What is this about?
Compares similarities and differences among the various networks of exchange
- Calicut known as “City of Spices”
Similarities Among Networks of Exchange
The three major trading networks:
Routes | Brief Explanation |
Silk Roads | - Inland trading route that passed through China, India, Central Asia, and Europe
- Primarily traded luxury goods |
Indian Ocean | - Sea based trading routes which connected East Asia, India, Southeast Asia, Africa, Middle East
- Exchanged goods to heavy to be transported on land |
Trans-Saharan | - Trade network from North Africa and the Mediterranean across the desert to West and East Africa
- Gold, ivory, and slaves from Africa |
All three networks’ origins, purpose, and effects were similar
Origins
- Trade during 1200-1450 built on trading routes used by people of the ancient world
- Came about thanks to the rise of larger, stable governments which could effectively protect trade and enforce laws
- New technological innovations like the magnetic compass, lateen sail, saddles also allowed long distance trade to be safer and more efficient
Purpose
- Purpose was primarily economic: people should be able to sell stuff that other people need and buy stuff that they need
- Although purpose was primarily economic, trade routes also spread culture and technology
Effects
- All three trade routes gave rise to powerful trading cities
- Rise in trade routes also led to a rise of centralization
- Malacca for example became rich by taxing trade passing through the Strait of Malacca
- To be able to do this required Malacca to build a powerful navy, which would not have been possible without centralization
- Standardized currencies also rose and became more popular as they sped up trade and reduced friction amongst traders
Differences Among Networks of Exchange
Differences primarily focus on goods traded, modes of transportation, and religions spread
Routes | Goods | Transportation & Tech | Religions |
Silk Roads | From East:
Silk, porcelain, tea, spices, paper, gunpowder
From West:
Horses, saddles, fruits, domestic animals | - Horses and camels
- Also saddles and caravanserai | Buddhism
India → East & Southeast Asia
Neo-Confucianism
China → Korea, Japan, Vietnam
Islam
Middle East → India |
Indian Ocean | From East Africa:
Gold, ivory, slaves
From Middle East:
Citrus, fruits, dates, books
From India:
Spices (like pepper), textiles | - Dhows, Chinese junk
- Also stern rudder, lateen sail, astrolabe, magnetic compass | Islam
India → Southeast Asia
Neo-Confucianism
China → Korea, Japan, Vietnam
Islam
Middle East → India |
Trans-Saharan | From North Africa & Middle East:
Horses, books, salt
From West Africa:
Gold, ivory, slaves | - Caravans of camels carried goods and people
- Also saddles | Islam
Middle East & North Africa → Sub-Saharan Africa |
- Currencies used across trading networks were also different
- Southeast Asia used tin ingots as a standardized currency
- West African states used cowrie shells
Social Implications of Networks of Exchange
Labor
- As demand for products increased, demand for labor also increased
- Forms of labor from earlier periods continued:
- Slavery, free peasants, craft workers and artisans
- Grand projects, such as irrigation canals and great structures requires massive amounts of labor
- Governments used various methods to mobilize this labor, including kinship ties (where families work together on large projects), conscription, and indentured servitude
Social and Gender Structures
- Most societies remained patriarchies
- Social structures around the world at this time were still primarily divided by class or caste
- However, in some areas, women had more freedom and power
- Note that despite the examples below, women still had far fewer opportunities and freedoms compared to men
Mongol Empire
- Even though it was a patriarchy, in the Mongol Empire, women could travel freely and refused to give into wearing burkas and feet-binding
- Also were trained to ride horses alongside men and there were also women warriors
Europe
- Women worked as farmers and artisans, some also ran guilds
Southeast Asia
- Women were often prominent merchants and were very skilled at operating and controlling marketplaces
Environmental Processes
- Steep population decline occurred due to Bubonic Plague spread along trade routes
- Increased agriculture strained environments
- Deforestation and overgrazing caused soil erosion
- Forced growing populations to migrate to other areas