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DBQ Source Summaries: Trade Networks

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT1200 / LESSON 2.9ACTIVITYDBQ SOURCE SUMMARIES: TRADE NETWORKS, 1200–1450 CEUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “DBQ Source Summaries: Trade Networks, 1200-1450 CE”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/1Note to teachers: Below are summaries of the sources in DBQ Sources: Trade Networks. Theseare meant to provide you a quick understanding of the document types and content so you can decide which sources you want your students to use. You may choose to provide these summaries to your students as additional scaffolding.Source SummaryDocument 1 (Text)Source:Bretschneider,E.MediævalResearchesfromEasternAsiaticSources.VolI.London:KeganPaul,Trench,Trubner&Co.Ltd.,1887 (13–15).This account oftravelthrough Central Asia byKhitan minister Yelü Chucai (1190–1244), provides information aboutthe Mongol armies of Chinggis (Genghis)Khan.Document 2 (Text)Source:Ross,E.DenisonandEileenPower,eds.IbnBattuta:TravelsinAsiaandAfrica,1325–1354.TranslatedbyH.A.R.Gibb.London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1929 (109–10).Ibn Battuta (1304–1369), a Muslim scholarfrom Morocco,traveled widelythrough Daral-Islam (“House of Islam” or the Islamic world), recording his observations.Document 3 (Text)Source: de Clavijo, Ruy González. Clavijo: Embassy to Tamerlane 1403–1406. Translated by Guy Le Strange. London: George Routledge & Sons Ltd., 1928 (177–78).RuyGonzalez de Clavijo (d. 1412) was sent as an envoybySpain overthe Silk Roadsto Samarkand (present-dayUzbekistan) andthe court of Timur (Tamerlane).Document 4 (Image)Source:ThewallsofthisstreetinCuzco,Peru,werebuiltbytheancientIncas.Thestonesare not cemented together, but are nevertheless perfectly aligned. © Getty Images / George Pickow.TheIncaEmpireconstructedanextensivenetworkofroadsandwalls,expandedandenhancedinthe1400s,toconnecttheempireforpurposesoftrade, transportation, militaryfortification, and cultural connections. This image shows a street scene inthe 1950s in Cuzco, Peru, where walls fromthese Inca projects,builtwithouttheuseofcement,arestillstanding.
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT 1200 / LESSON 2.9ACTIVITYDBQ SOURCE SUMMARIES: TRADE NETWORKS, 1200–1450 CE2Source SummaryDocument 5 (Image)Source:Detail fromthe Catalan Atlas attributedto Abraham Cresques, 1375. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, public domain.This is detail fromthe Catalan Atlas, Sheet 6 showingthe Western Sahara, and attributedto Abraham Cresques (1325–1387), a Jewish cartographerof Majorca (in present-daySpain). The detail focuses on Mansu Musa (c. 1280–1337), rulerofthe Mali Empire, andthe extensivetext in Catalan includes thisreferencetothecrownedfigure:“ThisblackgentlemanisMansaMusa...Thiskingistherichestandnoblestgentlemaninalltheregiononaccountof the abundance of goldthat is obtained from his land.”Document 6 (Text)Source:Hirth,F.ChinaandtheRomanOrient:Researchesinto Their Ancient and Mediæval Relations as Represented in Old Chinese Records. Shanghai & Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh, 1885 (66–67).ThispassageisfromtheHistoryoftheMing,composedduringtheQingDynasty(1644–1911).Document 7 (Text)Source:IbnBattuta.Travelsin Asia and Africa 1325–1354. Translated by H.A.R. Gibb. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1929 (110–12).ThissecondsourcefromIbnBattuta(1304–1369)isanexcerptrecountinghisvisittoMogadishu(present-daySomalia).