Trade Routes of the

Post-Classical Era

Laura Elizondo and Jessica Gan

INDIAN OCEAN TRADE

What was Traded?

• ivory• rhinoceros horn• tortoise shell• tools• glassware• wheat

• spices– pepper– ginger– cinnamon– turmeric– cardamom– cloves– nutmeg– mace

Trading Cities

• Kilwa• Sofala• Mombasa• Malindi• Rhapta• Mafia Island• Spice Islands

Fun Facts

• started in 700– Arab traders arrived on Africa’s east coast– allowed contact between African cities and

Arabia, South Persian ,and India

• sailed on wooden vessels known as dhows

• trade resulted in human migration

• many merchants from the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Southeast Asia stayed in East Africa– interracial marriage developed into a new ethic group: Swahili

SWAHILI COAST TRADE

The Swahili Coast: African Monsoon Routes and Major Trade Routes

What was Traded?

• gold• ivory• slaves• textiles• ironwork • Chinese porcelain• exotic animals• bananas• coconuts

Who Traded?

• Arabia• Persia• India• China

Major Trade Cities

• Mogadishu• Mombasa• Malindi • Pate• Zanzibar• Kilwa

– controlled southern port of Sofala which had access to gold production – was very wealthy

– because of location in the south, Indian traders could sail and return in a single monsoon season

By the year 1500 trade focus shifted from the town of Kilwa to Mambasa and Malindi on the Kenya

coast.

Fun Facts

• “Swahili” is the Bantu word for “people of the coast”

• Ibn Battuta (remember him?) was impressed with the beauty of trading towns

• Arabic influenced the Swahili language

• merchants were Islamic

• Swahili coast trade had to be organized on the prevailing monsoon winds– sailing was never easy Ibn Battuta

SILK ROAD TRADE

What was Traded?

• silk• jade • bronze• glass• amber• coral• pearls• wool• textiles

• ivory

• gold• precious stones• spices• furs• ceramics• exotic plants• animals• tea• porcelain

What else was Traded?

• Buddhism• Manichaeism• Islam• Bubonic Plague• silkworm cultivation• gunpowder• spinning wheel }

}RELIGION

TECHNOLOGY

Cultural Diffusion

• Buddhism brought to China by Indian Buddhist monks

• brought art and architectural styles– enriched Chinese

intellectual and artistic life

• Buddhist monks introduced chairs to China

Decline of Silk Road

• conquest of Constantinople by the Islamic Turks– most of the Silk Road passing into Europe was cut

off

• demand for goods from European countries increased the search for sea routes

• the discovery of routes through the Atlantic Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope dwindled the importance of the Silk Road

Fun Facts

• goods carried by camel caravans

• established to ensure alliance to defend Han Empire from Mongolian nomads (Huns)

• Western Asia introduced grapes and wine to China

• Marco Polo increased the desire for oriental goods with his travel stories about Chinese wealth

TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE

What was Traded?

• gold • salt• copper• captives• ivory• fabrics• animal skins• ostrich feathers

Trade Goods from Southward

• iron– knives– scissors– needles– razors– brass– copperwa

re

• luxury items– silk– velvet– brocade– glass– porcelain

beads– ornament

s– jewelry

– mirrors– carpets– perfumes– paper– tea– coffee– sugar– horses

More Trading Goods

North– salts– dates– copper– gold– kola

nuts– Islam

Savanna– slaves– elephant

ivory– hippo

ivory– ostrich

feathers– animal

hides

– ink– textiles

West– salt – gold

Fun Facts

• started from Kumbi Salen, ancient Ghana, Timbuktu, Gao, Mali, Hausa, States, Kanem Bornu

• copper minded at Takedda traded in local markets– became raw material for local artifacts

• Arab slave traders traded captives for domestic servants, agricultural laborers, soldiers, and concubines

• North African Berbers traveled with camel caravans– 1000 camels per caravan

CHINESE INNOVATIONS

Economic Innovations of Sui China

• Emperor Yangdi ordered the construction of a series of great canals – linked various parts of the empire

– built to allow transport of rice from the south to the north

– joined Yellow River area and cities of the northeast to the Yangtze basin of the South

– opened up the south to migration and commercial development

Economic Innovations of Tang China

• steel-tipped plows• wheelbarrows

– eased plowing, planting, – weeding and harvesting tasks

• waterwheels• double cropping• paper money• silk spinning• printing press• new crucible method of iron extraction from ore• mass porcelain production• Chinese ships – “junks” – best ships in the world at the time• market places where products were sold

Economic Innovations of Song China

• extended the Grand Canal that linked Yangtze and Yellow River basins– alllowed mass shipments of rice from

north to south

• printing press–made more books

Fun Facts

• Emperor Yangdi killed his father Wendi to reach the throne– (it’s like a soap opera)

• Footbinding began in the Tang Dynasty

Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty

• Emperor Chu Ti sent admiral Zheng He for naval expeditions– first voyage was in 1405

– original purpose was to find former ruler Chu Yun-Wen, but he was never found

– allowed China to dominate trade in Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean

– foreign rulers gave emperor lions, leopards, giraffes, and ostriches

– increase in demand for Chinese silk, porcelain, and lacquer

Zheng He’s Voyages

• kept a careful record of his travels

• voyages extended from Southeast Asia to India

• seventh and last voyage was in 1433

• after former emperor died, voyages ceased– cost – Confucians preferred traditional expenditures

rather than distant foreign involvements

Fun Facts

• Zheng He’s nickname was “three jeweled eunuch”

• Chinese trading groups established permanent settlements in the Philippines Malaysia, and Indonesia – added to cultural diversity

and maintained a disproportionate role in local and regional trading activities

THE AMERICAS

THE MAYA

What was traded?

• salt– main trade

• obsidian• amber• embroidered cloth• cacao

– used as currency

• turquoise• jade• feathers• jaguar hides• cotton • rubber

Fun Facts

• much of the trade was by land– also sea trade was important

• the elite controlled the trade– maintained their power – through trade

• there were no wheels, so slaves had to carry goods by hand

THE AZTECS

What was traded?

• cacao beans• jaguar hides• cotton• maize• knives• virtually every product available in

Mesoamerica at the time

Fun Facts

• Tlatelolco had the largest market – 60,000 people visited daily

• merchants carried goods in caravans

NORTH AMERICAN TRADE

What was traded?

• agricultural products• hardware– hoes– axes

• copper• salt• chert• mica

Fun Facts

• North America was made up of mostly kinship groups–maintained peace by paying tribute in

the form of seashells and beads, which were obtained by trade