As we will see in the next chapter, the Mongols were in large part responsible for the boom in global trade that occurred along these routes from the thirteenth century onward, and the Golden Horde was a vast intermediary market for commercial goods ranging from silk, spices, precious metals and stones, furs, salt, skins, and enslaved people. It was also a melting pot for religions and cultures. As Ibn Battuta noted, the Mongol khans had converted to Islam. But they were highly indulgent of Christianity, exempting the Eastern Church in their lands from taxation and refraining from demanding
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