Silk Road
This paper-based currency system was introduced by the Yuan Dynasty and widely documented by Marco Polo to facilitate trade.
What is Flying Cash?
Born Temüjin, this leader united the nomadic Mongol tribes in 1206 and established the largest contiguous land empire in history.
Who is Genghis Khan?
These seasonal wind patterns dictated the timing of maritime navigation and commercial shipping across the Indian Ocean.
What is the monsoon winds?
This arid North African region was bridged by camel caravans carrying gold, salt, and enslaved people.
What is the Sahara Desert?
This Venetian merchant traveled to the court of Kublai Khan and wrote popular accounts of his journeys across Asia.
Who is Marco Polo?
This nomadic empire protected and revitalized the Silk Roads, creating a period of regional stability known as the Pax Mongolica.
What is the Mongol Empire?
This historical term refers to a period of regional stability that allowed trade to flourish across Afro-Eurasia.
This triangular sail type allowed sailors to tack into the wind and became a staple of Arab and Indian dhows.
What is the Lateen sail?
Groups of merchants traveling together across dangerous desert and steppe terrain on the Silk Roads.
What is a caravan?
This Moroccan Muslim scholar traveled nearly 75,000 miles across Afro-Eurasia, documenting the spread and practice of Islam.
Who is Ibn Battuta?
This luxury textile, produced almost exclusively in China, was the most sought-after commodity on the overland trade routes.
What is Silk?
This grandson of Genghis Khan conquered the Song Dynasty in China and established the Yuan Dynasty in 1279.
Who is Kublai Khan?
This vibrant blend of Bantu and Arabic languages and cultures emerged along the East African coast through maritime trade interactions.
What is the Swahili language?
This navigational tool, originally invented in China, helped mariners determine their direction at sea.
What is the Magnetic Compass?
This West African ruler of Mali went on a famous hajj to Mecca in 1324, famously distributing so much gold that he disrupted regional economies.
Who is Mansa Musa?
This deadly pandemic traveled rapidly along Mongol-protected trade routes in the 14th century, devastating populations in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
What is the Bubonic Plague? AKA Black Death
This Russian khanate ruled over Russia from the 13th to the 15th century, collecting tribute from Slavic principalities.
What is the Golden Horde?
This traditional Arabian ship with a inset triangular sail was widely used across the Indian Ocean basin to transport goods and merchants.
What is a dhow?
This animal made large-scale Trans-Saharan and long-distance overland commerce possible by storing water and enduring harsh desert conditions.
What is a camel?
This Ming Dynasty admiral commanded massive treasure fleets across the Indian Ocean to project Chinese prestige and exact tribute.
Who is Zheng He?
This city served as a major cultural, commercial, and intellectual oasis in Central Asia along the Silk Road.
What is Samarkand (AKA Bukhara)?
Following the death of Genghis Khan, the empire fractured into four of these regional administrative territories.
What are the Khanates?
This massive Chinese maritime vessel featured multiple masts, watertight bulkheads, and vast cargo capacity.
What is a Chinese junk?
This West African city became a renowned center of Islamic scholarship and trade with famous libraries.
What is Timbuktu?
This Buddhist monk traveled from Tang Dynasty China to India to retrieve sacred Buddhist texts, inspiring classical Chinese literature like Journey to the West.
Who is Xuanzang?