Hallie Jester

Pd. 6 Dr.Kerin
10/04/10
Chapter 7:

Networks of Communication and Exchange, 300 B.C.E.- 600 C.E.

I. The Silk Road

 The Silk Road was a trade route connecting the lands of the
Mediterranean with China by way of Mesopotamia, Iran and Central
Asia.
ii. Origins and Operations
 The Parthians were a people originally from the east of the Caspian Sea
and became a major force by 247 B.C.E.
 Chinese general Zhang Jian is credited with finding the westward
flowing rivers and horses that started the silk road
 Nomads who followed their herds also helped to create a path
 Chinese desired western products
 Central Asia cities also flourished because it was on the way
 Zhang brought alfalfa and wine grapes to China
 Chinese also adopted many new crops and new medicines and precious
metals and oils
 China brought plums and spices to the west
II. The Sasanid Empire, 224-600
 Sasanid Empire in Iran
 Differed from Parthians who were nomads in northeastern Iran.
 Came from southwest.
 Silver and silk reveal the lifestyle of the warrior elite
 Cities in Iran were small walled communities that served as military
protection for long distance trading
 Zoroastrian faith and Christianity
 There was intolerance between the religions
 Christians persecuted by Byzantines and Sasanid kings
 Nestorian Christians: human nature and divine nature in Jesus and
Mary was not the mother of god
 Manichaeism: Mani preached a dualist faith, a struggle between Good
and Evil, derived from Zoroastrianism.
 Nestorian and Manichaeism missionaries competed on the silk road
ii. The Impact of the Silk Road
 As trade increased, more Iranian speaking people settled in trade cities
 Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism all
competed.
 Invention of stirrup in first century C.E. in northern Afganistan- gave
riders far greater stability in the saddle which allowed for a mounted
warrior to use a long lance to charge the enemy
III. The Indian Ocean Maritime System
 Indian Ocean Maritime System: A trade network across the Indian
Ocean and the South China Sea.
 These people left few records but made strong economic and social ties
with costal lands of East Africa, southern Arabia, the Persian Gulf,
India, Southeast Asia and southern China
 Took place in 3 Regions
o South China Sea- Chinese and Malay dominated trade
o East Coast of India to Islands of Southeast Asia- Indians and
Malays were main traders
 Hallie Jester
Pd. 6 Dr.Kerin
10/04/10
o West Coast of India to the Persian Gulf and the East Coast of
Africa- merchants and sailors were predominately Persians
and Arabs.
 Greek writers reveal Phonesians as the most fearless of the
Mediterranean seafarers
 Hippalus, a Greek ship was said to have discovered monsoon winds
 But the seasonal winds would have been discovered much before
 The Time of Alexander (Mediterranean):
o Sailors used square sails and long banks of oars to maneuver
o Nailed vessels together
o Stayed in sight of land
 Indian Ocean Vessels:
o Relied on triangular lateen sails and usually didn’t have oars
o Pierced, tied together with palm fiber and caulked with
bitumen
o Covered long reaches entirely at sea
o As a result they rarely kept political ties with colonies
ii. Origin of Contact and Trade
 Sumerian records show regular trade between Meso., islands of Persian
gulf, Omean and Indus valley
 Later trade with East Africa more than India
 Migration from Southeast Asia to Madagascar
 Settlers farmed and made relations with the Africans
 Preserved language and some culture including crops
iii. The Impact of Indian Ocean Trade:
 Great variety of highly valued products
o Africa had exotic animals, wood and Ivory (along with India)
o Southern Arabia grew trees with aromatic resins
o Pearls were in the Persian Gulf
o Copper mines in Oman
o India shipped spices and manufactured goods
 It was hard to have large ports in places with barren desert
 Farther south in India the steep mountains cut off the coast from the
inland
 Eastern India, Malay Peninsula and Indonesia had more inland and
coast populations
 In east, sea trade was most evident in early Southeast Asia
 Sailors and merchants married local in port cities and families became
bilingual and bicultural
IV. Routes Across the Sahara
 Red Sea to Atlantic Ocean and broken by Nile River
 Trans-Saharan Caravan Routes
ii. Early Saharan Cultures
 Mountain and highlands separate north and south
 Used to be water and grassland in desert
 There had been cattle before it dried up
 Dipictions are similar to factors from the West Africans
 Some southern cultural patterns originated in the Sahara
 Overlaps in art- horse herders
 Mediterranean established societies in grassy area (drew chariots)
 Camels
 Romans
iii. Trade Across the Sahara
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Pd. 6 Dr.Kerin
10/04/10
 Two trading systems:
o North: Roman colonist supplied italy with agriculture
o South: provided salt to Sub-Saharan people
 Sahel: “the coast”
V. Sub-Saharan Africa
 Sub-Saharan Africa: the portion of Africa south of the Sahara
 Contact provided by trade across Sahara
ii. A Challenging Geography
 Sahara, Atlantic and Indian Ocean, Red Sea are boundaries
 Most rivers empty into the Atlantic
 Rough rapid prevented navigation on these rivers
 Different Zones
o Steppes
o Tropical Savanna
o Tropical Rainforest
o Highlands
 East-West travel is easy in the steppes and savanna but difficult in
rainforest, mountains and deep rift valleys
iii. The Development of Cultural Unity
 “Great Traditions” written language, common legal and belief systems,
ethical codes, and other intellectual attitudes
 “Small Traditions” local customs and beliefs
 Was a very diverse cultures because it was isolated for a while and then
had a lot of migration
 Cultural unity is less immediately apparent than it’s diversity
 2,000 distinct languages
 Hunting and Gathering to Cultivation in forest clearings to Pastoral
societies
 Low population density allowed room for societies to grow and kept
different groups separate
 Conquerors couldn’t penetrate natural barriers to uniform
 Didn’t conquer until 19th century
iv. African Culture Characteristics
 Agriculture techniques: hoe an digging stick
 Music: different but similar in rhythm
 Kings: ritual isolation
 Social categories: age, kinship, gender roles and relationships,
occupational groupings
 Jacques Maquet called it “Africanity”
 When glaciers started melting after ice age, there was a southern
migration but as the land became dry, people spread out from the core
v. The Advent of Iran and the Bantu Migrations
 Agriculture was popular at equator and spread south
 Iron smelting was also started at northern Sub-Sahara and spread south
 Iron smelting discovered by Hittites of Anatolia
 African’s probably discovered how to smelt on their own rather than
the idea being brought to them
 More than 300 languages spoken south of the equator can be related
back to Niger-Congo family knows as bantu (people)
 Spread of iron probably followed the spread of Bantu language
VI. The Spread of Ideas
i. Ideas and Material Evidence
 Scholars disagree about the origins of domesticating pigs
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Pd. 6 Dr.Kerin
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 The prohibition of eating pigs was present in Southeast Asia and Egypt
 Also present in Iran
 Idea spread from Southeast Asia, across Indian Ocean, and to Egypt
and Iran
 Coinage was also a result of ideas being spread.
ii. The Spread of Buddhism
 Ashoka (Mauryan Empire)
 Monks, missionaries, and pilgrims spread the religion to Southeast
Asia, China, Korea and eventually Japan
 Missionaries across Syria, Egypt, Macedonia and Southeast Asia,
Burma, Thailand, Sumatra and Tibet
 Nirvana: the total absence of suffering and the end of the cycle of
rebirth.
 Bodhisattva: A person who attains nirvana but chooses to remain in
human company to help and guide others
iii. The Spread of Christianity
 Christianity spread form Rome to Armenia and Ethiopia
 Armenia served recurrently as a battleground between Iranian states to
the south and east and Mediterranean states to the west.
 Rulers want information or something from photography
 Constantinople sent missionaries along the red sea to seek converts
 Ethiopia is a power system in the west