Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World: A Brief Global
History with Sources
Second Edition
Chapter 7
Commerce and Culture, 500–1500
Copyright © 2013 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
I. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
A. The Growth of the Silk Roads
1. Inner and Outer Eurasia
2. Pastoral people in motion
3. Indirect connections between empires
I. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
B. Goods in transit
1. Luxury goods such as silk
2. Women as producers and consumers
3. China and other centers of silk production
I. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
C. Cultures in Transit
1. Buddhism on the road
2. New forms of Buddhism: Mahayana
I. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
D. Disease in Transit
1. Smallpox and measles in Han and Rome
2. Bubonic plague in Byzantium and elsewhere
3. Mongols and the Black Death
Silk Roads
II. Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian
Ocean
A. Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World
1. Malay sailors in East Africa
2. New technologies
3. India as the fulcrum
4. Impact of China
5. Islam and trade
II. Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian
Ocean
B. Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: Southeast Asia
1. Srivijaya, 670–1075
2. Khmer kingdom of Angkor, 800–1300
3. Borobudur and Angkor Wat
4. “Indianization”
II. Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian
Ocean
C. Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa
1. Swahili
2. Rise of Islamic trade
3. Lamu, Mombasa, Kilwa, and Sofala
4. Cultural fusions
5. Muslim Africans
6. Great Zimbabwe
The Swahili Coast of East Africa
In the trading ports the Muslim influence was strong. Much
of the other population remains traditional with very little Islamic
influence outside of cities!
A. Coastal Ports – Mogadishu, Kilwa, etc.
1. Mixture of people – Arabian, African,
Asian
2. Blended culture of these ports
a. Swahili language – Bantu based,
Arabic influenced
b. Active Indian Ocean trade with
Asia (India, China)
The Swahili Coast
B. Cultures of the Swahili Coast
1. Islam unifies the rulers and
merchants…allows them to exist
with a somewhat common culture
a. Most of the regular population
didn’t convert to Islam
2. Swahili allowed a vibrant culture
to develop
The Swahili Coast
III. Sand Roads: Exchange across the
Sahara
A. Commercial Beginnings in West Africa
1. Environmental variation around the Sahara
2. Sudanic West African trade and urban centers
III. Sand Roads: Exchange across the
Sahara
B. Gold, Salt, and Slaves: Trade and Empire in West
Africa
1. Camel caravans carrying gold and salt
2. Wealthy empires based on trade
3. Women in the workforce
4. Slave trading
5. Cosmopolitan cities
II. African Grassland Kingdoms
The Sudanic States
1. Ghana, Mali, Songhai(y)…West Africa
2. The Sahel – exchange zone between North and
tropical Africa
3. Gold-salt trade
Caravans
across Sahara
reached the
Sahel. This was
the transfer
point for Islam!
Ghana
1. Gold-salt trade route
2. Rulers converted to Islam by
10th century
a. Much of the population
did not convert
Empires of the Western Sudan
Empire of Mali
1. Malinke peoples
2. Muslim kingdom
3. Gold - salt trade…also
agriculture
4. Griots – professional oral
historians
5. Sundiata – the “Lion Prince”
6. Mansa Musa…the gold Hajj
a. Showed incredible
wealth
Empires of the Western Sudan
Trade Cities
a. Jenne and Timbuktu
b. Niger River
c. Centers of religion
–mosques
d. Centers of culture
– libraries and universities
Songhay
1. Middle Niger valley
2. Established by Sunni Ali
(1464-1492) – expanded
Songhay territory
3. Like Mali, made $$ as a
middleman in the gold trade
4. Askia – military title taken by
rulers of Songhay
5. Elites were Muslim – people remained
animistic
6. Defeated by Muslim army from Morocco,
1591 – firearms
Mosque at Jenne
In both politics and
Slavery and Islam
society, the Sudan
1. Slave trade between Africa and
became a mixture of
Muslim world
Muslim, indigenous
traditions
2. Muslim views on slavery
a. Demand: women and children
b. Slave usage – all areas of society
IV. An American Network: Commerce and
Connection in the Western Hemisphere
A.
B.
C.
D.
Geographic barriers
Regional trade networks
Mayan and Aztec trade
Incan roads
V. Reflections: Economic Globalization—
Ancient and Modern
A.
B.
C.
D.
Luxury goods of the ancient world
Mass consumption in the modern world
Multi-polar ancient economy
Western dominance in the modern economy