Making of the Global World

Globalization — “Produce Globally. Market/Sell Globally.”

Human Societies: Interconnectedness ⬆️

Pilgrims — Knowledge, Opportunity, Spiritual Fulfillment, Escape Persecution
Carried: Goods, Money, Values, Skills, Ideas, Inventions, Germs, Diseases

(3000 BCE) Coastal Trade between: Indus Valley Civilizations — West Asia
Cowries (Maldives → China/East Asia)

Silk Road
Vibrant Trade and Cultural Link

Several Silk Routes : Asia ~ Europe & North Africa

(BCE → 15th Century)
(West-bound Chinese Silk Cargoes, Chinese Pottery, Indian & South Asian Spices) Asia
→ Europe
(Gold & Silver) Europe → Asia

Trade ~ Cultural Exchange

Christian Missionaries, Muslim Preachers, Buddhism (India → Silk Routes)

Food Travels
→ Introduction of New Crops
Noodles (West China →) Spaghetti
Pasta (Arab Traders → 5th Century Sicily, Italy (now))
Potatoes, Soya, Groundnuts, Maize, Tomatoes, Chilies, Sweet Potatoes (Not Known 5
Centuries Ago)
Introduced in Europe and Asia after accidental discovery of the ‘Americas’ [i.e. the food
came from the American Indians]
Potato: Helped Europe’s Poor
Ireland’s Poor — Very Dependent on Potato (Potato Crop Destruction by Disease →
100s of 1000s Dead)

Making of the Global World 1

 Conquest, Disease and Trade
Indian Ocean → Trade
Indian Subcontinent → Central to these flows (protruding geography into the Indian
ocean)

16th Century → American Crops & Minerals

Peru & Mexico (Precious Metals — Silver)
Expeditions to find ‘El Dorado, the fabled city of gold’
Germ War
Portuguese and Spanish: Conquest & Colonization of America
American Inhabitants — No Immunity
Soldiers — Smallpox
Killed and Decimated Communities — Paving the Way for Conquest
(Until 19th Century) Europe
Crowded and Disease-ridden Cities
Religious Conflicts; Religious Dissenters — Persecuted
→ America [Plantations worked by African Slaves — Cotton & Sugar for European
Markets]
China, India⬆️ Richest
15th Century — China: Restricted Overseas Contacts and Retreated into Isolation
Chinas Role ⬇️ → Moved Trade westwards → Europe (’Centre of World Trade’)

Making of the Global World 2