1. Chapter 7: Commerce and Culture
3rd wave civilizations
UNIT 3

2. Economic Globalization
Why was trade significant
Altered consumption
Encouraged specialization
Diminished economic self-sufficiency
Traders became distinct social groups
Sometimes a means of social mobility
Provided goods for the elite (usually)
Sometimes created state creation
Other ideas, innovations, diseases, animals and plants were spread

3. Silk Road

4. Exchange across Europe
Silk Roads form one of the world’s extensive and sustained networks of exchange
Relay of trade
Provided unity and coherence in Eurasian history
The Growth of the Silk Road
Eurasia divided in “inner” and “outer” zones
Outer- relatively warm, well watered (China, India, Middle East, Mediterranean)
Inner- harsher, drier climate and pastoral (Eastern Russia and Central Asia)
Creation of 2nd wave civilizations/imperial states tried to control pastoral people
Trading networks did best when security was provided by states
Roman and Chinese anchored commerce
7th and 8th C- Byzantine, Abbasid and Tang dynasty
13th and 14th C Mongols

5. Goods in Transit Many goods, usually by camel
Luxury goods for elite
High cost of transport did not allow movement of staples
Silk symbolized Eurasian exchange
China had the monopoly on silk at first
By 6th C- others were producing
Silk was used a currency in Central Asia
Silk was symbol of status
Volume of trade
Peasants in the Yangzi River delta of S China produced market goods
Silk, paper, porcelain
Well placed individuals could make enormous profits

6. Products that contributed to Silk Road Exchange
China: silk bamboo, mirrors, gunpowder, paper, rhubarb, ginger, lacquer ware, chrysanthemums
Siberia and Central Asia: furs, amber, livestock, horses, falcons, hides, copper vessels, tents, saddles, slaves
India: cotton textiles, herbal medicine, precious stones, spices
Middle East: dates, nuts, almonds, dried fruit, dyes, lapis lazuli (ore to make blue dye), swords
Mediterranean: gold coins, glassware, glazes, grapevines, jewelry, artworks, perfume, wool and linen textiles, olive oil

7. Culture in Transit
Cultural transmission was more important than exchange of goods
Buddhism
Spread
Appealed to merchants
Conversion was heavy in oasis cities and was voluntary
In China was the religion of foreign merchants and rulers
Transformed during its spread

8. Spread of Buddhism
Spread of Hinduism (Blue route)

9. What accounted for the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Roads?
Your Turn:

10. Disease in transit
Major populations in Afro-Eurasian world developed disease patterns
Long distant trade meant exposure to new diseases
Early case- Athens
Roman and Han empires CE
The Black Death
Spread because of the Mongols- thanks Mongols  (remember spread 13th and 14th C)
Bubonic plague ?/ anthrax?
Killed up to ½ of European population in
Similar death toll in China and Islamic World
European advantage
Western hemisphere after 1500s- Columbian Exchange

11. What was the impact of disease along the Silk Roads?
Your turn:

12. Sea Roads- Indian Ocean

13. Indian Ocean Trade- LOOK up the word COMMERCE!
History
Mediterranean Sea- from the time of the Phoenicians
Venice was center by 1000 CE
Controlled trade of imports from Asia
Linked Europe to the much greater trade networks of Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean network
Trade grew from environmental and cultural diversity
Transportation was cheaper by sea than land
Bulk goods
Monsoons
Commerce was between towns- not states

14. Lateen Sails: dhow
The exact origins of the dhow are lost to history. Most scholars believe that it originated in China from 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.
Lateen Sail allowed sailors to sail across the Indian ocean, could sail into wind

15. Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World
Indian Ocean trade started in the 1st wave of civilization
Indus valley writing may have been stimulated by cuneiform (who had this?)
Ancient Egypt/Phoenicians traded down the Red Sea
Malay sailors reached Madagascar in BCE
Tempo of commerce increased in early centuries with understanding of the monsoon
Merchants from Roman empire settled in S. India and E Africa coast
Growing trade in E Indian Ocean and S China Sea
Center of trade was India
Two great encouragers for Indian Ocean trade
Economic and political revival of China
Rise of Islam in 7th C (friendly to commercial life)
Developed communities- spread their faith

16. Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: SE Asia
Ocean commerce transformed SE Asia and E Africa
Stimulated political change
Introduced foreign religious ideas
SE Asia
Malay sailors opened all-sea route through Straits of Malacca 350 CE
Small sea ports competed to attract traders
Malay Kingdom
Srivijaya- dominated trade from CE
Gold, spices, taxes on ships created state
Inland States based on rice production also participated
Funan CE (Vietnam and E Cambodia)
Khmer kingdom- Angkor ( CE) forest products
Champa- Vietnam- tried to control trade and provoked warfare
Elements of Indian culture spread to SE Asia, Chinese culture to Vietnam
Indian alphabets, artistic forms, political and religious ideas (Buddhism)

17. Sailendras Kingdom- Central Java influenced from India
Massive building of Hindu and Buddhist centers
Shows Buddhist cultural grounding
Hinduism
SE Asia, Champas and Angkor areas
“Indianization”
Mixed Indian ideas and practices with existing
Little conflict
Less patriarchal tradition
Islam came later

18. Products from Indian Ocean Trade
Mediterranean—ceramics, glassware, wine, gold, olive oil
East Africa—ivory, gold, iron goods, slaves, tortoiseshells, quartz, leopard skins
Arabia—frankincense (desired far beyond Indian Ocean world), myrrh, perfumes
India—grain, ivory, precious stones, cotton textiles, spices, timber
SE Asia—tin, sandalwood, cloves, nutmeg, mace
China—silks, porcelain, tea

19. Influence of Buddhism in Java
Hindu temple in Java

20. Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: E Africa
History of Swahili Civilization
Blend of Bantu and Islamic Indian Ocean life
East Africa Coast CE
Urban
Cities politically independent
Ruled by a king
Most of trade was in Arab ships
Deep participation in the Indian Ocean World
Regular visitors from Arab, Indian and Persian merchants
Swahili was written in Arabic script
Spread conversion of Islam
Islam and Swahili culture didn’t reach much beyond coast until the 19th c
Traded with interior had an impact
Trade with interior for gold led to Great Zimbabwe ( CE)

21. What was the role of Swahili civilization in the world of Indian Ocean commerce?
Your Turn:

22. To what extent did the Silk Roads and the Sea Roads operate in a similar/different fashion?
Your turn:
Silk Road
Similar
Different
Sea Road

23. Africa

24. West African Trade Routes

25. Sand Roads: Exchange Across the Sahara
Commercial Beginnings in W Africa
Based on environmental variation
N Africa- manufactured goods
Sahara- copper, salt and dates
Earliest Trade
People among the Sudan
Emergence of urban clusters
Jenne-Jeno (Niger Valley Civilization)
Gold, Salt and Slaves
Camel
Regular trans-Saharan commerce by 300 CE
Merchants really wanted gold
Sahara become international trade route
Trade encouraged new political structures
Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem, Hausa
Monarchies- elaborate court life
Slavery
West Africa, mostly women
Male slaves- porters, craftsmen, miners, laborers
Raided from further South

26. The Americas

27. An American Network: Commerce and Connection in the Western Hemisphere
NO interaction between E. and W. until Columbus
American trade networks were not as dense as Afro-Eurasian
Important limitations
Lack of domesticated large mammals, wheeled vehicles, large ocean going ships
Geographical/environmental obstacles
“Loosely interactive web”- Great Lake to Andes
Cultural elements spread gradually
Cahokia was center of widespread trading network
Amazon and Orinoco river exchange
Caribbean peoples had interisland trade
Chincha people traded along Pacific Coast of S America

28. Major trade network in Mesoamerica
Chaco canyon culture interacted with Mesoamerica
Maya and Teotihuacan traded by land
Maya traded by Sea on BOTH coasts (dugout canoes)
Aztecs by 15th C had professional merchants - pochteca
Major trade network in Andes was state run
Inca distributed supplies from great state storehouses
20,000 miles of road
Some local exchange at fairs along borders of empire

29. Mesoamerica

30. Andes/Incan Road System

31. Continuities and Change
Changes
Move from barter to coins as system of exchange
Greater interaction between civilizations – direct links between Rome and China
Cultural diffusion through trade – spread of religion, architecture, disease
Decline in trade in Europe after fall of Rome
Continuities
Dominance of India in trade
The importance of the Silk Road and maritime trade routes
Constantinople as western trade hub