THE MAKING OF THE GLOBAL WORLD [WORK SHEE]
Q1. What enhanced Europe’s wealth for trade in Asia?
A-Precious metals mainly silver from mines situated in modern day Peru and Mexico improved
Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia.
Q2. Which common foods were introduced to our ancestors after Columbus discovered
America?
A-Potatoes, soya, maize, tomatoes, chilies, groundnuts and sweet potatoes were introduced in
Europe and Asia after the discovery of America by Columbus.
Q3. How did food like 'Noodles' travel to various parts of the world and got adopted by different
names? A-The food like 'Noodles' travelled west from China to become Spaghetti and Pasta in
Italy. It is also believed that Arab traders took pasta to fifth century Sicily, an island in Italy.
Q4. How did dependency on potatoes kill the poorest peasants of Ireland?
A-Ireland’s poor peasants became so dependent on potatoes that when disease destroyed the
potato crop in the mid-1840s, hundreds of thousands people died of starvation.
Q5. Where was El Dorado? For what was it famous?
A-El Dorado was situated in Columbia in South America. It was a famous gold mine for which
Spanish launched their victory operations.
Q6. Why the famous ‘silk route’ was made?
A-The famous ‘Silk route’ was connecting Beijing with Asia and Europe through land and
maritime route. Through land Silk route Beijing was connected with eastern Mediterranean via
central Asia. Maritime Silk route was connecting Beijing with Africa and Middle East countries
via Malacca and Maldives. Trade and culture flourished much by this famous route.
Q7. Show how the Silk Routes are a good example of pre-modern trade between different
countries of the world?
A- Historians have identified several silk routes, over land and by sea, knitting together vast
regions of Asia, and linking it with Europe and Northern Africa. Chinese pottery also travelled
the same route, as did textiles and spices from India and South East Asia. In return, precious
metals like gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia.
Q8. What kind of cultural exchanges were made through 'Silk Route'?
A- Silk rout did not only promote commodity exchange but also culture. Because this route was
frequently used by Christian Missionaries, Muslim and Buddhist preacher. All of them have
different ideology of their religion. Therefore, this route transferred different ideology to
different region.
Q9. What was the most powerful weapon that the Spanish used to conquer America?
A-The most powerful weapon was the germs such as those of smallpox.
Because of their long isolation, America’s original inhabitants had no immunity against these
diseases that came from the Europe.
Smallpox in particular, proved to be a deadly killer disease.
Q10. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before the
seventeenth century, choosing one example from Asia and one from the Americas.
A-(i) In China, India and Southeast Asia traded in Textiles, spices and Chinese pottery and in
return for gold and silver from Europe.
(ii) From America to Europe and Asia items like gold and foods – potatoes, soya, groundnuts,
tomatoes and chillies were exported.
Q11. “Trade and cultural exchange always went hand in hand.” Explain the statement in the light
of silk route.
A-The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between
distant parts of the world. The name ‘silk routes’ points to the importance of West-bound
Chinese silk cargoes along this route. Historians have identified several silk routes, over Land
and by sea, knitting together vast regions of Asia, and linking Asia with Europe and northern
Africa. They are known to have existed since before the Christian Era and thrived almost till the
fifteenth century. But Chinese pottery also travelled the same route, as did textiles and spices
from India and Southeast Asia. In return, precious metals – gold and silver – flowed from Europe
to Asia. Trade and cultural exchange always went hand in hand. Early Christian missionaries
almost certainly travelled this route to Asia, as did early Muslim preachers a few centuries later.
Much before all this, Buddhism emerged from eastern India and spread in several directions
through intersecting points on the silk routes.
Q12. The pre-modern world changed with the discovery of new sea routes to America.’’ Give
any three suitable examples to explain the statement.
A- The pre-modern world assumed a new structure with the invention of sea routes to America.
Christopher Columbus discovered the vast continent of America in 1492. After the discovery of
America, the process of cultural exchange started at a rapid pace.
i Foods like potatoes, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes were introduced to other
continents, mainly Asia and Europe.
ii Slave trade was brisk. Europeans inducted slaves from the African countries and transported
them to America.
iii Metals like silver from Peru and Mexico improved the status of the Europeans wealth
