o Overview
-> Networks and religious diffusion
-> Islam and local adaptation
-> Buddhism and Asian traditions
o Networks and religious diffusion
-> c. 1200-1450 trade linked Afro-Eurasian belief systems.
-> Merchant diasporas carried religions to trading ports.
-> Monsoon routes brought Muslim traders to Southeast Asia.
-> Caravan cities hosted travelers, scholars, and clerics.
-> Mongol protection eased travel across much of Eurasia.
-> Religious tolerance under many Mongol rulers aided contact.
o Islam and local adaptation
-> Sufi teachers spread Islam through personal instruction.
-> Sufis adapted to local customs, encouraging conversion.
-> Indian Ocean trade helped Islam spread in coastal Asia.
-> Muslim merchants shaped Swahili urban religious life.
-> Trans-Saharan trade linked Mali to Islamic scholarship.
-> Islam blended with local customs; conversion was uneven.
o Buddhism and Asian traditions
-> Monks and merchants carried Buddhist texts across Asia.
-> Tibetan Buddhism gained patronage at the Yuan court.
-> Theravada Buddhism expanded in mainland Southeast Asia.
-> Hindu traditions persisted in Southeast Asian courts.
-> Neo-Confucian learning spread from China to Korea and Japan.
o Overview
-> Scholarship and knowledge exchange
-> Travelers and cultural understanding
-> Technology and cultural change
o Scholarship and knowledge exchange
-> c. 1200-1450 exchange carried ideas as well as goods.
-> Trade cities drew scholars, linking centers of learning.
-> Islamic scholars preserved and extended Greek learning.
-> Arabic-to-Latin translations enriched European learning.
-> Hindu-Arabic numerals eased calculation in European trade.
-> Mongol courts brought Persian and Chinese scholars together.
o Travelers and cultural understanding
-> Trade routes and patronage enabled long-distance journeys.
-> Ibn Battuta described Muslim societies across Afro-Eurasia.
-> Shared Islamic law helped him work abroad as a judge.
-> Marco Polo's account widened European knowledge of Asia.
-> Margery Kempe's pilgrimages linked Christian holy sites.
-> Travel accounts conveyed customs but reflected biases.
o Technology and cultural change
-> Paper spread west from China before 1200; use kept growing.
-> Cheaper writing materials aided scholarship and records.
-> Chinese gunpowder knowledge spread west through contact.
-> Compass use spread, helping sailors navigate trade routes.
-> Imported techniques were adapted, not copied unchanged.