Afro-Eurasian Networks
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: How did Afro-Eurasian networks of exchange impact the economics, culture, and well-being of communities across this region?
Covering over half of the Earth’s land area, the Afro-Eurasian landmass contained a multitude of intricate trade networks at the beginning of this period. These networks have been integral for the transfer of goods, ideas, and people throughout the history of these three continents. At times, these networks were responsible for transferring disease as well—a reminder that humans don’t always have control over what accompanies us on the networks we establish.
- Understand and evaluate the regional networks of exchange that existed in Afro-Eurasia during this era.
- Utilize the historical thinking practice of contextualization to assess how Mansa Musa was able to make his journey during this historical period.
- Use graphic biographies as microhistories to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this time period.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios – Introduction activity.
Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- Where did Rumi live as a young man, and what was his home city like?
- How did meeting Shams Al-Dīn transform Rumi?
- What did Rumi teach and write about?
- What is the meaning of Rumi’s poem about a reed, shown around his body in the biography?
- How does the artist’s design reflect the theme of crossing or transcending borders?
Connect
- How does this biography of Rumi support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about this period in world history?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Why is the Afro-Eurasian system of long-distance trade described as an archipelago?
- What was the effect of the Mongol Empire on trade?
- What role did this regional trade network play in helping Johannes Gutenberg create his printing press?
- What impact did annual fairs have on the European economy?
- What was one negative effect of interconnected trade?
Evaluate
- This article is about production and distribution in Afro-Eurasia. Which Afro-Eurasians does it leave out? Whose experiences of production and distribution are not included in the article?
Guilds, Wool, and Trade: Medieval England in a Global Economy
In the thirteenth century, England was at the far end of this archipelago of trade. The best wool in Europe came from England, and England’s economy ran on wool. The wool trade helped empower an English merchant class.
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- How do Nick and Trevor describe the Afro-Eurasian trade system in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?
- Why did people in Flanders and northern Italy buy English wool?
- Who produced wool in England?
- How did the wool trade empower the merchant classes? What role did guilds play in this process?
- Why was wool important for England?
After you watch
- English wool is one example of a local good that was traded across extensive regional networks. The trade reshaped both communities and networks in England and across Western Europe. Can you think of anything that is or was once made in your community? Where does that good get distributed? Who produces it? How does that industry affect your community, and how do you think it impacts other places?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What enabled the vast trading system of the Indian Ocean? How?
- Where were the busiest ports in the Indian Ocean? Why?
- How did the rise of empires help expand the trade?
- The author argues that the most important factor driving trade was cultural. What does he mean?
- What important aspect of the Indian Ocean trade does the author say are highlighted by the Zheng He voyages?
Evaluate
- The author argues that the Indian Ocean was the most important trading system in the world during this period. What evidence can you find in this article to support or challenge this claim?
Analyze Mansa Musa’s journey by using the event cards to complete the Contextualization Tool.
Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa: Crash Course World History #16
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- John Green points out that most sub-Saharan African histories were preserved by oral tradition rather than written down. He also says there is a prejudice against oral tradition. What evidence does he use to argue that oral tradition is in fact important?
- Who was Mansa Musa, and why was his hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) so significant?
- What was Mali like when Mansa Musa ruled it, in terms of both politics and religion?
- What kinds of states were built along the eastern coast of Africa at this time, and how were they linked?
- For a long time, scholars incorrectly believed the Swahili city-states in east Africa must have been founded by Arabs, rather than local Africans. Why did they believe that, according to John Green?
- What kinds of goods were traded through the Swahili city-states?
After you watch
- Why do you think two different kinds of states formed in different African regions (large empires in the interior of west Africa and city-states along the coast of east Africa)?
- How is Ibn Battuta’s life evidence of the Islamic World as a network?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios – Introduction activity.
Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- How did Zheng He come to have three names?
- What did Zheng He do as the admiral of the Ming Dynasty?
- How does Xu Zu-Yuan describe these journeys, and how does this contrast to later Portuguese expeditions in this region?
- How does Geoff Wade describe these journeys, and what is his evidence?
- How does the artist use art and design to contrast and illustrate the two big theories about Zheng He’s voyages?
Connect
- How does this biography of Zheng He support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about connections across Afro-Eurasia in this time period?
Extension Materials
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What was the “ship of the desert,” and what made it so important to the trans-Saharan trade?
- Why were pastoralists important to the trans-Saharan trade?
- Why did these trade routes reach their peak from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries?
- Why did the rulers of West African kingdoms regulate the movement of merchants through their territory?
- Why did local religions remain important long after the arrival of Islam in West Africa?
Evaluate
Take a look at a world map and think about the different trade networks you’ve encountered. The trans-Saharan trade connects West Africa to North Africa and the Mediterranean. How do you think these trade routes were connected to other networks in Afro-Eurasia?
Silk and the Song Dynasty
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- Where was silk produced in the era of the Song Dynasty, and what were some of the most important export markets?
- How did the economy work during the Song Dynasty? Who made silk, in particular?
- Other than clothing, what other uses were there for silk?
- Was the silk trade part of a wider Afro-Eurasian trading system? How?
- What does the Pictures of Tilling and Weaving tell us about who did most of the work to produce silk?
- Does Professor Duan believe that there was an industrial revolution in China in this period? What evidence is there for it?
After you watch
- Chinese silk is one example of a local commodity that was traded across extensive regional networks. The silk trade reshaped both communities and networks in China and across much of Asia. Can you think of anything that is or was once made in your community? Where does that good get distributed? Who produces it? How does that industry affect your community, and how do you think it impacts other places?
- How would you tell the story of silk differently in each of the three course frames—community, networks, and production and distribution?