World History:
The Earth and its Peoples
Chapter 7
Networks of Communication And
Exchange,
300 B.C.E. - 1100 C.E.
Objectives
• Identify the locations and describe the participants of the
Silk Road, the Indian Ocean, and the trans-Saharan
trade routes..
• Define the term “Africanity” and explain the development
of “Africanity” in terms of Bantu migrations..
• Analyze the relationship between environment,
transportation technology,and trade along the Silk Road,
Indian Ocean, and trans-Saharan trade routes..
• Discuss the causes and patterns of the spread of
Buddhism and Christianity..
Silk Road Map
Overview
Remember to give
Students their quizzes
Back
Trade Routes
• agricultural goods
• manufactured goods
• ideas
• social system
Did more for cultural
inclusion than any
emperor or king.
The Silk Road
Silk Road
– connects Middle East to China
– 1st Period: 150 BCE - 907 CE
– 2nd Period: 13th-17th cen. CE
• Origins
– nomadic traders
– Chinese demand for western
products
– Mesopotamian markets
• Parthians
• hybrid camels
– existed solely for trade route
The Silk Road
Zhang Jian
– Ferghana horses
– alfalfa and domestic grapes
• Chinese Exports
– silk, pottery, paper
Impact of Trade
– settling of Iranian nomads
– import of Turkic peoples
• yurts
– interest in foreign religions
– military
• chariot, bowmen
• stirrup
• Prosperity from trade = peace
Silk Road Map
The Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean Maritime System
– Indian Ocean / South China Sea
– multilingual / multiethnic
seafarers
– E. Africa, Arabia, India, China,
and SE Asia
• monsoons
– lateen sails; long reaches
– sail further from shore
• colonies
– economic, not political
– warfare rare
The Indian Ocean
Origins of Contact and Trade
• Africa
– SE Asian settling of Madagascar
• 2000 years ago
• cultures of homeland
– Mozambique Channel
• 1500 years ago
Impact
– The Periplus of the Erythraean
Sea - 7th century CE
• extensive written record of trade
• ports of call from E to W
– bilingual and bicultural families
• cosmopolitan in nature
Routes Across the Sahara
Sahara
– 2500 BCE - 300 BCE
• shift in cultural patterns south
– Mediterranean - S. Africa barrier
– source of European exploration
• trans-Saharan caravan routes
Culture
– cave paintings
• cliffs and caves
– southern animals
• hunters, cattle breeders, horse
herders, camel riders
• Trans Saharan Trade Routes
– camel domestication
Camel Domestication
Camels in Africa
– 1st century BCE
– to Egypt from Arabia; S to N
• saddle purposes
Trade
– South
• salt for forest products
• Sahel - ‘coast’
– Saharan southern border
– North
• food for Roman Empire
– Roman N. African farms
• wild animals for Coliseum
• post-Roman shift to Middle East
• Berber: trade for gold dust
Sub-Saharan Africa
Ghana - 600 - 1076 CE
– “land of gold”
– 1st documentable W. Africa
– African with Muslim traders
• religious toleration
Sub-Saharan Africa
– most important cultural
exchange
– geographical obstacles
Sub-Saharan Africa
Geography
– Sahara, Atlantic, Indian, Red
Sea
– limited navigation of rivers
• steppes
– treeless plains; coarse grass
• savanna
– long grasses; scattered forests
• tropical rain forest
• Cultural traditions as a result
of long period of isolation
Sub-Saharan Culture
Cultural Unity...
– “great traditions”
• written language, legal system,
ethical codes, intellectual
traditions
– “small traditions”
•
•
•
•
local customs and beliefs
less-population density
distance between tribes
lack of accessibility to interior
– Common Elements
•
•
•
•
concept of kingship - isolation
fixed social categories
common agricultural cultivation
common music rituals
… emanates from Sub-Sahara
Bantu Migrations
“Africanity”
– common African quality
Bantu
– family of 300 sub-Saharan
languages
– proto-Bantu as fishermen and
agriculturalists
– iron-smelting
• language distribution
• spread of agriculture
• use of iron tools
The Spread of Ideas
Where do ideas and beliefs start?
– Iron-smelting and pork
Religion
– royal sponsorship
– monks, missionaries, and
pilgrims
• Silk Road and Indian Ocean
– Buddhism
• Ethiopian Christianity
– Constantine’s missionaries
– Patriarch of Alexandria
– writing system
• Armenian Christianity