Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200–1450)
AP World History: 56 practice questions with detailed explanations.
Unit Study Guide
Executive Summary
Exchange routes — land and sea — tied Afro-Eurasia into a single network moving goods, ideas, technologies, and diseases. The Mongols and Indian Ocean traders were its engines.
The Silk Roads
Luxury goods (silk, porcelain, spices) traveled by camel caravan across Central Asia. Cities like Samarkand and Kashgar grew rich as caravanserai stops. Buddhism and Islam spread along the routes; paper-making and gunpowder moved west.
The Mongol Empire
Genghis Khan's conquests built the largest contiguous land empire in history. The Pax Mongolica secured the Silk Roads, boosting trade, but also carried the Black Death along them. The empire's khanates ruled China (Yuan), Persia (Ilkhanate), and Russia (Golden Horde).
Indian Ocean trade
Monsoon winds powered the world's richest sea network. Swahili city-states, Gujarat, and Malacca linked East Africa, Arabia, India, and China. Islam spread to Southeast Asia along these routes; Zheng He's voyages showcased Ming power.
Trans-Saharan routes
Camel caravans crossed the Sahara exchanging West African gold for salt. Mali's wealth rested on taxing this trade; Islam and literacy arrived with it.
Exam traps
The Mongols were more than destroyers — they secured trade. The Black Death moved along Mongol trade routes, not via exploration. Indian Ocean trade predates Europeans and was not dominated by them. Cultural exchange was always two-way — crops, faiths, and diseases all traveled.