Ch. 7: Commerce & Culture

Overview:

Cause of another emergence Trade:

  • China monopolized silk for trading (highly valued at the time) and enriched them. This caused the want to trade for more things.
  • Cotton was a much wanted product throughout the Mediterranean region. This was transported along the silk road.
  • Relay trading forms: Goods that are passed down a line. Goods change hands multiple times before reaching their final destination and getting produced.

Where trade occurred mostly:

  • Trade was done on the Silk Road - Road that linked Central Asia and Coastal civilizations from Asia to the Mediterranean sea. It provided security to merchants and travelers.
  • Trading was done across the Indian Ocean as well(This ocean contained the largest sea-based system of communication and exchange at the time). Trade along here was known as the Indian Ocean Basin trade network.
  • Sea trade was done on a new type of ship called a junk ship. This ship invented at the time had improved sails, rudders, and many other parts.

Transaharan trade: Trade done across the Sahara(In West Africa) in which many goods were exchanged including slaves, salt, and many religions.

What the trade routes spread (besides silk):

  • Trading caused spreading of disease - It most importantly spread the Bubonic Plague(Disease from fleas carried by rats) which originated in China.
  • Buddhism was spread from India to Central and East Asia.
  • Due to the growth of trade in Africa and its connection to Mediterranean, Islam quickly spread through all of South and Western Africa.
  • Gold was a much wanted product from the Islamic Empire and fueled lots of trading between them and others.

Important Civilizations,Cities, or places

  • Sogdians: Their group of people was key to spreading Buddhist Sanskrit texts through being able to translate them into Chinese.

Venice : They were an Italian city-state that became a key place for trade from the East to Europe, with large fleets sailing the Mediterranean, Black, and Red Seas.

  • Swahli: Collection of East African city-states that were apart of the Indian Ocean Basin trade network and were very similar to each other in culture.
  • Zimbabwe: They were a powerful African state which was known for its high walls and wealthy rulers. They specialized in the gold trade within the Indian Ocean Basin trade network.
  • Arabian Peninsula: The original location and natural habitat of the camel that helped African and Islamic trade.
  • The Sahara Desert which divides North Africa from South Africa, is a barrier for helping advance trade.
  • Sudan was a place for trade in Central Africa that was known as "The land of black people."
  • Mali: This was a West African Empire that was a major stop on trade routes and monopolized goods such as horses, rare metals, and they taxed salt and copper.

Other Important Things to Know

  • Zoroastrianism prevented the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism westward out of Asia to the Middle East.
  • Islam was very friendly to international trade and merchants. This helped trade spread fast throughout the Indian Ocean trade network.
  • Pastoral was a name used for people that did not adopt agriculture and instead lived in the plains and centered their life around horses.
  • Borobudur: This was a large Buddhist monument on the island of Java. It was a testament to the power of Buddhism in Southeast Asia and is shaped like a mountain with 10 levels.
  • Camels were a turning point in Africa which occurred when animal labor was introduced that helped spread trade.
  • Arabs were the first people able to cross the desert and establish a trade route to the people of central and South Africa.
  • Monsoons helped move trade throughout the ocean. Monsoons would push ships north on the African coast for half the year, and then south for the remainder.
  • Caravans: A group of people and a pack of animals that travel together along trade routes to maximize the amount of goods they could carry and increase safety in numbers.

Key Overview:

There were three main trade routes that helped spread goods in this era. The three routes were the Trans-Saharan route, the Silk Road route, and the Indian Ocean Basin trade network. The Indian Ocean trade network traded silk, spices, slaves, and incenses. The Trans-Saharan route traded goods like ivory, cloth, gold, and salt. The Silk Road route traded silk, salt, sugar, spices, and cotton. All of these trade routes spread disease, and religion as well. These routes spread quickly with the help of many key aspects. For example, the Saharan trade route used camels and caravans to help spread trade. In any ocean trading that was involved, monsoons helped direct ships. Many cities/places benefited from these trade routes as well making them rich, busy, and more powerful.