AP World History Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

Overview

• Focus on states and empires being connected through networks of exchange
• These networks were not just trade routes but also facilitated cultural diffusion and transfers
• Three major networks: Silk Roads, Indian Ocean Network, Trans-Saharan Trade
• General developments in these networks:
  • Geographic range expanded
  • Innovations in commercial practices and technology
  • States grew wealthy and powerful; rise and collapse of states and cities

Silk Roads

• Stretched across Eurasia, mainly traded luxury goods (e.g., silk, porcelain)
• Expansion due to high demand for luxury items
• Innovations:
  • Transportation Technologies: Caravanserai (inns/guesthouses for safety and cultural exchange)
  • Commercial Practices: Paper money, flying money system, new forms of credit (e.g., banking houses, bills of exchange)
• Rise of trading cities (e.g., Kashgar) due to location and trade

Indian Ocean Network

• Maritime trade, expansion due to understanding of monsoon winds
• Traded common goods (textiles, spices) and luxury items
• Innovations:
  • Technological: Magnetic compass, improved astrolabe, new ship designs (Chinese junk)
  • Commercial Practices: Similar to Silk Roads (credit systems)
• Growth of states (e.g., Swahili city-states)
• Cultural diffusion:
  • Diaspora communities (e.g., Arab and Persian in East Africa)
  • Spread of Islam and new languages (e.g., Swahili)
  • Zheng He's voyages spread Chinese maritime technology

Trans-Saharan Trade Network

• Expansion due to camel saddles
• Key state: Empire of Mali, enriched through gold trade and taxation, rise under Mansa Musa

Effects of Increased Connectivity

Cultural Consequences

• Spread of religions (e.g., Buddhism into China via Silk Roads)
• Literary and artistic transfers (e.g., Islamic scholars translating Greek and Roman classics)
• Scientific and technological transfers (e.g., gunpowder)
• Rise and fall of cities (e.g., Hangzhou's rise, Baghdad's fall)
• Travelers' accounts (e.g., Ibn Battuta)

Environmental Consequences

• Crop transfers (e.g., Champa rice to China led to population growth)
• Disease transfer (e.g., Bubonic plague spread along trade routes)

The Mongol Empire

• Largest land-based empire, facilitated connections across Eurasia
• Established the Pax Mongolica, increasing trade and communication
• Cultural and technological transfers:
  • Medical knowledge, Greek and Islamic
  • Adoption of Uyghur script for communication across empire

• Review resources (Himler Review Guide) and additional videos recommended for in-depth understanding.