Unit 2 Networks of Exchange 1200-1450

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange 1200-1450 2.1 The Silk Roads ● Stretched from China to Europe and North Africa, named after the famous commodity silk worn by elites ● Causes of the Growth of Exchange Networks ○ The Crusades: Lords and their armies brought back spices and fabrics from the East. ○ The Rise of New Empires ■ Arab merchants from the Abbasid Empire revived the Silk Road and Indian Ocean routes ■ Tang China offered the compass, paper, and gunpowder, porcelain, tea, and silk ■ The Mongol Empire conquered the Abbasid Caliphate and China, unifying the Silk Roads under one authority. The Mongols improved roads and punished bandits to improve the safety of travel on the Silk Roads. ○ Transportation Technology Advancements: ■ Traveling caravans with groups was safer than traveling alone ■ Camel saddles allowed the animals to carry more goods ■ The magnetic compass and the rudder helped with navigation and ship control ■ The Chinese junk ship had multiple sails and was triple the size of a typical European ship. It was strong enough to sail rough voyages with a lower likelihood of sinking. ● Effects of the Growth of Exchange Networks ○ Cities and Oases ■ Kashgar : A city located at the western edge of China. It sold an abundance of crops and water to travelers. Artisans produced textiles, rugs, leather goods, and pottery. Islam was brought to this Buddhist city in an exchange of ideas. ■ Samarkand: Stopping point on the Silk Roads between China and the Mediterranean. Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Islam were exchanged. Artisans produced valuable handicrafts. ○ Caravanserai : Inns for travelers to rest and exchange animals ○ Commercial Innovations ■ Chinese copper coins were too difficult to transport, so the government developed a system of credit known as flying cash . Merchants could deposit paper money under their names one location and withdraw the same amount in another area. ■ Europe established banking houses , where people could present a bill of exchange , a document document stating that the holder was legally promised a set payment on a certain date ○ Hanseatic League : A commercial alliance between Germany and Scandinavia that controlled trade in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea; monopolized timber, grain, leather, and fish ○ Increased demand led artisans to expand their production of silk, textiles, and porcelain. China expanded its iron and steel production. ○ Buddhism changed as a result of trade ■ Buddhism originally rejected the material world, but Buddhist monasteries often received luxury goods from Silk Road merchants ■ The oldest form of Buddhism was atheistic, but Mahayana Buddhism, in which the Buddha was worshipped as a deity, developed and spread. ■ Buddhists incorporated Zoroastrian fire rituals into their traditions - syncretism ○ Black Death - The Bubonic plague killed about half of Europeans in the 14th century 2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Modern World ● The Mongols and their Surroundings ○ In the 12th century, Mongols were clans of hunter-gatherer nomads near the Gobi Desert in East Asia ○ Expected everyone, regardless of gender, to become skilled horse riders and valued hunting and warfare ● Genghis Khan ○ Mongol leader who created a series of tribal alliances and defeated neighboring groups to expand power ○ Killed his stepbrother in his quest for control; elected khan of Mongolian Kingdom in 1206 ○ Organized the Mongols into military units of 10,000; 1,000; 100; and 10. Conquered people were integrated into this structure. If one member of a unit rebelled, the entire unit was massacred. ○ Allowed conquered people to maintain their religions ● The Beginning of Conquest ○ In 1210, the Mongols conquered the Jin Empire of northern China. Sometimes the Mongols wiped out entire civilian populations after defeating their armies. ○ In 1219, conquered the Central Asian Kara Khitai Empire and the Islamic Khwarazm Empire ● Siege weapons: The Mongols acquired these from conquered engineers in China and Persia. Examples include portable towers and catapults. ● Pax Mongolia: Mongolian peace in Eurasia, 13th and 14th centuries. Genghis Khan instituted a policy of religious tolerance. He worked with Chinese and Islamic scholars and engineers. His soldiers protected the Silk Roads, allowing for a third golden age. New trade channels were established throughout Afro-Eurasia. ● Uyghur alphabet : Adapted to represent Mongol, though the empire was not linguistically unified. ● Batu , a grandson of Genghis Khan, led an army called the Golden Horde to conquer Russia’s kingdoms ○ The Mongols ruled through Russia’s existing leaders, who collected tribute ○ Moscow’s local leaders created an army to resist the Mongols. They defeated the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo. ○ The Mongol invasion motivated Russians to strengthen their military and establish a centralized govt. ● Hulegu, another grandson, conquered Abbasid territories and other areas of the Middle East, establishing the Il-khanate. His army destroyed Baghdad and killed the caliph. They were eventually defeated by an alliance between the Mamluks and the Crusaders. ○ Mongols ruled, but Persians served as officials. ○ Over time, many Mongols converted to Islam and supported mass killings of Christians and Jews. ● Kublai Khan , another grandson of Genghis Khan, conquered Song China and established the Yuan Dynasty . He practiced Chinese traditions of leadership. He rebuilt the Zhongdu capital, which was previously damaged by the Mongols, and named it Dadu. Kublai was tolerant of all religions. ● Freedoms of Mongol Women ○ In addition to their domestic chores, Mongol women tended animals ○ Rode horses and wore leather trousers, just as men did ○ Could remarry and initiate divorces ● Mongols Lose Power ○ Hired foreigners for the Chinese government rather than the natives ○ Terminating the civil service exam alarmed the scholar-gentry class ○ The Yuan Dynasty was unable to conquer Japan, Indochina, Burma, and Java, signaling to the Chinese that they were vulnerable ○ The White Lotus Society plotted the Yuan Dynasty’s downfall. ○ Buddhist monk Zhu Yuanzhang led a revolt that ended the Yuan Dynasty and began the Ming Dynasty ● Long-Term Impact of the Mongolian Invasions ○ The Mongols exchanged Islamic scientific knowledge to China and paper throughout Eurasia. They also transferred Greco-Islamic medical knowledge and Arabic numerals to Europe. They carried the bubonic plague as well. ○ Eurasian states mimicked the Mongols’ successful centralized government ○ Mongol battle techniques terminated Europe’s use of knights in armor and walled cities. 2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean ● Muslim merchants transferred goods to port cities across the Indian Ocean. ● Calicut , a city in India, became a center of Indian Ocean trade. Arab and Chinese merchants exchanged goods, Champa states -> Chinese as tribute ■ Affected land use because it was grown in lands unsuitable for most crops ■ grown through terraced farming and paddies ■ Population growth in China, people migrated to its origin region, which lead to the growth of cities ○ Bananas : Indonesia -> Sub-Saharan Africa through Indian Ocean. ■ Nutrition sparked population growth ■ Bantu-speaking people could migrate to new places where yam did not grow ○ Sugar and Citrus Crops : Islamic Caliphs spread them to conquered lands. Samarkand introduced them to Europe. European demand for sugar became a main cause of slave labor in the Americas. ● Environmental Degradation ○ Overgrazing - Prevalent around Great Zimbabwe, people had to leave the city in the 15th century ○ In Europe, overuse of farmland caused deforestation and soil erosion. ○ The Little Ice Age decreased agricultural productivity ○ Decline of the Mayans in the Americas ● Spread of Epidemics through Exchange Networks - bubonic plague ○ Mongol conquests transferred fleas carrying the disease ○ Caravanserai housed people and animals together could have spread the disease; ships carried infected rats ○ Europe lost ⅓ is population, less workers led to less productivity but more value for each individual’s labor, workers could demand higher pay ○ North Africa, China, and Central Asia suffered population loss as well ○ South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa suffered less because there were few trading ports 2.7 Comparison of Economic Exchange ● Major Networks of Exchange ○ Silk Roads - China, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, Europe ■ Goods: Luxury goods (silk, porcelain, gunpowder, horses, textiles) ■ Technology: Saddles, caravanserai ■ Religion: Buddhism (South Asia -> East and Southeast Asia), Neo Confucianism (China -> Japan, Korea, Vietnam), Islam (Southwest Asia -> South Asia) ○ Indian Ocean - East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia ■ Goods: luxury and common goods (gold, ivory, fruit, textiles, pepper, rice); more goods could be carried on ships than on land; ■ Technology: Astrolabe, Compass, Sternpost Rudder, Lateen Sail ■ Religion: Buddhism, Neoconfucianism, Islam, Christianity from the Mediterranean basin ○ Trans-Saharan - North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa ■ Goods: Horses, salt, gold, slaves ■ Technology: Saddles ■ Religion: Islam (Southwest Asia and North Africa -> Sub-Saharan Africa) ● Flourished due to political stability and technological innovations ● Although the purpose of these routes was strictly economic, culture was exchanged as well through missionaries and diasporic communities ● Malacca, a major trading city, used its wealth to build a powerful navy ● Cities at the intersection of trade routes prospered ○ Silk Roads - Chang’an in China ○ Indian Ocean - Calicut in India; Srivijaya Empire in Southeast Asia ○ Trans-Saharan - Timbuktu ● Trade brought about centralized cities and standard currency ○ Tin ingots in Southeast Asia ○ Cowrie shells in West Africa ● Social Implications of Networks of Exchange ○ Labor: Free peasant farmers, artisans, work to pay debts, slavery (common in Indian Ocean and trans-Saharan routes) ○ Large projects - irrigation canals, military defenses, great buildings ○ Social and Gender Structures - Classes, castes, patriarchy ■ Mongol Empire was a patriarchy, but women and the freedoms to refuse the burka and foot-binding. They also advised the khan. ■ Europe: Women worked as farmers and artisans in their own guilds ■ Southeast Asia: Women controlled markets ○ Later Eurasian societies mimicked Mongol centralization