Level 91
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Historical Geography and Exploration

Trade Routes of the Ancient and Medieval World

A survey of the overland and maritime networks that connected distant civilizations long before modern globalization, from the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean world to the Trans-Saharan gold trade and the Hanseatic League.

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. The Silk Road Network in Full. A vast Eurasian relay of overland routes moved silk, ideas, and disease between China and Rome.
  2. The Incense Route and Arabian Trade. Camel caravans carried frankincense and myrrh from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean for a millennium.
  3. Trans-Saharan Trade and West African Gold. Camel caravans crossed the Sahara linking West African gold and salt to North Africa and beyond.
  4. The Indian Ocean Trade World. Monsoon winds powered a vast, cosmopolitan maritime trading system linking East Africa to China.
  5. The Hanseatic League and European Trade. A merchant confederation of northern German and Baltic cities dominated medieval European trade.
  6. The Spice Routes and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian spice islands supplied cloves, nutmeg, and pepper to a vast, contested maritime trade.
  7. Caravanserai and Trade Infrastructure. Caravanserais, wells, and way-stations formed the essential physical infrastructure of overland trade.
  8. How Trade Routes Spread Ideas and Disease. Trade networks carried religion, technology, and pathogens across Eurasia alongside merchandise.

This module continues after "Colonial Empires and the Remaking of Borders" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.

Key points

Visual module map

1The Silk Road Network in Full
2Trans-Saharan Trade and West African Gold
3The Hanseatic League and European Trade
4The Spice Routes and Southeast Asia
5How Trade Routes Spread Ideas and Disease

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

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Final test

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Optional mini-games

Extra practice, with no penalty, to reinforce the module's content.

Review Flashcards

Review each key point with cards that flip to reveal the summary.

Memory

Match each concept with its definition in as few attempts as possible.

Time Attack

Answer true or false statements before time runs out.

Chronological Order

Put the module's key points back in their original order.

Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Hansen, V. (2012). The Silk Road: A New History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Chaudhuri, K.N. (1985). Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise of Islam to 1750. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Abu-Lughod, J. (1989). Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250–1350. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Dunn, R.E. (1986). The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Dollinger, P. (1970). The German Hansa (D.S. Ault and S.H. Steinberg, Trans.). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Levathes, L. (1994). When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433. New York: Simon & Schuster.