I. Silk Road

a. What

i. Linked lands of the Mediterranean with China by way of Mesopotamia, Iran, and Central Asia

ii. Spread art, food, spices, ideas, metals

iii. Provided China with pack animals, alfalfa, wine grapes, pistachios, walnuts, pomegranates, sesame, coriander, spinach, jasmine oil, oak galls, sal ammoniac, copper oxides, zinc, and precious stones.

iv. Provided Mesopotamia with cotton, sugar cane, rice, citrus trees, eggplant, and many other crops from India and China.

v. Brought new technology such as the stirrup-, which also affected chariot warfare.

b. Impact

i. Prosperity caused by ethnic mix of region and cultural values

c. Religion

i. Manichaeism (a new religion in Mesopotamia) survived by being preached on the Silk Road. It was a dualist faith- a struggle between good and evil derived from Zoroastrianism.

ii. King Ashoka, the Mauryan ruler of India, Kanishka, the greatest king of the Kushan of northern Afghanistan, promoted Buddhism. However monks, missionaries, and pilgrims who crisscrossed India, followed the Silk Road, or took ships on the Indian ocean brought Buddha teachings to Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and ultimately Japan

iii. There was interest of Buddhism but it also competed with Christianity

II: Disruption:

a. 13^th century: Mongols (see link) divide after Genghis Khan, sack Baghdad, destroy Abbasid Caliphate.

a. Establish Khanates in Central Asia, China, Steppes, Russia.

i. Even get close to Vienna in W. Europe before turning back.

b. Disruption of trade with west (via Cherson and Constantinople) becomes one of the major “push” factors to Age of Discovery as W. Europe seeks to find access to trade routes to the East.

a. Originally connected via Crusades and Constantinople trade.