Reference no: EM133374137

Assignment:

Part A

1. Identify and explain one similarity between long-distance trade in Asia and Africa from 1200 to 1450.

2. Identify and explain one difference between long-distance trade in Asia and Africa from 1200 to 1450.

3. Explain one consequence of long-distance trade in Europe or Oceania at this time that was different from that of Asia or Africa.

Part B

Use the passages below to answer all parts of the question that follows.

"In nearly every country touched by the Mongols, the initial destruction and shock of conquest by an unknown and barbaric tribe yielded quickly to an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and improved civilization. In Europe, the Mongols slaughtered the aristocratic knighthood of the continent, but, disappointed with the general poverty of the area compared with the Chinese and Muslim countries, turned away and did not bother to conquer the cities, loot the countries, or incorporate them into the expanding empire. In the end, Europe suffered the least yet acquired all the advantages of contact through merchants such as the Polo family of Venice and envoys exchanged between the Mongol khans and the popes and kings of Europe.

The new technology, knowledge, and commercial wealth created the Renaissance in which Europe rediscovered some of its prior culture, but more importantly, absorbed the technology for printing, firearms, the compass, and the abacus from the East. As English scientist Roger Bacon observed in the thirteenth century, the Mongols succeeded not merely from martial superiority; rather, "they have succeeded by means of science." Although the Mongols "are eager for war," they have advanced so far because they 'devote their leisure to the principles of philosophy'"

Jack Weatherford, historian, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, 2004

"Overall, the Mongol violence and depredations killed up to three-fourths of the population of the Iranian Plateau, possibly 10 to 15 million people. Some historians have estimated that Iran's population did not again reach its pre-Mongol levels until the mid-20th century. ... [After Genghis Khan's children and grandchildren] Persia's agony from Mongol invaders was not over, however, as the great conqueror Tamerlane swept south from Central Asia in 1381 and overran the country. Although his initial campaigns were ruthless, and he massacred the Persian indiscriminately, Tamerlane was at his worst when punishing rebellious regions. He leveled Shiraz after a revolt and is alleged to have razed Esfahan and killed more than seventy thousand people, stacking their skulls into a pyramid, to suppress a rebellion there. The steppe warrior king saw the value of the remaining vestiges of the earlier Persian empires, and Tamerlane integrated Persians into administrative roles to help him govern his new empire."

Steven R. Ward, historian, Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces, 2009

Answer all parts of the question.

1.What is the most important similarity between what each historian says about the Mongols' impact on surrounding civilizations?

2.What is the most important difference between what each historian says about the Mongols' impact on surrounding civilizations?

3.What is one historical factor which might account for the difference between the two historians' views?