Alright, we're starting Unit 2 and I reckon that means we ought to talk about the Silk Roads. And as far as roads go, they're about as silky as they come. So if you're ready to get them brain cows milked, networks of exchange style, then let's get to it.
So let's start by defining our terms. The Silk Roads were a vast network of roads and trails that facilitated trade and the spread of culture and ideas across Eurasia in and before the period 1200-1450. And I said some very important things there that you can't sleep through.
Yes, these were trading routes first and foremost. But perhaps of equal importance as trade in goods occurred across these routes, various ideas. ideas and cultural traits were exchanged as well, which is what we call cultural diffusion, and I'm going to show you why that's such a big deal in a moment.
But for now, you just need to know that across these vast network of roads, it was mainly luxury items that were exchanged, most notably Chinese silk. And that's not hard to understand when you consider that it was expensive to haul goods from one end of these roads to the other, and so selling luxury goods was the only way to earn prodigious amounts of money. profits and that, as we say here in the south, is finer than a frog hair split four ways.
Okay, hold on a second, you might want to get that clicky finger out and check the description for my AP World Heimler Review Guide. It's got everything you need to get an A in your class and a 5 on your exam MA, including whole unit review videos that are not here on YouTube, note guides to follow along, practice questions, and full AP-style practice exams. So, you know, have a look if that's the kind of thing you're into. Anyway, here in Unit 2, we're looking at many of the same places we looked at in Unit 1, but through the lens of connection.
Like, how are all these various states connected? to each other. And the answer? networks of exchange like the Silk Roads. But even more specifically, we need to consider the causes and effects of why these networks grew and expanded during this time period.
So first, exchanges along the Silk Roads grew in scope during this period because of innovations in commercial practices, and you need to know about three of them. First was the development of money economies, and it was the Chinese who pioneered this sweet innovation. It basically means they started using paper money to facilitate trade among various regions, and this was kind of a huge deal.
Like I know we're used to slapping down a Hamilton to get a burrito at Chipotle, but have you ever stopped? to consider how crazy that is? Like it's just a piece of paper. Why would they freely surrender that glorious beauty into my hands in exchange for this flimsy thing right here? Well, because we have all agreed in our society that this thing is worth something, and in this case, it's worth a burrito large enough to feed a small horse.
And that's essentially how China transitioned into a money economy. With the introduction of paper money to facilitate trade, a merchant could deposit bills in one location and then withdraw the same amount in another location, thus increasing the ease of travel and the security of transactions. And second, this is related to the increasing use of credit to facilitate trade as well.
Here, instead of paper money, merchants could secure pieces of paper from merchant families in one region and then go to another region and exchange that paper for coins. Now, the Chinese called this new arrangement arrangement flying money and its increasing use led to the expansion of trade and networks of exchange. And then third, to facilitate all these exchanges of paper money and bills of credit, banks became increasingly necessary to keep the flow of trade humming along.
For example, over in Europe they introduced banking houses based on the Chinese model. There a merchant could present a bill of exchange and receive the amount of money equal to the bill. But there were also innovations in transportation technologies that led to the expansion of trade over the Silk Roads as well.
And maybe the most important here is the rise of caravanserai, which were a series of inns and guest houses spaced about a day's journey apart on the most frequented routes where the traveling merchants and their animals could lodge for the night. And these little rest stops served two important functions. First, they provided safety from those wily bandits and plunderers along the routes who targeted these large merchant caravans carrying expensive goods. of luxury items. Second, the caravanserai became centers of cultural exchange and diffusion.
Like merchants from all over the dang place with various different cultural backgrounds would meet at these rest stops and mingle. Hey man, nice camel. What's that on its back? Oh, that's a saddle.
Mmm, I gotta get me one of those. Which leads me to the second innovation in transportation, namely saddles. Instead of chafing their legs raw on the bare back of a sweaty camel, saddles were introduced to make riding easier over long distances.
And then if you had more than one camel, you could sling a frame and mattress saddle across its back and load it up with way more goods to sell than you otherwise could. Okay, so all those commercial and transportation innovations meant that it was easier for merchants to pay for goods and get paid for goods and travel long distances safer and more comfortably. And one of the most significant effects of that increase in trade was the rise of powerful trading cities along the Silk Roads.
And it was precisely because these cities were strategically located along these routes that they grew in power and wealth. I mean, a merchant wasn't just going to travel from one end of the Silk Roads to the other without stopping. Like, there were long stretches of these roads that had very little water and were hotter than a jalapeno's armpit. So, Although these cities along the way provided places to stop and resupply.
And I'm kind of in the mood to introduce you to two of these cities. First is Kashgar on the eastern edge of China right here. It was located at the convergence of two major routes of the Silk Roads, which before and after passed through exceedingly hot and dry terrain, which is to say the hottest part of the jalapeno's armpit. But Kashgar was built around a river which made the lush valley suitable for agriculture, and that meant that traveling merchants could stop there for water and food.
Anyway, with the increasing demand for interregional trade, Kashgar became a destination in itself, hosting highly profitable markets and eventually becoming a thriving center for Islamic scholarship. Alright, the second city to know is Samarkand here in Central Asia. And most of what you should know about it is a repeat from Kashgar.
At the convergence of important trade routes on the Silk Roads and as merchants from all over the world arrived there, profound cultural exchange occurred. Like archaeologists have found relics from many different religions there, like Christianity and Zoroastrianism and Buddhism and Islam, etc. And then the second effect of this growth of exchange networks is the increased demand for luxury goods in all places along the Silk Roads.
And chief among those luxury goods were Chinese silk and porcelain. And if you know anything about economics, you'll know that as buyers demand more goods, that means sellers are going to give busy supplying more or making more goods. And that is exactly what happened.
As demand grew for these luxury items, Chinese, Indian, and Persian artisans increased their production of these goods. And that shift to producing more and more luxury items for sale in distant markets had significant effects on the population. For example, as peasants in China's Yangtze River Valley spent more time producing silk textiles for trade, they began significantly to scale back on food production.
But regardless, reorienting the economy like this created the conditions in China for what's known as proto-industrialization. And all that means is that they began producing more goods than their own population could consume, and all those extra goods were sent off with merchants destined for distant lands. And with all that money coming back into the Chinese economy, they went right ahead and reinvested it into their growing iron and steel industries.
And finally, the third effect of the expansion of the Silk Roads is all about cultural diffusion. So remember, not only did merchants carry goods, they also carried and exchanged their culture. Islamic merchants spread as Islam, and Buddhist merchants spread Buddhism, etc.
And when merchants met at the Caravan Sarai, they were exposed to new innovations, like saddles. Additionally, and we'll talk more about this in the next video, growth in the Silk Roads facilitated the spread of people's nasty germs, the most notorious of which was the Bubonic Plague. Okay, click here to review other topics you need to know for Unit 2. And if you're feeling finer than a frog hair split four ways, then click here to grab my AP World Heimler Review Guide, which has everything you need to get an A in your class and a 5 on your exam in May. And I'll catch you on the flip-flop.
Heimler out.