Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place in the seventeenth century, choosing one example from Asia and one from the Americas.

Solution: The following are examples of cross-cultural exchanges from Asia and the Americas:

1. The Silk Route (Asia): The Silk Route is a good example of cross-cultural trade and connectivity between distant parts of the world. The name ‘Silk Route’ points to the importance of Westbound Chinese silk cargoes along this route.

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.

1. Food from the Americas: The food that is part of our staple diet today, like potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes etc., were not known to our ancestors until the accidental discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus.

These food items only made it to Europe and the rest of the world after the monumental discovery of the new continent.