Hi, I’m Johnny! I’ll

be your guide for the

day!

I know you have all gone through an exercise on the Silk Road. Allow me just to summarize your journey….

The Silk RoadThe Silk Road• is the longest ancient caravan route that linked China in the East with Europe in the West

• Over 8,000 km in all

• How did it come about? It was largely thanks to Zhang Qian whose adventures you have already read and share among yourselves!

Unfortunately, the Silk Route was sometimes unsafe for travel

You have also found that out through Nanivandak!

Remember him? The merchant from Samarkand?

There are other dangers ……

You know me?

Do I look familiar? I’m Skully!

My XXX-files will tell you there are more dangers than that which meets the eye

Beware of the dangers of the Silk Road…

Because of these dangers, people started searching for an alternative route

Thus came the founding of the sea route

The ancient sea routes refers to a network of sea routes that linked the East with the West

15,000 km in all

Have a look at the map on pg 84

Southeast Asia was a good stopover for ships

Your teacher will explain more

Over to you, sir ……..

Good morning

#@$%#$%# ….. I was not quite prepared for this “arrowcation of task”!

Ermmmmm …… can anyone enlighten us on why Southeast Asia was a good stopover for ships?

Hmm… I also don’t know why?

Right, Ah Huay!

SEA lies on the crossroads between India and China

Makes it a good stopover for ships

It is also the meeting place of the monsoons

Can anyone tell me what’s so great about the monsoons?

Wah… Ah Huay’s

making me look really

bad!

Er…no…Ah Lian…Monsoons are not the female counterparts of Monsters!!

Right, Ah Ter! Ships sail with the help of the monsoons

Ships from India stopped over in SE Asia with the help of the southwest monsoons and then sailed on to China

The northeast monsoons guided ships from China to SE Asia and on to India

Lucky there’s Ah

Lian to redeem

me!

Let’s have a look at contacts established between India and the rest of the world!

Psssst! Skully! India is really nice

But I really need the loo now!

And I don’t know which Indian sign says “LOO”!

While he’s at his business, let’s return to ours

You wanna know more from the XXX-files?

Let’s look at the Indian traders from the Indus Valley

They traded with the Geeks …. Sorry, I mean Greeks …. during the …… eh … the ...

Hey Mader! What’s that period called?

#@#%^$% cannot find any loo….. AND who’s calling me MOTHER again?

For the last time, it’s Mulda!!! MUL-DA!!

And it’s the Mauryan period ….. You Greek! ….I mean GEEK!!!

Ah so! And in time to come, they also acted as middlemen between the Roman Empire and China

They traded in silk, spices and precious metals along the Silk Route

And do you remember Asoka?

You looking for me?

I do, I do! I remember Asoka.

Some of the travel also occurred during Asoka’s time. To spread Buddhism, he sent missionaries around India,

namely Tibet, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and even to Greece where the Geeks… I mean… Greeks are!

The result was that Buddhism thrived outside India

By the 1st century A.D., traders and pilgrims from India used the sea route to come to SE Asia

They contributed to the rise of Indianised kingdoms such as Funan and Srivijaya

Some Indian traders also continued on their sea voyage to China

Hey Mader! Let’s go over to China now!Many Chinese pilgrims travelled to India to learn about Buddhism

399 A.D. Faxian, a Buddhist monk from China, wrote that on his way to India, he went through some dangerous terrain

Faxian studied at many Buddhist monasteries in India

He returned to China after 15 years

Imagine…15 long years! I’d be a grandmother in 15 years’ time!

You’ll be dead in 15 years’ time.

Mother! Mother! One day I’ll strangle that woman! She’ll be dead in 15 minutes then!

Oh well… another pilgrim who visited India was Xuanzang in 630A.D.

Wanna see the route they took?

Xuanzang lived through many adventures in his travels, including a murder attempt

He visited many Buddhist holy places and collected many Buddhist scriptures

It was said that he needed 20 horses to carry them back

On his return in 645 A.D., he was greeted by Emperor Taizong

Xuanzang spent the rest of his life translating the scriptures and writing an account of his travels

HEY, Skully (snigger… what a name!) over to you!

What did you say? You don’t like my name, MADER??

Men! Ignore that Mader!

Now, support from emperors who commissioned the voyages also helped explorers

The third Ming emperor, Yongle (A.D. 1403-1425) wanted places outside China to know of her military might

He commissioned Admiral Zheng He to carry out a huge programme of sea exploration

Listen to the Admiral yourself!

I am Admiral Zheng He.

Between 1405 and 1433, I made 7 sea voyages to places like Thailand, Malaya, Java and India.

I travelled as far as the east coast of Africa. Thank Shang-ti that I didn’t fall off the edge of the earth!

My visit was one of the factors which led to the rise of the Melaka Sultanate. Good old Para Wara (my pet name for Parameswara!) owes me one for that!

That name sounds familiar, kid? Where do you think Aaron Kok got his inspiration from? Did I get his name right?

He was inspired by our victory dance, of course – the one Para Wara did with me!

I had as many as 50 ships and 30,000 men in my fleet – Big, right?

Mine was the largest fleet in the world at that time

My ships had masts and were constructed with water-tight compartments

There were rudders for steering too

Finally, let’s look at contacts established with Southeast Asia!

In the 15th century, the Europeans found it more difficult to travel freely along the Silk Road

They had to buy eastern goods from the Muslim middlemen

They felt that this wasn’t a very ideal situation and decided to find a new route to the East

Vasco De Gama, a Portugese, discovered a sea route around Africa and the Indian Ocean to India in 1498

Er…no…Ah Lian… he didn’t fall off the edge of the earth!

This new sea route was linked up with the ancient sea route to the Far East

With this discovery, the Europeans stopped using the Silk Road

As a result, the Silk Road lost its importance for trade

Let’s have a look at the route – you can find the map on page 88

Today, the sea routes still serve as highways for transportation of goods between East and West

But now, the goods are carried in giant tankers and container ships

It is now faster to travel from China to Europe

In the past, this would have taken many months

What were some of the results of trade?

Firstly, there was an increase in products available

Then there was the exchange of ideas

Finally, there was the spread of religion and culture

Increase in ProductsThrough trade, many products were made available to people in the East and West

Exchange of goods from different regions was also made possible

China : Silk and porcelain

West : Precious stones and ivory

SE Asia : Spices and sandalwood

India : Cotton, glassware and precious stones

Exchange of IdeasFrom India : language, the arts, religion, medicine and mathematics

From China : 4 important inventions – paper, printing, compass, gunpowder

From the Middle East : Culture

Spread of Religion and CultureBuddhism and Hindusim made their way from India to SE Asia and China

Islam spread to SE Asia from the Middle East

Well, that just about wraps up the whole chapter

Let me just irritate someone one more time.

Hey Mader, are you ready to go?