BHE 2

The second part of Abu-Lughad’s book begins to focus more on trade patterns across the Middle East. She first begins by asserting that the once promising separate world economies that were once powerful were all linked to each other, and thus, if one failed, it resulted in doom for the rest as well. The northern route, made famous by the Mongols and Genghis Khan, was followed by other empires through Europe, to the ultimate destination of trading with China. The middle route focused on water routes for trading and went through the Tigris river and through the Persian Gulf, and trade began to develop between the Mongols and the Muslim world. Abu-Lughad claims that when the middle passage eastward fell, and the trade route through the Red Sea began to be the best route. It is this shift south that Abu-Lughad argues that ultimately transformed this movement of people and goods into one focused around Europe. The section then goes on to tell about the important ignorance of Europe towards the East. As the Mongals reached Europe, the nations of Europe began to look for allies in one another to ward the conquering Mongols. Ignorance towards the East would eventually fade due to the Venetian traders, who were said to be better business men than Marco Polo himself. Part 2 then goes on to speak of growing international trade and it says what they traded and where. A major downfall of this trade was that it spread plague to all the nations involved and was responsible for power struggles and rebellion due to weakening governing bodies that were weakening because of disease. With disease taking over the Mongols, they were less able to defend their empire and trade routes with other nations. Furthermore, with the spread of disease, trade diminished.

I have always been interested in the Mongols, and it was interesting to me the most that their empire lost so much momentum because of disease and death. They spread disease through trading, which was bad, but worse yet, they were losing their military, since after all they were the most mobile and succeptable to disease. I did not know this prior to this time, but after reading this I can see why and how the decline of their empire took place.

I cannot help but wonder, if disease had not spread so far and so fast, what the world trade system would have continued to look like, and if the Mongols would remain the dominant force. I feel that they would, but my larger question is how much more power, and how much more land the Mongols might have acquired, had the Black Death not been so devastating.