Chapter 7: Commerce and Culture

After reading chapter 7, three main "mechanisms" really were the focal points that Strayer emphasized: the spread of commerce and culture, human interaction, and societal change. The Silk Road was the major highway that linked trade between China and the Eastern parts of the Mediterranean. This was the most significant trading route discussed in the chapter because it transformed entire regions into formidable empires. The Silk Road was derived from the trading of silk cloth in China, which had a monopoly on the luxury good. It was in such high demand that it was used as currency and the Roman Empire devoted most of its resources in acquiring the luxury item. Western Africa also had a significant rise in commerce with the introduction of the camel, making the Sahara trek possible in about ten days. Lastly, the oceanic trade between India and Eastern Africa had a prominent effect on both regions. Some Indian merchants uprooted from India and settled in parts of Eastern Africa. Not only did commerce traverse from the Far East, but cultures spread as well. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism were spread amongst trade routes as merchants exchanged beliefs and even technologies. Southern areas of India had been transformed into Christianity as they traded with Christians from Eastern Africa. The spread of Islam was particularly significant because it was universally accepted by Indian, African, and Asian traders as Muhammad shared their own occupation. Even some Buddhist monks in Burma had "regarded it as commercially useful to assume Muslim names." The rise of Islam was widespread along coastlines because of the interaction in human trade existed at these locations.

Human interaction was another mechanism that was a focal point in the chapter. Disease was the main subject that was related to human interaction and it was significant when major invasions changed the landscape of regions. For example, the Black Death wiped out tens of thousands of Byzantines around the time when The Mongols were invading parts of Asia and Arab lands. Small pox and measles also devastated areas along the Silk Road, largely due in part to the human interaction of trading.