Silk Road and Eurasia and African Trading in 1000-1500

¶ … Cross-Cultural interaction between Eurasia and Africa in the 1000-1500 period Cross-cultural trade between Eurasia and Africa during the 1000-1500 time period is owed to a series of factors such as several countries adopting more liberal attitudes toward other communities and developing an interest in the profits coming along with getting actively involved in trading.

The Silk Road is often considered a principal element when regarding this subject, as it made it possible for numerous individuals from around the world to join in a society trading numerous concepts ranging from silk itself to spices and even to cultural values. Products, religions, and foreign languages all ended up being shared between individuals travelling this route.

While many have the tendency to focus on this Middle Ages in particular when considering this topic, one should concentrate on the process' background in order to gain a more complex understanding as to why it was so successful in the 1000-1500 era. The Roman Empire played a major role in establishing the connection and in encouraging traders from a diverse set of cultural backgrounds to get involved in trading. Spices are generally regarded as one of the principal concepts that kept trading on the Eurasia-African route alive.

"On their return from the Crusades in the Near East (1095-1291) the crusaders brought with them a taste for Eastern spices, and interest was further stimulated by Venetian Marco Polo's 1298 accounts of his travels in the Far East." (Anderson, Bingham, Chrisp, & Gavett 715) The presence of Muslim rulers in Europe during the Middle Ages also contributed to the trade business between the Eurasia and Africa regions.

As Muslims in Europe cooperated with those in Africa and as Africa was an effective route for trade between Asia and the rest of the world, individuals in these regions focused on exploiting their resources to the fullest while supporting trading. Individuals in the Mediterranean basin produced cotton in large amounts and this provided them with the opportunity to trade it with Eastern cultures.

"For most of the Middle Ages, cotton clothing was scarce outside of lands of the Mediterranean basin." (Newman 97) The fact that these respective countries had a positive environment for the growing of cotton supported cotton suppliers there and made them intriguing collaborators for individuals in the East. Mining was also seen as an important concept during the Middle Ages, with European silver being a principal metal that travelled on the Silk Road.

"throughout the years 1150-1450, on arriving in the Levant, European silver, in the form of either coins or ingots, after being transformed at local mints into one or other variants of the prevailing local coinages, passed eastward by way of long-established route-ways." (Blanchard 1301) Even with the fact that the Silk Road experienced a series of changes during this period, silver was among the resources that kept it alive and that thus encouraged individuals in Europe, Asia, and Africa to get a piece of trading on this route.

The climatic cycle was essential in shaping the way that the Silk Road operated and in determining the primary resources that travelled on it. Nomads contributed to maintaining it as they moved westward in search of lands that were providing more resources. While the route was initially flourishing, nomads also disrupted its flow as conflicts emerged around it and influenced Chinese and European merchants to attempt to modify their routes in order to experience as little problems as possible.

"Subject to an endemic threat of nomadic plundering, merchants in transit between Europe and China avoided these lands, realigning their trade routes far to the south of the affected region." (Blanchard 1301) Chinese tradesmen were among.