10 IV W: PAX MONGOLICA-TRADERS & TRAVELLERS ON THE SILK ROAD
Pax Mongolica, c. 1206-1350
a) “Proto-Globalization”: Mongols imposed peace/order=easy (or easier) and safer to travel
b) reopened ancient Silk Road, opened new Steppe Road; connected peoples of Asia/Africa/Europe
c) greatest commercial network yet seen facilitates trade
d) facilitates exchange of travelers/ideas/technologies/religions/art
Silk Road
a) 139BCE: ancient commercial highway connecting Han China and the Roman Empire
b) Chang-an>Gansu Corridor>Jade Gate>Dunhuang>Taklamakan Desert>Kashgar>Pamir Knot>Samarkand
c) Samarkand: south to India, west into the Middle East, then northwest to Europe or southwest to Africa
d) Chinese emperors realized the importance of trade
e) stationed 60000 soldiers along eastern section of the Silk Road to secure; “Blazing Beacons”
f) extended Great Wall to protect road through the Gansu Corridor
g) requisite: need large powerful states to protect the Silk Road, keep peace
h) Classical World (c. 139BCE-300CE): Silk Road open; Han China/Kushan/Parthia or Persia/Rome
i) Medieval World (c. 661-809CE): Silk Road open; Tang China/Abbasid/Byzantine
j) breakdown of these states after 809=Silk Road closed
Traders
a) Pax Mongolica=safer to trade
b) safer=cheaper, no protection costs
c) 1 empire or 4 khanates means fewer tariffs/tolls; Mongol tolls low (3%)
d) used Chinese/Persian/Muslim bureaucrats to administer
e) standardized weights/measures; one monetary system, paper money
f) Mongols encouraged trade to make money, import luxury goods they wanted
g) Silk Road reopened
h) new Steppe Road opened: Tana/Kaffa> Sarai>Karakorum
i) hundreds of products now moved back and forth; spices
Travelers
1) Friar John of Piano Carpini, 1245-1247
a) sent as envoy to the Mongol khagan by Pope Innocent IV (1243-1254)
b) arrives in time to see the coronation of Guyuk (r. 1246-1248)
2) William of Rubruck, 1253-1255
a) sent as envoy to the Mongol khagan by King Louis IX the Pious (r. 1226-1270) of France
b) eventually met Mongke (r. 1251-1259)
3) Marco Polo of Venice, 1271-1295
a) travelled on Silk Road to court of Kubilai Khan (r. 1264-1294) in China; worked for his government
Rabban Bar Sauma of Peking, 1275-1288
a) Chinese Christian decides to visit the Holy Lands
b) Silk Road to Baghdad; met Arghun (r. 1284-1291) great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan, ruled Ilkhanate
c) sent by Arghun to Europe to find allies for a war against the Muslims of Mamluke Egypt
d) Constantinople/Andronicos II>Rome/Pope Nicholas IV>France/Philip IV>England/Edward I
Ibn Battuta of Tangier, 1325-1351 & 1352-1354
a) journeyed c. 75,000 miles, visited (what are now) 40 different countries
b) 1325-1351: Ibn Battuta visited almost every important state and met almost every important ruler
c) travels facilitated by Islam
d) wrote account: A Gift to Observers Concerning Curiosities of the Cities & Marvels of My Travels (Rhila)
e) 1352-1354: Ibn Battuta takes second shorter trip to the Sudan in West Africa
The Black Death
a) The Plague: carried by rats and fleas
b) 1320: Little Ice Age=began in Central Asia
c) thanks to Pax Mongolica plague quickly spreads along trade routes
d) 1330: China
e) 1339: Samarkand and along Silk Road, spreads into the Middle East, India
f) 1346: spreads along Steppe Route to Kaffa; ships carry disease to Constantinople and Europe (1347)
g) 1348: Syria, the Holy Lands, Egypt
h) 1350: North Africa
