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
Hallie Jester
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
Hallie Jester
Pd. 6 Dr.Kerin
10/04/10
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
