The Mongols
Named Temujin at birth, this man unified several tribes across the steppe and became the “universal emperor” of the Mongol people.
Who is Genghis Khan (or Chinggis Khan)?
The overland routes of the Silk Roads connected these continents.
What are Africa, Europe, and Asia?
This animal was most essential to the expansion of the Trans-Saharan trade routes.
What is the camel?
Developed in the 5th century BCE, this philosophy became the basis of the imperial exams and the core philosophy of the scholar-official class in the Song dynasty (960–1297).
What is Confucianism?
The expansion of trade under Mongol rule unintentionally allowed this pandemic to spread rapidly across Afro-Eurasia.
What is the Black Death (or bubonic plague)?
The Mongols were experts in waging war while riding this animal.
What is a horse?
Merchants converted to this faith to avoid taxes and to join a set of shared values with others in distant markets.
What is Islam?
Knowledge of this natural phenomenon allowed merchants to accurately plan voyages and to know when they would arrive at a distant port.
What are monsoon winds?
This Chinese explorer led seven naval expeditions around the Indian Ocean Basin between 1405 and 1424. Among the places he visited were Brunei, Java, Siam (Thailand), Southeast Asia, India, the Horn of Africa, and Arabia.
Who is Zheng He?
This merging with local traditions led to new versions of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism across Afro-Eurasia.
What is syncretism?
The Mongols created the khanate of the Great Khan, which (after 1279) also became known by this dynasty name.
What is the Yuan?
These roadside inns allowed merchants to rest and recover from the day's journey. They also supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the Silk Roads.
What are caravanserai?
These three major religions spread to Southeast Asia along trade routes from other regions.
What are Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam?
This waterway is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. It connected the Yellow River and Yangtze River and, after being restored and rebuilt by the Song Dynasty, it played a huge role in reunifying north and south China.
What is the Grand Canal?
What are the social and cultural effects of the Black Death in Europe?
The collapse of feudal societies; the emergence of a middle class; more people questioning the authority of the Catholic Church
This grandson of Genghis Khan completed the Mongols' conquest of China by defeating the Song Dynasty in 1279.
Who is Kublai Khan?
This European country gained entry to Indian Ocean ports after China's abrupt withdrawal following the death of the Yongle emperor.
They later established new sea lanes that bypassed the Saharan trade routes, making them less important to the global economy.
Who is Portugal?
This region was incorporated into Oman's trading post empire, through which Islam was introduced into East Africa (hint: it's named after the language that was formed due to the introduction of Arabic vocabulary to Bantu languages)
Swahili Coast
This group was most likely to adopt Chinese ideas as they spread to Vietnam, Korea, and Japan from 1200-1450.
Who are the elite class?
Labor shortages; wage increases; increased demand for luxury items (due to wage increases).
What are the economic effects of the Black Death in Europe?
This century-long period of peace led to increased in trade and connections between the east and west ends of Afro-Eurasia.
What is Pax Mongolica?
Leaders in these two West African kingdoms strictly controlled the movement of merchants across their lands in an attempt to guard the secret locations of gold mines to the south.
What are the Mali and Songhai kingdoms?
One part of the Sand Roads ended in this West African city, which became an intellectual and religious learning center -- much like Baghdad in the Middle East.
What is Timbuktu?
This version of Buddhism was a syncretic blend of Buddhism and Daoism that emphasized direct experience and individual meditation (as opposed to formal learning based on studying scripture).
What is Chan (Zen) Buddhism?
This country's camel saddle was one of the most important to be developed during this period, as it allowed camels extremely heavy loads multiple times their body weight
What is Somalia?