Download Post-Classical Trade Routes WHAP/Napp “The great crossroads of

Post-Classical Trade Routes
WHAP/Napp
“The great crossroads of the world’s shipping lanes in the period 1100-1500 was the
Indian Ocean. Its waters encompass three distinct geographic sectors, each with its own
cultural orientation. The western sector sweeps from the East African coast across Arabia
and continues on to the west coast of India. From the time of Alexander the Great and the
Roman Empire, Greek sailors participated in this trade. By the first century B.C.E. Greek
sailors had learned to use the monsoon winds to navigate these waters swiftly and
effectively. From the fourth to the eighth centuries, following the decline and fall of the
Roman Empire, two new groups dominated this western region of the Indian Ocean:
sailors from Axum (modern Ethiopia and Eritrea), and its Red Sea port of Adulis, and
sailors from Sassanian Persia, an empire that was in the ascendant in western Asia at the
time.
From the eighth to the sixteenth century, Arab Muslim traders and sailors became
masters of the western Indian Ocean Sea lanes. As Islam inspired the people of Arabia to
undertake expeditions of conquest by land beginning in the seventh century; Arab sailors
also began to assume prominence in the Indian Ocean trade. Among Arabs living at the
southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, some had experience with sea trade, but those to
the north, the majority, did not. As Arab armies moved still further north, however, they
came into contact with, conquered, and learned from previous masters of the Indian
Ocean, the Sassanians of Iran. Mastering these new skills, and inspired by their own
expansionism, Arab sailors displaced the Sassanians. In 762 C.E. the new Abbasid dynasty
built a new capital in Baghdad, in the heartland of Mesopotamia. In this land that had
participated in sea trade for millennia, the Arabs’ concern for oceanic trade increased
further. Arab sailors became true masters of the Indian Ocean trade. In the eastern
waters of the Indian Ocean, for example – from India and the Bay of Bengal to Indo-China
and the Malacca Straits – Indian sailors and merchants, largely Hindu, had predominated.
East of the Malacca Straits, these sailors entered into the South China Sea, attracted by
China’s wealth and luxury products.” ~ The World’s History
1. Which of the following is true of
2. Which of the following was a common
commerce in the Indian Ocean during the
trade commodity seen in India?
time period 600-1450 C.E.?
(A) cotton from China
(A) Chinese merchants dominated the trade (B) spices from southeast Asia
routes of the Indian Ocean.
(C) slaves from central Asia
(B) There was very little commercial activity (D) silk from India
in the Indian Ocean.
(E) horses from east Africa
(C) Merchants from Europe dominated the
trade routes of the Indian Ocean.
3. The monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean
(D) Following the rise of the Mongols during (A) Created tremendous difficulty for
the thirteenth century, the volume of Indian traders.
Ocean commerce fell sharply.
(B) Blow regularly from the north in the
(E) Indian Ocean commerce flourished and summer.
was conducted by a mixture of Asian,
(C) Were actually first discovered by the
Middle Eastern, and East African
Romans.
merchants.
(D) Tied Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and
East Africa together in maritime trade.
Key Words/ I. The Silk Roads
Questions
A. Land-based trade routes that linked pastoral and agricultural peoples
B. More of a “relay trade” in which goods were passed down the line
C. Prospered most when powerful states provided security for merchants
1. Trade flourished during the classical era connecting Roman and Han
2. Flourished in 7th and 8th centuries CE: Byzantine, Abbasid, T’ang
3. Flourished in 13th and 14th centuries: Pax Mongolia of Mongol Empire
D. Luxury products for elite; silk came to symbolize exchange
E. Conduit of Culture
1. Buddhism spread on Silk Roads – owing much to merchants
2. Buddhism appealed to merchants with its universal message
3. But Buddhism changed on the Silk Roads
a) More devotional Mahayana form of Buddhism flourished
F. Diseases
1. Smallpox and measles devastated populations of both the Roman
Empire and Han dynasty, contributing to their political collapse
2. Bubonic plague ravaged Mediterranean region between 534 and 750
a) Preventing Byzantium from reintegrating Italy into empire
b) Most well-known: Black Death from China to Europe – between
1346 and 1350, about one-third of Europe perished from plague
II. Indian Ocean Trade
A. Monsoons with their alternative wind currents that blew predictably
eastward during the summer months and westward during winter
B. Operated across an “archipelago of towns”
C. The fulcrum of this growing commerce lay in India itself
D. Impact on Southeast Asia/East Africa: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam
E. Malay sailors opened an all-sea route between India and China through
the Straits of Malacca around 350 CE
1. Malay kingdom of Srivijaya dominated choke point from 670 to 1025
F. Sailendra kingdom in central Java between the 8th and 10th centuries
featured Hindu/Buddhist temples, most famous Borobudur
G. In East Africa, civilization known as Swahili emerged in the 8th century
CE, stretching from present-day Somalia to Mozambique
1. Language: grammatically within Bantu family but Arabic script
III. West Africa
A. Trans-African trade connected North Africa and West Africa; salt for
gold and facilitated by Camel introduced 300 to 400 CE
B. Islam entered along trade routes
C. Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai with urban and commercial
centers – such as Koumbi-Saleh, Jenne, Timbuktu, and Gao
D. Americas had geographic obstacles to trade due to North/South Axis
E. Isolated from Eurasia/Africa until 1492 by oceans
Reflections:
1. The Mongol conquests of much of Eurasia
in the thirteenth century tended to
encourage trade along the Silk Roads
primarily by
(A) opening large new markets for both
European and East Asian goods in Central
Asia
(B) increasing the demand for military
supplies needed by the Mongol armies that
occupied various regions
(C) decreasing the risk of bandit attacks and
reducing the number of local rulers
collecting tribute from trade caravans
(D) discouraging seaborne trade along the
Indian Ocean routes that competed with the
Silk Roads
2. Which of the following languages came
into existence after 1000 as the direct result
of expanding global trade patterns?
(A) Arabic
(B) Chinese
(C) Latin
(D) Sanskrit
(E) Swahili
3. Why was Mali a powerful state in
northern Africa by the 1300s?
(A) It was known for its huge military
forces.
(B) It profited by cooperating with
European slave traders.
(C) Mali was a center of Christian worship.
(D) It was a major center of trade and
religious instruction and possessed large
deposits of gold and metal ore.
(E) It controlled the African spice trade and
was the center of Buddhist worship
4. The principal agent(s) for the spread of
Buddhism over the silk roads was/were
(A) The Buddha himself.
(B) Merchants.
(C) Indian monks.
(D) Missionaries of the emperor Ashoka.
(E) Mariners.
5. Prior to 1000 C.E., Southeast Asia was
most influenced by which of the following?
(A)India and China
(B)China and Japan
(C)Korea and Japan
(D) Australia and Polynesia
6. The longest and most vital overland trade
route before 1000 C.E. was
(A) the Silk Road
(B) the Trans-Siberian
(C) the Appalachian Trail
(D) the Sahara
(E) the Appian Way
7.Trade and communications networks were
slower to penetrate sub-Saharan Africa
compared to other regions because
(A) Africans had little contact with each
other.
(B) Africans did not have any goods that
others wanted to trade for.
(C) There was a language barrier.
(D) There were formidable geographic
barriers to overcome.
8. Which of the following is NOT true with
regard to the silk roads?
(A) The silk roads actually had nothing to
do with silk.
(B) Because of the silk roads, silk garments
became popular among wealthy Romans.
(C) The silk roads linked much of Eurasia
and north Africa.
(D) The silk roads also included sea lanes.
(E) The silk roads also carried fine spices
9. Which of the following was a favorable
condition for developing long-distance trade
during the classical era?
(A) Empires ruled vast areas and
maintained good social order.
(B) Under imperial rule many roads and
bridges were constructed.
(C) Both of these answers are correct.
2009 Change Over Time Essay from the World History AP
Analyze continuities and changes in patterns of interactions along the Silk Roads from 200
B.C.E. to 1450 C.E.
A- Identify one change: _____________
B- Identify one continuity: _______________
2008 Change Over Time Essay from World History AP
Analyze the changes and continuities in commerce in the Indian Ocean region from 650
C.E. to 1750 C.E.
A- Identify one change: ______________ B- Identify one continuity: _______________
Write One Body Paragraph:
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How did India manage to exert such a significant influence on other cultures in the Indian
Ocean basin during this era without ever establishing any long-term centralized political
institutions?
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In what ways did the network of trade routes called the silk roads make life during the
classical era significantly different from life in the pre-classical world? Consider all the
different effects and the various cultures involved.
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How did the nomadic peoples of Eurasia impede and/or contribute to the development of
the silk roads?
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