REGIONAL AND TRANSREGIONAL INTERACTIONS C. 600-1450

Period 3

TRADE ROUTES GET BIGGER & BETTER! Old trade routes keep on getting more

extensive Powerful trading cities emerge

Timbuktu Calicut Baghdad Venice

Diasporic communities emerge on the routes Ex. Muslim merchant communities in the Indian

Ocean

NEW TRADE ROUTES & NEW PRODUCTS! Mesoamerican and Andean trade routes

develop Luxury goods such as porcelain from China,

gems from India, and exotic animals from Africa become more common on existing trade routes Better caravan organization & travel New compasses & astrolabes Larger ships in the Indian Ocean Credit systems, banking houses for loans

TRADE EXPANDS

States encourage commercial growth within Ex. Building the Grand Canal in China Minting coins & paper money in the Caliphates &

China Northern European membership in the Hanseatic

League Empires are built and encourage trade within

Tang & Song China Byzantine Empire Mongol Empire Umayyad & Abbasid Caliphates

MIGRATION ALONG & AROUND TRADE ROUTES

Pastoral groups and nomads adapt to and alter environments Viking long ships are developed to travel

rivers Berbers breed camels to travel the Sahara Central Asian pastoralists use horses along

the steppes of the Silk Roads Arabic is spread throughout the Caliphates Bantu languages & farming techniques

spread south of the Sahara

CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGES

Islam developed in the Arabian Peninsula

It reflected elements of other monotheistic belief systems

Islamic armies conquered lands & expanded the religion through merchants & missionaries

Travelers such as Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta tell of the vast differences and integration of different cultures.

CULTURAL DIFFUSION

Literature, art & religion spread along these trade routes as people make new contacts with each other Hinduism & Islam in SE Asia Buddhism in East Asia

Science & Technology too! Greek & Indian math is used by Arabic scholars Printing & gunpowder spread from China to the Middle

East to W. Europe And food!

Bananas to Africa Champa Rice from Vietnam to China

…AND DON’T FORGET DISEASES AGAIN Black Death follows trade & military

routes from Central Asia to China to W. Europe “ooh ooh, fleas on rats, fleas on rats!”

CONTINUITY & CHANGE IN AND WITHIN STATES

Out with the Roman and Han Empires….

In with the Byzantine and Sui, Tang & Song Empires!

Both rely on traditional sources of power (i.e. land ownership) and new innovations to better suit the changing times Ex: Buddhism in Tang China, Orthodox

Christianity in the Byzantine Empire

NEW FORMS OF RULING EMERGE

Islamic Caliphates (Abbasid/Fatamid) in Middle East and Iberian Peninsula

Feudalism in W. Europe & Japan Mongol Khanates in Russia, China, Mid East City-States in East Africa & Mesoamerica Aztec & Inca Empires develop out of many

networks of smaller states

These places adapted many local cultures & traditions!

CONTACTS & CONFLICTS=CULTURE TRANSFER

Chinese technology from Tang & Song dynasties reached the Abbasid Caliphate through the trade routes

Mongols created “Pax Mongolica” and encouraged transfer of ideas along Silk Roads

The Crusades failed to keep Muslims out of the Holy Lands but exposed Western Europeans to new technologies and ideas that spurred the Renaissance

ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY INCREASES New technologies = better agriculture

Chinampas in Mesoamerica Horse collar & plow in W. Europe Fast-growing Champa rice in China

Chinese porcelain & Persian/Indian textiles are demanded by foreigners leading to increased production

Iron & Steel production expands in Song & Yuan China

URBAN ROLLER COASTER RIDES!

Urban decline and revival is prevalent Reasons for decline:

Invasion (Constantinople) Disease (Venice, Chang’an) Decline of agricultural productivity (Mayan?) The Little Ice Age in Europe

Reasons for Revivals Opposites of the above! Sometimes new cities replace old ones

(Beijing over Chang’an)

LABOR ORGANIZATION IS MORE DEFINED Free peasant agriculture in almost every region

Liked to revolt in China when demands became too high

Nomadic pastoralism continues Guild organization in W. Europe Slavery (IN Africa, E. Mediterranean, Turkic

mamluks) Serfdom (Europe & Japan) Labor Taxation (Incan mit’a system) Military obligations (ex. Mongol Empire)

CLASS STRUCTURE & GENDER

Class hierarchy & caste systems persisted

Patriarchy persists too, however….. Women in some areas exercise more

power and influence Japanese court ladies Nomadic Mongol women SE Asian merchant community women West African matrilineal societies

FAMILY LIFE

Religious expectations in Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and NeoConfucianism changed gender roles & family life as these religions spread. Ex. Shari’a law replaces old Persian laws

regarding wives and children.