Chapter+12 +Establishing+World+Trade+Routes

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HOMEWORK/IN-CLASS WORK: -Do online pretest (optional) -Do online Map Activity -Read chapter 12 -Answer questions on pages 421-422 -Documents : 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6

The Silk Road: Connecting China and the Middle East. Exchange of goods, people and ideas; a social system. Merchants / nomadic traders: great historical impact. They did not share their knowledge with others to avoid competition. China: Silk, Ceramics, Tea, Sugar, Gold. Central Asia: Camels, Horses, Almonds, Mint, Wool, Rugs. Middle East: Metalwork, Glassware, Salt, Wine. Chinese general Zhan Jian led 18 expeditions to western lands opening the Silk Road. He found the Ferghana Valley. The Great Wall provided a safety for merchants. Camel Caravans. Rise of Central Asia as the center of the Silk Road. Parthian Empire between China & Middle East. Sassanid Empire replaced the Parthian around year 224 C.E. and made Zoroastrianism the state religion, similar to the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire. Religion became an instrument of politics. Both churches were very intolerant toward other faiths, accusing Jews, Buddhist missionaries, etc of heresy. Nestorian Christians and Manicheans. Armenia: Christian center in Asia supported by Constantinople. King Ashoka, Maurya ruler of India, promoted Buddhism. Faxian, Chinese pilgrim, helped to spread Buddhism too (Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, Java, and China). Buddhism: Therevada & Mahayana. Religious missionaries moving in both directions along the Silk Road (East ßà West). Invention of the stirrup by the Kushan people (north Afghanistan).

Indian Ocean Trade

During 600 BCE-1450 BCE the Indian Ocean was a prominent world trade area. This sea based route could carry more products to their customers and increase the profit per trip increasing countries’ economies. This trade route extended from East Asia through India to the east coast of Africa. Trade winds, half of the year blowing northeast (December to March) and the other half of the year blowing southwest (April to August), were the primary factor on the movements of the merchants. Although these trips could last a year waiting for the monsoons, these trips were still highly profitable especially with ships like the Chinese treasure ship, the Junk. Because of the merchants having to wait for the monsoon winds the coastal cities would be a rich area of mixed cultures and religions. One example was the East coast cities off Africa of Sofala and Kilwa. Some examples of culture that was exchanged are Islam and Buddhism. Many new technologies were invented to assist in Indian Ocean Trade. Some of these were magnetic compasses, the dhow boat, and lateen sails. All these made navigating easier and more flexible because of the dhow boat. Some of the things traded in the Indian Ocean Trade are slaves, ivory, and gold from Africa, porcelain from China, and cloth from India. Unfortunately another thing that was helped spread was the Black Death from China though trade routes in the India Ocean and eventually ended up in Europe.

The Mediterranean possessed a network of well-developed trade routes. Not only was it populated by location, but also due to the fact that it was conncted to the silk roads, a very popular trade network at the time. The Mediterranean was very spread out and culturally diverse thanks to all of the trading that went on there. Many different societies located around the Mediterranean used this as a source of trade and cultural diffusion, and it greatly spread ideas that contributed to the shaping of societies.