Networks of communication and exchange

1. Networks of communication and exchange 300 B.C.E. – 600 C.E.

2. The Silk Road • Linked the lands of the Mediterranean and China • Through Mesopotamia, Iran, and Central Asia • Exchanged from at least 1500 B.C.E.

3. Origins and Operations • Parthians- a people originally from east of the Caspian Sea • Because of little evidence of existence, their location is only thought to be on the threshold of Central Asia • In 128 B.C.E. General Zhang Jian made his first exploration • Lead 18 expeditions • Was the originator of overland trade with the western lands • Credited for introducing new plants and trees to China • Brought alfalfa and wine grapes to China • Chinese eagerness for Western products was one reason for the Silk Road to come into being • By 100 B.C.E. the Greeks could buy silk from Parthian traders • Traders going West carried new fruits and spices

4. The Sasanid Empire • From Iran • Sasanids came from the southwest • Left behind silver work and silk fabrics; which show us their lifestyle • Cities in Iran were small and walled • Served as protection for long-distance traders • Farmers planted: • Cotton, sugar cane, rice, citrus trees, eggplant, and more • Established their Zoroastrian faith: • The religion of Christianity and Zoroastrianism became a big part in politics • Greatly affected the culture of the Silk Road

5. The Zoroastrian high priest persecuted Christians, Jews, and Buddhist • From the 4th century and beyond, all religions were at a political rivalry • In the 3rd century, a new man created a new religion named in Mesopotamia: Manichaeism • Theologically derived from Zoroastrianism • The religion spread through the Silk Road • Resulting in a competition of the Nestorian missionaries and the Manichaean missionaries over Central Asia

6. The Impact of the Silk Road • As trade became an important part in the lives of Central Asian societies, the nomads originally from the mountains had settled into trading ports and cities • The Nomads lived in round, portable felt huts called yurts as the Turks and Iranians built and lived in houses brightly colored and decorated • Missions and religion are examples of what was greatly impacted by new customs and beliefs from the Silk Road • Stirrup- one of the most important inventions, gives a rider stability in the saddle. Created by the Kushans.

7. Indian Ocean Maritime System • Trade network across the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea • Created extremely strong economic and social ties between East Africa, southern Arabia, the Persian Gulf, India, Southeast Asia, and southern China • Took place: • 1- South China Sea (Chinese and Malays) • 2- East India to the islands of Southeast Asia (Malays and Indians) • 3- West coast of India to Persian Gulf and east coast of Africa (Persians and Arabs)

8. Origins of Contact and Trade • By 3000 B.C.E. Mesopotamia , the Persian Gulf, Oman, and the Indus Valley regularly traded • This ended and Mesopotamia traded with East Africa more often than India • Migration from Southeast Asia to Madagascar occurred • These people established themselves on the island and sailed around the coasts of India and southern Arabia • Settlers farmed and worked with the Africans • Descendants preserved their language and its culture

9. The impact of the Indian Ocean Maritime System • The demand for products inspired long ocean voyages • Africa- produced exotic animals, wood, and ivory • Northern Somalia and southern Arabia- grew scrubby trees, which when burned let off aroma like frankincense • Persian Gulf- had pearls • Oman- had copper mines • India- shipped spices and manufactured goods • Southeast Asia- had spices • Indian Ocean Maritime System had a great variety of products • Yet much lower volume of trade than the Mediterranean

10. Some ports in the west were isolated • The coast of the Arabian Peninsula, African side of the Red Sea, and southern and northern Iran were barren desert and lead to smaller ports and lack of clean water • In India, the mountains cut off the ports from the country • Yet, the Persian Gulf and its isolation actually worked. From the port of Apologus to all the way near Baghdad • Some ports were more accessible • Eastern India, the Malaysian Peninsula, and Indonesia had access to their inland populations • In coastal areas, women accompanied men on long sea voyages • The marriage of sailors and the women of different countries created a very diverse culture and mixed heritages

11. Routes Across The Sahara • Desert stretching from the Red sea to the Atlantic • By 300 B.C.E. scarcity of water was restricting travel • Trade over sub-Saharan caravan routes eventually expanded

12. Early Saharan Cultures • Early images left by hunters show us the presence of elephants, giraffes, rhinos, crocodiles, and other animals that are now extinct from the dry and rugged Sahara of today • This artwork shows us the movement of the hunting societies as they followed the herds • Domesticated cattle may have originated in western Asia or North Africa • The people of the Sahara before it became dry left artwork showing their culture including dancing, mask making, and breeding of cattle • This artwork supports the ideas that southern culture originated from the Sahara

13. In the artwork left, scenes of horses carrying chariots lead to the idea that the Mediterranean people rode them across the desert and established societies • However, no archaeological evidence of chariots have been found • The identity of cattle herders and horse breeders remain a mystery • Some historians say that the Romans created a sub-Saharan trade route, but yet again, the archaeological evidence is not there • However, there is one known fact that the Sahara trade relates to- • The spread of the domestication of camels

14. Trade Across the Sahara • Linking two trading routes, one from the north and one from the south, came slowly • Southern traders supplied salt • Traders from the equator forest brought kola nuts, and edible palm oil • Each, Southern and Northern, received goods from the Sahel (literally “the coast” in Arabic, farming peoples) • In the North, Romans supplied Italy with wheat and olives

15. Sub-Saharan Africa • The portion of Africa, south of the Sahara, with few external contacts • Most important African network of cultural exchange from 300-1100 B.C.E. • Migrations occurred, leading to the characteristics of African culture

16. A Challenging Geography • The Sahara, Atlantic, Indian Oceans, and the Red Sea form the boundaries of the region • The major rivers all lead to the Atlantic or into the Indian Ocean • The full length from the southern edge of the Sahara to the Cape of Good Hope would take you through the semiarid steppes of the Sahel, to the tropical savanna, to the tropical rainforest of the lower Niger and Zaire Basin • East-west travel is easy in the steppe and savanna regions

17. The Development of Cultural Unity • By the year 1 B.C.E. sub-Saharan Africa was a distinct cultural region • Culture developed over during the region’s long period of isolation from the world • Africa is home to more than 2 thousand distinct languages • Many corresponding to social and belief systems • There are numerous food production systems • Hunting and gathering and cultivation of crops and grains • Sub-Saharan Africa covered a large and diverse area • The large amount of land lead to cultural region growth • In addition, the enemy could never intrude because of natural barriers • Not until the 19th century did outsiders gain control of the continent

18. African Cultural Characteristics • European travelers of the 19th and 20th centuries learned the land and African life and culture very well • Music in Africa was observed and the new rhythm gave African music its own distinction • Fixed social categories were similar to neighboring regions • Age grouping, kinship division, gender, and occupational groups • Historians believe that the culture of Africa comes from the Sahara

19. The Advent of Iron and the Bantu Migrations • Agriculture became common between the equator and the Sahara, then spread south • Copper mining in the Sahara, in the Niger Valley later on, and in Central Africa after 400 B.C.E. • Iron smelting began in northern sub-Saharan Africa • Language contributed to the spread of iron • More than 300 languages spoken south of the equator belong to the Bantu (a Niger-Congo family) • The Bantu languages spread both north and south • The “proto- Bantu” people were original Bantu speakers • They fished, made pottery and cloth, and domesticated animals • The period from 500- 1000 C.E. saw massive transfer of Bantu tradition south, north, and east

20. The Spread of Ideas • Socials customs, religious attitudes, and artistic styles can be spread along trade routes everywhere

21. The Spread of Buddhism • Buddhism grew to become one of the three most popular and wide spread religions in the world • King Ashoka (the Mauryan ruler of India) promoted Buddhism • Monks, missionaries, and pilgrims who followed the silk road also brought the Buddha’s teachings • Written evidence shows us that pilgrims, that had followed the Silk Road as Buddhism reached China, encountered Buddhist monasteries that previous pilgrims had made • Missionaries traveled to Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, and Southeast Asia • Other monks traveled to Burma, Thailand, and Sumatra • Different lands adapted to Buddhism in different ways

22. The Spread of Christianity • Jerusalem in Palestine, Antioch in Syria, and Alexandria in Egypt became centers of Christianity • The spread of Christianity to Armenia and Ethiopia shows the connections between religion, trade, and politics • Armenia served as a battleground between Iranian and Mediterranean states • Each power wanted control over the area because of the location of the travelers on the Silk Road • To the south, Christians emperors in Constantinople sent missionaries along the Red Sea trade route to Ethiopia • In Parthian times, King Ezana sought out Roman Christians to establish Christian communities • The spread of Christianity into Nubia came from Ethiopia • Ethiopia then became a very political and economic power at the western end of the Red Sea trade route