Silk Road and Sub-Saharan Trade Rout Essay
This chapter discusses the affect of the Silk Road and the exchange networks that occurred between 300 BCE until 1100 CE. The routes were brought up in this chapter, which were the Silk Road, the Indian Ocean, and the trans-Saharan trade route. These routes were used to transport goods, livestock, ideas, and shape new cultures.
The Silk Road connected China to the Middle East across Central Asia and Iran. This route was necessitated by the Chinese demand for western products such as horses and the Western demand for more trade.General Zhang led eighteen expeditions and is credited to have brought back alfalfa, wine grapes, and new crops for the farmers to plant and cultivate. These included pistachios, walnuts, pomegranates, sesame, coriander, spinach, and more. Artisans and physicians also benefited by getting jasmine oil, oak galls, copper oxides, zinc, and precious stones. The West received new fruit such as peaches and apricots and called them Persian or Armenia plums.The West also bought cinnamon, ginger, and other spices that were not found anywhere in the West. Nomads in Central Asia helped the Silk Road stay alive.
Pastoral nomads provided animals, animal handlers, and protections to traders. Without these nomads, the Silk Road would have been inconvenient for the traders. The impact of the Silk Road was tremendous. Iranian people settled in cities centered on trade and farmed the surrounding villages. The people began to speak both Turkic languages that were not related to the basic Iranian dialects.Some rich individuals built great big homes with brightly decorated wall paintings. In these paintings, historians have found people wearing Chinese silk, Iranian brocades, and riding on outfitted horses and camels.
The painting perfectly describes the diversity and blend of products and culture because of the Silk Road. The Indian Ocean was the second trading route. It was officially called the Indian Ocean Maritime System, which was a trade network that stretched from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea.The trade took place in three distinct places which were the South China Sea, the east coast of India and the west coast of India- including all of the surrounding civilizations. The ships used by the Ocean traders had planks that were pierced, tied together with palm fiber, and caulked with bitumen. Thus, there boats were stronger and more resilient compared to the boats from the Mediterranean Sea that stayed near the coast. Africa produced exotic animals, wood, and ivory.
The highlans of Somalia and southern Arabia grew trees that were valued as frankincense and myrrh.The Persian Gulf sold pearls and India shipped spices, manufactured foods, and obtained pottery from China. The trade routes also brought a mix of culture. This is because women rarely accompanied men on their long voyages at sea, so merchants often met local women in port cities and settled down to have a bilingual and mixed cultural family. The third trade route was the sub-Saharan trade route. The sub-Saharan section of Africa is highly cut off from the rest of the world.
It is almost impenetrable across the vast desert, and with the exception of the Nile, the rivers have rapids that make it impossible for a boat to navigate through. This caused the civilizations in this part of Africa to trade amongst themselves and begins to form certain customs and beliefs that reverberated through the slightly different peoples. They use the same technology such as the hoe and digging stick in agriculture and musically, drums take precedence in the land.
Rituals included dancing and wearing masks is also consistent across each culture.
