Silk Roads, Indian Ocean, & Trans-Saharan Routes [AP World History Review]—Unit 2 Topics 1, 3, 4

Summary

This video explores the transformative impact of trade routes from 1200-1450 across Afro-Eurasia. It highlights three major routes: the Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean trade, and the Trans-Saharan routes. The Silk Roads, known for luxury goods like silk, also facilitated cultural exchanges, such as the spread of Buddhism. The Indian Ocean routes, influenced by monsoons, saw a diverse trade including common goods, and led to cultural developments like the rise of the Srivijaya Kingdom and the Swahili Civilization. Lastly, the Trans-Saharan routes, made possible by camels, linked North Africa with West Africa, influencing political cultures and leading to the rise of states like the Kingdom of Mali.

Takeaways

• 🌏 The major trade routes from 1200-1450, including the Silk Roads, Indian Ocean trade, and Trans-Saharan routes, significantly influenced the shaping of old cultures and the beginnings of new ones.
• 🛣️ The Silk Roads were land-based trade routes that connected China to Europe and North Africa, and they flourished under the control of large empires like the Romans and Han Chinese, and later the Mongols.
• 🐫 Luxury goods, especially silk, were the primary items traded along the Silk Roads, due to the high cost of long-distance transportation.
• 📿 The Silk Roads were not only for goods but also facilitated the spread of culture and religion, such as Buddhism, which evolved as it spread across different regions.
• 🔥 The spread of diseases like the Black Death along trade routes had devastating effects, altering the course of history for affected civilizations.
• 🚢 The Indian Ocean trade routes were sea-based and connected China to East Africa, with a wider variety of goods exchanged compared to the Silk Roads, including both luxury and common items.
• 🌪️ The predictable monsoon winds enabled the success of Indian Ocean trade, leading to maritime innovations like the magnetic compass and the astrolabe.
• 🏰 The rise of the Srivijaya Kingdom in Southeast Asia and the Swahili Civilization in Africa were cultural changes influenced by their strategic positions along the Indian Ocean trade routes.
• 🐪 The Trans-Saharan trade routes linked North Africa with West Africa, with camels playing a crucial role in enabling trade across the desert.
• 🏺 The Trans-Saharan routes led to political and social changes, including the rise of the Kingdom of Mali, which controlled valuable trade goods and established a social hierarchy.

Q & A

What were the three major trading routes discussed in the video?

The three major trading routes discussed were the Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean trade routes, and the Trans-Saharan routes.

Why were the Silk Roads named after silk?

The Silk Roads were named after their most famous commodity, Chinese silk, which was highly sought after and a symbol of status among the upper classes.

How did the Silk Roads facilitate the spread of Buddhism?

Buddhism spread widely through central and East Asia due to Buddhist merchants who traveled along the Silk Roads, and as it spread, it underwent both outward and inward changes.

What were some of the outward changes Buddhism experienced along the Silk Roads?

Buddhism's outward changes included the construction of monasteries along the Silk Roads which received lavish gifts from traveling merchants, altering the original teachings that rejected the material world.

How did the spread of Buddhism lead to inward changes in the faith?

Inward changes in Buddhism included the development of Mahayana Buddhism, which introduced the Buddha as a deity and emphasized compassionate works and the earning of merit.

What was one of the negative consequences of the interconnected civilizations through trade routes mentioned in the video?

One negative consequence was the spread of diseases, such as the Black Death, which led to massive death tolls and significantly altered the course of history for affected civilizations.

What were some of the goods exchanged along the Indian Ocean trade routes?

Along the Indian Ocean trade routes, goods exchanged included luxury items like porcelain, spices, cotton, pepper, ivory, and gold, as well as common bulk goods like wheat, sugar, and rice.

How did the monsoon season affect trade in the Indian Ocean?

Predictable monsoon seasons allowed for reliable sailing patterns, with northeast winds in summer and southwest winds in winter, facilitating trade across the Indian Ocean.

What maritime innovations are credited to the period of 1200-1450?

Maritime innovations during this period included the magnetic compass for navigation, the astrolabe for calculating latitude, and the introduction of Chinese junks, which were large ships capable of carrying significant cargo.

How did the Indian Ocean trade routes contribute to the rise of the Srivijaya Kingdom?

The strategic location of Southeast Asia along major trade routes led to competition among seaports, which in turn facilitated the rise of the Srivijaya Kingdom, dominating trade from 670-1025.

What was the impact of the Indian Ocean trade routes on the Swahili Civilization?

The trade routes led to the development of an African merchant class, the growth of cities from villages, and the flourishing of Swahili urban commercial centers between 1000-1500, with Islam becoming the dominant religion.

What role did the Arabian camel play in the Trans-Saharan trade routes?

The Arabian camel, capable of traveling long distances without water, enabled trade across the desert, connecting North Africa with West Africa and facilitating the exchange of diverse goods.

How did the Trans-Saharan trade routes influence the political culture of West Africa?

The trade routes led to the rise of civilizations like the Kingdom of Mali, which developed a social hierarchy and political structure based on trade monopolies and revenue from taxes on goods like salt and copper.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 The Silk Roads: Trade and Cultural Exchange

This paragraph introduces the Silk Roads, a land-based trade route stretching from China to Europe and North Africa, which was most effective during periods of large empires. It discusses the trade of luxury goods, particularly silk, and the significant cultural exchanges facilitated by the route, such as the spread of Buddhism, which underwent both outward and inward changes as it traveled. The paragraph also highlights the negative aspects of trade, such as the spread of diseases like the Black Death, which had a profound impact on history.

05:01

🚢 The Indian Ocean Trade Routes: Maritime Exchange and Cultural Impact

The second paragraph focuses on the Indian Ocean trade routes, which connected societies by sea and facilitated the exchange of a wide variety of goods, from luxury items like porcelain and spices to bulk goods like wheat and rice. The success of these routes was aided by the predictable monsoon winds and led to maritime innovations like the magnetic compass and the astrolabe. The paragraph also explores the cultural impact of these trade routes, including the rise of the Srivijaya Kingdom in Southeast Asia and the Swahili Civilization in Africa, which saw the development of a merchant class and the spread of Islam.

Keywords

💡Silk Roads

The Silk Roads were a network of trade routes that connected China with Europe and North Africa, named for the silk that was a major commodity traded along them. They were not only a conduit for goods but also for cultural and religious exchanges. In the video, the Silk Roads are highlighted for their role in spreading luxury goods like silk, as well as facilitating the spread of Buddhism and the transmission of diseases like the Black Death.

💡Indian Ocean trade

This refers to the sea-based trade routes that linked societies around the Indian Ocean, stretching from China to East Africa. The Indian Ocean trade was significant for the exchange of both luxury and common goods, made possible by the predictable monsoon winds that allowed for efficient maritime travel. The video discusses how this trade system led to innovations like the magnetic compass and the astrolabe, and how it influenced the rise of the Srivijaya Kingdom and the Swahili Civilization.

💡Trans-Saharan routes

The Trans-Saharan trade routes connected North Africa and the Mediterranean world with the interior of Africa, particularly West Africa. These routes were crucial for the exchange of goods due to the different environments and resources available in these regions. The video mentions how the introduction of the Arabian camel facilitated trade across the desert and how this trade influenced the development of West African civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Mali.

💡Luxury goods

Luxury goods are high-value items that are not essential but are sought after for their quality, status, or collectability. In the context of the video, luxury goods like silk, porcelain, spices, and gold were traded along the Silk Roads and the Indian Ocean routes, highlighting the economic and cultural significance of these trade items.

💡Cultural exchange

Cultural exchange refers to the process by which ideas, customs, and beliefs are shared between different cultures. The video emphasizes how the trade routes facilitated the spread of Buddhism, the incorporation of Zoroastrian fire rituals into Buddhist practices, and the influence of Islam on the Swahili Civilization, demonstrating the profound impact of these exchanges on shaping cultures.

💡Monsoons

Monsoons are seasonal winds that blow predictably from the sea towards the land in the summer and in the opposite direction in the winter. In the video, monsoons are described as a key factor in the success of the Indian Ocean trade routes, as they allowed for reliable and efficient maritime travel, which was essential for the growth of trade during the period discussed.

💡Magnetic compass

The magnetic compass is a navigational instrument that aligns itself with the Earth's magnetic field, pointing to magnetic north. The video mentions the magnetic compass as one of the maritime innovations that aided sailors in the Indian Ocean trade routes, enabling them to navigate without sight of the sun.

💡Astrolabe

An astrolabe is an instrument used historically for solving problems related to the position of the sun, stars, and planets. In the video, the astrolabe is highlighted as a significant tool that allowed sailors to calculate latitude, which was crucial for navigation during the Indian Ocean trade.

💡Chinese junks

Chinese junks were large, flat-bottomed sailing vessels with multiple masts, known for their capacity to carry substantial cargo and crew. The video describes how these ships were instrumental in the Indian Ocean trade routes, due to their ability to transport large quantities of goods for trade.

💡Srivijava Kingdom

The Srivijaya Kingdom was a powerful maritime kingdom that dominated trade in Southeast Asia from the 7th to the 13th century. The video explains how the strategic location of Southeast Asia, situated amidst major trade routes, led to the rise of this kingdom, which controlled the passage through the Straits of Malacca and competed with other seaports for trade.

💡Swahili Civilization

The Swahili Civilization refers to a group of African merchant city-states that emerged along the East African coast from the 8th to the 16th century. The video discusses how the Swahili city-states thrived due to their involvement in trade, which led to the development of a distinct African merchant class and the flourishing of urban commercial centers.

Highlights

The Silk Roads, Indian Ocean trade, and Trans-Saharan routes were crucial in shaping old cultures and the beginnings of new cultures from 1200-1450.

The Silk Roads were named after their most famous commodity, Chinese silk, and stretched from China to Europe and North Africa.

Large empires like the Roman and Han empires, and later the Mongols, facilitated the Silk Roads' effectiveness for trade.

Luxury goods, predominantly silk, were the primary items traded along the Silk Roads due to high transportation costs.

The Silk Roads were not only for goods exchange but also a conduit for cultural exchange, significantly spreading Buddhism.

Buddhism underwent both outward and inward changes as it spread, including the development of Mahayana Buddhism.

Diseases like the Black Death were transferred along trade routes, causing massive death and altering history.

The Indian Ocean trade routes linked societies by sea, facilitating a vast exchange of both common and luxury goods.

Maritime innovations like the magnetic compass and astrolabe, and the introduction of Chinese junks, supported the Indian Ocean trade.

The economic revival in China and the rise of Islam contributed to the massive growth of the Indian Ocean trade routes.

The Srivijaya Kingdom in Southeast Asia and the Swahili Civilization in Africa were cultural changes influenced by the Indian Ocean trade.

The trans-Saharan trade routes linked North Africa with West Africa, creating a diverse exchange of goods due to differing environments.

The introduction of the Arabian camel was a major turning point for the trans-Saharan trade, enabling trade across the desert.

The Kingdom of Mali rose to prominence in the 14th century, controlling trade and generating revenue through taxes on salt and copper.

The trans-Saharan trade routes influenced the formation of a social hierarchy in West African civilizations.

The three major trading routes had a vast importance in the world from 1200-1450, shaping cultures and civilizations.

Transcripts

Hi and welcome back to Heimler’s History.

In this video we’re going to be talking about trade routes throughout Afro-Eurasia

in the period 1200-1450.

[snore] I know.

I heard it come out of my own mouth.

But trust me, the major trade routes during this time, which is to say the Silk Roads,

the Indian Ocean trade, and the Trans-Saharan routes have arguably more to do with the shaping

of old cultures and the beginnings of new cultures than maybe anything else during this

period.

So if you’re ready, let’s get to it.

In this video we’re going to be talking about three major trading routes across Afro-Eurasia,

two land-based and one sea-based.

Let’s start with the most famous of all the trading routes, the land-based Silk Roads.

The Silk Roads, which were named after their most famous commodity, stretched all the way

from China to Europe and into North Africa.

Now the Silk Roads had been there since way before 1200, but they worked best as a conduit

of trade when large empires controlled all the land across which they stretched.

For example, if we go all the way back to the 200s we can see the Roman empire and Han

China engaging in a robust trading relationship.

And that’s because between the two empires they basically had all the land covered within

their empires that the Silk Roads were on.

And later when our friends the Mongols took over everything in the known world, those

trade routes flourished.

During prosperous times a vast array of goods wound their way across the continent along

these routes usually packed into the saddle bags of a camel caravan.

However, most of those goods were luxury goods since it cost so much to transport those items

over such a long distance.

The king of these luxuries was Chinese silk.

It originated in China around 3000 BCE.

And once people figured out how to make clothes out of it, the demand for silk spiked across

the upper classes because it was considered a status symbol (which of course is why I

wore silk shirts in elementary school, you know, for the status).

Okay, so that’s an example of the kinds of goods that traveled across the Silk Roads,

but arguably the exchange of goods was the least significant effect of trade.

What do I mean?

Well, the Silk Roads were also a conduit for culture.

Buddhism, for example, spread widely throughout central and East Asia largely because of the

Buddhist merchants who had carried it there.

And even MORE significant, as the Buddhist faith spread, it also changed both inwardly

and outwardly.

First, let’s look at the outward changes.

The original teachings of the Buddha rejected the material world as illusion.

But the Buddhist monasteries that were located along the Silk Roads were often the grateful

recipients of lavish gifts from travelling merchants.

So that’s one example of an outward change that Buddhism underwent, now let’s look

at the inward change.

The inward changes were largely doctrinal.

The oldest form of Buddhism, was strictly speaking, atheistic.

But a new form of Buddhism called Mahayana Buddhism developed and spread along these

trade routes.

In this new form of the faith, the Buddha became a deity and there was an increased

emphasis on compassionate works and the earning of merit.

And then across the continent in the Sogdian city of Samarkand, the Buddhists incorporated

Zoroastrian fire rituals into their devotional patterns.

So all sorts of syncretism and change is happening to the Buddhist faith as it spreads.

But it wasn’t only puppies and rainbows that found their way across the Silk Roads—diseases

were transferred as well.

And this is one of the downsides of having civilizations from different parts of the

world connected.

You see different civilizations have different diseases and so over time they develop immunities

to their diseases and they figure out ways to fight them.

But when those diseases find their way into a culture that does not have those coping

techniques, the results could be disastrous.

Case in point: the Black Death (also known as the Bubonic Plague).

Because of this deadly disease, nearly half of the European population died between 1346

and 1348.

And there were similar results in China and the Islamic world.

And not surprisingly, death on a massive scale like this changed the entire course of history

for these civilizations.

Okay, let’s shift and talk about another set of trade routes, this time sea-based trade

routes: the Indian Ocean routes.

So the Silk Roads linked societies by land and the Indian Ocean linked societies by sea.

And until 1500 when people started sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, this was the largest

sea-based system of communication and exchange that ever existed.

It stretched from China all the way into East Africa.

As I mentioned earlier, the Silk Roads specialized in the exchange of luxury goods.

But along the Indian Ocean trade routes there was a much greater variety of both common

goods and luxury goods exchanged.

And the reason is a ship can carry much more for cheaper than a camel can, and so if we

opened the hull on one of these ships what would we find?

Well, among the luxury goods we’d find porcelain from China, spices from South East Asia, cotton

and pepper from India, and ivory and gold from East Africa.

And among the more common, bulk goods you’d find wheat, sugar, and rice.

Now the success of these trading routes was made possible by predictable yearly storms

called monsoons.

By this period everyone had figured out that in the summer the wind blew predictably northeast,

and in the winter it blew predictably southwest.

So you packed your ship full of goods, threw up a sail, and baby, you got a stew going.

This also led to some significant maritime innovations like the magnetic compass which

allowed sailors to hold their bearing without sight of the sun.

Also there was the astrolabe which allowed sailors to calculate latitude.

And not to be forgotten is the introduction of Chinese junks.

Not Chinese junk.

Chinese junks—way different.

Junks were huge, flat-bottomed ships with six masts jutting out of their bellies, and

enough room to carry 500 men.

And there were big old trunks in those junks that could carry enormous payloads of goods

for trade.

Now as with the Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean trade routes existed long before 1200, but

during this period of 1200-1450 they experienced massive growth for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is the economic revival in China during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

And as a result of this economic prosperity, the Chinese exported metric buttloads of goods

across the Indian Ocean.

The second reason for the growth of these trade routes is the rise of Islam.

Islam, as a faith, is very positive toward merchant activity.

And the creation of Islamic empires during this time led to a vast swath of land being

connected by Islam, and that made it easy to get their trade on.

And I’ll give you two examples of how the Indian Ocean routes changed culture as well.

For the first we’ll head over to Southeast Asia.

Since this network of islands and peninsulas was situated right smack in the middle of

some of the major trade routes, this made them strategically important.

And as a result of this strategic importance, it created the necessary conditions for the

rise of a new kingdom: the Srivijaya Kingdom.

So Malay sailors had long navigated the waters around Southeast Asia, but when they opened

a passage through the Straits of Malacca, many surrounding sea ports in the Malay peninsula

began competing for the attention of traders and travellers.

And out of this competition rose the Kingdom of Srivijaya, which dominated trade from 670-1025.

And for the second example, let’s go all the way across the Indian Ocean to Africa

and consider the Swahili Civilization.

This civilization emerged in the 8th century as basically a set of commercial city-states.

The rulers of these city-states found abundant opportunities to trade goods native to their

area like gold and ivory and yes, slaves.

And as a result of this an African merchant class developed and villages began turning

into cities and between 1000-1500 the Swahili urban commercial centers flourished.

Now it might make sense to compare them to the ancient Greek city-states.

Each of these Swahili states was independent with its own king, so as a whole it wasn’t

like a unified empire.

And finally because Muslims kept showing up on their shores and trading their goods, Islam

eventually became the dominant religion of the area.

Okay, we’ve talked about Silk Roads, we’ve talked about sea roads, and now we need to

talk about sand roads, namely, the trans-Saharan trade routes.

These routes linked North Africa and the Mediterranean world with the interior of Africa, specifically,

West Africa.

And because the environments of these places varied so widely, they produced different

goods, and therefore created the incentive for trade.

In North Africa the folks mainly produced manufactured goods like cloth and glasswork

and books.

In Southwest Africa they were agricultural and therefore produced grain crops and yams

and kola nuts.

Now a major turning point in the history of the trans-Saharan trade routes was the introduction

of the Arabian camel.

Now this happened centuries before the time period that we’re considering in this video,

but their effects were still in force.

You see camels could walk for up to 10 days without water and that made it possible to

transverse that vast stretch of desert between North Africa and West Africa.

And as with the other trade routes we’ve looked at, the Trans-Saharan trade routes

also did its fair share of culture changing, specifically political culture changes.

Between 500-1600 west African civilization really began to take shape.

A notable example of this is the rise of the Kingdom of Mali.

At its high point in the 14th century Mali held a monopoly on the trade of horses and

metals.

And to generate revenue they levied taxes on salt and copper.

And when all those things start to take place, it’s not long before a social hierarchy

forms.

In Mali the social hierarchy was stacked up pretty similarly in comparison with other

civilizations.

At the top sat the royalty, under them were the elite classes, under them were the merchants,

under them were the military and religious folk, and under them were the peasants, and

under all were the slaves.

So I hope those explanations woke you up to the vast importance of those three major trading

routes in the world from 1200-1450.

And if not, then there’s nothing else I can do for you.

I’ll see you next time.

Thanks for watching.

If you like this video and want more like this, then subscribe and join the Heimler’s

History community.

If you like bad jokes about trunks in Chinese junks, then hit the like button.

Heimler out.