AP WORLD HISTORY STUDY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

CHAPTER 11 ->
1. The black death spread as a result of Mongol invasions. The Mongols were the vectors who
themselves caught the plague from rodents and fleas in the steppe regions, where they were
from. The Mongols were well organized military minded peoples who aimed to conquer
much of Afro-Eurasia. Thus, as they travelled by land to various central Asian regions, the
plague spread to the people and merchants there – resulting in marine trade being affected
as merchants spread the plague to ocean/sea-dwellers. So, we can say, the black death was
originally spread by the Mongols, but was further facilitated by the people in the areas they
conquered – thus spreading to oceanic trade which heightened the black death’s domain.
2. As a result of the black death, many people died. In Europe, it took 3 centuries to regain the
population that thrived before the black death. Farmers all over Afro-Eurasia were affected,
thus swindling the production of crops and bringing about famine. There was a shortage of
food which increased the price of it and led to strikes and social unrest in many regions.
People in crowded cities perished terribly and the cities laid barren and desolate for years to
come after the black death subsided. Realms were more deeply affected because just before
the black death, Afro-Eurasia was beginning to become very integrated via trade. Although
the black death didn’t decimate as many lives in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, their
trade and economy were severely impacted as some of their major trading ports succumbed
to the plague. China’s population, along with Europe, also plummeted at this time from 120
million to 80 million in a few short years. People under the regimes of kings and dynasties,
no longer listened to their rulers as they were more concerned with their problems. This led
to massive decentralization for many dynasties at the time and it took them years to rebuild
– if they ever achieved that – the power and legitimacy they had before the black death.
Religion was also heavily impacted as a result of this decentralization as people felt animosity
towards nobles for “being connected to the gods” yet not helping normal folks at all in these
desperate times. This was especially prevalent in western Christendom, where people went
on strikes against the clergy and called them out on not protecting the citizens and children
of God. Other than religion and politics, social unrest was widespread and many people
across Afro-Eurasia, fell into a state of morbid despair – doing essentially whatever they liked
as “they were going to die anyway”.
3. There were 3 main Islamic Dynasties to emerge from the black plague. The Ottomans, the
Safavids, and the Mughals. The Ottoman’s were led by Turkish peoples and were a very
organized, tolerant, culturally diverse and well centralized government. They were originally
disciplined warriors with stern warrior ethos, and this developed into a powerful and
widespread administration. They conquered and ruled in a civilized manner. The Ottoman’s
built very iconic mosques in the time they ruled. They had much control over the
Mediterranean and western Asia region. The Ottoman’s were Sunni in belief just like the
Mughals. The Mughals rose to power after the fall of the Delhi Sultanate – who were majorly
affected by inter-regional quarrels and a Turkish warrior called Timur who attacked them.
The Mughals legitimized themselves – like the Ottomans – with great centralized power and
a powerful military. They were tolerant of the majority Hindu population of India (where
they ruled from and held the most power). Like the Ottomans, they created great culturally
significant architectures. Additionally, like the Ottoman’s, they were heavily connected to the
people they ruled in the sense that the people assimilated much of their Persian and Islamic
 culture, was assimilated into the diverse cultures already present in India at the time. Finally,
the Safavids, who held reign in present day Iraq, were not Sunni like their sibling empires -
they were Shiite. Like both the Mughals and Ottoman’s, their power was legitimized by use
of an effective and powerful military. All three dynasties rested their influence upon their
sacred beliefs, but the Safavid’s were not tolerant like the Ottoman’s and Mughals. They
persecuted those who held different beliefs and became the most unique and singular of the
three dynasties. Unlike the Mughals and Ottomans who – while rested their power on
religion – kept their clergy away from their government, the Safavid’s embraced an activist
clergy who had important roles in the politics of this region. The Safavid’s were greatly
inspired by the Sufi brotherhood.
4. The black death brought a lot of devastation to China at the time, which allowed new rulers
like Hongwu, to rebuild the grandeur of China. He built grand imperial cities and structures
which legitimized his power. Through marital alliances, Hongwu gained a larger and more
powerful kinship which supported his claims to dynastic power. By creating a well-organized
bureaucracy, rebuilding Confucian schools and irrigation systems, and beautifying the region,
he was well-respected and brought a lot of vibrancy back to the Chinese life. He was very
centralized, meaning he and his close personnel appointed every single official and
overlooked almost all the important decisions made in the empire. During hard times,
emperors had to employ a variety of questionable tactics to keep villagers paying taxes, one-
time Hongwu straight up slaughtered people unwilling to pay up. The other emperors after
Hongwu led in a similar manner and they strengthened religion under the Ming too. They
had many rites and rituals very often to display awesomeness to their subjects. They even
sanctioned official cults but they often clashed with the smaller faiths of a region, like
Buddhism. Regardless, centralization was still vigorous and their administration was well-
revered by rulers all over Afro-Eurasia. Under the Ming, merchants could reestablish their
previous trade and the commodities they sold. Much of China’s goods, at this time, was
sought out for luxury purposes by foreigners. The Ming rulers didn’t like overseas trade but
that didn’t stop it from flourishing in and out of China. Nonetheless, apart from few religious
disputes and many trade disputes, the Ming Dynasty was highly influential and sustained
their practices and traditions within their culture, for their entire rule – these things were
practiced well after the Ming lost their power as well, showing how truly influential they
were.
5. Chinese silk, textiles and porcelains were the most luxurious commodities in Afro-Eurasia at
this time, and merchants sought to profit off that. They began selling these goods out of
China under Ming rulership. The Ming government, however, was very suspicious of overseas
trading as they believed it would overrule their centralization and authority. Hongwu, the
first ruler of the Ming dynasty, banned maritime trade at one point but to no avail. It
continued to thrive regardless and created a great business for many Chinese traders.
Pressured by merchants and people, the Ming government decided to provide licenses to
anyone who wanted to trade overseas. They sponsored some expeditions but as they were
so expensive, they didn’t go on for too long. Additionally, threats from the North began again
and remembering how the Song dynasty was negatively impacted by maritime trade and
clans from the North, the Mings stopped providing licenses and the Chinese soon became
less involved in overseas trade at this time. The government chose to focus on inter-Chinese
trade and defending their borders rather than focusing on overseas trade.
6. Along with climactic changes, and the black death, Europe underwent a series of massive
falls during this time period. Famine, unsanitary conditions, death, disease, warfare, and
social unrest became wildly prevalent. People in western Christendom lost trust in their
clergy and rebelled as they believed the clergy weren’t helping them at all in times of need.
Even after the black death subsided, churches failed to reclaim the previous influence they
had. The church’s response was to persecute anyone they thought were heretics. They also
tried creating a better administration to legitimize their power once again. But these 2 things
costed money and they attempted to make money in questionable ways that seemed like
scams to the general public, increasing the animosity the public felt towards the church as
they felt like they were being extorted. During this time many people in western
Christendom became mentally unstable and did many stunts as spiritual practices to regain
some control over their lives. Along with this, many people essentially did whatever they
wanted as they believed any efforts to better their lives would be futile anyway. All this
craziness and rebellion, led peasants to question all authority in their lives - including their
feudal lord’s authority and they began rebelling against the feudal system as well. Despite
some initial struggles, large groups of peasants emerged victorious and were now free
people (not tied to their land anymore). After feudalism was mostly abolished, nobles with
money for private armies, began rising to power. These were a result of strategic marital
alliances that created kinships of centralized monarchies, especially in regions like Southern
Europe who rebounded quickly due to their connection to Mediterranean trade. These
monarchies quarreled a lot but managed to unite the regions they controlled by expelling
people of other religions from their region and creating a more unified identity in the eyes of
their people. They capitalized off this new sense of unity (notably the Portuguese and
Spanish monarchies) and began inserting themselves into trade once again, regenerating the
previous vibrance that existed in those regions.