1. The Travels of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta
“Crossing the World”
ROLE-PLAYING Group Activity
Doc 7.2 and Pages

2. WHY DID THE HAN FAMILY OPEN AND EXTEND THE SILK ROADS?
THE CHINESE WANTED TO MAKE A PROFIT ($) FROM SELLING SILK AND THE WEALTHY WANTED ACCESS TO GOODS FROM OTHER LOCATIONS.

3. WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE TRAVELING ON THE SILK and Trans-Saharan ROADS?
It was more than one road - actually a network of caravan routes that stretched across Eurasian
Developed over time by many traders, empires, and merchants
Almost no one traveled the whole route. Most people bought and sold goods on either end of one segment of the route.

4. The Travels of Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad - Din, was born at Tangier, Morocco, on the 24th February 1304 C.E. (703 Hijra). He left Tangier on Thursday, 14th June, 1325 C.E. (2nd Rajab 725 A.H.), when he was twenty one years of age. His travels lasted for about thirty years, after which he returned to Fez, Morocco at the court of Sultan Abu 'Inan and dictated accounts of his journeys to Ibn Juzay. These are known as the famous Travels (Rihala) of Ibn Battuta. He died at Fez in 1369 C.E.
Ibn Battuta was the only medieval traveler who is known to have visited the lands of every Muslim ruler of his time. He also travelled in Ceylon (present Sri Lanka), China and Byzantium and South Russia. The mere extent of his travels is estimated at no less than 75,000 miles, a figure which is not likely to have been surpassed before the age of steam.

5. What were trade cities/towns really like for merchants, traders, travelers, and the people living in them?
Varied depending on region, but most had these things in common
Lack of sanitation systems
Extreme poverty in many of the populations of people
Ostentatious wealth of the elite
Absence of building codes
Prevalence of diseases
Some government control of traders

6. Imagine that your group is following Ibn Battuta in the 14th Century as he travels from Timbuktu to Chang’an with a pit stop in Bactra.
As a group review this PPT and read the information on Ibn Battuta
Answer the following questions on a fresh piece of paper. (one per group)
What types of transportation and supplies will we need?
What is the best route? How long might that route take?
What types of weather, environments, and geographic elements will be have to endure?
What types of people, civilizations, empires, and religions will be encounter?
What are the possible dangers?

12. ITEMS TRADED ALONG THE SILK ROAD
How long would these items last?
GLASS
BEER
BACTRIAN CAMELS
OUD
CARPETS
PORCELAIN
METAL WORK
WINE
WHEAT
JADE
SPICES
SILK

13. Animals

14. People
Bandits
and
Monks
Merchants

15. Places
Mountains,
Deserts,
Oases
(plural of oasis)

16. Our Silk Roads journey starts in China.
Between Chang’an (#1) and Dunhuang (#4): Bandits from Mongolia or Tibet may attack caravans. Therefore, Chinese soldiers must travel with the caravans.
In the Chinese city of Chang’an (#1), merchants load fine silk cloth and herbal medicines onto two-humped Bactrian camels. 16

17. Which colors indicate drier areas or deserts?
We will explore the Silk Roads using a satellite image. Find dry areas near the numbered Silk Road towns.
In this satellite image, the green color tells us about vegetation. Green areas have enough water for trees and crops.
Which colors indicate drier areas or deserts?
tan 17

18. Dunhuang (#4) is an important Buddhist religious center.
Buddhist monks traveled along the Silk Road and brought Buddhism from India to China. 18

19. Taklamakan Desert (“if you go in, you won’t come out”): Caravans must travel through this desert before the heat of summer hits. 19

20. Oasis towns are located along the edge of the Taklamakan Desert.
Rivers carry melted snow down from high mountains!
High, snow-covered
mountains
surround the Taklamakan. 20

21. Kashgar (#10) is an oasis town, where local merchants trade their
dates, melons, and grapes for silk that the caravans bring from China.
Why did the Chinese travel this far west (to Central Asia)?
Pamir Mountains (between #10 and #13): The route continues through mountains and is called the “Trail of Bones” because the route is dangerously steep and cold. 21

22. The highest elevations are purple and dark gray.
Pamir Mountains: Between Kashgar (#10) and Tashkent (#13), caravans climbed the “Trail of Bones” through the high, steep Pamirs.
The highest elevations are purple and dark gray.
Pamir Mountains: Elevations are above 10,000 feet. It is extremely cold, and there is no food.

23. The highest elevations are purple and dark gray.
Why cross the Pamirs?
The highest elevations are purple and dark gray.

24. In Tashkent (#13), Chinese military use silk to purchase the strong horses raised in the grasslands of Central Asia.
In Tashkent (#13), local merchants also sell fine locally made wool carpets as well as musical instruments and glass objects that have come from Europe and the Middle East. 24

25. Dromedary camels from Arabia are used from here westward.
#20 and #21 send spices and cotton cloth from India and precious stones from Ceylon.
In Herat (#17), a great Islamic mosque stands near the city market. People from Arabia brought the religion of Islam to Silk Road towns. 25

26. Tyre (#27): Goods are loaded onto ships
in this port city on the
Mediterranean Sea.
In Baghdad (#24), ivory, gold, and spices from Africa and pearls from the Persian Gulf are exchanged for silk.
In Byzantium (#28), few people know where China is, but wealthy people want the silk that has traveled along the Silk Roads.

27. Silk Road towns connected the largest cities of the West and East in 100 CE.

28. Silk Road towns connected the largest cities of the West and East in 800 CE.