?
Srivijaya's plentiful supply of gold-it's access to the source of highly sought after spices, such as cloves, nutmeg, and mace-provided resources to attract supporters, to find an embryonic bureaucracy, and to create the military and naval forces that brought some security to the area. They also spoke Bantu written in Arabic.
Swahili
And East African civilization that took shape as a set of commercial city states stretching along the East African coast.
Describe Swahili's social aspects.
Swahili civilization rapidly became Islamic. Introduced by Arab traders, Islam was voluntarily and widely adopted with in the Swahili world. It was an urban Society based on ethnicity. Also it was unique because it blends Persian, African, Indian, and Arab cultures
Describe Swahili's economic aspects.
Cities were commercial centers that accumulated goods from the interior and exchange them for the products of the distant civilizations.
Describe Swahili's political aspects.
They were politically independent, generally governed by its own king, and in sharp competition with other cities. No imperial system or larger territorial states unified the Swahili civilization.