Transcript Silk Roads

Ways of the World: A Brief Global History
with Sources
Second Edition
Chapter 7
Commerce and Culture, 500–1500
Silk Roads
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
- raised animals
- traded products with others in “outer” zone
- began to carry products from one area to another
3. Indirect connections between empires
I. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
B. Goods in transit
1. Luxury goods such as silk and spices
- staples and foodstuffs to heavy to carry long distance
2. Women as producers and consumers
3. China and other centers of silk production
- Due to silk road, other areas began to produce silk
- increase supply of silk throughout Eurasia
I. Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
C. Cultures in Transit
1. Buddhism on the road
- universal message appealed to many, esp. merchants
- traveled mainly East from India
2. New forms of Buddhism: Mahayana
- Saw Buddha as god-like
- Stressed more rituals
- Monasteries began to become politically and
economically involved with Silk Road trade
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
Mapping the Silk Road
• On your 11 x 17 world map:
a. Map the silk roads
1. Label specialized goods transported in both directions
2. Label key cities on route
3. Label cultural and disease diffusion in all directions
b. Create a key on the map, to identify various goods,
routes, diseases, and diffusions
**We will be adding to this map every day!**