Major Components of Post 1000 A.D. Long Distance Trade
By: Namratha Mohan
Trade in Post 1000 A.D:
- Large empires of the Mongols and other nomadic people provided a political foundation for cross-cultural interaction.
- The Mongols' campaigns caused economic disruption throughout much of Eurasia; particularly in China and southwest Asia, where Mongol forces toppled the Song and Abbasid dynasties.
- Mongol conquests inaugurated a long period of economic decline in southwest Asia where the conquerors destroyed cities and allowed irrigation systems to fall into a collapse.
- The Mongols consolidated their hold on conquered land that they laid the political foundation for a surge in long distance trade along the silk roads.
- As the Mongols conquered pacified vast regions, nomadic people provided safe roads for merchants, diplomats, travelers and missionaries.
- Improvements in maritime technology led to increased traffic in the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.
- Some major ports in this time period were located in southeast Asia, India, Arabia, east Africa, China, Japan, Korea, etc.
- Khanbaliq, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Melaka, Cambay, Samarkand, Hormuz, Baghdad, Caffa, Cairo, Alexandria, Kilwa, Constantinople, Venice, Timbuktu, and other cities had large quarters occupied by communities of foreign merchants.
- Melaka became a principal clearinghouse of trade in the east Indian Ocean.
Video:
This video explains the Mongols' contribution to long-distance trade along with some other information about trade throughout the era.
This video explains the trade along the Silk Road and the goods that traveled along these routes as well.
Analysis:
During the time period after 1000 A.D, trade had drastically increased in the world through better technology and more interest in long distance travel. The Mongols had provided a strong foundation for long distance trade post 1000 A.D. Many new sea lanes and trade routes had provided a higher increase in trade through different countries such as India, Arabia, China, etc. The three most important motives of long distance trade during this time were trade, diplomacy, and missionary activity. Diplomacy led to a higher credibility between the merchants. Missionary activity spread religious beliefs throughout these trade routes. Certain items had been spread through sea lanes while others had been spread through caravan routes. Because of these trade routes, many cities had become major trading centers.