Question 1

What effect did the Mongols have on the Silk Road?

Accepted Answer

Made it more stable and safe by improving roads and punishing bandits

Question 2

What is a magnetic compass?

Accepted Answer

An instrument that indicates direction and is used for navigation

(developed by the Chinese)

Question 3

What is a rudder?

Accepted Answer

An underwater blade used to control ships

Question 4

What is a Chinese junk?

Accepted Answer

A huge type of ship developed in the Han dynasty

(multiple sails; sometimes as long as 400 feet; much larger than European ships)

Question 5

What was the effect of Chinese naval technology on the Silk Road?

Accepted Answer

Trade was much more efficient, overall

China could control sea-based ports in the South China sea

(enabled by the magnetic compass, improved rudder, and the junk, all developed a few centuries before the Silk Road)

Question 6

Why did Cities and Oases develop along the Silk Road?

Accepted Answer

Lots of the Silk Road was inhospitable, so cities near rivers became centers of trade

Question 7

What is Kashgar?

Accepted Answer

An oasis-city along the Silk Road, where merchants would get food and water

(located near the Kashgar River, in Western China, where northern and Southern routes of the Silk Road cross)

Question 8

What is Samarkand?

Accepted Answer

A city that was a center of cultural exchange and trade along the Silk Road

(located in present-day Uzbekistan, near the Zeravshan river)

Question 9

What are caravanserai?

Accepted Answer

Inns along the Silk Road, where traders and their camels could rest and restock

Question 10

What is flying cash?

Accepted Answer

An early banking system, where a merchant could deposit cash somewhere and withdraw the same amount somewhere else

(developed by the Chinese government)

Question 11

Why was flying cash developed?

Accepted Answer

It became too bulky to carry lots of coins on the Silk Road

Question 12

How did the Silk Road affect banking?

Accepted Answer

New banking innovations needed to be invented, so that traders could bring money more easily

(see: flying cash, banking houses, bill of exchange)

Question 13

What is the Hanseatic League?

Accepted Answer

A commercial alliance between cities in Northern Germany and Scandinavia

Helped control trade and reduce piracy

Question 14

How did the Crusades affect European views towards Asia?

Accepted Answer

The Crusades awakened European interest in luxury goods from Asia

Question 15

Who was Marco Polo?

Accepted Answer

A famous Venetian merchant who traveled along the Silk Road

(his experiences were later turned into a book that invoked European interest in Asia; his accuracy is greatly disputed)

2.1 - Silk Roads, AP World History: Modern Flashcards