DBQ Practice 1 - Ana Sofia Miranda
Between the 13th and 16th centuries land and sea-based empires were on an all-time
high. These included the gunpowder empires like the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal, etc
empires which at the time thanked their power to their military control over major trading
routes of the world like the Silk Road, TranSaharan route, and Indian Ocean trading route. The
Mongol Empire at the time promoted the Silk Road while protecting merchants allowing cities
to emerge and the beginning of cross-cultural changes and diffusion.
As global connections intensified with the mass use of the Silk Road, Indian Ocean trade, and
Trans-Saharan trading routes cross-cultural changes began as the world began to diversify.
Religions like Islam were massively spread through the routes as they had a clear connection
and dependency on trade to co-exist.
Religious movement through the trading routes in the 13th to 16th centuries became an
important medium for rulers in their empire. Not only to show their wealth and power but to
unified their empires with the same ideas and culture. This can be seen in document 3 where we
can see how merchants and civilians of the time viewed the world. Major rulers like Mansa
Musa were depicted as major describers of specific areas of the world. Mansa Musa’s wealth
and the story were known through his pilgrimage to Mecca where he not only did his religious
duty but showed the world using the Trans-Saharan trade route his power. Religion was a close
influence in Mansa Musa’s rule like in most empires of the time. Another document that shows
how rulers took advantage of trading routes was document 2. This document tells us about how
monks needed to bring gifts to rulers of different areas like gold, silver, and apparel to create
government relations not only with them but also to the empires in the West. This shows the
pov and relations of the merchants and travelers of the Silk Road of the time. As they traveled
long distances gifts to other cultures and places they went were needed to show respect to the
leaders of the empires and places they were going. It was more a necessity than anything else so
trade continues smoothly. One major example of outside evidence of the relations of religion
and trade in empires was the Safavid and Ottoman empires. The Safavid was a Sunni empire
(one of the divisions of Islam) meanwhile the Ottomans were Shia (the other branch of Islam).
Both empires were in the war at the time and religion played a big role in the tension between
the empires but they still mainly fought over control of overland trading routes. This shows the
Between the 13th and 16th centuries land and sea-based empires were on an all-time
high. These included the gunpowder empires like the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal, etc
empires which at the time thanked their power to their military control over major trading
routes of the world like the Silk Road, TranSaharan route, and Indian Ocean trading route. The
Mongol Empire at the time promoted the Silk Road while protecting merchants allowing cities
to emerge and the beginning of cross-cultural changes and diffusion.
As global connections intensified with the mass use of the Silk Road, Indian Ocean trade, and
Trans-Saharan trading routes cross-cultural changes began as the world began to diversify.
Religions like Islam were massively spread through the routes as they had a clear connection
and dependency on trade to co-exist.
Religious movement through the trading routes in the 13th to 16th centuries became an
important medium for rulers in their empire. Not only to show their wealth and power but to
unified their empires with the same ideas and culture. This can be seen in document 3 where we
can see how merchants and civilians of the time viewed the world. Major rulers like Mansa
Musa were depicted as major describers of specific areas of the world. Mansa Musa’s wealth
and the story were known through his pilgrimage to Mecca where he not only did his religious
duty but showed the world using the Trans-Saharan trade route his power. Religion was a close
influence in Mansa Musa’s rule like in most empires of the time. Another document that shows
how rulers took advantage of trading routes was document 2. This document tells us about how
monks needed to bring gifts to rulers of different areas like gold, silver, and apparel to create
government relations not only with them but also to the empires in the West. This shows the
pov and relations of the merchants and travelers of the Silk Road of the time. As they traveled
long distances gifts to other cultures and places they went were needed to show respect to the
leaders of the empires and places they were going. It was more a necessity than anything else so
trade continues smoothly. One major example of outside evidence of the relations of religion
and trade in empires was the Safavid and Ottoman empires. The Safavid was a Sunni empire
(one of the divisions of Islam) meanwhile the Ottomans were Shia (the other branch of Islam).
Both empires were in the war at the time and religion played a big role in the tension between
the empires but they still mainly fought over control of overland trading routes. This shows the
