Ways of the World: A Brief Global History
First Edition CHAPTER 8
Commerce and Culture 500–1500
Copyright © 2009 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
Robert W. Strayer!
Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
• Linked pastoral (northern) and
agricultural (southern) peoples • None knew the full extent of the
network’s reach, it was ‘relay trade’.
Growth of Silk Roads
• What lay behind the emergence of Silk Road Commerce, and what kept it going for so many centuries?
Growth of the Silk Roads • Pastoral peoples traded with and raided
agricultural people to the south • These movements diffused languages, horse
based technologies • Xiongnu, Uighurs, Mongols • Silk Road trading networks prospered most
when large and powerful states provided security for merchants and travelers – Byzantine Empire – Abbasid dynasty – Tang Dynasty
Goods in Transit
• What made silk such a highly desired commodity across Eurasia?
• What were the major economic, social, and cultural consequences of Silk Road commerce?
Goods in Transit
• Most were luxury goods rather than staple goods
• Only readily moved commodities of great value could compensate for the high costs of transportation across such long and forbidding distances
• High demand for silk, but also cotton from India • By 6th century, silk making knowledge had left
China, into Korea, Japan, India, and Persia
Cultures in Transit • Silk Roads were a conduit of culture • Buddhism spread because of merchants along the silk
roads • Was preferred due to its universal message to that of
Brahmin dominated Hinduism • Duhuang Caves • Merchants felt they could earn religious merit by building
monasteries • Buddhism changed
– Became involved with secular affairs – Mahayana=Buddha is a diety and merit can be earned – Western side shows Greek influence statuary
• Christianity in the East=Nestorian
Disease in Transit • People were exposed to unfamiliar diseases
– Athens, Rome, Han • Paradoxically, these strengthened the appeal of
Christianity and Buddhism. • Intermittent outbreaks ravaged Mediterranean brought by
trade – Constantinople: 534, ended expansion – 10,000 people a day, 44 days
• Later, (1300’s) the Mongol empire prompted the spread – Impacted economy, allowed poor farmers to demand wages
• This also allowed the dominance of the West as they went to America due to acquired immunity.
Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian Ocean
• Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World • Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: Southeast
Asia and Srivijaya • Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa
and Swahili Civilization
Sea Roads
• How did the operation of the Indian Ocean trading network differ from that of the Silk Roads?
Sea Roads
• Ships could accommodate larger and heavier cargo
• All items included • Understanding monsoons,
accumulating technology of shipbuilding and oceanic navigation – Compass – Dhow – Junk
Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World
• Early ventures hugged the coast • Malay sailors went to Madagascar in
open water – Brought Bananas to Africa
• Other merchants spread culture – Christians in Ethiopia and S. India
• India was the fulcrum
• Third Wave civilizations • Tang and Song China (618-1279) • China economy reemergence • Improved technology • Islam encouraged trade • First example of African slaves
– Sent to Iraq by Arabs
Sea Roads as a Catalyst for change: Southeast Asia and
Srivijava • What is the relationship between the
rise of Srivijava and the world of Indian Ocean commerce?
• Malay kingdom controlled Strait of Malacca – Large amounts of goods – Charged a toll to pass
• Hindu and Buddhist influences – Borobudur – Angkor Wat
Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa and
Swahili Civilization • What was the role of the Swahili
civilization in the world of Indian Ocean commerce?
• Somalia to Mozambique – Lamu, Mombasa, Kilwa, Sofala
• Bantu based languages – Eventually adapted Arabic writing
• East African goods sought after • Great Zimbabwe
Sand Roads: Exchange across the Sahara • Commercial Beginnings in West Africa • Gold, Salt, and Slaves: Trade and Empire in West
Africa
• Innovations in travel: Camel saddle • Gold and Salt trade • Empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai • Cities of Timbuktu, Gao, Jenne • Conversion to Islam • Leaders: Sundiata, Mansa Musa
– Visited by Ibn Battuta
Chapter 8 Commerce and Culture, 500–1500
• Map 8.1 The Silk Roads (p. 219) • Map 8.2 The Sea Roads (p. 226) • Map 8.3 The Sand Roads (p. 234) • Map 8.4 The American Web (p. 236) • Spot Map 8.1 Southeast Asia ca. 1200 C.E. (p. 229) • Spot Map 8.2 The Swahili Coast of East Africa (p. 231) • Travels on the Silk Road (p. 216) • Dunhuang (p. 223) • Borobudur (p. 230) • The Gold of Mali (p. 235) • Inca Roads (p. 237)