What was part of modern process of globalization but also evoked older patterns of global commerce?
building modern highways across Africa and Asia
What is a major feature of human history?
exchange of goods between people of different ecological zones
What is an example of societies monopolizing desirable products?
China monopolizing silk
What became more important than ever in 500-1500?
long-distance trade
Was most trade direct or indirect?
indirect
What are eight reasons why trade was important?
-altered consumption
-encouraged specialization
-diminished economic self-sufficiency of local societies
-traders often became a distinct social group
-sometimes was means of social mobility
-provided prestige goods for elites
-sometimes the wealth from t
What is outer Eurasia like?
relatively warm, well-watered (China, India, Middle East, Mediterranean)
What is inner Eurasia like?
harsher, drier climate, much of it pastoral (eastern Russia, Central Asia)
What did creation of classical civilizations and imperial states in 500-0 b.c.e. include?
efforts to control pastoral peoples
When did trading networks do the best?
when large states provided security for trade
What kind of goods mostly traveled along the Silk Roads?
luxury goods for the elite
What was clothing a symbol of for nobles in the Middle Ages?
power and status
What symbolized the Eurasian exchange system?
silk
What country had a complete monopoly over the silk technology?
China
What was used as a currency in Central Asia?
silk
What was silk a symbol of?
high status
What was silk linked to in Buddhism and Christianity?
the sacred
What was more important than exchange of goods?
cultural transmission
What spread along Silk Roads through Central and East Asia and had always appealed to merchants?
Buddhism
What was developed along Silk Roads and provided rest stops for merchants?
monasteries
What did many of the Central Asian cities become centers of?
learning and commerce
Why did religions and cultures spread much more slowly among Central Asian pastoralists?
they didn't have a written language and they were nomads
What was the religion of foreign merchants or rulers for centuries in China?
Buddhism
What form of Buddhism flourished along trade routes?
Mahyana
What did long-distance trade mean exposure to?
unfamiliar diseases
What led to the Black Death spreading?
the Mongol Empire's unification of much of Eurasia
What gave Europeans an advantage when they reached the Western Hemisphere?
disease exchange
What was an avenue for commerce from the time of the Phoenicians?
the Mediterranean Sea
What city was a center of commerce by 1000 c.e.?
Venice; controlled trade of imports from Asia and linked Europe to the much greater trade network of the Indian Ocean
What trade network was the world's most important until after 1500?
the Indian Ocean network
Was transportation cheaper by sea or by land?
by sea
What made the transportation of bulk goods possible?
sea trade
What helped sea commerce?
monsoons
When did Indian Ocean trade start?
the age of the First Civilizations
When did sea trade increase?
when the sailors better understood monsoons
What was the fulcrum of trade?
India
What two Chinese dynasties encouraged the Indian Ocean exchange?
the Tang and Song dynasties
Why did Islam spread so rapidly along trade routes?
it was friendly to trade
What did trade stimulate in Southeast Asia and East Africa?
political change and introduction of foreign religious ideas
What Malay kingdom dominated trade from 670 to 1025 c.e.?
Srivijaya
What provided resources to create a state in Srivijaya?
gold, access to spices, and taxes on ships
What was the local belief of the Srivijaya kingdom?
chiefs possessed magical powers
What religious did Srivijaya later become a major center for?
Buddhism
What civilization of East Africa developed from blend of Bantu with commercial life of the Indian Ocean?
Swahili
What East African products was there a growing demand for?
gold, ivory, quartz, leopard skins, some slaves, iron, wood products
How was Swahili civilization ruled?
each city was politically independent and ruled by a king
What was most Swahili trade in?
Arab ships
Trade with the interior of Swahili for gold led to the emergence of what?
Great Zimbabwe
What was also based on environmental variation?
trans-African trade
What was the turning point in West African trade?
the introduction of the camel
What did most merchants want from West Africa?
gold
What in West Africa became a major international trade route?
the Sahara
What encourage new and larger political structures?
trade
What was present in West Africa, unfortunately?
slaves
Why were the American trade networks not as dense as Afro-Eurasian ones?
lack of domesticated large mammals, wheeled vehicles, or large oceangoing ships. Also, geographical or environmental obstacles, including north/south orientation.
Where was there a "loosely interactive web" in the Americas?
from the Great Lakes to the Andes
Where were the two major trade networks in the Americas?
Mesoamerica and the Andes
What are some differences between modern and premodern trade?
-most people used to produce for their own consumption
-much smaller range of goods was exchanged
-far fewer wageworkers
-trade was in luxury goods
-circuits of commerce were more limited
-had no single center; units were much more equivalent