One of my favorite sites for teaching medieval cities like Mali, Calicut, and Quanzhou is called Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World. It comes from The University of California at Davis and includes lessons with primary sources, maps, charts, and graphs.
The lesson on Calicut, for example, explores the importance of the spice trade in food and medicine and even includes medieval recipes.
A lesson about the monsoon winds in India includes a chart of monsoon sailing dates between 1480 and 1500. Students analyze the chart and figure out the best times for sailors to travel from Hormuz to Calicut or how long you would have to wait before you could sail to Malacca?
The website also includes a terrific interactive map showing the spread of religion, trade routes, states, the Black Plague, and Ibn Battuta's voyages. Take a look at the trade map below.
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