Heimler's History AP World U2 Review

How did agriculture spread throughout networks of exchange?

As merchants traveled, they introduced crops that those lands never seen before. For instance champa rice was introduced to China by merchants who traveled from the Champa kingdom in Vietnam. It was drought resistant and could be harvested several times a year, contributing to a massive population growth in China. An environmental impact was the transformation of land in the form of terracing, which made previously unfarmable land farmable by cutting steps into hillsides to plant rice. This meant more food and thus an increase in population.

What is an example of religious syncretism during this time?

As Buddhism spread to China, it was met with Taoist beliefs about the way of nature and created zen Buddhism. Some of the confusion scholar gentry and song dynasty oppose this; despite this, Zen Buddhism became very popular among the common people. Neo Confucianism was a fusion of rational thought with Taoist beliefs and Buddhist beliefs that originated in China, but soon spread to Korea and Japan.

How was the silk road a conduit for culture?

Buddhism spread widely throughout central and east Asia largely because of Buddhist merchants who had carried it there. As the Buddhist faith spread, it also changed both inwardly and outwardly.

What important crops were exchanged?

Champa Rice was introduced to China as a drought resistant and capable of several harvests a year, which caused a population explosion. Bananas introduced to East African bantu speaking people by Indonesian merchants caused large-scale migration of those people because they could move to where the banana grew instead of staying put where their stable crop the yam was.

How did trade cause the growth of trading cities?

Cities grew at convergences of trade routes. The silk road trade network are produced commercial city of Chang'an in China. Indian ocean trade routes produced Calicut in India and the Srivijaya kingdom in Southeast Asia. Trans saharan routes are responsible for the massive growth of Timbuktu in Mali.

How did disease spread on the silk road?

Different civilizations had different diseases, and they developed immunity to their diseases and ways to fight them. But other places don't have these coping techniques, which often resulted in disaster. The black death/bubonic plague broke out in 1346 to 1348 and about half of the European population died. There were similar results in China and the Islamic world.

Why did the Indian Ocean trade routes experience massive growth during the 1200 to 1450?

Economic revival in China during the Tang and song dynasties lead to economic prosperity which meant Chinese exported many goods across the Indian ocean. There was also a rise in Islam, which was very positive towards merchant activity. This led to the creation of Islamic empires and much land being connected by Islam, which caused more trade.

What were the environmental consequences of trade?

For one there was the impact of Champa rice and bananas. On the negative side, disease traveled. The black death or bubonic plague began in China and spread throughout Afro-eurasia through trade routes, capable of wiping out large parts of the population. It transformed Europe especially, as the working population was severely diminished. The surviving workers were in a position to negotiate better wages and better working conditions.

How did the trans Saharan trade routes culturally change political life?

From 500 to 1600 west African civilization begin to take shape. There was the rise of the kingdom of Mali. The High Point was in the 14th century, when they held a monopoly on the trade of horses and metal. To generate revenue, they levied taxes on salt and copper, which led to a social hierarchy to form. In Mali, similar hierarchy to other civilizations. First was royalty, then elite, merchants, military/religious people, and lastly peasants, and then slaves.

What were the differences in these trade routes?

Good, technology, and religion. They specialize in carrying different kinds of goods. Each trading route had different conditions that required new technologies in order to facilitate trade. Not the same religions traveled across each route.

What goods, technology, and religion were carried on the trans Saharan trade network?

Goods included horses, salt, gold, and slaves. Technology was saddles. Religion was Islam.

What goods, technology, and religion traveled across the silk roads?

Goods included luxury goods like silk, porcelain, gun powder, horses, and textiles. Technology used were primarily saddles and caravanserai. Religions were Buddhism, neo Confucianism, and Islam.

What goods, technology, and religion were carried through the Indian Ocean trade routes?

Goods were common and luxury like gold, ivory, fruit, textiles, pepper, and rice. Technology used was the astrolabe, compass, stern post rudder, and lateen sail. Religions were Christianity, Buddhism, Neo Confucianism, and Islam.

What is an example of trade leading to the growth of cities?

Hangzhou China. There was an increase in trade and therefore increasing urbanization. This was one of the largest and most metropolitan cities in China with a population over 1 million. Because it was prosperous there were no worries of food or shelter, this meant there were greater art rises to the surface. Because of this poetry and literature flourished. It was also a diverse city with a thriving Arab community.

Who was Ibn Battuta

He was a Muslim traveler and wanted to travel all throughout Dar al Islam. He made his pilgrimage to Mecca and eventually traveled through all of Persia, east African coast, India, Mali, and Spain. He kept a detailed journal and made commentary on the people whose land he visited, which was published and had a similar effect on the Muslim population as the writings of Marco polo had on the Europeans.

How did Genghis Khan gain power?

He was recognized as chief among growing band of followers, and gained a reputation for brutality and ruthlessness with enemies and secured a healthy string of military victories. Instead of destroying enemies or making them slaves, he incorporated them into his own tribe. In 1206 the Mongolian tribal Council named him Genghis Khan, ruler of the newly unified Mongol nation. As a leader with a powerful army he began to expand with his first leg of expansion into China.

Who was Giovanni Boccaccio?

He wrote de cameron, a book that described the severity of the plague.

What were scientific and technological consequences to trade on these routes?

In Cairo Egypt, medical advances lead to improved care in hospitals. Physicians and pharmacists took took pains to standardize their profession by studying for medical examinations and licensing. There were also innovation and ship technology.

What goods were traded on the silk road and how?

In prosperous times, a vast array of goods traveled across the continent along the trade routes usually packed into the saddlebags of a camel caravan. Most goods were luxury goods since it cost so much to transport those items over such a long distance. The king of luxuries was Chinese silk, which originated in China around 3000 BC. They figured out how to make clothes out of it, so the demand for silk spiked across upper classes as it was considered a status symbol.

Who is Marco polo?

In the late 13th century he left Venice and traveled for many years among the Chinese. He arrived at the court of Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson, who is very interested to hear the travelers stories. He convinced Polo to stay and become his ambassador to various parts of China and polo served in this capacity for 17 years. He then traveled home and was captured by the enemies of the Venetians, and entertained the prisoners with stories of his travels. Eventually these were written down and publidged and became very popular to the European population, awakening their desires to travel to those places and get goods and services from those places as well.

How did bananas spread through trade and what effect did this have?

Indonesian merchants brought these crops into sub-Saharan Africa. The Bantu speaking people of Africa learned how to plant it and their food staple was yam. Because of this they only lived where are yams could be produced. But with the introduction of the banana, they could move into regions were yams couldn't grow. Because of this whole populations began to migrate.

What was the result of the Mongols conquest of China?

It resulted in the unification of China. Some confucians believed that the Mongols had been given the mandate of heaven, and they fit nicely into the Chinese mold by using existing systems of administration and taxation. They established a new dynasty the yuan dynasty.

What was the Mongols conquest of Persia like?

It was far more abrupt in the one in China and Muslim Persians fell to mongol attacks. To the Persians this reality was deeply disconcerting as the Mongols were infidels or nonbelievers in their eyes. Not only did they conquer them but they also slaughtered them. In 1258 was the sacking of Baghdad and the Mongols killed over 200,000 people.

How was trade in the Indian ocean made possible?

It was made possible by predictable monsoon wins; in the summer they went north east and in the winter they want Southwest. There are also maritime innovations like the magnetic compass, the astrolabe, which could calculate latitude, add Chinese junks, huge, flat bottom ships with six masts and enough room to carry 500 men and huge trunks for goods.

What was the Indian ocean routes?

It was sea based. Until 1500, when people started sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, this was the largest sea based system of communication and exchange. It's went from China into East Africa. Like the silk roads it had existed before 1200.

How was the Mongols expansion into China the most difficult?

It went from 1209 to 1279. It began in North China and the Mongols concern was destruction, but as they went further into China, their concern changed to accommodating the local population. They did things such as allowed landowners to keep their land as long as they pledged loyalty.

What was the silk road?

It's stretched from China to Europe into north Africa. It existed way before 1200, but worked best with large empires controlled the land across which they stretched. For instance in the 200s with the Roman empire and Han China engaging in a robust trading relationship. Between the two empires, they had all the land covered in their empires that the silk roads were on. With the Mongols, those trade routes first as well.

What were the trans Saharan trade routes?

Linked north Africa and the Mediterranean world with the interior of Africa especially west Africa. Since there were varying environments, they produce different goods, which created an incentive for trade. North Africa mainly produced manufactured goods, like cloth, glass work, and books. Southwest Africa was more agricultural, and produce grain, crops, yams, and kola nuts.

How did trade contribute to the openings of peoples imaginations to places far beyond where they lived?

Mainly travelers are responsible for this, Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo. Ibn Battuta was a Muslim who made it his ambition to travel all through Dar al Islam and he kept notes on the people of whom he interacted with. Marco Polo was an Italian traveler who found his way over to China in service for a time in the court of Kublai khan, the emperor of the yuan dynasty. When these travelers stories were published, people who read them did so with great enthusiasm and they had a desire for good from those places.

How does these trade routes have the secondary consequence of exchanging cultural goods?

Merchants often share their religion among the people which room they traded. Trade routes were so well established that missionary from different faiths took these routes to bring their messages.

How did cultural exchanges and religion occur along the trade routes?

Merchants traded in different areas so religion spread. Either new religion took hold in these new places and serve to unify the people and provide a justification for leader ship or the religion syncretized with the religions encountered.

How did trade have a cultural effect on language?

Muslim merchants showed up and found the Bantu very willing to convert Islam, contributing to the birth of the Swahili language which combined Arabic and Bantu.

How did Muslim merchants participate in cultural exchanges in Africa?

Muslim merchants showed up on the shores of East Africa out of the Indian Ocean trade routes and shared about allah his prophet Muhammad. The cultural consequence was the birth of the Swahili language. When Muslims encountered the Bantu speaking Africans, they became believers in Islam. Because many of the merchants spoke Arabic, the Bantu language and the Arabic language combined to form Swahili.

In general what happens when new crops were introduced? What consequences did this have?

Populations increased so there was more pressure on the land. For instance overgrazing in Zimbabwe lead to severe environmental degradation. The whole city was abandoned in the late 1400s. Land in Europe was changed through deforestation which caused profound erosion of the soil. The Little Ice Age and 1300 severely contracted agricultural production as well.

What was the yuan dynasty like?

Roads were improved, canals were built, scholars and artists were patronized. Mongol leaders ruled like the beneficent Confucian leaders. The rule rest relatively brief though only about 100 years and in the 14th century they were forced out by factionalism numerous peasant rebellions and the plague.

How did Indian Ocean trade change culture in southeast Asia?

Southeast Asia was situated in the middle of trade routes, which was strategically important. This created the necessary conditions for the rise of new kingdom specifically Srivijaya. When the passage to the strait of Malacca opened, many surrounding seaports in the Malay peninsula began competing for attention of traders and travelers. This led to the rise of Srivijaya, who dominated trade from 670 to 1025.

Who was the leader of the Mongols?

Temujin/Genghis Khan. Born in the 12th century in the network of Mongolian tribes that were fractured and at war with one another, he became a social outcast. However, his personality was so magnetic and he formed critical personal alliances among Mongolian tribes.

Who were the Mongols?

They were the most significant nomadic people. They emerged in the 13th century and within a few years, controlled the largest land-based empire in all of history. However, they left a very small cultural footprint on history, since they gave no new language, no new religion, and no lasting civilization.

What were Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta an example of?

They weren't merchants; because of security of long-distance trade routes, largely with the help of the Mongols, they were able to travel great distances.

What was the Mongols rule in Persia like? How did it end?

The Mongols were more influenced by the Persians than the Persians by the Mongols. They made use of the persian administration system and left many Persian rulers in place. Mongols who conquered Persia became Muslim, and this large scale conversion didn't happen when they conquered China. The end of the Mongol rule was different than in China as the Mongols disappeared gradually overtime and assimilated into Persian culture.

Who were the Mongols and who was Genghis Khan?

The Mongols were the most significant pastoral people. From 1209 to 100 years forward they were able to establish the largest land based empire in history. They began as a cluster of scattered tribes in the Mongolian step, and it took the magnetic leader ship of Genghis Khan to unite them and turn them into a fierce and brutal army bent on conquest. They began in China and stretched far west. They had a reputation for brutality, but also for tolerance.

How did Indian Ocean trade change culture in Africa?

The Swahili civilization emerged in eighth century as a set of commercial city states. The leaders of the city state found abundant opportunities to trade goods native to their area, like gold, ivory, and slaves. An African merchant class developed and villages turned into cities. Between 1000 to 1500, Swahili urban commercial centers flourished. Similar to ancient Greek city states, each was dependent independent with their own king. Muslims arrived and traded, so Islam became the dominant religion of the area.

How did disease spread through trade during this time?

The bubonic plague spread through fleas and rats. The Mongols wanted more land and push further into new territories bringing fleas and rats with them. Spread also came along trade routes, especially ships that provided homes to infected rats. As merchants traveled over land, they rested in caravanserai, places that dotted the link of the silk road where merchants could rest and sleep. However, they did so in close proximity to animals. Whenever it showed up in a town, it spread rapidly, causing major consequences. Trade allowed the plague to spread throughout all of afro-eurasia, and killed huge portions of the worlds population.

What was the turning point for trans Saharan trade?

The introduction of the Arabian camel. This happened before 1200, but the effects were still in force. Camels could walk up to 10 days without water, which made it possible to transverse the vast stretch of desert between north Africa and west Africa.

What were some technological advances and ship technology?

The lateen sail was invented, a large triangle sail that allowed sailors to tack into the wind, giving much more flexibility to travel. The sternpost rudder gave a ship much Percision in turning. The magnetic compass and astrolabe gives sailors the ability to navigate without relying on the stars and other visual aids.

How did the Buddhist faith change as it spread?

The original teachings of the Buddha rejected the material world as illusion; but, Buddhist Monasteries that were located along the silk roads were often grateful recipients of lavish gifts from the traveling merchants. The oldest form of Buddhism with was atheist, but a new form, mahayana buddhism developed and spread along these trade routes. The Buddha became a deity and there was an increased emphasis on compassionate works and the earning of merit. Also across the continent in the sogdian of Samarkand, the Buddhists incorporated zoroastrian fire rituals into their devotional patterns.

How did Genghis Khan treat the surrounding nations and people he conquered?

Their policy was that whoever submits should be spared, but those who resist will be destroyed with their wives, children, and dependents. They also had a reputation for tolerance especially in religion. They allowed their people to keep their religion so long as their devotion to that religion did not become the center of political opposition.

What were the three major trade routes this time?

The silk roads which connected China to Europe while passing through Central Asia and south west Asia. The Indian ocean network, which connected east Asia With East Africa and had south east Asia, south Asia, southwest Asia in between. Trans saharan routes which connected north Africa in the Mediterranean basin with sub-Saharan Africa.

What were the economic consequences of disease spreading through trade?

They change the relationship between workers and the lords in Europe. Half of the population had been wiped out so workers were scarce. Because of this there was a higher demand for labor, so the power for negotiation of wages shifted into the hands of the surviving workers.

What effects did the Mongols have?

They covered such a large portion of the world, and they established the Pax Mongolia, which provided security so trade flourished. However this quickened the spread of the black death. Their cultural legacy was relatively minor as they left no new religion, or economic structure. However, they did affect the formulation of states after their fall. One of the keys to Mongolian success was centralization of power. After the fall of the Mongols, many states in Asia, Europe, and south Asia use the same techniques the Mongols used to consolidate their own power.

What were the similarities between these trade routes?

They depend in large part for their existence and flourishing upon the establishment of large states, they all had a purpose to trade and the secondary consequence to exchange cultural goods, and they caused growth of trading cities.

How are the Mongols able to set in motion at such a fast expansion?

They had fierce attacks and good military tactics. They grew without a guiding blueprint, and the more they conquered, the more resources they had to keep conquering. They were able to do so even though in many times things were not in their favor.

What were the three major trade routes during this time?

Two land based, the silk road and the trans Saharan trade networks, and one sea based, the Indian ocean.

How did these trade routes depend in large part for their existence and flourishing upon the establishment of large states?

When the Mongols controlled all the land which the silk road stretched and when trade routes were well protected by large state and cooperation with one another, merchants felt safe to travel there. They could start thinking about other things than their safety. They could think of a new technology, so trade routes gave birth to new technology which helped them transport goods across them and at a more efficient speed. For instance the magnetic compass, the lateen sail, saddles for camels and horses, and the sternpost rudder may trade along these routes for more manageable profitable.

How did the Mongols be successful in China despite the huge population?

When they invaded China the Chinese population outnumber them 100 to 1 and they possess more advanced technology. Mongol success lay in the organization of the army, as they organize Mongol society into military units of 10,000 and 1000 and 100 and 10. This organization made them able to quickly and effectively control and command their troops. They also organize their conquered people into the structure as well. They scattered them among different units so they wouldn't think of rebelling. Because of this Genghis Khan had a growing army that was fiercely loyal to him, not because they loved him, but feared him. In fact, if one member of the unit deserted, the whole unit was massacred.

What type of goods were carried in the Indian ocean?

While the silk roads specialized in luxury goods, Indian Ocean trade had a greater variety of both common goods and luxury goods; this was because a ship can carry much more for cheaper. Some of the luxury goods included porcelain from China, spices from southeast Asia, cotton and pepper from India, and ivory and gold from East Africa. Some common goods were wheat, sugar, and rice.

What were religious cultural consequences of trade?

Zen Buddhism was an innovation on Buddhism that originated in China and through trade spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. It was the Buddhism of the masses. Even though confusion elite disagreed, it was widely and eagerly embraced by the common folk. Also, the conversion of African Bantu speaking tribes to Islam.