World history
Why a historian’s account is a secondary source
A secondary source interprets evidence; a primary source is evidence for the question being studied.
People & historyCategory
World history
Ideas, empires, migrations, trade, and everyday life across regions and eras.
World history
Trade routes carried relationships as well as goods
Trans-Saharan commerce helped connect communities through recurring contact.
World history
How commerce connected a politically divided world
Trading networks could cross borders that rulers did not control together.
World history
Whose lives disappear from written history?
Surviving records often favour people who had power or access to writing.
World history
What changes when history includes ordinary lives?
Social history examines the experiences of people beyond rulers and elites.
World history
How did Akbar govern a diverse empire?
Mughal expansion relied on both conquest and political accommodation.