Vocab: Networks of Exchange

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.

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

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.

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

Silk Roads

A system of ancient caravan routes across Central Asia, along which traders carried silk and other trade goods; known for spreading religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam as well as technological transfers and diseases like the Bubonic plague

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; held enormous amounts of goods for trade

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

Kashgar

Also known as Kashi, a central trading point at which the western and the eastern Silk Road met; It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with modern day Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

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

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.

Dhow Ships

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

Spread of Buddhism

Buddhism spread through networks of trade, and it was also encouraged by political leaders like Ashoka. One reason that Buddhism was adopted in many places was because it was able to accommodate local beliefs. This resulted in syncretism, or the blending of different belief systems. Syncretism: Buddhist ideas blended with Confucian and Daoist beliefs in China, absorbing ideas like ancestor veneration (honor) and filial piety (honoring elders), Greco-Buddhism, a blend of Hellenistic culture and Buddhism that developed between the fourth century BCE and the fifth century CE in Central Asia and India

magnetic compass

Chinese innovation due to the expansion of the Indian Ocean Routes that aided navigation by showing which direction was north

Swahili city-states

City coasts that actively participated in Indian Ocean trade (gold) along the East coast of the African continent. They emerged in the 8th century as a set of commercial city-states. Rulers of states found opportunities to trade native goods like gold, ivory, and slaves. African merchant class developed and villages turned into cities. Due to Muslim trading goods, Islam became the dominant religion in the area.

Ming Dynasty

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Chinese trade activity in the Indian Ocean reached its peak. It would permit the Chinese to explore new areas and expand commercial and diplomatic relations. The grandeur of the fleet would dramatize the superior majesty and power of the Ming empire to peoples of distant lands, causing states of South and Southeast Asia to be incorporated into the tribute system.

commercial practice

During the Silk Road, China turned to paper money and letters of credit as a way to buy and sell goods and pay taxes instead of bartering. This changed the way merchants across the Silk Road made exchanges with each other and citizens along the trade route.

commercial practices

During the Silk Road, China turned to paper money and letters of credit as a way to buy and sell goods and pay taxes instead of bartering. This changed the way merchants across the Silk Road made exchanges with each other and citizens along the trade route.

Samarkand

During the rule of Timur Lane was the most influential capital city, a wealthy trading center known for decorated mosques and tombs; a key trading city along the Silk Roads

Spice Islands

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

Mongol Khanates

Four regional Mongol kingdoms that arose following the death of Ghengis Khan.

Uyghur script

Genghis Khan's effort to unify his empire including directing a scribe captured in 1204 to adapt the Uyghur alphabet to represent mongols. He put effort to establish one system throughout the empire and failed but alphabet still used today in Mongolia

caravan

Group of traveling merchants and animals

Mongols

Group that emerged in the 13th century and controlled the largest land-based empire in all of human history, even then they left a small cultural footprint on history (no new language, religion, and lasting civilization),only scavenged for people to conquer and resources to gain.

Spread of Hinduism

Hinduism spread across India and to southeast Asia and has had a lasting impact on those regions spread by hindu merchants and scholars. - During the Maurya and Gupta empires, the Indian culture and way of life were deeply influenced by Hinduism. Hinduism reinforced a strict social hierarchy called a caste system that made it nearly impossible for people to move outside of their social station.

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

paper money

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

Afro- Eurasia Trade

Major world religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as culture and new ideas such as paper, silk, and gunpowder, were spread peacefully on the Silk Road.

Mali Kingdom

Mali included the city of Timbuktu, which became known as an important center of knowledge. Mali also developed into a hub for the Islamic faith before poor leadership led to the empire's ultimate decline in power and influence.The Mali Empire controlled important trade routes across the Sahara Desert to Europe and the Middle East and also had a center of education (Timbuktu)

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

Il-Khanate

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

Golden Horde

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

Khan

Mongol ruler that rose with a reputation of brutality and ruthlessness used distinctive methods of conquering and military organization and alliance to gain supreme power bent on an army of destruction.

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.

Spread of Islam

Spread merchants, missionaries, and conquest, spread over a wide swath of africa, south asia, and southeast asia. - Africa: swahili came about, timbuktu became a center of islamic learning. - South asia: architecture blended hindu designs with islamic patterns, urdu came about. - South east asia: islamic rulers on java combined mughal indian features, local traditions, and chinese-buddhist and confucian traits, traditional javanese stories, puppetry, and poetry absorbed muslim characters and techniques.

rudder

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

Sultanate of Malacca

The Strait of Malacca is the principal passage from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. Malacca is significant because it helped spread Islam through southeast Asia due to Islam's primary focus of merchant activity.

Malay Communities

The Sultanate of Malacca triggered an effective revolution in Malay history. The Malay communities' in the area started from their need to travel for better crops and trade, and it was significant as it diffused Malaysian culture and expanded trade.

Pax Mongolica

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

Gujarat

The state of Gujarat prospered from the Indian Ocean trade, exporting cotton textiles and indigo in return for gold and silver. Gujarat was not simply a commercial center; it was also a manufacturing center that produced textiles, leather goods, carpets, silk, and other commodities. Gujarat's overseas trade was dominated by Muslims, but Hindus also benefited.

banking houses

These European banks developed during the Middle Ages to aid trade. Along with innovations such as bills of exchange, or bank drafts, and credit, the rise of banking houses supported the development of interregional trade in luxury goods.

Interregional Trade

Trade movement from one region of a country to another.

Intraregional Trade

Trade movement within the same region of the country

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

porcelain

a thin, beautiful pottery invented in China

Astrolabe

an instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets, also an early form of the sextant

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

Pathogens

any disease-producing agent (especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism): The spread of disease pathogens diminished urban populations and contributed to the decline of some empires (Effect of disease on the Roman Empire, Effect of Disease on the Chinese Empires

diaspora

any movement of the citizens of a population sharing the same ethnic descent. (ex, African diaspora: Name given to the spread of African peoples across the Atlantic via the slave trade)

Indian Ocean Trade

connected to Europe, Africa, South Asia, and China.; worlds richest maritime trading network and an area of rapid Muslim expansion, spread of goods, ideas

caravan

group of traveling merchants and animals

Trans-Saharan Trade

route across the Sahara Desert; traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels and camel saddles were crucial in the development of these trade networks; facilitated the spread of Islam

monsoon winds

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

Sundiata

the founder of Mali empire. He crushed his enemies and won control of the gold trade routes along the trans-Saharan trade networks

Western Africa

three big states of the Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, and Songhai Empire as well as the lucrative trade connections they made with West and North Africa.Western Africa is known for the great civilizations of Ghana, Mali and Songhai. Each of these states was an important trading center for gold, salt and selling slaves into north Africa and eventually to the Europeans in the Americas.