Stroud,+Allen,+Kary,+Light,+McCown

West Africa

 * Trade in West Africa was centered in Great Zimbabwe.
 * Trade in West Africa depended on camels to transport goods.
 * The largest empires in sub-saharan West Africa were Mali, Songhay, and Ghana.
 * In the 1300s, most of the gold in circulation came from West Africa.

[|Camel Picture]

East Africa
[|Trade Map]
 * With the rise of Islam, Arab traders gained control of the flow of merchandise.
 * Arabs were the main trading link between East Africa and the Indian Ocean after the ninth century.
 * Slaves were a large part of East Africa's economy.
 * Great Zimbabwe was a major trade center.

Jewish Traders

 * The Jews emerged as a preeminent trading community through the diaspora.
 * They were able to carry international trade across the eastern hemisphere.
 * Jewish traders linked trade between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
 * The documents from the Cairo Genizah did not cintain manuscripts written by women in the Jewish community.
 * Baghdad was important to trade in Asia.

Muslim Traders

 * Muslim traders soon ranged as far as China and dominated the trading routes through the Indian Ocean.
 * Muslim traders were important in the development of African trade.
 * Linked the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
 * Muslim traders had a wide area of trading, and this even extended into China.

The Polynesians of the South Pacific

 * The Polynesians of the south pacific, migrated from south china and southeast Asia 6000 years ago.
 * They made vast ocean voyages as far as Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand.
 * They were the greatest sea faring people before modern times.
 * They sailed for very specific reasons for example settlement with families, food supplies, and other important reasons.
 * Their primary reason was to locate new places to settle.

Boat Picture

media type="youtube" key="ePXE2VXsoTA" height="390" width="480"

Malay Sailors in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean

 * They were the first to use square sails.
 * These people were the reasons for the merchants in northern China.
 * Made regular voyages of 3000 miles across the Indian Ocean.
 * Their main focus was to established sea routes from east Africa to China.

[|Malay Boat]

__Citations__
"Africa during the Middle Ages." Medieval Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2011.  .

"Medieval Africa." Medieval Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. .

Kon-Tiki. YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.  watch?v=ePXE2VXsoTA>.