Odds & Ends

 A sign of the importance and economic value of trade in this era was that merchants from a great variety of cultures settled into areas far from their homelands & established pockets of communities.  Profit motive drove this merchant diaspora!  Examples  Jewish & Christian merchants and families lived in China, South Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Persian Gulf region.

 Muslim communities  Indian Ocean  SE Asia  North Africa  West Africa  (Muslim) Spain  Byzantine Empire  China  Chinese Merchants  SE Asia, Indian Ocean region

DescriptionWho is he?  Christian merchant who traveled with his father & uncle from Venice to SW Asia via the Silk Roads into East Asia. (1200s)  Returned 24 yrs later  His account, A Description of the World  Christopher Columbus used that book as an inspiration to find a way to the “East” and called China “Cathay” as did this traveler  Marco Polo

 The wealthy west African King of Mali  Journyed to Mecca in the 1300s (hajj)  Visited Timbuktu, Gao, and Cairo  Mansa Musa

 Muslim traveler from North Africa  Began a 30 year journey in the 1300s  Went through Dar-al- Islam “everywhere Islam is”  West Africa, Muslim Spain, North Africa, Byzantine Empire, SW Asia, East Africa, South Asia, East Asia, SE Asia  Journals contain lively commentary on the people, sights, and customs of each region visited.  Ibn Battuta

 All seven of his voyages departed from Nanjing, one of China’s main ports  Between , visited ports in SE Asia, India, Persia, Arabian Peninsula, & Africa.  Brought back a giraffe from Africa…  Zheng He

descriptionAnswer  Chinese monk who went to India in the 600s  Spent 10 years visiting holy sites and libraries  Brought knowledge back to China  Records called Great Tang Records on the Western Regions  Xuanzang

 Patriarchy – male dominated society, continued to be the norm  China: Tang & Song, women’s status deteriorated  Across Dar-Al-Islam, traditional Muslim views of women prevailed  EXCEPTIONS:  Mongol and Vietnamese women refused to accept the Chinese cultural expectation of footbinding.  Some Vietnamese women led revolts against Chinese occupation of their lands.  Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty – early emperor in the Post Classical Era.