Chapter 12 Journals Est.

World Trade Routes 1000-1500

The Geography and Philosophies of Early Economic Systems Trade and
Traders

-Trade diasporas-networks of interconnected commercial communities living and working in

major trade cities throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia
-In the W. Hemisphere 2 major trade networks developed:
-Northern network served Mexico
-Southern network ran north to south both along the Pacific Coast and inland along the
Andes Mtns.
-Little traffic between N. and S. America and none between the W. and E. hemispheres
-Leif Eriksson—Viking explorer who reached Newfoundland in 1000 CE
-Incas consolidated empire in the 15th century: mtn ppls generated extensive trade
-Linked together 32 million ppl
-Highland ppl specialized in gold working and crafts
-Trade important up and down mtn sides with peaks of up to 20,000 feet
-Under Inca rulers from the 1400s-the Spanish conquest in 1535, 15,000 miles worth of
road was only available to gov’t officials
-Yucatan Peninsula of C. and N. America: Mayan ppl flourished from 200 BCE-900 CE
-Traders flourished independently; disproportionate spread of wealth
-Spanish arrived in the 1520s: Maya had weakened; Aztecs dominated
-Aztec marketplace: Tenochtitlan
-Under tight gov’t control
-Officers kept peace, collected taxes, and checked accuracy of weights/measures
-Pochteca were a guild of traders hired for international trade
-Goods were transported by animal and boat
-Africa S. of Sahara was well integrated in trade relationships
-W. Africa: traders dispatched caravans of goods on camel back across the Sahara; linked forest
cultivators and miners in S. with merchants and rulers of Mediterranean Coast
-Dates were a major commodity of trade
 -Muslim traders of 8th century leave records
-Ghana (700-1100) empire; Mali (1100-1400); Songhay (1300-1600)
-E. Africa: traders along the coast produced gold and ivory and sold them to seafaring merchants
of the Indian Ocean
-Kingdom of Axum in Christian Ethiopia dominated traded of the Red Sea to Arabian
Sea
-Arab traders gained control with rise of Islam and restricted Ethiopian power
-After the 9th century Arab merchants provided main trading link to Indian Ocean
-Muslim Arab traders played critical role in the development of African trade networks
-Religion and ethnicity formed trust needed to conduct business
-Islam encouraged trade
-Trade flourished with the hajj
-Jews carried on international trade from China to W. Europe and Africa
-1250: trade networks connected main population and production centers of Asia, Africa, and
Europe
-The Polynesians are Austronesian-speaking ppls who migrated from S. China to Taiwan, the
Philippines, and E. Indonesia
-Greatest sailors in history
-Est. contact with Hawaii and Easter Island
-Malay sailors of S. China left cargo ships: jongs (or Junks); balance-lug square sails; learned
patterns of seasonal monsoon winds and learned to sail with them; made regular 3000 mile
voyages across the Indian Ocean
-1100-1500: Indian Ocean major crossroad of world’s shipping lanes
-Arab Muslim sailors were masters of sailing the Indian Ocean
-By 1500 China was the most economically advanced region in the world
-Internal trade outweighed external trade because of size of empire
-Ming dynasty overthrew the Mongols and forbade China to trade overseas
-Ocean traders came to China
-China constructed a powerful navy and merchant marine to deal with sea trade
-Ming dynasty: Emperor Yung-lo dispatched 7 voyages under the Muslim eunuch, Zheng He
through the Indian Ocean
-Ming gov’t limited contact with foreigners and prohibited private overseas trade by Chinese
merchants
-1275: Marco Polo arrives in China
-Described China as the richest, most technologically progressive, and largest politically
unified country in the world
-Agricultural improvements, innovations in iron and coal industry, and textile production
inspired trade revolution
-Common ppl became involved in production of goods
-Currency was the most important medium for trade
-Printed the 1st paper money in the world
-Luxury products (silk, porcelain, and tea) attracted Muslim Arabs, Germans, Lombards and
French
-Mongol Empire: largest land empire ever known; traffic on silk routes revived
-2 million Mongols divided into warring tribes, lead by a khan
-“Pax Mongolica”—intercontinental trade could flourish across reopened silk routes
-Ibn Battuta of Morocco and Marco Polo give insight into exotic trade route
-Before Chinggis Khan there were no written records of the Mongol Empire
-Chinggis Khan Temujin (Genghis Khan) sought to unify the Mongols
-Skilled at negotiation, infamous for brutality
-Conquered Chinese capital and killed thousands
-Est. Mongol dynasty in China (1276-1368)
-Kamikaze: divine winds; prevented Mongol fleet from sailing
-Conquered Tashkent, Samarkand, Punjab (Indus R in India), Khwarizm, Tabriz, and Tbilisi
-Killed many people
-After death, his four sons continued to expand empire
-Conquered Moscow and destroyed Kiev
-Internal quarrels brought Mongol expansion to Europe to a halt
-Captured and destroyed Baghdad and killed caliph of Abbasid dynasty
-1279-1360: Mongols ruled China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, and Central Asia
-Khanates were sub-empires: four of them throughout Mongol empire
-Disease followed trade routes
-The Black Death devastated Eurasia’s population in the 1300s
-Cause of Mongol Empire’s decline
-Ming dynasty overthrew Mongol empire and population increased sharply
-During Mongol dynasty 90% of ppl lived in the south
-South produced 3 of China’s most valuable products
-After Mongol dynasty ppl started moving to the North
-1500s marked turning point in world trade patterns
-Trade routes became interconnected
-Europe seized control of the Americas
-Introduced new regimes of trade and domination into world history