As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Explain the causes and effects of growth of networks of exchange after 1200.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

K.C.-3.1.I.A.i.--Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes— including the Silk Roads—promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.

K.C.-3.1.I.C.i.--The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.

K.C.-3.1.I.B.--Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES

Trading cities:

§ Kashgar

§ Samarkand

New forms of credit and money economies:

§ Bills of exchange

§ Banking houses

§ Use of paper money

Trading cities:

§ Kashgar

• Western Chinese trading center that connected China to trade west towards Samarkand and south towards the Kashmir region (India)

• original Chinese occupation occurred during Han dynasty (c. 200 BCE)

• Tang dynasty--region comes under Chinese control for a short time, but its under Mongol rule (beginning in 1219) that overland trade flourished. Would come under Chinese control again during Qing dynasty in 1755.

• Uighur Muslim population

§ Samarkand

• Central Asia in modern day Uzbekistan

• conquered by Mongols in 1220

• became capital of Timur (Timerlane), who made it the economic and cultural center of Central Asia

New forms of credit and money economies:

§ Bills of exchange

• Letters of Credit were issued by merchants who acted in ways that today we would understand as banks.

  • • China--To avoid having to carry thousands of strings of coins long distances, merchants in late Tang times (c. 900 CE) started trading receipts from deposit shops where they had left money or goods.

    • Europe--Foreign Exchange Contract-1156 in Genoa is the earliest known between Italian merchants and merchants from Constantinople.

§ Banking houses

• China--The early Song authorities awarded a small set of shops a monopoly on the issuing of these certificates of deposit.

• Europe--First Bank established-1157 in Venice (guarantee from the State)

§ Use of paper money

• In the 1120s the Song dynasty government took over the system, producing the world’s first government-issued paper money.

• currency promises its backed by commodities

• enables increased volume of trade by merchants

• Issue: states print more currency than what they are able to back with

Find common traits in the two different descriptions.

Source: Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, 1299.

The city is beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world...

There were in this city twelve guilds of the different crafts, and each guild had 12,000 houses in the occupation of its workmen. Each of these houses contains at least twelve men, whilst some contain twenty and some forty...And yet all these craftsmen had full occupation, for many other cities of the kingdom are supplied from this city with what they require.

The number and wealth of the merchants, and the amount of goods that passed through their hands were so enormous that no man could for a just estimate thereof...

Source: Ruy González de Clavijo, ambassador of the Iberian kingdom of Castile, report of his journey to the empire of the Turko-Mongol ruler Timur, circa 1404

“On Wednesday we entered the great city of Tabriz in Persia. Commerce flourishes here. Today, there must be at least 200,000 householders within the city limits. From Tabriz all the way to Samarqand, the prince Timur has established relays of horses kept ready at command so that his messengers may ride on his missions night and day without hindrance. The posthouses have been built at intervals of a day’s or half a day’s journey apart.

We then stopped at a caravanserai in a local village for the accommodation of travelers and merchants on the road, before proceeding to the capital city of Samarqand in Central Asia, which Timur has lavishly adorned. The richness and abundance of this great capital and its district is indeed a wonder to behold. It is not only rich in agriculture but also in manufactures, as silk and other crafts are all produced here in abundance. Turks, Arabs, Christians of all sects, and Hindus all reside here. The markets of Samarqand are filled with merchandise imported from distant and foreign countries. From Russia and Central Asia come leathers and linens and from China silks that are the finest in the whole world. The goods that are imported to Samarqand from China are the most precious of all those brought from any foreign land, for the craftsmen of China are said to be far more skillful than those of any other nation.”

Use the map above and your knowledge of world history to answer all parts of the question that follows.

a) Identify and explain ONE factors before 1450 c.e. that account for the pattern of the caravanserai shown on the map.

b) Identify and explain ONE factors (different from the first) before 1450 c.e. that account for the pattern of the caravanserai shown on the map.

c.) Identify and explain ONE reason that the caravanserai shown on the map declined in significance in the period 1450–1750 c.e.

Key Takeaways

A) States invest in infrastructure projects to keep power and receive revenue through trade in similar ways.

B.) What promoted growth in the Silk Roads

• Security from strong governments

• Innovative transportation practices like the caravanserai

• Innovative commercial practices like the use of paper money or bills of exchange

C.) If you want a good overview, read this.