Expansion and Intensification of Communication and Exchange Networks

Although Afro-Eurasia and the Americas remained separate from one another, this era witnessed a deepening and widening of old and new networks of human interaction within and across regions. The results were unprecedented concentrations of wealth and the intensification of cross-cultural exchanges. Innovations in transportation, state policies, and mercantile practices contributed to the expansion and development of commercial networks, which in turn served as conduits for cultural, technological, and biological diffusion within and between various societies. Pastoral or nomadic groups played a key role in creating and sustaining these networks. Expanding networks fostered greater interregional borrowing, while at the same time sustaining regional diversity. The prophet Muhammad promoted Islam, a new major monotheistic religion at the start of this period. It spread quickly through practices of trade, warfare, and diffusion characteristic of this period. Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade, and expanded the geographical range of existing and newly active trade networks.

Existing trade routes flourished and promoted the growth of powerful new trading cities. (Examples of new trading cities: Novgorod, Timbuktu, Swahili city-states, Hangzhou, Calicut, Baghdad, Melaka, Venice, Tenochtitlan, Cahokia)

Examples of existing trade routes:

• The Silk Roads

• The Mediterranean Sea

• The Trans-Saharan

• The Indian Ocean basins

The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods (Ex: silk and cotton textiles, porcelain, spices, slaves, precious metals/gems) was encouraged by significant innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including more sophisticated caravan organization (Ex: caravanserai, camel saddles); use of the compass, astrolabe, and larger ship designs in sea travel; and new forms of credit and monetization (Ex: bills of exchange, credit, checks, banking houses).

Historical Developments

• Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes--including the Silk Roads--promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.

• Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.

• The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.

Chinese Women & Silk Production

• China held a monopoly on silk production for thousands of years

  • Lost the monopoly around 500 CE (then Byzantines, Persians, Japanese, Persians, etc were producing silk)

• Became increasingly popular outside of China around 300 BCE

• Trade was in the hands of men, production in the hands of women

• Rural women were involved in every step of silk production

  • Tended mulberry trees (worms ate the leaves)

  • Unwound cocoons

  • Turned fibers into thread

  • Wove fibers into textiles

• Homes were the primary site of silk production with rural women as the main labor force

• By the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) women were making large contributions to the household economy and state due to the tax revenue they generated and paid

The Role of Silk

• Elite Chinese women and men wanted this luxurious fabric

• Chinese officials used it to bribe “barbarian” invaders/steppe nomads from the north in exchange for horses

• Romans demanded silk from East Asia and cotton from India

• Used as a currency and means of accumulating wealth

• Byzantines and Chinese made laws restricting who could wear silk - only elites were allowed to wear it as a sign of social status

• Silks were given as gifts to Buddhist monasteries

• In Christendom it was used for altar decorations and priest vestments

• By 12th century (1100s) West African kings in Ghana were wearing silk

Camel Developments

Use of caravanserai: a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and southeastern Europe, especially along the Silk Roads. Camel saddles also facilitated trade.

Stirrups Improved Trade & Warfare

The stirrup was one of the milestones in saddle development. The first stirrup-like object was invented in India in the 2nd century BCE, and consisted of a simple leather strap in which the rider's toe was placed. It offered very little support, however. The nomadic tribes in northern China are thought to have been the inventors of the modern stirrup, but the first dependable representation of a rider with paired stirrups was found in China in a Jin Dynasty tomb of about 302 CE.  The stirrup appeared to be in widespread use across China by 477 CE.  which then spread to Europe. This invention gave great support for the rider, and was essential in later warfare.

Silk Roads – Spreading Culture!

• More important than economic impact was their role as conduit (carrier) of culture

• Buddhism (from India) spread widely throughout Central and East Asia – thanks to merchants on the Silk Roads

• Buddhism had appealed to merchants who preferred its universal message to that of a Brahmin-dominated Hinduism that privileged the higher castes.

• To the west, Persian Zoroastrianism blocked the spread of Buddhism

• Buddhism changed as it spread

• Originally not focused on material wealth, the addition of wealthy merchants meant a shift in priorities

• Mahayana Buddhism flourished on the Silk Roads (popular b/c of emphasis of compassion, use of Bodhisattvas, & Buddha was seen as divine)

The Silk Road & Buddhist Monasteries

• Prosperous Buddhist merchants could earn religious merit by building monasteries and supporting monks

• Monasteries provided convenient and cultural familiar places of rest and resupply for merchants

• Many cities became cosmopolitan centers of learning and commerce

• In Sogdian city of Samarkand, use of Zoroastrian fire rituals became part of Buddhist practice

• Gods of many people along the silk road were incorporated into Buddhism as bodhisattvas (guides to Enlightenment)

Silk Road - Spreading Disease!

• Not just goods traveled along these trade routes – diseases traveled as well!

• People were exposed to unfamiliar diseases for which they had little immunity (thanks to increased trade)

• Smallpox & measles devastated populations in both Rome and Han China contributing to their collapse

• Diseases may have increased appeal of Christianity in Europe & Buddhism in China – both offer compassion in face of suffering

The Black Death

• The Mongols unified much of the Eurasian landmass during the 13th and 14th centuries

• This intensive interaction facilitated the spread of diseases, most notoriously the Black Death

• Spread from China to Europe

• Between 1346-1348 around half the population died

Money Economies

• The rise of money economies also led to the end of feudalism in Europe

• Land stopped being the only way to hold wealth which led to cracks in the feudal relationships of land for loyalty

• Increased demand for currency over agricultural surplus also led to greater demands from feudal lords, upsetting their peasants leading to uprisings

• The Black Death also helped end the feudal system, as demand for laborers was high and it gave bargaining rights to peasants and serfs