By PresenterMedia.com
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Afro-Asian tropics have a cycle of rainy and dry seasons
dictated by winds known as monsoons.
Tropical Zones have areas of abundant rainfall as well as
arid zones.
Tropics has an uneven distribution of rainfall during the
year.
In order to have year-round access to water, tropical farming
societies constructed:
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Dams (India)
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Irrigation canals (Vietnam, Java, Malaysia)
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Reservoirs
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Tropical peoples used iron for agricultural
implements, weapons, and needles.
Copper was used to make wire and
decorative objects.
Africa produced a great deal of gold.
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Islam spread to sub-Saharan Africa by a gradual
process of peaceful conversion. (commercial
contracts)
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Kingdom of Mali:
Economy rested on agriculture
Supplemented by control of:
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regional and trans-Saharan trading routes
Gold mines of the Niger headwaters
Mansa Kankan Musa 1312-1337
-Demonstrated his wealth during a pilgrimage to
Mecca. (too rich to quit)
-Upon his return to Mali, he established new
Mosques and Quranic schools. (Timbuktu)
- Decline caused by rebellion from within and
attacks from the outside
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India
Between 1206 and 1236 Northwest India was defeated by
violent Muslim Turkish conquerors. (pillage and plunder)
Led by Sultan Iltutmish
 Established Delhi Sultanate as a Muslim state
 Things eventually settle down but, Hindus remain resentful
Had a female ruler at one point.
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In general, they ruled by terror and were a burden on their
subjects.
In the mid-fourteenth century, internal rivalries and external
threats undermined the stability of the Sultanate.
Sultanate was destroyed when Timur sacked Delhi in 1398.
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Decentralized and cooperative
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In each region a certain port functioned as the major emporium for
trade in which good from smaller ports were consolidated and
shipped onward.
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Indian Ocean trade increased between 1200 and 1500
 Stimulated by the:
 prosperity of Latin Europe, Asian, and African states
 Collapse of overland trade routes
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In the Red and Arabian Seas, trade was carried on dhows.
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From India on to Southeast Asia, junks dominated the trade
routes.
Junk Technologically advanced vessels (China and later Bengal)
Had watertight compartments
Up to 12 sails
Carried up to 1,000 tons
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Junk
Dhow
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By 1500, separate city-states
along the E. Africa coast
participated in Indian Ocean
trade.
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The people of these coastal
cities, the “Swahili” people
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Language that combined
native African with Arabic
and Persian
Major export was in gold
mined in southern portion of
Africa.
Swahili
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Great Zimbabwe’s
economy rested on
agriculture, cattle herding,
and most importantly longdistance trade.
Traded: copper, salt,
manufactures, and gold.
City declined due to an
ecological crisis brought
on by deforestation and
overgrazing.
Zimbabwe
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Enough rainfall to
produce wheat for export.
Location that made it a
central transit point for
trade in the Middle East.
Common interest in trade
allowed peoples to live in
peace.
Exchange zone for cotton
and beads (India), spices
(SE Asia), horses
(Arabia), pearls (red
sea), slaves, gold and
ivory (Ethiopia)
Aden
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Grew with the growth of
Arabian sea trade and rise
of the Delhi Sultanate
Exported cotton textiles and
indigo in return for gold and
silver.
Gujarat manufactured
textiles, leather goods,
carpets, silk, and other
commodities.
Gujarat’s overseas trade
was dominated by Muslims,
but Hindus also benefited.
Spread Islam among E.
Indian traders
Gujarat
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Calicut and other cities of
the Malabar Coast
exported cotton textiles
and spices.
Also served as clearinghouses for long-distance
trade.
Cities of the Malabar
Coast were unified in a
loose confederation whose
rulers were tolerant of
other religious and ethnic
groups.
Malabar Coast
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Strait of Malacca is the principal
passage from the Indian Ocean
to the South China Sea.
In the fourteenth century a gang
of Chinese pirates preyed upon
the strait
In 1407, the forces of the Ming
dynasty crushed the Chinese
pirates.
Muslim ruler of Malacca took
advantage of this to exert his
domination over the strait.
Had rubies and musk (Burma),
gold (Sumatra), cloves and
nutmeg (Moluccas)
Malacca
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Architecture:
local cultures incorporated and changed ideas, customs,
and architectural styles from other civilizations.
Education:
Spread of Islam brought literacy to African peoples who
learned Arabic.
Then they used Arabic script to write their own
languages
In the case of India spread of Islam inspired a new
language Urdu.
As Islam spread to Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, Islam
also brought:
Study of Islamic law and administration
Greek science, mathematics, and medicine
Timbuktu, Delhi, and Malacca were new centers of Islamic
learning.
Muslim domination of trade contributed to the
spread of Islam as merchants converted and
traveled.
 Islamic destruction of the last center of
Buddhism in India contributed to the spread of
Islam in India.
 Islam changed as it spread to different
societies.(i.e. attitudes towards women)
 It also brought major changes to society as well.
(India)
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wealth in trade states= bigger gap
between rich and poor.
 Slavery increased in both Africa and in India.
Approx. 2.5 million slave from Africa (cheap!)
Most male slaves were trained in specific skills (oxymoron: some
became rich and powerful)
Women worked as entertainers and in the household
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Women throughout this period still remained
subservient
+ status determined by male master
+ cook, brew, spin thread, and work on farms
+ Islam seemed to have a varied effect on women