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Silk, Sand, and Sea: trade routes and cultural diffusion

Silk, Sand, and Sea: trade routes and cultural diffusion. Why do people trade?. What were the significant results of long-distance trade?. What the three main routes of long distance trade in the period 500-1500 CE?. Silk Roads Indian Ocean routes Sahara Sand routes.

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Silk, Sand, and Sea: trade routes and cultural diffusion

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  1. Silk, Sand, and Sea: trade routes and cultural diffusion

  2. Why do people trade?

  3. What were the significant results of long-distance trade?

  4. What the three main routes of long distance trade in the period 500-1500 CE? • Silk Roads • Indian Ocean routes • Sahara Sand routes

  5. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia • Emerged from interaction between outer and inner Eurasia. • Led to exchange of goods between pastoral and settled peoples. • Settled people tried to control the pastoralists, extended the boundaries… • Rise of large states also helped: Roman and Chinese states.

  6. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia • a vast array of goods traveled along the Silk Roads, often by camel • mostly luxury goods for the elite • high cost of transport did not allow movement of staple goods • Silk symbolized the Eurasian exchange system • at first, China had a monopoly on silk technology (serious production 3000 BCE; Korea had it by 300 BCE; India by 300 CE) • led to drain of resources from Roman Empire to east • Yet, Romans regarded silk as morally decadent  • by the sixth century CE, other peoples produced silk: • Byzantine Empire, Japan, Persia • silk was used as currency in Central Asia • silk was a symbol of high status • sumptuary laws restricted silk clothing to the elite (China and the Byzantine Empire) • silk was sacred in Buddhism and Christianity • silk industry not developed in Western Europe until 12th century

  7. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia • Cultures in Transit: • Buddhism: spread greatly, voluntary • appealed to merchants, snubbed Hindu-influenced caste system • Monasteries provided rest stops for merchants • Many converts in oasis cities • Spread more slowly amongst pastoralists • Buddhism itself was transformed: monasteries became rich and more involved in secular world.

  8. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia • Disease in Transit • Long-distance trading led to spread of disease • Most lethal junctures: when an unfamiliar disease arrives in a new culture • Athens, 430-429 BCE, infect from Egypt • Smallpox and measles periodically ravaged the Roman and Han empires. • 534-750 CE bubonic plague from India to Mediterranean region • Black Death, but much later and largely due to Mongol Empire • Strengthened Eurasians over the long run.

  9. Sea routes: Exchange across the Indian Ocean • Probably most important trade network • Monsoon changes were crucial: • Nov-Feb blew to SW • April-Sept blew to NE • Key was regularity • Sea transport is cheaper • So more bulk goods: textiles, pepper, timber, rice, sugar, wheat • Trade was between towns and cities, not states

  10. Sea routes: Exchange across the Indian Ocean • Already some trading during Indus Valley period • Egyptians and Phoenicians traded along the Red Sea • Chinese merchants reached India 100 CE • Fulcrum was India: along with trade, spread Buddhism and Hinduism in Southeast Asia. • Reunified China (Tang and Song Dynasties, 618-1279) brought cheap goods and provided markets. • Rise of Islam crucial to further spread • widespread conversion made trade move more freely

  11. Sea routes: Led to the creation of various states: Srivijaya civilization: Malay sailors gained control of the Straits of Malacca ca. 350 CE. Srivijaya came to dominate trade in this region from 670-1025 CE. Adopted Buddhism and became major center Swahili civilization: Grew from demand for East African products: gold, ivory, quartz, leopard skins, slaves, iron, wood Flourished 1000-1500 CE Very urban and city-state oriented Sharp class distinctions Most trade in Arab ships Great Arab and Muslim influence Trade for gold led to Great Zimbabwe, 1250-1350 CE

  12. Sand Roads: Exchange across the Sahara • Commercial Beginnings in West Africa: • North had manufactured goods, salt, horses, cloth, dates • South had crops, gold, ivory, kola nuts, slaves • Introduction of camel was crucial, early in CE • Regular trans-Saharan commerce by 300-400 CE • Huge caravans, up to 5000 camels • Led to a number of states in western and central Sudan: Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem, and Hausaland. • Slaves came mostly from south, most sold in North Africa.

  13. Quick Write Prompt • In your opinion, which of these traded items had the biggest impact on the development of the world: goods or cultural ideas? Explain.

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