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There was cultural contact between Europe and the Islamic world (at the time primarily represented by the Ottoman Empire and, geographically more remote, Safavid Persia) from the Renaissance to Early Modern period. Much of Europe's contact with the Islamic world was through various wars opposing the expansion of the Ottoman Empire.
A Christian and a Muslim playing chess, illustration from the Book of Games of Alfonso X (c. 1285). [1]During the High Middle Ages, the Islamic world was an important contributor to the global cultural scene, innovating and supplying information and ideas to Europe, via Al-Andalus, Sicily and the Crusader kingdoms in the Levant.
The Silk Road connected to the Mediterranean world via two routes, which met in Bukhars, who thus served as an important center in the Silk Road trade. From China, the Silk Road continued over the Tian Shan, Hami, Turpan, Almalik, Tashkent, Samarkand, and finally Bukhara, where it split in two main roads: a southern route from Bukhara to Merv ...
The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and India, both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west. The Silk Roads were a "complex ...
The Silk Road which led through northern Iran was revived in the 16th century. Abbas I also supported direct trade with Europe, particularly England and The Netherlands which sought Persian carpet, silk and textiles. Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as a spice in India.
These were roadside stations which supported the flow of commerce, information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and southeastern Europe, and in particular along the Silk Road. Caravanserais provided water for human and animal consumption, for washing, and for ritual ablutions.
Trade routes became unstable and unsafe, a situation exacerbated by the rise of expansionist Turco-Persianate states, and the Silk Road largely collapsed for centuries. This period saw the rise of the mercantile Italian city-states , especially the maritime republics , Genoa , Venice , Pisa , and Amalfi , who viewed the Radhanites as unwanted ...
As is true of the world as a whole, agriculture dominated the economy until the modern period, with livestock grazing playing a particularly large role in the Arab world. Significant trade routes included the Silk Road, the spice trade, and the trade in gold, salt, slaves and luxury goods including ivory and feathers out of sub-Saharan Africa.