APWH CONCEPTS

• Trade Routes

  Another way of saying "networks of exchange"
• c. 1200-c. 1450 when looking at trade routes in general


  They expanded which led to further connections among states in Afro-Eurasia due to new trade technology and commercial practices
• Main trade goods found on the Silk Road

  • Luxury goods like Chinese silk and porcelain
• Why luxury goods were traded on the Silk Road

  It was an expensive and difficult journey, so they only wanted to sell goods that would make a big profit
• Increased demand on the Silk Road

  Led to increased production of goods
• In China some farmers scaled back on food production to make more luxury goods to sell
• This shows that it was the growth of interregional trade in luxury goods that stimulated trade on the Silk Road
• This is an example of the fact that increased demand for luxury goods in Afro-Eurasia led to Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans expanding their production
• Other goods that saw increased production in China were iron and steel
• Caravanserai


  Inns or guesthouses on the Silk Road a day's travel apart for merchants, which kept goods and merchants safe & allowed for cross-cultural interactions
• Money economy innovations on the Silk Road

  Development of paper money in China which made carrying cash easier, and the Flying Cash/Money System which made it easier to deposit money in one place, and withdraw the same amount in another place
• Bills of exchange


  Like checks, developed in Europe to help manage credit
• Growth of trade on the Silk Roads

  Led to the growth of powerful new trading cities
• Monsoon winds


  Blew in one direction or the other at predictable times of the year
• Innovations that led to increased trade on the Indian Ocean

  • Improvements of the magnetic compass, improvements to the astrolabe, new ship designs like Chinese junks
• Main trade goods found on the Indian Ocean

  • Bulk items like textiles and spices, as well as luxury goods
• Indian Ocean trade


  Led to the growth of cities and states by becoming important ports for trade and becoming linked to Dar al-Islam
• Diasporic Merchant communities were established in many places like East Africa, where Arab and Persian merchants created communities and married African women, leading to the spread of Islam and the development of the Swahili language
• Zheng He


  A sailor sent by the Ming Dynasty to bring more states into China's tributary system, which led to transfers of technology and culture
• Camel Saddles were improved to carry larger cargo loads across the Trans-Saharan desert
• The Empire of Mali

  Grew very rich through its connections to Dar al-Islam, the gold trade, and taxing trade routes in West Africa
• Mansa Musa monopolized trade routes making Mali grow very rich and leading to expanded trade networks
• Cultural transfers due to increased connections c. 1200-c. 1450

  • Spread of religion (Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism), literary & artistic transfers (works of ancient Greece and Rome translated into Arabic)
• Gunpowder


  The most significant innovation or technological transfer that took place due to increased trade c. 1200-c. 1450, which traveled from China all the way west by Muslims and Mongols
• Cities that saw increased urbanization and growth due to trade

  • Hangzhou in China
  • Baghdad (declined after being destroyed by the Mongols in 1258)
• Travelers who left a record of their travels c. 1200 to c. 1450

  Marco Polo, Margery Kempe, Ibn Battuta (a Muslim scholar from Morocco who traveled for 30 years all over Dar al-Islam)
• Environmental effects of increased trade c. 1200 to c. 1450

  Champa rice came to China via the tribute system leading to population growth, and the Bubonic Plague traveled from China all along the Silk Road to the Middle East and Europe killing huge numbers of people
• One of the most important things about the Mongols was that their huge empire facilitated the connections discussed in this unit
• Pax Mongolica


  The peace of the Mongols, where they encouraged trade by paying high prices for goods from other countries and kept the Silk Road safe
• Cultural and technological transfers that occurred, in part, due to the Mongols

  • Transfer of Greek and Islamic medical knowledge to Western Europe, Mongols adopted the Uyghur script (from Central Asia) to create their own written language
• Ottoman Empire expansion


  Adoption of gunpowder weapons led to control of much of Southwestern Europe and Anatolia, including Constantinople which they took in 1453 and renamed Istanbul
• Janissaries


  Enslaved Christians from the Balkans, converted to Christianity and turned into the best elite fighting force for the Ottomans
• Safavid Empire expansion


  Raided and conquered neighboring territories using gunpowder weapons
• Shah Abbas


  Built up the Safavid military with gunpowder weapons and created an enslaved army composed of Christians from the Caucasus region
• This is an example of how Ottoman imperial expansion in Southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa relied on gunpowder and cannons
• This is an example of rulers consolidating their power with the development of military professionals
• The enslavement of Christian boys was part of the Devshirme System
• This is an example of how Safavid imperial expansion in the Middle East relied on gunpowder and cannons
• Mughal Empire expansion


  Babur, the first leader, defeated the Delhi Sultanate in South Asia. This started the expansion of the empire with gunpowder weapons
• Emperor Akbar


  Helped to legitimize Mughal rule by showing tolerance to the Hindu majority