o Overview
-> Demand and regional connections
-> Mongol expansion and security
-> Transport and commercial innovations
o Demand and regional connections
-> c. 1200-1450: Silk Roads linked China to the Mediterranean.
-> Growing cities and elite demand expanded luxury trade.
-> Chinese silk and porcelain supplied distant consumers.
-> Central Asian horses and Persian textiles moved by land.
-> High transport costs favored luxuries over bulk goods.
-> Older routes persisted as trade volume and reach grew.
o Mongol expansion and security
-> 1200s Mongol conquests joined much of Eurasia under rule.
-> Conquest first devastated cities and disrupted commerce.
-> Later Pax Mongolica reduced risks across many routes.
-> Protection for merchants encouraged long-distance travel.
-> Passes and relay stations eased travel and communication.
-> Shared imperial links connected Yuan China and Persia.
o Transport and commercial innovations
-> Camel caravans carried goods across arid Central Asia.
-> Oasis towns supplied water, food, and places to exchange.
-> Caravanserai offered lodging, making journeys safer.
-> Bills of exchange reduced the need to carry metal coins.
-> Credit financed costly journeys, enabling more commerce.
o Overview
-> Commercial growth and urban centers
-> Cultural and technological diffusion
-> Environmental effects and network limits
o Commercial growth and urban centers
-> c. 1200-1450: Eurasian overland trade expanded exchange.
-> Increased traffic enriched oasis cities such as Kashgar.
-> Samarkand grew as a market linking regional merchants.
-> Merchants relayed goods; few traveled the entire network.
-> Urban markets supported artisans producing luxury goods.
-> Yuan paper money aided trade within China, not everywhere.
o Cultural and technological diffusion
-> Merchants and travelers carried ideas along trade routes.
-> Muslim traders and scholars spread Islam in Central Asia.
-> Buddhism persisted on routes despite Islam's expansion.
-> Marco Polo's accounts widened European knowledge of Asia.
-> Paper-making knowledge spread west, aiding written culture.
-> Gunpowder knowledge spread west, changing military tools.
o Environmental effects and network limits
-> Deserts and mountains funneled caravans through passes.
-> Trade and Mongol movements helped spread plague westward.
-> Black Death killed millions in Eurasia during the 1300s.
-> Deaths disrupted production and reduced labor supplies.
-> Mongol fragmentation weakened safety; exchange persisted.