AP World History – Topic 2.3: Exchange in the Indian Ocean

Which factor best explains how merchants were able to navigate long distances across the Indian Ocean by—

• Use of the astrolabe and knowledge of monsoon wind patterns

• Dependence on European maps and compasses

• State-sponsored voyages funded by the Abbasid Caliphate

• Reliance on overland routes through Central Asia

Port cities such as Calicut and Cambay prospered primarily because they—

• collected tribute from inland empires

• served as centers where merchants from East Africa and East Asia exchanged goods

• produced spices for export to Arabia

• were protected by the Chinese navy

Which environmental pattern made regular navigation across the Indian Ocean possible?

• Tidal cycles of the Arabian Sea

• Seasonal monsoon winds blowing in predictable directions

• Polar jet streams over the Himalayas

• El Niño warming cycles

The term 'Dar al-Islam' in this context refers to—

• a political empire ruled by a single caliph

• a religiously united territory connecting Muslim societies through law and culture

• the early Ottoman state in Anatolia

• lands conquered by Arab Bedouin tribes only

Which region became known as the 'Spice Islands' because of exports like nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon?

• Southern India

• Arabian Peninsula

• Malaysia and Indonesia

• East Africa

Compared with enslaved Africans sent across the Atlantic, those involved in the Indian Ocean slave trade were more likely to—

• work on plantation agriculture

• live in urban areas and serve as sailors, soldiers, or household servants

• suffer harsher legal restrictions

• be denied all rights within Islamic societies

The triangular lateen sail and the stern rudder are best described as—

• tools for irrigation and crop rotation

• technologies that improved long-distance sea travel and maneuverability

• inventions that limited cultural diffusion

• methods of military fortification at seaports

How did the Sultanate of Malacca gain its wealth and regional influence?

• By taxing ships that passed through the Strait of Malacca

• By controlling inland spice plantations

• Through silver mining in Sumatra

• By conquering Ming China

Diasporic merchant communities such as Arab traders in India are historically significant because they—

• prevented cultural blending between regions

• spread monotheistic religions only by conquest

• created permanent settlements that blended local and foreign traditions

• restricted the role of women in trade

Why were Admiral Zheng He’s voyages (1405–1433) a major turning point in Indian Ocean history?

• They marked China’s first military invasion of Africa.

• They demonstrated Chinese maritime power and expanded cultural exchange before China turned inward.

• They established long-term Chinese colonies across the Indian Ocean.

• They initiated the Atlantic slave trade.