Unit 2: Networks of Exchange

Essential Question

To what extent did the rise of empires contribute to an increase of trade from 1200-1450?

Objectives

1. Identify a city on the silk road and explain its significance

2. Identify a city on the silk road and explain its significance

3. Identify a city on the silk road and explain its significance

4. Identify a major trade area in the Indian Ocean and explain its significance

5. Identify a major trade area in the Indian Ocean and explain its significance

6. Identify a major trade area in the Indian Ocean and explain its significance

7. Identify a major land explorer in the Old World and explain their significance

8. Identify a major land explorer in the Old World and explain their significance

9. Identify a major land explorer in the Old World and explain their significance

Key Terms and Concepts

1. The Silk Roads

   1. Trading cities

      1. Kashgar

      2. Samarkand

   2. New forms of credit and money economies

      1. Bills of exchange

      2. Banking houses

      3. Use of paper money

2. The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World

   1. Technological and cultural transfers

      1. Transfer of Greco-Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe

      2. Transfer of numbering systems to Europe

      3. Adoption of Uyghur Script

3. Exchange in the Indian Ocean

   1. Growth of states

      1. City-states of the Swahili coast

      2. Gujarat

      3. Sultanate of Malacca

   2. Diasporic communities

      1. Arab and Persian communities in East Africa

      2. Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia

      3. Malay communities in the Indian Ocean basin

4. Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

   1. Technologies encouraging inter-regional trade

      1. Camel saddle

      2. Caravans

5. Cultural Consequences of Connectivity

   1. Diffusion of cultural traditions

      1. The influence of Buddhism in East Asia

      2. The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia

      3. The spread of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

   2. Diffusion of scientific or technological innovations

      1. Gunpowder from China

      2. Paper from China

   3. Travelers

      1. Ibn Battuta

      2. Margery Kempe

      3. Marco Polo

6. Environmental Consequences of Connectivity

   1. Diffusion of crops

      1. Bananas in Africa

      2. New rice varieties in East Asia

      3. Spread of citrus in the Mediterranean