While the basic purpose of the Silk Road remained mostly the same, its’ goods and destinations went through many changes. The road started as a small transport route for Eurasian merchants, but later turned into an important economical and cultural necessity. Once Asian products, like spices and fabrics, were used by Europeans, they became dependent on them. This also occurred in Asia, and it began to shape both cultures. Also, due to the large amount of political changes that occurred during this expanse of time, the Silk Road also traveled through the new countries that began when the Roman Empire collapsed.
Another thing was that Islam promoted more equalitarian social arrangements that were new and attractive to the Indians. West Africa, experienced both the cultural influence of Islam and its own internal state building, for example, it civilizations had new developments that produced, in some places, great artistic accomplishments. In Africa, the spread of Islam empowered many things. For one Islam provided new influences and contacts without uniting the African cultures The spread of Islam across much of the northern third of Africa produced intense effects on those who converted and those who were against the new faith. Islam also linked Africa more closely to the outside world through trade, religion, and politics.
Fundamental factors like the growing powers all the governments, a new thrust and desire for foreign goods- especially Asian goods, and a desire to spread the Christian religion drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest and settlement of the New World. The key players in exploration of the New World all became more powerful. The Portuguese set up trading posts along the coast of Africa which allowed money to flow through the country, giving them more power. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile unified the kingdom of Spain, which increased its power. This increase in power made many countries and governments hungry for more power and would do anything to find it.
Explain how improvements in transportation and communication made possible the rise of the West as a powerful, self-conscious region of the new nation. With the market revolution, came a large influx of improvements in transportation and communication. Without these improvements the rise of the western United States would have been a far slower process. By 1784 the US population had boomed and after the War of 1812 the number of land seeking settlers was astounding. Prior too many critical inventions the processes to which America operated under changed little since the colonial era.
During the years between 650 an 1750 AD, the Indian Ocean saw changes and continuities in commerce through new methods of transportation, new commodities, and new European involvement. Innovation in transportation, new and unexpected commodities, and the Europeans spurned change in commerce in the Indian Ocean region from 650 to 1750 AD. Change in commerce in the Indian Ocean began with the invention of the Dhow. An Arab invention, Dhows are ships whose sails can maximize monsoon winds that are often found in the Indian Ocean. This enabled trade that region to occur faster than ever before.
Human species developed techniques and organized their societies to live more comfortably and stably. And these societies have interacted with one another, using routes in various ways to promote their standard of lives in more efficiently. The usage of these routes varied from trade to war, and trans-Saharan caravan routes is not an exception. Between about 300B.C.E to 100 C.E, Nubian kingdom and Moroë used trans-Saharan caravan routes to trade with India, Arabia and Mediterranean countries. Mineral wealth flowed out of Moroë and luxury goods in Arabia and India flowed in When Roman Empire thrived, trans-Saharan route revived as one of the most important trading routes connecting Africa and Eurasia.
When Islam first started to spread over the Arabian Penninsula, the original ideology put forth by Muhammad stayed intact because he was very involved in the initial empire building. However, once he passed away and the empire grew much larger than before, these ideas started to change to fit the regional identities of conquered natives. For example, as Islam spread into India, Anatolia, Spain, and West Africa, the inhabitants kept their original beliefs, but added Muslim elements, such as parts of their language and cultural habits. In sum, Islam went from being adopted wholly by the people it conquered, to eventually only being partially adopted and integrated into other belief
By the time European nobility had begun to look upon such imports as Oriental rugs and perfumes as essentials, the growing middle class of merchants and craftsmen was demanding the new foodstuffs, such as cane sugar, rice, garlic, and lemons, and textiles, such as muslin, silk, and satin, from the East, which naturally became less expensive as the shipments increased in size. Natural, too was the growth of towns and cities in this period. Goods brought into Europe had to be distributed, and as trade increased, so did the towns and cities along the inland trade routes. The larger galleys and sailing vessels built to carry Crusaders were also used to bring luxuries of the Orient to the courts of England and Scandinavia. The Crusades affected finance and business practice in Europe.
How useful is consideration of cities and towns in gaining an understanding of the middle ages? Between 1066 and 1284 the economies of Britain were transformed. The population at least doubled. The commercial sector had expanded with money supply spiralling and a new infrastructure of towns, markets and fairs growing. England shared the same revival of urban life that took place throughout England, which led to clusters of population in the towns without any agricultural activities.
Access to commodities such as fabrics, spices, and gold motivated a European quest for a faster means to reach South Asia. It was this search that led the Portuguese down the coast of West Africa to Sierra Leone in 1460. Due to several technological and cultural advantages, Portugal dominated world trade for nearly 200 years, from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries. While, in the fifteenth century, the rest of Europe was decimated by the Black Plague, Portugal was protected by its physical isolation. Additionally, Portugal had an unusually strong national identity, due to its natural geographic borders, allowing the pooling of the considerable economic resources necessary to fund these ambitious explorations.