Chapter 7: Commerce and Culture, 500–1500


1. This region imported scarce salt in return for gold from its mines.
 a. China
 b. Western Europe
 c. West Africa
 d. Arabia
The answer is c. West African trade was dominated by its inhabitants’ need for salt from the Sahara, for which they traded the gold of their region.

2. How did Islam make its way into West Africa?
 a. Missionaries brought the religion to the region.
 b. West Africans, seeking greater integration into world trade systems, sent emissaries to make inquiries about Islam in Islamic lands.
 c. Muslim conquerors from North Africa brought the faith with them.
 d. Traders carried information about the faith across the Sahara.
The answer is d. As in other regions, Islam traveled to West Africa with merchants.

3. Which statement is true of the Silk Roads?
 a. There were two roads, one northern and one southern, that were carefully maintained by the rulers of Central Asia to encourage trade.
 b. The term refers to a network of roads, along which goods changed hands many times before reaching their final destination.
 c. The term refers to what was mostly trade by sea, but also included some transport overland.
 d. The term refers to a network of roads, dominated by long-distance traders who carried goods on long journeys between the continents.
The answer is b. The term “Silk Roads” is a convenient shorthand expression for what was, in reality, a network of trade routes along which a “relay trade” was practiced.

4. What are the steppes?
 a. The plateaus of the Indus River Valley
 b. The frozen tundra of Siberia
 c. A vast region of semi-arid northern grasslands in Eurasia
 d. The foothills of the Himalayas
The answer is c. The great northern grasslands, known as the steppes, supported pastoral peoples for thousands of years.

5. Which of the following is a reason why the Silk Road trade networks flourished in the Second-Wave era?
 a. The civilizations at both ends of the Silk Roads invented coinage, greatly simplifying the exchange of trade goods.
 b. The domestication of the camel eased transport of goods.
 c. Weather conditions favored long-distance trade.
 d. The large states on both ends of the Silk Roads provided security for merchants.
The answer is d. The large Roman and Chinese Empires helped the Silk Road trade flourish by providing security for merchants.

6. Which state was the sole source of silk for many centuries?
 a. The Byzantine Empire
 b. China
 c. India
 d. Korea
The answer is b. Silk production began in China in the fourth millennium B.C.E., and the Chinese civilization long held a monopoly on silk production.

7. In what manner did Buddhism spread to the oasis cities of Central Asia?
 a. It was voluntary, reaching these locations through trade.
 b. Buddhist traders created the first cities in this region, naturally bringing their religion with them.
 c. Rulers, eager to trade with Buddhists, forced their subjects to adopt the new religion.
 d. Buddhist missionaries carried their religion to the region.
The answer is a. Traders brought Buddhism to the oasis cities of Central Asia, where many people adopted it voluntarily.

8. Which of the following statements is true of Buddhism in China during the Third-Wave era?
 a. Although it soon won popularity among common people, it took centuries for Buddhism to gain a foothold among China’s elites.
 b. Chinese rulers imposed Buddhism on their subjects.
 c. Buddhism was native to China and was practiced side by side with Confucianism.
 d. It remained the religion of foreign merchants and foreign rulers for many centuries, only gradually winning popularity among the Chinese themselves.
The answer is d. Buddhism did not win a significant popular following in China for many centuries.

9. How was Buddhism changed as it spread from India to other regions?
 a. The practice of the faith became less compassionate and more focused on abstract theological issues.
 b. Buddhist monasticism became wealthy and deeply involved in secular affairs.
 c. Buddhist monks began to beg for a living in a conscious rejection of the wealthy trade world around them.
 d. It changed very little, as Buddhist monks worked consciously to preserve their cultural heritage.
The answer is b. Buddhist monks soon gave up the austerity of the original faith, gaining considerable wealth and secular influence.

10. Which diseases, spread along trade routes, contributed to the fall of both the Roman Empire and Han dynasty China?
 a. Influenza and measles
 b. Smallpox and typhoid
 c. Smallpox and measles
 d. Typhoid and bubonic plague
The answer is c. Smallpox and measles devastated the populations of both empires and contributed to their political collapse.

11. Which European city emerged by 1000 C.E. as a major center for commerce, generating much of its wealth by transshipment of Asian goods?
 a. Paris
 b. Alexandria
 c. Constantinople
 d. Venice
The answer is d. The Italian city of Venice became a major trade center, deriving much of its wealth by buying and selling imported goods from Asia.

12. Before about 1500 C.E., which sea-based system of exchange was the largest in the world?
 a. The Mediterranean Sea
 b. The Indian Ocean
 c. The South China Sea
 d. The North Sea
The answer is b. The Indian Ocean trade system was the world’s largest until a full global system of oceanic trade developed after 1500 C.E.

13. What is a monsoon?
 a. An alternating wind current
 b. A hurricane
 c. A tidal wave caused by an earthquake under the ocean
 d. A tornado
The answer is a. Monsoons, alternating wind currents that blow predictably in different directions at different times of the year, made large-scale Indian Ocean commerce possible.

14. Unlike most early Indian Ocean trading peoples, members of this culture traveled thousands of miles over the open ocean to trade and settle.
 a. The Egyptians
 b. The Phoenicians
 c. The Arabs
 d. The Malays
The answer is d. Unlike other trading peoples of the Indian Ocean system, Malay sailors took their double-outrigger canoes across thousands of miles of open ocean to Madagascar in the first millennium B.C.E.

15. What is classical Islam’s attitude toward trade?
 a. Islam was friendly to commercial life and trade.
 b. Islam was suspicious of trade, but gradually allowed an element of trade to take place among its believers.
 c. Islam was completely negative about trade, rejecting it as the work of the devil and destructive of human communities.
 d. From the beginning, the Islamic state was eager to harness trade both to generate wealth and to spread the new religion.
The answer is a. The prophet Muhammad was a trader, and early Islam grew up in a highly commercial world, making it very friendly to commercial life.

16. What caused the massive slave revolt that, in the later ninth century, badly disrupted the Abbasid Empire?
 a. New legal restrictions placed upon slaves
 b. A vast increase in debt slavery, driving many newly enslaved peasants to despair
 c. A religious movement that preached social equality among the slaves
 d. The horrible conditions of the thousands of African slaves on plantations and in salt mines
The answer is d. In the ninth century, Muslims imported thousands of African slaves to work in southern Iraq on plantations and in salt mines; the horrendous conditions there sparked a massive slave rebellion.

17. Which statement best describes the cities and states of Southeast Asia in the period 500–1500 C.E.?
 a. These cities and states were very ancient, first appearing among the First Civilizations but growing in importance thanks to the trade of the Third Wave.
 b. These cities and states emerged during the Second-Wave era.
 c. These cities and states first emerged during the Third-Wave era.
 d. These cities and states grew up in both the Second- and Third-Wave eras, growing organically in response to the needs of local, rather than international, trade.
The answer is c. On both the mainland and the islands of Southeast Asia, new civilizations emerged during the Third-Wave era, many of them stimulated by trade.

18. What was Srivijaya important to world history?
 a. It dominated the critical choke point of Indian Ocean trade for over three centuries.
 b. As the main Malaysian settlement on Madagascar, it created a great cultural exchange network between Africa and Southeast Asia.
 c. As an important port on the Persian Gulf, it dominated trade between Mesopotamia and Asia.
 d. It was the greatest Buddhist temple complex in Southeast Asia.
The answer is a. The Malay kingdom of Srivijaya dominated the Straits of Malacca, the critical choke point of Indian Ocean trade, in the period 670–1025.

19. Which of the following regions adopted many elements of Indian culture, including a writing system, art, and god-kings, thanks to the Indian influence that came with trade?
 a. Japan
 b. Madagascar
 c. Arabian Peninsula
 d. Southeast Asia
The answer is d. Southeast Asians freely adopted many elements of Indian culture, including those listed.

20. What is Borobudur?
 a. A great Hindu temple in the Angkor Kingdom
 b. A great trade center in Indonesia that controlled a regional commerce network for centuries
 c. The largest Buddhist monument in the world, built in Java
 d. A great Hindu monument in the Champa Kingdom

21. Which of the following statements was true of women in Southeast Asia in the Third-Wave era?
 a. Women had fewer restrictions and a greater role in public life than in East or South Asia.
 b. Women were held in great esteem, but had no legal rights.
 c. Women were subjected by a patriarchy even stricter than that of China.
 d. Women enjoyed relative equality with men.
The answer is a. Most Southeast Asian societies placed fewer restrictions on women, allowing them to own property, enter some professions, and even initiate divorce.

22. Where was the Swahili civilization located?
 a. In the Persian Gulf
 b. West Africa
 c. Along the coast of East Africa
 d. Madagascar
The answer is c. Swahili civilization in East Africa was a blend of African, Arabian, and Indian influences.

23. Which of the following statements best describes political organization in Swahili civilization?
 a. Swahili civilization had a number of independent cities, each ruled by a merchant oligarchy.
 b. Swahili civilization had a number of independent cities, each ruled by a king.
 c. Swahili civilization gradually came together into a single empire.
 d. Swahili civilization was a stateless society.
The answer is b. Swahili civilization did not develop large territorial states, but rather a number of independent cities, each governed by its own king.

24. Which of the following became the principal religion of Swahili cities?
 a. Christianity
 b. Hinduism
 c. Native animism
 d. Islam
The answer is d. By c. 1300 C.E., Swahili cities were thoroughly Muslim.

25. Which African state constructed huge stone enclosures without mortar, leading scholars to believe that it had great wealth and many resources?
 a. Angkor
 b. Kilwa
 c. Great Zimbabwe
 d. Timbuktu
The answer is c. Great Zimbabwe, which flourished in the period 1250–1350 C.E., is best known for its huge stone enclosures, suggesting a very powerful and wealthy state.

26. Which of the following is a product of the Sahara?
 a. Salt
 b. Gold
 c. Ivory
 d. Kola nuts
The answer is a. Salt is a very important product of the Sahara, traded in historical times with West Africa.

27. When was the domesticated camel introduced to North Africa and the Sahara, transforming trade?
 a. In the early first millennium B.C.E.
 b. In about 1000 C.E.
 c. In about 500 B.C.E.
 d. In the early centuries of the Common Era
The answer is d. The introduction of the camel to North Africa and the Sahara in the early centuries of the Common Era transformed trade, because camels can go for ten days without water.

28. What was the main political system that emerged in West African states in the period 500–1600 C.E.?
 a. A mix of monarchies and republics
 b. Monarchies
 c. Republics
 d. Direct democracies
The answer is b. The series of states and city-states that developed in West Africa were all monarchies.

29. Which of the following statements best describes West African slavery in the period 600–1500 C.E.?
 a. West African slaves were only used domestically, rather than being exported to other countries for sale.
 b. West African slaves were natives, enslaved for debt.
 c. West Africa had little slavery but sold large numbers of slaves to North Africans.
 d. At first most slaves were women, but male slaves were increasingly employed for heavy labor.
The answer is d. As in many societies, at first West Africa took mostly female slaves but over time began to use male slaves as well.

30. Which of the following statements is true of trade in the Americas before 1500 C.E.?
 a. Long-distance trade never developed, although local and regional commerce flourished.
 b. There was some long-distance trade, but it operated on a small scale because of the difficulties of travel in the Americas.
 c. A large-scale system of long-distance trade developed, catering especially to the needs of Mesoamerican civilizations.
 d. There was very little trade beyond the strictly local level, as the civilizations of the Americas encouraged self-sufficiency.

The answer is a. In large part because Panama formed a bottleneck and because the north/south orientation of the Americas made it difficult to move across large territories, the Americas never developed a long-distance trade system.

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