Connections And Interactions

Question 1

List the political, social, and economic effects of networks of exchange.

Answer 1

Politically: Wealth from controlling and taxing trade = creation and sustainment of states.
Socially: Merchants become a distinct social group & middle class.
Economically: Workers specialise in certain products and produce for distant markets over own communities.

Question 2

What types of goods were transported on the Silk roads, and why?

Answer 2

Luxury goods, because only those with high value could compensate for the cost of transportation- such as silk

Question 3

List some technologies and their uses that developed as a result of the Silk Road.

Answer 3

Yokes, saddles, and stirrups made camels, horses, and oxen more effective as they could carry more weight across longer distances.
Credit and paper money (“flying cash”), as well as bills of exchange made the transportation of currency safer and easier (heavy metal coins).

Question 4

How did the silk roads affect the lives of the lower classes?

Answer 4

Peasants gave up producing food or crops for other materials- such as silk, paper, porcelain, or iron, that would be traded.

Question 5

Describe the role of governments in trade.

Answer 5

Large states allowed networks to prosper more by providing security for merchants and travellers.
Roman + Chinese anchor long-distance commerce at western and eastern ends.
Byzantine, Abbasid + Tang create near continuous belt of strong states.
Mongols encompass nearly the entire route, fostering cultural and religious exchange (+disease).

Question 6

How did Buddhism spread along the Silk Roads?

Answer 6

Merchants would take their religion and culture with them as they moved from city to city. Diasporic communities.
Buddhism was appealing as it had a less rigorous social structure and claimed anyone could achieve enlightenment.

Question 7

How did Buddhism change as it spread?

Answer 7

Monasteries became wealthy from donations from merchants, artisans, and rulers. Sculptures in monasteries came to suggest a wealthier style of living.
Mahayana Buddhism developed and worshiped the Budha as a diety, bodhisattvas, compassion, and religious merit over the psychological teachings of the Buddha. Buddhism also syncretized with other religions.

Question 8

What facilitated the initial acceptance and spread of Buddhism in China?

Answer 8

Buddhism was accepted in its Mahayana form because it allowed salvation without oppressive study or meditation. As other variations of Buddhism were persecuted, Chan Buddhism was favored by scholars due to its emphasis on meditation and syncretized with Neo-Confucianism, which recognized the moral standards of Buddhism.

Question 9

How did culture in Korea and Japan change in response to Chinese influence?

Answer 9

The Korean capital of Kumsong was modelled on the Chinese capital Chang’an. Tribute enabled the trade of luxury goods, Confucian and Buddhist texts. Scholars studied Confucianism, science, and the arts in China and brought their knowledge back to China.
Schools of Chinese Buddhism developed in Japan and branched into Zen Buddhism, which was popular among the elite. Neo-Confucianism was especially influential among intellectuals. Chinese calligraphy and poetry was popular among the elite.

Question 10

List technological developments that aided Indian Ocean Trade.

Answer 10

Improvements in sails, the Chinese junk, Arab dhow, ability to calculate latitude with the astrolabe, and magnetic compass/needle.

Question 11

How did trade influence the temple of Borobudur and Angkor Wat?

Answer 11

Merchants settled in communities known as diasporas in Southeast Asia. They spread their religion, influencing Borobudur (Sailendra- 3-mi walkway from ignorance to enlightenment) and Angkor Wat (Angkor- Hindu understanding of the cosmos).

Question 12

What was the role of the Swahili civilization in the world of Indian Ocean commerce?

Answer 12

The Swahili civilization was a series of urban city-states that accumulated goods from the interior of Africa and traded them with distant civilizations. They contained diasporic communities, architecture, and clothing from all over Afro-Eurasia.

Question 13

How were the Silk and Sea roads similar and different?

Answer 13

Both routes fostered the development of new states, spread culture, and were supported by new innovations.
The Silk road was over land, traded luxury goods, and mainly spread Buddhism (China).
The Sea roads were over water, traded bulk goods, and mainly spread Islam (+ Buddhism and Hinduism in SE).

Question 14

What was the purpose, and effect of Zheng He’s expeditions?

Answer 14

Zheng He sought to enroll distant lands in the Chinese tribute system, resulting in many rulers presenting tribute, performing rituals of submission, and receiving gifts, titles, and trading opportunities to and from the Chinese. This established Chinese power and prestige in the Indian Ocean while exerting Chinese control over foreign trade.
Many merchants and craftsmen came to settle and trade in Japan and Southeast Asia with the support of the government.

Question 15

What was the significance of the high-ranking officials ending Zheng He’s expeditions after the death of emperor Yongle?

Answer 15

China withdrew from a very possible large-scale maritime empire, allowing for European entry and the Portuguese to penetrate in the area only facing the Ottoman Empire.

Question 16

List the key goods carried within and out of Africa along the Sand Roads.

Answer 16

North coastal (Roman, Arab): Cloth, glassware, weapons, books… manufactured.
Savanna (S. of Sahara): Grains
Forests further south: Root and tree crops.
Others: Textiles, crops, metal, and gold.

Question 17

What was the significance of the introduction of the camel to North Africa?

Answer 17

The camel could go for ten days without water and carry heavy loads, making the Sahara crossable and thus initiating trade between the rest of Africa and Eurasia.

Question 18

What changes did trans-Saharan trade bring to West Africa?

Answer 18

It brought state-building to West Africa. With this came centralized states and decentralized city-states, monarchies, administrative complexity, and military, all based on the wealth of trans-Saharan trade (tax merchants).

Question 19

Describe the trans-Saharan slave trade.

Answer 19

Most slaves were originally women working as domestic servants or concubines. Male slaves later worked as state officials, craftsmen, salt miners, and agricultural laborers. They originated from southern stateless societies. 5,500 slavers per year (1100-1400) trekked the Sahara to work in the homes of wealthy Islams in North Africa.

Question 20

How was Islam introduced to West Africa?

Answer 20

Unlike elsewhere, it was introduced peacefully by Muslim merchants from Islamized North Africa. Merchants adopted the religion as a link to Muslim trading partners (like Buddhism and Islam in SE Asia).

Question 21

How did the expansion of Islam lead to the spread of learning?

Answer 21

A virtue of Islam is scholarly pursuits. Monarchs supported the religion as a source of literate officials (and legitimacy - hajj). Timbuktu was a center of learning as students and libraries were prosperous and West Africa became assimilated into the Arabic world.

Question 22

What was the relationship between long-distance trade networks and the religion of Islam?

Answer 22

Islam highly respected merchants, fostering commerce along various trade networks. Dar al-Islam’s centralized location allowed it to interact with merchants from other cultures.

Question 23

Describe features, participants, and the extent of the Muslim trade networks.

Answer 23

Features: Commercial colony in Canton, southern China; banking, partnerships, business contracts, and instruments to grant credit.
Participants: Muslim merchants - including Arabs and Persians.
Extent: Mediterranean, Silk Roads, Sahara, and Indian Ocean.

Question 24

Describe the “Islamic Green Revolution.”

Answer 24

Agricultural products and practices spread - including food products and water-management practices that benefited the arid parts of the Islamic world. This led to a period of increased food production, population, urbanization, and industrial developments across the Islamic world.

Question 25

Describe the spread of technology and science during the “Islamic Green Revolution.”

Answer 25

Persian-style reservoirs and irrigation technologies spread from Morocco (Northern Sahara), Spain, and Yemen. Muslim technicians developed rockets from China to carry warheads and attack ships. Paper mills strengthened bureaucratic governments and led to books. Scholars developed the House of Wisdom where Greek texts were translated into Arabic, algebra was developed from Indian numerical notation, and advancements in medicine were made.

Question 26

Compare exchange in the Americas with Afro-Eurasia.

Answer 26

The llama and potato never spread from the Andes to Mesoamerica, and the writing of the Maya never spread to the Andes. Due to the absence of horses, donkeys, camels, wheeled vehicles, ships, varying climates, and dense rainforests the two regions had little if any contact. This prevented the cultural diffusion apparent in Afro-Eurasia.

Question 27

How were American trade networks similar and different from the Sand, Sea, and Silk roads?

Answer 27

A loose web stretched from the Great Lakes south to the Andes where crops - maize, and culture slowly spread. Cohakia began a center of widespread trade throughout the Americas, but it was not as renowned for a certain product, unlike the Silk Roads.
The Chaco Phenomenon encompassed 150 outlying settlements and traded copper bells, feathers, and shells. Jars of Maya origin and cacao beans have also been found. Unlike the Sand roads, no major religion was transferred.
Maya cities and Teotihuacán in central Mexico traded through sea-based commerce using canoes. Unlike the Indian Ocean, no large ships existed, and no new settlements or large-scale diaspora occurred.

Question 28

What is a pochteca?

Answer 28

A professional Aztec merchant that undertook large-scale trading beyond the border of the empire. They often acted as private businessmen and climbed above the wealth of the nobility while legally being commoners. Sometimes they acted as agents for the state or nobility.