Afro-Eurasia Post-Classical Trade Map

Al-Sakh

Al-Sakh is a syllable in China that came to mean "TEA."

How Silk is Made

Silk is made in an intricate process from the cocoons of worms, using the thread of the cocoons material to make thread, and then weave it into a continuous piece of silk fabric which takes an intricate machine in a time consuming process, prior to the bleaching and dying to achieve the desired color. This process would have been much longer and difficult in ancient China without the machines, or dye that is available today.

How Silk is Made

Description of Malacca

The first passage describes the many different cultures and kinds of people that were seen around the city of Malacca. The second, by Janet Abu-Lughod, describes that the trade system in Malacca was unique to its time. These passages describe Malacca as a place where many different kinds of people passed through for trade with countries in southeast Asia and with China. Malacca was unique in that is was integral in the Indian Ocean trade for the one of the most efficient and fastest ways of transportation.

City of Malacca

The Spice Trade

The spice trade was a trade of spices across Asia, Europe and Northeast Africa. The spice trade led to the diffusion of culture across all of these places. It also also caused the growth of cites that were major connections between different routes of merchants from different countries.

The Spice Trade

Indian Ocean Trade Summary

The passage about India Ocean Trade explains that it was possible due to the understanding of the monsoon winds and because of the development of new technology. Once it was known that the winds blew to the east in the winter and west in the summer, it made timing trade much easier. Innovation of better ships for sailing made trading more products faster, and safer. The passage also describes that the Indian Ocean became a "highway" where many different people crossed paths along the major trade cites. These cities grew and caused interaction and network between cultures and people.

Indian Ocean

Monsoon Winds

Monsoon winds were seasonal winds that affected the direction of the currents diruing different times of the year, moving west in the winter, and east in the summer. Monsoon winds affected merchants, because it determined when trade voyages would take place and to where. Trade from eastern cities, like Malacca, could only set sail for Indian Ocean trade during the winter because they were trading to the west. Trade from western cities, like Mombasa, could not perform maritime trade during the winter because the that is when the winds move toward inland Africa. India, at the heart of the winds could trade at any time because they have sea and trading partners, on either side.

Monsoon Winds

East African Trade

East African Swahili city states were involved with trade in the Indian Ocean trading with India, Southeast Asia, China, and southwest Asia. Products traded off the east coast of Africa included gold, ivory. Enslaved people were also traded to other cities.

Timbuktu

Timbuktu is a city in West Africa that was once know for its remarkable collection of scholar, and had developed a University that developed many advancements in mathematics and astrology. The gold-salt trade was also prevalent for Timbuktu, as a city of exchange where gold from West Africa would be traded for salt from North Africa.

Guilds

GUILDS

Guilds were groups of people who shared the same jobs and who accepted, or denied (often Jewish and foreign people) people in the guild. The purpose of the guild was to provide high quality materials to be traded and to train people to becoming Masters of the guild. The people of guilds controlled the prices and trade of the products, usually glassware, wheelwrights or wine.

Hanseatic

The Hanseatic league was a group of cities that formed a trading union, apart from the failing European feudal system. This group of merchants also shared an army for their protection of trading routes. Products traded in the Hanseatic League included guilds that worked to make products like fine linens, silks and wood carvings to traded. This trading system set into motion the powerful trading system of Europe that would come later.

Hanseatic League