Question

This is essay topic

1. What was the Afroeurasian trade network? Use specific examples of who was involved, what they traded. Explain the deterioration of the Afroeurasian trade network which existed from the 12^th-14^th century.

Answer 1

Afro-Eurasian trade had a profound impact on world history from 600 C.E. to 1850 C.E. The Silk Road, trans-Saharan trade, Indian Ocean trade, and European sea trade were the most significant networks at this time. Trade along the Silk Road caused the spread of major world religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as culture and technologies such as gunpowder. However the Silk Road also proliferated the Black Death. This devastating disease killed millions of people, led to the persecution of the Jews in Europe, and loosened the power of the aristocracy in Europe as well. Trans-Saharan trade facilitated the spread of Islam in West Africa. Through Islam, people learned how to write, leading to the establishment of Timbuktu as a center of culture and education. In addition, trans-Saharan trade brought an end to West Africa’s gerontocratic age-grade system and gave rise to slavery. In the Indian Ocean trade network, the spread of Islam led to the creation of an entirely new culture—the Swahili. The export of gold, ivory, and slaves fueled growth of Southern Africa as a commercial superpower, which is epitomized at Great Zimbabwe. European sea trade caused conflict and competition. The bloody massacre of the Swahili by Portugal, warfare between the British and Dutch, and the Opium Wars were results of European sea trade. Moreover, competition for control over European sea trade led to the expedition of Columbus to the New World, bringing about the decimation of the Native Americans, the creation of Atlantic slave trade, the shift of world power to Europe, and eventually the industrial revolution. In short, Afro-Eurasian trade shaped world history drastically from 600 C.E. to 1850 C.E.

The first trade route that spanned across Eurasia was the Silk Road. The Silk Road originated in Han China during the reign of Wu Di. It began when the emissary Zhang Qian was sent westward from the capital Xiang around 130 B.C.E. in search of a military alliance against the Huns with the Yuezhi, an ancient civilization that ruled Bactria and India

The Silk Road facilitated the spread of technology and culture that influenced world history in both constructive and destructive ways. For example, paper, silk, spices, and gunpowder were spread on the Silk Road. Some ideas, such as the ney, a type of flute from Iran, spurred innovation and the development of culture. Other technologies, however, gave rise to deadlier weaponry and increased the destructive abilities of the human race. One of these technologies was gunpowder. The invention of gunpowder has been traced to China around 850 C.E., when it was discovered by Chinese alchemists experimenting with “life-lengthening” elixirs. Originally gunpowder was only used for entertainment purposes, such as fireworks, but military strategists quickly recognized its potential as a weapon

By 600 C.E., the classical civilizations—Rome, Han China, and Gupta India—had collapsed, and Silk Road trade dried up as a result (Stearns). Without the military strength of the former empires, the long journey on the Silk Road became very dangerous. In addition, people were less concerned with trade than they were with their own survival. As a result, East-West trade dried up. Yet in the mid-late thirteenth century, the Mongols, under the reign of Kublai Khan, unified the fragmented dynasties of China, and revitalized Silk Road trade.

The second important Afro-Eurasian trade network, trans-Saharan trade, brought Islam into West Africa, thereby introducing writing, enriching education and business, and causing a shift in political structures. After the death of Mohammed in 632 C.E., the followers of Islam expanded immensely, and by 750 they controlled a vast territory in the middle of the Eurasian continent, as well as Egypt and areas on the Northern border of the Sahara. These Muslims brought salt from the Sahara on camels to the Mali Empire in West Africa in exchange for gold from the Niger River. This resulted in the spread of Islam into sub-Saharan Africa. As cited by Robert B. Marks in his The origins of the modern world: a global and ecological narrative from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century, “after the exploration of Islam across the Mediterranean in the seventh century, all of the African empires that traded north across the Sahara converted to Islam between the tenth and twelfth centuries C.E.” (Marks, 55). Islam drastically impacted West Africa, in aspects both constructive and destructive

Conflict along the Silk Road increased as competition arose among the societies in Europe and Asia. Specifically, the Mongols dramatically impacted Asia and Europe through their violent conquests. They were known for having an effective and powerful army, led by Genghis Kan, which allowed them to defeat armies that outnumbered them and were more technologically advanced. By 1206 CE, the Mongols had grown to be powerful, but they were still underestimated by their nemeses, which gave them even more of an advantage during warfare. They began to violently seize nations in order to gain control of the expansive trade networks, while in the process, destroying and absorbing cultural values and institutions. They violently destroyed areas of the world, leading to damaged societies and cultural diffusion within Europe and Asia, as well as a fear towards the Mongols that gave them military advantage over people for years to come. The Mongols did, however, fall and lose their military advantage with their defeat in Baghdad in 1215 CE.

Competition for dominance in European sea trade was intense, and impacted world history drastically. In 1492 C.E., Spain tried to gain the upper hand by sending explorer Christopher Columbus to what they hoped would be India, so that Spain could reap the riches of Indian Ocean trade (“Columbus, Christopher,” Encyclopedia Britannica). Instead, he reached America, and the Columbian Exchange ensued. It gave rise to the Atlantic Slave Trade, the eradication of the Native Americans, and the shift of power to Europe that sparked the industrial revolution.
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In the New World European explorers found abundances of rich crops such as corn, potatoes, and tomatoes to export back to Europe; the only thing in their way was the Native Americans. To remove this obstacle, they traded for the crops with blankets contaminated with smallpox. This disease devastated the Native Americans, killing 95% of the population and clearing the way for Europeans. To harvest the crops required a large amount of labor however, and Europe’s solution was slaves. In what is now known as the Atlantic Slave Trade, Europe transported vast numbers of slaves from Africa to the Americas, where they were subdued by unbearable amounts of work for Europe’s benefit. And the benefit was great indeed; many of the crops became staple foods in European countries that were not rich in agriculture, such as the potato in Ireland. This caused a population boom in Europe, providing Europe with the prerequisites for the Industrial Revolution. Hence, competition for European sea trade led to the ‘discovery’ of the New World, bringing about the fall of the Native Americans and the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade, while providing Europe with money, power, and the prerequisites for industrialization.