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Credit Sprint / Study guides / World History Unit 2

Credit Sprint's Guide to AP® World History, Unit 2: Networks of Exchange, c. 1200 to c. 1450

AP® weight 8–10%

Trade routes across Eurasia and Africa linked distant societies. The Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean, the Sahara and the Mongol Empire moved goods, religions, technology and disease, and increased the wealth and power of the states and cities along them.

Trade networks of Afro-EurasiaSilk Roadssilk, porcelain, ideas Indian Oceanspices, monsoon winds Trans-Saharangold and salt Cities and states growreligion, technology, disease

What you need to know

  • The Silk Roads carried silk, porcelain, spices and ideas across Central Asia. Caravanserai, camels and the pax Mongolica made travel safer in the thirteenth century.
  • The Indian Ocean trade used the monsoon winds and the lateen sail. Merchants from Arabia, India, East Africa, Southeast Asia and China traded in port cities such as Calicut, Malacca and Kilwa.
  • The trans-Saharan trade exchanged West African gold for salt and goods from North Africa. The camel saddle and caravans made it possible, and Islam spread with merchants into Mali and Songhai.
  • The Mongol Empire, started by Chinggis Khan, became the largest contiguous land empire. It used military discipline and mobility, tolerated many religions, supported trade and spread technologies, but its conquests caused great destruction.
  • The Black Death, probably carried along trade routes, killed a large share of the population of Eurasia in the 1300s. Labor shortages in Europe weakened serfdom and raised wages, while trade declined and many cities were disrupted.
  • Technology moved along the networks. Champa rice, the compass, gunpowder, paper and the astrolabe spread widely, and new financial tools such as bills of exchange and banking houses reduced the risk of trade.

Exam traps

Watch forThe pax Mongolica was a period of safer trade under Mongol rule. It did not mean the Mongols were gentle conquerors.
Watch forThe Black Death spread along trade routes. Do not describe it as limited to Europe.
Watch forTrade carried religion, technology and disease as well as goods. Exam questions often ask for the cultural effect, not only the economic one.

Key terms

  • Silk Roads: Overland trade routes across Eurasia that carried silk, spices, ideas and diseases.
  • Caravanserai: A roadside inn along trade routes that gave merchants and animals shelter and safety.
  • Pax Mongolica: The period of relative peace and security across Mongol lands that helped trade flourish in the 1200s and 1300s.
  • Chinggis Khan: The founder of the Mongol Empire, who united the steppe tribes and began a rapid conquest of Eurasia.
  • Kublai Khan: The Mongol ruler who founded the Yuan dynasty in China and encouraged trade and foreign advisers.
  • Yuan dynasty: The Mongol dynasty that ruled China from 1271 to 1368.
  • Ilkhanate: The Mongol state in Persia that eventually converted to Islam and blended Persian and Mongol culture.
  • Golden Horde: The Mongol state in Russia that collected tribute from Russian princes for about two centuries.
  • Ibn Battuta: A Moroccan scholar who traveled across the Islamic world and wrote an account of his journeys.
  • Marco Polo: A Venetian merchant whose account of China introduced many Europeans to Asian wealth.
  • Indian Ocean trade: A network linking East Africa, Arabia, India, Southeast Asia and China, driven by monsoon winds.
  • Monsoon winds: Seasonal winds that let sailors cross the Indian Ocean in predictable patterns.
  • Lateen sail: A triangular sail that helped ships sail against the wind, widely used in the Indian Ocean.
  • Astrolabe: An instrument used to measure the position of stars and help navigators find latitude.
  • Trans-Saharan trade: The caravan trade that exchanged West African gold for North African salt and goods using camels.
  • Hanseatic League: A commercial league of northern European cities that protected and promoted trade in the Baltic and North Seas.

Practice questions

Five of the 46 Unit 2 questions in Credit Sprint. Every choice is explained in the app.

1. Which innovation most helped merchants cross the Indian Ocean using seasonal winds?
  1. The lateen sail and knowledge of the monsoons
  2. The steam engine used to power ships against the wind
  3. The railroad built along the coastlines of Africa and Asia
  4. The telegraph used to send messages between ports
Show answer

The lateen sail and knowledge of the monsoons. Triangular sails let ships sail at an angle to the wind, and merchants timed voyages to the monsoon winds, which blew one way in summer and the other in winter.

2. Why did the Ming government end Zheng He's voyages?
  1. The Chinese found that there was nothing worth trading for
  2. Muslim rulers forbade Chinese ships to enter any port
  3. Confucian officials considered them costly
  4. Chinese ships were destroyed by Portuguese cannons
Show answer

Confucian officials considered them costly. Officials thought the expeditions drained resources, and threats from Mongols made land defense a priority, so China turned inward.

3. Flying money and bills of exchange developed during this era because merchants
  1. wanted to abolish all private ownership of goods
  2. needed a safe way to move wealth over long distances without carrying coins
  3. were required by law to pay all taxes in paper currency
  4. had discovered a new type of silver in the Americas
Show answer

needed a safe way to move wealth over long distances without carrying coins. Merchants deposited funds in one city and drew an equivalent amount elsewhere, lowering the risk of theft and aiding long-distance trade.

4. Which statement best describes the Hajj's role in this era?
  1. It was limited to people from the Arabian Peninsula only
  2. It was a yearly military campaign against Christian states
  3. It was banned by the Mongols in all lands they ruled
  4. It brought Muslims from distant lands together
Show answer

It brought Muslims from distant lands together. Pilgrims traveling to Mecca formed networks of scholars and traders, so the Hajj acted as an annual meeting point for the Islamic world.

5. Which of the following would be good evidence for Chinese influence on Southeast Asia?
  1. A sudden spread of Christianity by Spanish missionaries in 1300
  2. Chinese-style tributary relations
  3. The adoption of Aztec calendars by Southeast Asian priests
  4. Roman legions garrisoned across Southeast Asian cities
Show answer

Chinese-style tributary relations. States like Vietnam and others sent tribute to the Chinese court, and porcelain and silk circulated widely across maritime trade routes.