Silk Roads
This city in Central Asia was famous for its markets, artisans, and cultural exchanges.
What is Samarkand?
This seasonal wind system determined the timing of trade voyages.
What are monsoon winds?
This animal was essential for desert travel and transport of goods.
What is the camel?
This term describes the period of relative peace and stability across Mongol-controlled lands.
What is the Pax Mongolica?
This religion spread widely along the Indian Ocean through merchants and Sufi missionaries.
What is Islam?
“Merchants carried porcelain, silk, and paper across the mountains to the markets of Persia and beyond.”
Q: Which Chinese dynasty’s products were especially prominent on the Silk Roads during 1200–1450?
What is the Song (or Yuan) dynasty?
“The city of Kilwa is among the most beautiful of cities, and its merchants are wealthy, for much trade passes through it.” – Ibn Battuta
Q: Which trade network is Ibn Battuta describing here?
What is the Indian Ocean trade network?
Name one Chinese luxury good that was highly desired along the Silk Roads.
What is silk or porcelain?
These communities formed when foreign merchants settled in port cities but kept their cultural traditions.
What are diasporic communities?
Salt from the Sahara was exchanged primarily for this West African resource.
What is gold?
This Italian merchant wrote accounts of his travels through the Mongol Empire.
Who is Marco Polo?
Knowledge of this navigational tool spread from the Muslim world into Europe.
What is the astrolabe?
“The ships of these merchants were so large that they could carry hundreds of men and horses, and sailed with triangular sails.” – description of Chinese junks
Q: Which sail design is referenced here that allowed ships to tack against the wind?
What is the lateen sail?
“Merchants from every land flock thither with wares of every kind, for there is great security in traveling.” – Marco Polo
Q: Which empire made long-distance travel safe for merchants like Marco Polo?
What is the Mongol Empire?
These roadside inns provided safety and rest for merchants and their animals.
What are caravanserais?
Cotton textiles and spices were key exports from this South Asian region.
What is India?
This saddle innovation allowed merchants to transport heavier loads.
What is the camel saddle?
The Mongols used this system of stations and horses to transmit messages and aid travelers.
What is the relay station or yam system?
Ibn Battuta traveled widely across Afro-Eurasia as a representative of this cultural tradition.
What is Islam?
“Wherever their horsemen ride, there follows death and ruin; yet merchants cross their dominions in safety.” – European chronicler
Q: This paradox best describes which Mongol-era phenomenon?
What is the Pax Mongolica?
“Civilization both in the East and the West was visited by a destructive plague which devastated nations and caused populations to vanish.” – Ibn Khaldun
Q: Which historical event is Ibn Khaldun describing?
What is the Black Death?
Which innovation in banking allowed merchants to access funds far from home?
What are bills of exchange?
Which technological innovation from China improved maritime navigation?
What is the magnetic compass?
This West African city became a major hub of learning and commerce.
What is Timbuktu?
The Mongols helped facilitate the spread of this deadly pandemic through trade routes.
What is the Black Death?
The Black Death weakened this European economic and social system.
What is feudalism (or serfdom)?
“Gold came from the land of Wangara, carried across the desert to the markets of Cairo, where it was exchanged for salt and cloth.”
Q: Which empire in West Africa became wealthy by taxing this trade?
What is the Mali Empire?
“A woman with a golden vessel on her head could wander without fear from one end of the empire to the other.” – Juvayni
Q: What does this statement best illustrate about Mongol rule?
What is the Pax Mongolica (safety of trade and travel)?
The spread of this religion from India into Central and East Asia illustrates cultural diffusion along the Silk Roads.
What is Buddhism?
Name one Swahili city-state that grew wealthy through Indian Ocean trade.
What is Kilwa, Mombasa, or Zanzibar?
Besides gold, name one other product exported from West Africa across the Sahara.
What are enslaved people or ivory?
Name one region outside of China where Mongol rulers established a khanate.
What is Persia, Russia, or Central Asia?
Name one scientific or technological innovation that spread along the trade routes besides navigation.
What is paper-making, gunpowder, or printing?
“The pestilence spread by merchants and travelers moved from the East to the West, striking down populations in towns and villages alike.” – 14th c. account
Q: Which event is being described?
What is the spread of the Black Death?
“Fathers abandoned children, wives abandoned husbands… none could be found to bury the dead.” – Italian chronicle, 1348
Q: Which long-distance process helped spread this disaster into Europe?
What is the expansion of trade networks (Silk Roads / Mongol routes)?