Commerce and Culture500-1500

AP World History Notes

Trade: 500-1500

Long-distance trade developedThis trade shaped culture and societyTrade = mostly indirect

Chain of separate transactions Goods traveled father than merchants

Significance of Trade: Economic

Altered consumption Ex: West Africans now able to get salt to

flavor and preserve their food

Changed the day-to-day lives of individuals Ex: trade specialization --> led to less self-

sufficiency and more dependency

Significance of Trade:Social

Traders became their own social group Sometimes viewed suspiciously --> why are they

making money without making the goods?

Trade became a means of social mobility Money = land = power and status

Trade used by elite groups to distinguish themselves from commoners Only they could afford luxury goods from far away

like silk or ivory

Significance of Trade:Political

Controlling and taxing trade motivated the creation of states and kingdoms

Wealth from trade sustained these states and kingdoms and facilitated their growth

What Else Was “Traded”?

Religious ideasTechnological innovationsDisease-bearing germsPlants and animals

The Silk Roads

The Silk Roads: GrowthResult = steppe products traded for

agricultural products and manufactured goods from inner Eurasia Birth of the Silk Roads trade network

Hides, furs, livestock, wool, amber, horses,

saddles

The Silk Roads: GrowthConstruction of classical civilizations

and empires added major players to this trade network Persian Empire, Greek Empire, Roman

Empire, Han dynasty, Gupta Empire Result = Silk Roads continued to grow

The Silk Roads: Goods

Most goods traded = luxury goods rather than staple goods

Destined for an elite and wealthy market

Only goods worth transporting with such high transportation costs

The Silk Roads: GoodsSilk = major product in

high demandChina had a silk

monopoly until the 500s --> then others gained knowledge of silk production Increased the supply of

silk along the Silk Roads

Silk Makes the WorldGo ‘Round

Used as currency in Central Asia

Became a symbol of high status in both China and the Byzantine Empire

Used in the expanding religions of Buddhism and Christianity Ex: worn by Buddhist monks Ex: silk altar covers in Christian

churches

The Silk Roads: Goods

Volume of trade = smallBut social and economic impact of trade

= big Ex: peasant in China produced luxury

goods instead of crops Ex: merchants could make enormous

profits

The Silk Roads: Cultures

Major result of trade along the Silk Roads = the spread of Buddhism

From India to Central & East Asia

Spread by Indian traders and Buddhist monks

The Silk Roads: BuddhismSpread to oases cities in

Central Asia Voluntarily converted Buddhism gave these small

cities a link to the larger, wealthy, and prestigious civilization of India

Many of these cities became centers of learning and commerce

Buddhist temple in Dunhuang (an oases

city)

The Silk Roads: Buddhism

Transformation of Buddhism Original faith = shunned

the material world Now Buddhism = filled

with wealthy monks, elaborate and expensive monasteries, and so on

Buddhist monastery in China

The Silk Roads: Buddhism

What type of Buddhism spread? MAHAYANA! Buddha = a deity Many bodhisattvas Emphasis on

compassion

The Silk Roads: Disease

Long-distance trade = resulted in exposure to unfamiliar diseases

Athens (430-429 BCE) = widespread epidemic; killed 25% of the army

Roman & Han Empires = measles and smallpox devastated both populations

Mediterranean World (534-750 CE) = devastated by bubonic plague from India

The Black Death

Spread due to the Mongol Empire’s unification of most of Eurasia (13th-14th centuries)

Could have been bubonic plague, anthrax, or collection of epidemic diseases

1346-1350 = killed 1/3 of European population

Similar death toll in China & parts of Islamic world

The Sand RoadsTrans-Saharan

trade routeLinked North

Africa and the Mediterranean world with West Africa

Trans-Saharan TradeLike the Silk and Sea Roads

this trade begins as a result of environmental variation

What does each region have to offer? North African coastal areas =

cloth, glassware, weapons, books

Sahara region = copper and salt Savanna grasslands = grain

crops Sub-Saharan forests = tree

crops like yam and kola nuts

Trans-Saharan TradeMade possible by the CAMEL!1st traders = camel-owning

people from desert oasesMajor traders became = North

African Muslim ArabsWhat did they come to West

Africa and sub-Saharan Africa for? GOLD!, ivory, kola nuts, slaves Gave in return: SALT!, horses,

cloth, weapons, tools

CaravansAs many as 5,000

camelsHundreds of peopleTravelling at nightLength of journey =

about 70 days15-20 miles walked

per day

Construction of EmpiresNew wealth and resources

from trans-Saharan trade allowed some regions to construct large empires or city-states

Between 500 and 1600 CEMajor empires = Mali,

Ghana, and Songhai

Cities Within the Kingdoms West Africa gained

wealth of trans-Saharan trade

Urban and commercial centers Traders met and

exchanged goods there Centers of

manufacturing Items created: beads,

iron tools, cotton textiles, etc.

Largely Islamic

Mosque in Timbuktu (in Mali)

Classical Era Variations:Africa

500 BCE - 1200 CE

Early AfricaFew written records of

early African peopleHistorians learn about

early African people through oral traditions = legends & history passed by word of mouth through generations

We also learn about them through art and artifacts that have been left behind

Geography & Environment

African continent is 3 times larger than the U.S.

Contains deserts, mountains, grasslands, river valleys, rainforests, etc.

5 regions (N, S, E, W, and Central)

Geography & Environment

Sahara Desert in the north = the world’s largest desert

Another major desert = the Kalahari in the south

Geography & Environment

South of the Sahara lies a great plateau = high, flat area = called the Sahel Sahel = covered

by savannas = treeless grasslands

Geography & Environment

Tropical rainforests in central Africa

Major highlands and mountains in eastern Africa

Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya

Geography & Environment

Geography and Environment

As a result of Africa’s size and environmental variations, many separate societies, cultures, and civilizations grew throughout Africa

Africa’s Proximity to Others

Close to Eurasia and Arabia

This facilitated trade, interaction, and cultural diffusion

Africa in the Classical Era

Nubian CivilizationNubia = along the southern

Nile; south of EgyptHad close contact with

Egyptians; trade, cultural diffusion, and warfare between the two Tombs of Nubian kings found

with gold, jewelry, and pottery from Egypt

Same objects (like eating utensils) found in both civilizations

Nubian CivilizationGovernment = all-powerful

monarchGained wealth and military

power from trading to the north via the Nile and to the east and west via camel caravans

Flourished from 300 BCE to 100 CE

Meroe Pyramids

Urban Center

Merchants

Weavers

Potters

Iron workers

Masons

Servants

Laborers

Slaves

Nubian Civilization

Rural Areas

Herders & farmers

Rain-based agriculture

Like Meroe

Nubian Civilization

Fell apart in the centuries following 100 CE due to: Deforestation Conquest by the neighboring state of Axum

AxumLocated along the Red

SeaVery productive

agricultural system Plow-based farming Made wheat, barley, millet,

and teff

Became a trading power in Red Sea and Indian Ocean Commerce

AxumMany cities/ports on the East

African coast got products from the African interior to sell in the Indian Ocean trading network Ivory, rhinoceros horns,

tortoiseshells, obsidian, slaves, etc.

Placed taxes on these items to bring in more revenue

Axumite Coins

AxumKnown for their stone

obelisks Royal grave markers Funeral monuments

As a result of its trade connections, it absorbed parts of Roman culture, including Christianity

Axum Decline

Started to decline in the 600s CE due to: Soil exhaustion and

erosion Deforestation Rise and spread of

Islam

Heart of Islam

Niger River ValleyCity-based civilizationBiggest city = Jenne-jeno

(about 40,000 people)NO monarch, emperor, or

other kind of leader controlling the cities

NOT city-states because each city did NOT have its own individual monarch and/or bureaucracy Statue excavated from

site of Jenne-jeno

City “Clusters”:Set Up of a Typical City

Larger Central Town

Iron Smiths

Clusters of economically specialized settlements

surrounded a larger central town

Cotton Weavers

PottersLeather Workers

Griots

(Praise-singers who preserved and recited the oral traditions of their socieites)

Niger River Valley

Artisan communities became occupational castes Skills and jobs were passed down to

children Only allowed to marry within your own

group

Bantu MigrationsPeople left West Africa for less populated areasSettled all across southern and western AfricaCalled the Bantu Migrations because -

descendants of the people that migrated shared elements of a language known as Bantu

These people brought their culture & knowledge as they migrated

Bantu languages became dominant south of the Sahara

Bantu Migrations

Bantu Migrations

Bantu people were able to displace, absorb, or eliminate hunter-gatherers they encountered due to:

1) Agriculture - they had a productive economy and could sustain a larger number of people in a small area

2) Iron -- used it to make tools and weapons

3) Disease -- they brought infectious diseases (like malaria) with them

Bantu Africa

Bantu-speaking people became divided into hundred of ethnic groups

Bantu ReligionBantu people focused on

ancestral and nature spirits

Power of dead ancestors accessed through sacrifice rituals

Charms also used -- could be activated to control the rains, defend the village, achieve success in hunting, etc.

Bantu ArtsSculpture was an

important art formMasks worn at dances &

ceremonies -- symbolized link between living & dead

Music was important --> choral singing, dances for ceremonies