2.1 The Silk Roads

Thematic Focus (ECN): Economics Systems — As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.

Learning Objective Unit 2.A: Explain the causes and effects of growth of networks of exchange after 1200.

• KC-3.1.I.A.i Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes— including the Silk Roads—promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
• KC-3.1.I.C.i The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.
• KC-3.3.I.B Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.

Illustrative examples:

• Trading cities:
  • Kashgar
  • Samarkand
• New forms of credit and money economies:
  • Bills of exchange
  • Banking houses
  • Use of paper money

2.1 The Silk Roads

Thematic Focus (ECN): Economics Systems — As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.

Learning Objective Unit 2.A: Explain the causes and effects of growth of networks of exchange after 1200.

• KC-3.1.I.A.i Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes— including the Silk Roads—promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
• KC-3.1.I.C.i The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.
• KC-3.3.I.B Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.

Illustrative examples:

• Trading cities:
  • Kashgar
  • Samarkand
• New forms of credit and money economies:
  • Bills of exchange
  • Banking houses
  • Use of paper money

2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World

Thematic Focus (GOV): Governance — A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.

Thematic Focus (CDI): Cultural Developments and Interactions — The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.

Learning Objective Unit 2.B: Explain the process of state building and decline in Eurasia over time. THEMATIC FOCUS Economics Systems ECN As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services. LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• KC-3.2.I.B.iii Empires collapsed in different regions of the world and in some areas were replaced by new imperial states, including the Mongol khanates. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Learning Objective Unit 2.C: Explain how the expansion of empires influenced trade and communication over time.

• KC-3.1.I.E.i The expansion of empires—including the Mongols—facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into their conquerors’ economies and trade networks.

Learning Objective Unit 2.D: Explain the significance of the Mongol Empire in larger patterns of continuity and change.

• KC-3.2.II.A.ii Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires, including the Mongols, encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers.

Illustrative examples:

• Technological and cultural transfers:
  • Transfer of Greco– Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe
  • Transfer of numbering systems to Europe
  • Adoption of Uyghur script

2.4 Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

Thematic Focus (TEC): Technology and Innovation — Human adaptation and innovation have resulted in increased efficiency, comfort, and security, and technological advances have shaped human development and interactions with both intended and unintended consequences.

Thematic Focus (GOV): Governance — A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.

Learning Objective Unit 2.H: Explain the causes and effects of the growth of trans-Saharan trade.

• KC-3.1.II.A.ii The growth of interregional trade was encouraged by innovations in existing transportation technologies.
• KC-3.1.I.A.iv Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes, including the trans-Saharan trade network.

Learning Objective Unit 2.I: Explain how the expansion of empires influenced trade and communication over time.

• KC-3.1.I.E.ii The expansion of empires—including Mali in West Africa–facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into the economies and trade networks.

Illustrative examples:

• Technologies encouraging interregional trade:
  • Camel saddle
  • Caravans

2.5 Cultural Consequences of Connectivity

Thematic Focus (CDI): Cultural Developments and Interactions — The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.

Learning Objective Unit 2.J: Explain the intellectual and cultural effects of the various networks of exchange in Afro-Eurasia from c. 1200 to c. 1450.

• KC-3.1.III.D Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions, as well as scientific and technological innovations.
• KC-3.3.II The fate of cities varied greatly, with periods of significant decline and periods of increased urbanization, buoyed by rising productivity and expanding trade networks.
• KC-3.1.III.C As exchange networks intensified, an increasing number of travelers within Afro-Eurasia wrote about their travels.

Illustrative examples:

• Diffusion of cultural traditions:
  • The influence of Buddhism in East Asia
  • The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia
  • The spread of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
• Diffusion of scientific or technological innovations:
  • Gunpowder from China
  • Paper from China
• Travelers:
  • Ibn Battuta
  • Margery Kempe
  • Marco Polo

2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity

Thematic Focus (ENV): Humans and the Environments — The environment shapes human societies, and as populations grow and change, these populations in turn shape their environments.

Learning Objective Unit 2.K: Explain the environmental effects of the various networks of exchange in Afro-Eurasia from c. 1200 to c. 1450.

• KC-3.1.IV There was continued diffusion of crops and pathogens, with epidemic diseases, including the bubonic plague, along trade routes.

Illustrative examples:

• Diffusion of crops:
  • Bananas in Africa
  • New rice varieties in East Asia
  • Spread of citrus in the Mediterranean

2.7 Comparison of Economic Exchange

Learning Objective Unit 2.L: Explain the similarities and differences among the various networks of exchange in the period from c. 1200 to c. 1450.

• KC-3.1 A deepening and widening of networks of human interaction within and across regions contributed to cultural, technological, and biological diffusion within and between various societies.
  • KC-3.1.I.A.i Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes—including the Silk Roads—promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
  • KC-3.1.I.C.i The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.
• KC-3.3 Changes in trade networks resulted from and stimulated increasing productive capacity, with important implications for social and gender structures and environmental processes.
  • KC-3.3.I.B Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.