Silk Road Trade
This luxury item from China gave the trade route its name.
What is silk?
These seasonal winds were essential for navigation in the Indian Ocean trade system.
What are monsoon winds?
This animal, with a special saddle, made desert trade across the Sahara possible.
What is the camel?
This Chinese financial innovation acted like an early paper currency.
What is flying cash?
This religion spread widely along all three major trade routes.
What is Islam?
This Mongol-led dynasty in China promoted Silk Road stability and trade.
What is the Yuan Dynasty?
This traveler was sent by the Ming Emperor to search for new trade markets and to display the might of the Ming Dynasty.
Who is Zheng He?
This West African empire thrived by taxing gold and salt trades.
What is the Mali Empire?
This document used by merchants functioned like a modern-day check.
What is a bill of exchange?
The rise of trade led to the expansion of these urban centers in regions like East Africa, the Middle East, and China.
What are trade cities or port cities?(e.g., Kilwa, Calicut, Chang’an, Baghdad)
This financial innovation allowed merchants to avoid carrying coins across long distances.
What is flying cash?
This technology, originally from the Arab world, helped ships navigate open waters more accurately.
What is the astrolabe?
This city in Mali became a center of Islamic learning and commerce.
What is Timbuktu?
These navigational tools improved sea travel and increased long-distance trade efficiency.
What are the astrolabe and compass?
In West Africa, Islam blended with local traditions to create these unique cultural practices.
What is syncretism?(also acceptable: Africanized Islam or Islamic syncretic practices)
These physical locations along the route provided rest and resupply for traders.
What are caravanserais?
The Indian Ocean trade allowed for the spread of this religion to Indonesia and East Africa.
What is Islam?
These two major commodities were the most traded across the Sahara.
What are gold and salt?
This innovation helped Arab traders maneuver ships against the wind.
What is the lateen sail?
In China, Buddhist ideas from India mixed with Confucian values to create this philosophy.
What is Neo-Confucianism?
This famous Venetian traveler documented his time in the Mongol Empire, increasing European interest in Asia.
Who is Marco Polo?
This group of merchants played a crucial role in facilitating trade across the Indian Ocean.
Who are Muslim merchants?(also acceptable: Arab merchants or Indian merchants)
This innovation allowed traders to transport more goods efficiently across the desert.
Acceptable: camel saddle, flying cash, banking houses, credit
These improvements in state-sponsored infrastructure helped keep trade routes safe.
What are roads, patrol stations, and caravanserais?(also acceptable: Mongol postal relay system)
The effects of cultural exchanges and growth of cities also led to some negative effects. This negative effects led to the death of large populations.
What is the Black Death/Bubonic Plague?