Commerce and Culture AP World History Notes

Trade:  Long-distance trade developed  This trade shaped culture and society  Trade = mostly indirect  Chain of separate transactions  Goods traveled father than merchants

Significance of Trade: Economic  Altered consumption  Ex: West Africans now able to get salt to flavor and preserve their food  Changed the day-to-day lives of individuals  Ex: trade specialization --> led to less self- sufficiency and more dependency

Significance of Trade: Social  Traders became their own social group  Sometimes viewed suspiciously --> why are they making money without making the goods?  Trade became a means of social mobility  Money = land = power and status  Trade used by elite groups to distinguish themselves from commoners  Only they could afford luxury goods from far away like silk or ivory

Significance of Trade: Political  Controlling and taxing trade motivated the creation of states and kingdoms  Wealth from trade sustained these states and kingdoms and facilitated their growth

What Else Was “Traded”?  Religious ideas  Technological innovations  Disease-bearing germs  Plants and animals

The Silk Roads

The Silk Roads: Growth  Result = steppe products traded for agricultural products and manufactured goods from inner Eurasia  Birth of the Silk Roads trade network Hides, furs, livestock, wool, amber, horses, saddles

The Silk Roads: Growth  Construction of classical civilizations and empires added major players to this trade network  Persian Empire, Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Han dynasty, Gupta Empire  Result = Silk Roads continued to grow

The Silk Roads: Goods  Most goods traded = luxury goods rather than staple goods  Destined for an elite and wealthy market  Only goods worth transporting with such high transportation costs

The Silk Roads: Goods  Silk = major product in high demand  China had a silk monopoly until the 500s --> then others gained knowledge of silk production  Increased the supply of silk along the Silk Roads

Silk Makes the World Go ‘Round  Used as currency in Central Asia  Became a symbol of high status in both China and the Byzantine Empire  Used in the expanding religions of Buddhism and Christianity  Ex: worn by Buddhist monks  Ex: silk altar covers in Christian churches

The Silk Roads: Goods  Volume of trade = small  But social and economic impact of trade = big  Ex: peasant in China produced luxury goods instead of crops  Ex: merchants could make enormous profits

The Silk Roads: Cultures  Major result of trade along the Silk Roads = the spread of Buddhism  From India to Central & East Asia  Spread by Indian traders and Buddhist monks

The Silk Roads: Buddhism  Spread to oases cities in Central Asia  Voluntarily converted  Buddhism gave these small cities a link to the larger, wealthy, and prestigious civilization of India  Many of these cities became centers of learning and commerce Buddhist temple in Dunhuang (an oases city)

The Silk Roads: Buddhism  Transformation of Buddhism  Original faith = shunned the material world  Now Buddhism = filled with wealthy monks, elaborate and expensive monasteries, and so on Buddhist monastery in China

The Silk Roads: Buddhism  What type of Buddhism spread? MAHAYANA!  Buddha = a deity  Many bodhisattvas  Emphasis on compassion

The Silk Roads: Disease  Long-distance trade = resulted in exposure to unfamiliar diseases  Athens ( BCE) = widespread epidemic; killed 25% of the army  Roman & Han Empires = measles and smallpox devastated both populations  Mediterranean World ( CE) = devastated by bubonic plague from India

The Black Death  Spread due to the Mongol Empire’s unification of most of Eurasia (13th-14th centuries)  Could have been bubonic plague, anthrax, or collection of epidemic diseases  = killed 1/3 of European population  Similar death toll in China & parts of Islamic world

The Sand Roads  Trans-Saharan trade route  Linked North Africa and the Mediterranean world with West Africa

Trans-Saharan Trade  Like the Silk and Sea Roads  this trade begins as a result of environmental variation  What does each region have to offer?  North African coastal areas = cloth, glassware, weapons, books  Sahara region = copper and salt  Savanna grasslands = grain crops  Sub-Saharan forests = tree crops like yam and kola nuts

Trans-Saharan Trade  Made possible by the CAMEL!  1 st traders = camel-owning people from desert oases  Major traders became = North African Muslim Arabs  What did they come to West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa for?  GOLD!, ivory, kola nuts, slaves  Gave in return: SALT!, horses, cloth, weapons, tools

Caravans  As many as 5,000 camels  Hundreds of people  Travelling at night  Length of journey = about 70 days  miles walked per day

Construction of Empires  New wealth and resources from trans- Saharan trade allowed some regions to construct large empires or city-states  Between 500 and 1600 CE  Major empires = Mali, Ghana, and Songhai

Cities Within the Kingdoms  West Africa gained wealth of trans-Saharan trade  Urban and commercial centers  Traders met and exchanged goods there  Centers of manufacturing  Items created: beads, iron tools, cotton textiles, etc.  Largely Islamic Mosque in Timbuktu (in Mali)

Classical Era Variations: Africa 500 BCE CE

Early Africa  Few written records of early African people  Historians learn about early African people through oral traditions = legends & history passed by word of mouth through generations  We also learn about them through art and artifacts that have been left behind

Geography & Environment  African continent is 3 times larger than the U.S.  Contains deserts, mountains, grasslands, river valleys, rainforests, etc.  5 regions (N, S, E, W, and Central)

Geography & Environment  Sahara Desert in the north = the world’s largest desert  Another major desert = the Kalahari in the south

Geography & Environment  South of the Sahara lies a great plateau = high, flat area = called the Sahel  Sahel = covered by savannas = treeless grasslands

Geography & Environment  Tropical rainforests in central Africa  Major highlands and mountains in eastern Africa  Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya

Geography & Environment

Geography and Environment  As a result of Africa’s size and environmental variations, many separate societies, cultures, and civilizations grew throughout Africa

Africa’s Proximity to Others  Close to Eurasia and Arabia  This facilitated trade, interaction, and cultural diffusion

Africa in the Classical Era

Nubian Civilization  Nubia = along the southern Nile; south of Egypt  Had close contact with Egyptians; trade, cultural diffusion, and warfare between the two  Tombs of Nubian kings found with gold, jewelry, and pottery from Egypt  Same objects (like eating utensils) found in both civilizations

Nubian Civilization  Government = all-powerful monarch  Gained wealth and military power from trading to the north via the Nile and to the east and west via camel caravans  Flourished from 300 BCE to 100 CE Meroe Pyramids

Urban Center Merchants Weavers Potters Iron workers Masons Servants Laborers Slaves Nubian Civilization Rural Areas Herders & farmers Rain-based agriculture Like Meroe

Nubian Civilization  Fell apart in the centuries following 100 CE due to:  Deforestation  Conquest by the neighboring state of Axum

Axum  Located along the Red Sea  Very productive agricultural system  Plow-based farming  Made wheat, barley, millet, and teff  Became a trading power in Red Sea and Indian Ocean Commerce

Axum  Many cities/ports on the East African coast got products from the African interior to sell in the Indian Ocean trading network  Ivory, rhinoceros horns, tortoiseshells, obsidian, slaves, etc.  Placed taxes on these items to bring in more revenue Axumite Coins

Axum  Known for their stone obelisks  Royal grave markers  Funeral monuments  As a result of its trade connections, it absorbed parts of Roman culture, including Christianity

Axum Decline  Started to decline in the 600s CE due to:  Soil exhaustion and erosion  Deforestation  Rise and spread of Islam Heart of Islam

Niger River Valley  City-based civilization  Biggest city = Jenne-jeno (about 40,000 people)  NO monarch, emperor, or other kind of leader controlling the cities  NOT city-states because each city did NOT have its own individual monarch and/or bureaucracy Statue excavated from site of Jenne-jeno

City “Clusters”: Set Up of a Typical City Larger Central Town Iron Smiths Clusters of economically specialized settlements surrounded a larger central town Cotton Weavers Potters Leather Workers Griots (Praise-singers who preserved and recited the oral traditions of their socieites)

Niger River Valley  Artisan communities became occupational castes  Skills and jobs were passed down to children  Only allowed to marry within your own group

Bantu Migrations  People left West Africa for less populated areas  Settled all across southern and western Africa  Called the Bantu Migrations because - descendants of the people that migrated shared elements of a language known as Bantu  These people brought their culture & knowledge as they migrated  Bantu languages became dominant south of the Sahara

Bantu Migrations

 Bantu people were able to displace, absorb, or eliminate hunter-gatherers they encountered due to: 1) Agriculture - they had a productive economy and could sustain a larger number of people in a small area 2) Iron -- used it to make tools and weapons 3) Disease -- they brought infectious diseases (like malaria) with them

Bantu Africa  Bantu-speaking people became divided into hundred of ethnic groups

Bantu Religion  Bantu people focused on ancestral and nature spirits  Power of dead ancestors accessed through sacrifice rituals  Charms also used -- could be activated to control the rains, defend the village, achieve success in hunting, etc.

Bantu Arts  Sculpture was an important art form  Masks worn at dances & ceremonies -- symbolized link between living & dead  Music was important --> choral singing, dances for ceremonies