Unit 2 Transoceanic Connections (1450-1750)

• Networks of exchange (1200-1450)


  • Geographical range expanded
  • Innovations in commercial practices and technology facilitated expansion
  • Increased connectivity caused growth of powerful states and cities, and collapse of others
• Silk Roads


  • Luxury goods traded, such as Chinese silk and porcelain
  • Expensive and arduous to travel, so merchants specialized in high-value goods
• Innovations facilitating Silk Road expansion

  1. Innovations in transportation technology (Caravanserai)

  2. Innovations in commercial practices (money economies, credit)
• Powerful trading city on Silk Roads

  • Kashgar and Samarkand
• Indian Ocean Network


  • Traded more common goods like textiles and spices, in addition to luxury goods
  • Facilitated by understanding of monsoon winds
• Innovations facilitating Indian Ocean Network expansion


  1. Improved magnetic compass

  2. Improved astrolabe

  3. New ship designs like Chinese junks
• Powerful state in Indian Ocean Network

  • Swahili city-states
• Cultural diffusion through Zheng He's voyages in Indian Ocean Network
• magnetic compass


  Chinese invention that aided navigation by showing which direction was north

  
• rudder


  Steering device, usually a vertical blade attached to a post at, or near, the stern of the boat; improved sea trade

  
• junk ship


  A very large flat-bottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel and participation in the tribute system

  
• paper money


  legal currency issued on paper; it developed in China as a convenient alternative to metal coins; facilitated trade

  
• Caravanserai


  an inn with a central courtyard for travelers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa; allowed caravans and their camels to rest in a protected environment, encouraging trade

  
• Hanseatic League


  an organization of north German and Scandinavian cities for the purpose of establishing a commercial alliance; facilitated trade and commercial growth in the 1200-1450 time period
• porcelain


  a thin, beautiful pottery invented in China

  
• monsoon winds


  seasonal wind in India, the winter monsoon brings hot, dry weather and the summer monsoon brings rain

  
• Spice Islands


  Europeans' name for the Moluccas, islands rich in cloves and nutmeg - highly valued spices often traded in the Indian Ocean trade network

  
• diaspora


  A dispersion of people from their homeland; merchant communities of Muslim spread Islam throughout Southeast Asia
• Dhow Ships


  Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design; facilitated trade in the Indian Ocean networks

  
• Mansa Musa


  Ruler of Mali (r. 1312-1337). His extravagant pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecca in 1324-1325 established the empire's reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean world.

  
• Timbuktu


  Mali trading city that became a center of wealth and learning thanks to its location in the trans-Saharan trade networks; universities, mosques, and libraries

  
• Camel Saddle


  An invention which gives camel riders more stability on the animal and its invention and basic idea traveled along the Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade Route. Invented somewhere between 500 and 100 BCE by Bedouin tribes.

  
• caravan


  group of traveling merchants and animals

  
• Pax Mongolica


  The period of approximately 150 years of relative peace and stability created by the Mongol Empire.

  
• Golden Horde


  Mongol khanate founded by Genghis Khan's. It was based in southern Russia and quickly adopted both the Turkic language and Islam.
• Il-Khanate


  Mongol empire that ruled over Iran (Persia) & the Middle East
• Yuan Dynasty


  (1279-1368 CE) The dynasty with Mongol rule in China; centralized with bureaucracy but structure is different: Mongols on top->Persian bureaucrats->Chinese bureaucrats; did not emphasize Confucianism and the civil service exams

  
• Bubonic Plague


  Also called the Black Death; the deadly disease that spread through Asia and Europe and killed more than a third of the population in some areas; hit Europe (peak 1347-1351) especially hard due to unsanitary living conditions and overcrowded cities; spread thanks to increased trade along the Silk Roads

  
• Gunpowder


  Invented within China during the 9th century, this substance was became the dominate military technology used to expand European and Asian empires by the 15th century; spread from East to West via trade networks like the Silk Roads and help from the Pax Mongolica

  
• Ibn Battuta


  (1304-1369) Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan. His writings gave a glimpse into the world of that time period.

  
• Marco Polo


  (1254-1324) Italian explorer and author. He made numerous trips to China and returned to Europe to write of his journeys. He is responsible for much of the knowledge exchanged between Europe and China during this time period.

  
• Margery Kempe


  Wrote the Book of Margery Kempe - considered the 1st autobiography in the English language. Chronicles her pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe and Asia. Claimed to have vision that called her to leave the vanities of the world
• Swahili city-states


  City coasts that actively participated in Indian Ocean trade along the East coast of the African continent

  
• Zheng He


  (1371-1433?) Chinese Ming Dynasty naval explorer who sailed along most of the coast of Asia, Japan, and half way down the east coast of Africa before his death; facilitated China's role in the tribute system in the Indian Ocean trade network