THE MAKING OF A GLOBAL WORLD
Q.1. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before
the 17th century, choosing one example from Asia, and one from America.
Ans.
(a) Asia: The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade before the
17th century. The historians have identified several silk routes, overland and by sea,
linking Asia with Europe and northern Africa. These routes were used for trades in
Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia. In return, precious
metals – gold and silver – came from Europe to Asia. Secondly, Christian missionaries
and later Muslim preachers travelled through these routes. It may be mentioned here
that in ancient times, Buddhism too spread in several directions through intersecting
points on the silk routes.
(b) Americas: After the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, many of
our common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chilies came
from America’s original inhabitants i.e., the American Indians. From the sixteenth
century, America’s vast lands, abundant crops and minerals transformed trade and lives
everywhere. Precious metals like silver from mines in Peru and Mexico enhanced
Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia. Legends spread in seventeenth-
century Europe about South America’s fabled wealth. Many expeditions set off in search
of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. Thus, there were global exchanges before the
seventeenth century.
2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the
colonisation of the Americas.
Answer
The global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the
Americas because the original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases that
came from Europe. Before the discovery of America, it had been cut off from regular
contact with the rest of the world for millions of years. In particular, Smallpox proved a
deadly killer. Once introduced, it spread deep into the continent, ahead even of any
Europeans reaching there. It killed and decimated whole communities, paving the way
for conquest.
Discuss
6. Imagine that you are an indentured Indian labourer in the Caribbean. Drawing from
the details in this chapter, write a letter to your family describing your life and feelings.
Answer-
Respected Family,
I hope all of you are fine there. I have been hired by the colonisers under a contract
stating that I could return to India after working for five years at a plantation. However,
the contract was a fraud and these are not allowing me to return. I joined this job in the
hope to escape poverty and oppression but the condition of living and working is very
harsh here. Most of the workers here belong to Bihar, central India and the dry regions
of Tamil Nadu. There are few legal rights given to us. However, we have developed new
art forms for expression.
Your Loving,
XYZ
Extra Awareness Questions-
Who participated in the First World War?
The First World War was fought between two powers. On the first side there was allied
powers in which Britain, France and Russia was there. Later this was joined by the US.
And on the second side there was Central Powers in which Germany, Austria-Hungary
and Ottoman Turkey was there. The First World War lasted more than four years.
Who participated in the Second World War?
The Second World War broke out between two powers. On the first side there was Axis
powers in which Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy were present and on the second side,
there was Allied powers in which Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the US were
present. The war lasted for four years which led to mass destruction. The US emerged as
the dominant economic, political and military power in the Western world while Soviet
Union transform itself from a backward agricultural country into a world power during
the years of Great Depression.
