Silk Road:

● Land Based Trade Routes

● Chinese Monopoly on silk(Desirable and Expensive)
Goods Traded:
● East to West Asia: Silk, horses, spices, furs, rice, porcelain
● South to East and West Asia: Cotton, spices, sandalwood, rice
● Central to East, West, South Asia: Dates, almonds, fruit, camels, horses
● Mediterranean Sea Region: Glass, gold, olive oil, perfume
Technology:
Qanat system(irrigation, transports water from ground to surface, C. Asia to SW Asia)
-Buddhism Spreads from India to Japan, China, Korea
-Disease spreads(Plague)

Common Problems:
Empires that developed at the height of the Classical Period experience common problems
that led to decline
● Political Problems- Corrupt Leaders
● Economic Problems- Decline in trade
● Social Problems- Unrest, rebellion
● Environmental- Excessive Mobilization of resources

Han Dynasty:
Reasons for Collapse:
● Yellow Turban Rebellion
● Epidemics
● Nomadic Invasions
● Landlords have too much power
Effects of the Collapse:
● Increased spread in Buddhism
● Period of decentralization
● Confucian order provides stability to China

Roman Empire:
Reasons for Collapse:
● Nomadic invasions- Germanics and Huns
● Weak Leaders
● Famine and Disease
● Movement of capital to East leaves West
vulnerable
Effects of the Collapse:
● Increased spread in Christianity
● Western Europe is in turmoil for 1000 years
● Eastern Europe becomes Byzantine
Empire(Rome 2)

Gupta Empire:
Reasons for Collapse:
 ● White Huns conquer from Central Asia
● Weak Leadership that can’t deal with invasions
Effects of the Collapse:
● Caste System holds India together, unlike the turmoil that happened in the other
areas
● It remained decentralized, and power went back to local princes instead of a central
authority