Trade Routes of the Post-Classical Era

Laura Elizondo and Jessica Gan

INDIAN OCEAN TRADE

What was Traded?

• • • • • • ivory rhinoceros horn tortoise shell tools glassware wheat • spices – pepper – – – – – – – ginger cinnamon turmeric cardamom cloves nutmeg mace

Trading Cities

• • • • • • • Kilwa Sofala Mombasa Malindi Rhapta Mafia Island Spice Islands

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Fun Facts

started in 700 – Arab traders arrived on Africa’s east coast – allowed contact between African cities and Arabia, South Persian ,and India • sailed on wooden vessels known as dhows • trade resulted in human migration • many merchants from the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Southeast Asia stayed in East Africa – interracial marriage developed into a new ethic group: Swahili

SWAHILI COAST TRADE

The Swahili Coast: African Monsoon Routes and Major Trade Routes

What was Traded?

• • • • • • • • • gold ivory slaves textiles ironwork Chinese porcelain exotic animals bananas coconuts

• • • • Arabia Persia India China

Who Traded?

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Major Trade Cities

Mogadishu Mombasa Malindi Pate Zanzibar Kilwa – controlled southern port of Sofala which had access to gold production – was very wealthy – because of location in the south, Indian traders could sail and return in a single monsoon season By the year 1500 trade focus shifted from the town of Kilwa to Mambasa and Malindi on the Kenya coast.

Fun Facts

• “Swahili” is the Bantu word for “people of the coast” • Ibn Battuta (remember him?) was impressed with the beauty of trading towns • Arabic influenced the Swahili language • merchants were Islamic • Swahili coast trade had to be organized on the prevailing monsoon winds – sailing was never easy Ibn Battuta

SILK ROAD TRADE

• • • • • • • • • silk jade bronze glass amber coral pearls wool textiles

What was Traded?

• • • • • • • • • gold precious stones spices furs ceramics exotic plants animals tea porcelain

What else was Traded?

• • • • • • • Buddhism Manichaeism Islam Bubonic Plague RELIGION silkworm cultivation gunpowder spinning wheel TECHNOLOGY

Cultural Diffusion

• Buddhism brought to China by Indian Buddhist monks • brought art and architectural styles – enriched Chinese intellectual and artistic life • Buddhist monks introduced chairs to China

Decline of Silk Road

• conquest of Constantinople by the Islamic Turks – most of the Silk Road passing into Europe was cut off • demand for goods from European countries increased the search for sea routes • the discovery of routes through the Atlantic Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope dwindled the importance of the Silk Road

Fun Facts

• goods carried by camel caravans • established to ensure alliance to defend Han Empire from Mongolian nomads (Huns) • Western Asia introduced grapes and wine to China • Marco Polo increased the desire for oriental goods with his travel stories about Chinese wealth

TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE

What was Traded?

• • • • • • • • gold salt copper captives ivory fabrics animal skins ostrich feathers

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Trade Goods from Southward

iron – – – – – – knives scissors needles razors brass copperware • luxury items – – – – – – – silk velvet brocade glass porcelain beads ornaments jewelry – – – – – – – – mirrors carpets perfumes paper tea coffee sugar horses

More Trading Goods

North – – salts dates – – – – copper gold kola nuts Islam Savanna – – – slaves elephant ivory hippo ivory – – – – ostrich feathers animal hides ink textiles West – – salt gold

Fun Facts

• started from Kumbi Salen, ancient Ghana, Timbuktu, Gao, Mali, Hausa, States, Kanem Bornu • copper minded at Takedda traded in local markets – became raw material for local artifacts • Arab slave traders traded captives for domestic servants, agricultural laborers, soldiers, and concubines • North African Berbers traveled with camel caravans – 1000 camels per caravan

CHINESE INNOVATIONS

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Economic Innovations of Sui China

Emperor Yangdi ordered the construction of a series of great canals – linked various parts of the empire – built to allow transport of rice from the south to the north – joined Yellow River area and cities of the northeast to the Yangtze basin of the South – opened up the south to migration and commercial development

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Economic Innovations of Tang China

steel-tipped plows wheelbarrows – eased plowing, planting, – weeding and harvesting tasks waterwheels double cropping paper money silk spinning printing press new crucible method of iron extraction from ore mass porcelain production Chinese ships – “junks” – best ships in the world at the time market places where products were sold

Economic Innovations of Song China

• extended the Grand Canal that linked Yangtze and Yellow River basins – alllowed mass shipments of rice from north to south • printing press – made more books

Fun Facts

• Emperor Yangdi killed his father Wendi to reach the throne – (it’s like a soap opera) • Footbinding began in the Tang Dynasty

Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty

• Emperor Chu Ti sent admiral Zheng He for naval expeditions – first voyage was in 1405 – original purpose was to find former ruler Chu Yun-Wen, but he was never found – allowed China to dominate trade in Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean – foreign rulers gave emperor lions, leopards, giraffes, and ostriches – increase in demand for Chinese silk, porcelain, and lacquer

Zheng He’s Voyages

• kept a careful record of his travels • voyages extended from Southeast Asia to India • seventh and last voyage was in 1433 • after former emperor died, voyages ceased – cost – Confucians preferred traditional expenditures rather than distant foreign involvements

Fun Facts

• Zheng He’s nickname was “three jeweled eunuch” • Chinese trading groups established permanent settlements in the Philippines Malaysia, and Indonesia – added to cultural diversity and maintained a disproportionate role in local and regional trading activities

THE AMERICAS

THE MAYA

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What was traded?

salt – main trade obsidian amber embroidered cloth cacao – used as currency turquoise jade feathers jaguar hides cotton rubber

Fun Facts

• much of the trade was by land – also sea trade was important • the elite controlled the trade – maintained their power – through trade • there were no wheels, so slaves had to carry goods by hand

THE AZTECS

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What was traded?

cacao beans jaguar hides cotton maize knives virtually every product available in Mesoamerica at the time

Fun Facts

• Tlatelolco had the largest market – 60,000 people visited daily • merchants carried goods in caravans

NORTH AMERICAN TRADE

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What was traded?

agricultural products hardware – hoes – axes copper salt chert mica

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Fun Facts

North America was made up of mostly kinship groups – maintained peace by paying tribute in the form of seashells and beads, which were obtained by trade