How did trade networks in the post-Classical era compare to the Classical era?
There were more, larger, and better trade networks.
What new technologies, governmental policies, and merchant activities accompanied these developments?
Innovations in transportation, state policies, and mercantile practices contributed to the expansion and development of commercial networks
What role did pastoral and nomadic groups play in these trade networks?
Pastoral or nomadic groups played a key role in creating and sustaining these networks
How did the physical size of post-classical trade networks compare to the previous era?
They were larger.
What Classical Era trade networks continued during the post-classical era, and which new cities were added during the post-Classical era?
Existing trade routes flourished inclduing the Silk Roads, the Mediterranean Sea, trans-Saharan and the Indian Ocean Basin, and promoted the growth of powerful new trading cities such as Novgorod, Timbuktu, Hangzhou, Calicut, Baghdad, and Venice
What new technologies enabled the growth of inter-regional trade networks?
It was encouraged by a more sophisticated caravan, use of the compass, astrolabe, and larger ships in sea travel, and new forms of credit and monetization
What factors encouraged commercial growth in the post-Classical era?
Commercial growth was also facilitated by new state practices, new trading organizations, and new state-sponsored commercial infrastructures
How did trans-Eurasian trade as a whole develop during the post-Classical Era?
The expansion of existing empires as well as new empires facilitated tans-Eurasian trade and communication as new peoples were drawn into economies and trade netowrks
What were the effects of migration in the post-classical era?
movement of peoples caused enviromental and linguistic effects
What basic understandings of enviroment and technology did post-classical traders need to conduct their business?
expansion and intensification of long-distance trade routes often depended on peoples' understanding of a particular regional enviroment and their subsequent technological adaptations
What were the enviromental effects of migration in the post-classical era?
Some migrations had huge impact, such as the migration of the agricultural Bantu peoples in forested regions of Sub-Saharan Agrica, and the maritime migrations of the Polynesian peoples who cultivated transplanted foods and domesticated animals.
What were the linguistic effects of migration in the post-classical era?
Some migrations and commercial contacts led to the diffusion of languages throughout a new region or the emergence of new languages
How did trade networks as a whole develop in the post-classical era?
Cross-cultural exchanges were fostered by the intensification of existing or the reation of new networks of trade & communication.
Why and where did Muslim trade networks change in the post-classical era?
Islam expanded from the Arabian Peninsula to many parts of Afro-Eurasia due to military expansion and the activites of merchants and missionaries
What institutions did merchants create to foster both trade and culutural diffusion in the post-classical era?
In key places along important trade routes, merchants set up diaspora communities where they introduced their own cultural traditions into the indigenous culture
How well did post-classical societies know and understand each other?
The writings of certain inter-regional travelers illustrate both the extent and the limitations of inter-cultural knowledge and understanding.
How did post-classical trade affect the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions?
Increased cross-cultural interactions resuluted in the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions.
How did post-classical trade affect the diffusion of scientific and technological traditions?
Increased cross-cultural interactions also resulted in the diffusion of scientific and technological traditions
What were the biological effects of post-Classical trade?
There was continued diffusion of crops and pathogens throughout the Eastern Hemisphere along the trade routes.
What new foods, crops, and agricultural practices diffused in the post-Classical era?
New foods were adopted in populated areas such as bananas in Africa, new rice varieties in East Asia or the Muslim Agricultural Revolution
What diseases and pathogens also spread via post-classical trade networks?
The spread of epidemic diseases, including the Black Death, followed the well-established paths of trade and military conquest.
