Time Period III 600 CE – 1450 CE. Main Ideas 3.1 = Exchange and communication networks expand and intensify 3.2 = State formation and interactions experiences.

Time Period III

600 CE – 1450 CE

Main Ideas

• 3.1 = Exchange and communication networks expand and intensify

• 3.2 = State formation and interactions experiences changes and continuities

• 3.3 = Economic productive capacity increases and causes a lot of changes

Main Topics Covered• Islam comes into being• Islamic armies conquer & create empires• The Byzantine Empire = centralization & unity continue in the

Rome of the East (modern day Turkey, etc.)• Western Europe experiences collapse of Rome, disruption,

and new cultural forms (Vikings, feudalism, manorialism, & the rise of Roman Catholic Christianity); Russia’s culture looks to Byzantium & becomes Orthodox Christian

• Tang and Song Dynasty China reunify East Asia & drive economic innovation (flying money, paper money, banking, & mass production)

• In the Americas, huge new empires develop (Maya city-states unify culturally & later Aztec & Inca centralize as empires)

• In West Africa, huge new empires develop & are in contact with the Islamic world (Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Swahili Coast)

• The Mongols cause huge amounts of exchange & stability and also chaos and disruption of older patterns of empire

Islam

• Arabia before Islam – tribal and warlike• Muhammad’s job – merchant, b/c Arabia

traded out bunches of incense• Mecca – trade center b/c of truce around

Ka’ba, where polytheistic deities were worshipped

• Mix of cultures, including Judaism and Christianity (mothotheism)

Islam, cont.• Muhammad’s cave visions – recited the Koran• Gained followers. Messed with Ka’ba trade• Meccan leaders were haters. Early Muslims flee

to Median (hijra, 622 CE)• Muslims vs. other Arabs – war. Muslims win and

take Mecca• Unity found through the common use of 5

Pillars, Arabic language, and worship of 1 God. = All Muslims unified through common belief, culture, language, & practices = Dar al Islam

Caliphate System & the Sunni and Shi’ite split

• Muhammad’s death = succession crisis• 2 main factions: Sunni and Shi’ite• Sunni – leader (caliph) = chosen by the Umma

(community as a whole)• Shi’ite – leader (caliph) = Muhammad’s

relatives• Caliph = caesaropapist ruler• Sunnis = dominant majority today

Umayyad & Abbasid Caliphate• Umayyad = ARAB conquest empire built off booty• Conquered Arabia, Sassanian (Persian) & much of

the Byzantine Empires (Mideast & Anatolia) b/c these old empires were internally weak; also conquered North Africa, Spain

• Abbasid = MUSLIM golden age of unity; House of Wisdom; retention & building on Greek logic & learning

• Fell apart as Abbasids weakened. Turkic slave soldiers took control (Mamluks and Seljuks)

Byzantine Empire• Eastern Roman Empire (Mideast, Anatolia, N.

Africa – until many areas taken by Umayyad in the 700s)

• Retained unity as Western Europe fell to nomadic invasions after 400 CE.

• Lasted until 1453.• Orthodox (led by Patriarch) converted the

Kievan Rus• Mosaic art, centralization, Constantinople capital

city; Justinian = example of caesaropapist ruler

Kievan Rus• Russian city-states dominated by the Prince of

Kiev• TRADED furs especially down the rivers leading to

the Caspian & Black Seas (the Byzantine Empire and Abbasid Caliphate were trading partners)

• Most people were rural• Converted to Orthodoxy by Byzantine Empire to

its south• Conquered by the Golden Horde Mongols &

made to pay tribute

Medieval Europe• Roman Empire totally fell apart in Western Europe

(think modern France, Britain, Germany) after 476.• Local (feudal) lords with castles became the

protectors (b/c central gov’t had collapsed)• Feudalism = social/political system in which work,

protection, and loyalty are exchanged. Serfs work the land, Lords provide the land and protection in exchange for ag products, knights serve as warriors who are given fiefs of land with serfs on it to life on by lords

Medieval Europe• Manorialism = ECONOMIC system based on

local production• Roman Catholic Church & pope provided

some unity• Missionaries (often friars) went out converting

people• Instability was an important characteristic

(think Vikings – who raided and then settled down, assimilating into local populations)

Sui• 589-618 CE• China after the classical period (aka: Han

Dynasty) was also disunified• Sui, using Legalism, reunified it• Grand Canal built, making an inter-linked

economy out of N. and S. China

Tang• 618-908 CE• Known for Buddhism; rulers even patronized

Buddhism (the religion leaked as the Han Dynasty collapsed, providing hope in a crappy, scary time)

• Huge army & territory – Silk Road Trade!• Reintroduced the Confucian Exam System for

bureaucracy• Women = better status (Empress Wu)• 845 = gov’t turned against Buddhism, encouraged by

Confucian bureaucrats to stamp out foreign “barbaric” practices

Song• 908 – 1268 CE• Neo-Confucian (blended in Buddhist & Daoist beliefs but

said Confucianism was superior)• Women’s status (foot-binding)• Commercial Revolution (flying money, paper money)• Largest cities in the world Tribute system & cultural

influence spread to Korea, Vietnam, & Japan• Inventive – compass, paper, printing press, gunpowder• Conquered by Kublai Khan

Maya• 600s – 900s• MesoAmerica (intensive Maize-based agriculture

w/ chinampas [floating gardens], etc.)• City-states; culturally unified• Built off culture of previous civs (Olmec, huge

city-state of Teotihuacan)• Religious ritual = blood-letting• Intense inter-city-state rivalries & war b/c lack of

centralized unity

Aztec• 1300-1500 CE• Conquest State, truly united & centralized

empire; enemies among conquered peoples• Control through tribute (lots of turquoise)

and fear– Sacrifice and enslavement of conquered

• Tenochtitlan= capital• Complex social hierarchy (warriors & priests)• Important families rule outer territories• Innovative agriculture like chinampas to

intensively grow maize; full writing systems

Inca• 1400s-1500s CE• Military expansion & conquest state, created

resentment among conquered people (same problem the Aztecs had)

• Highly centralized government– Control of wealth, labor, trade (mit’a labor tax; allyu

extended family groups to do labor)– Redistributive economy

• Capital at Cuzco– Royal families rule outlying areas

• Quipus for record keeping, terrace farming, irrigation, llamas

Mongols

• Pre-Empire– Nomadic, disunified, raiders and looters,

family/tribe oriented (lots of fighting)

• Genghis Khan (1206-1227)– Unifies various groups– Massive Empire (China to Syria, Russia to Syria)

• Death of Genghis– Four Empires emerge

Four Mongol Empires

• Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty)– Centralized, never fully assimilate, utilize bureaucratic

system and cultural leaders• Khanate of Chaghadai (Central Asia/Trade Routes)– Protection and facilitation of trade

• Golden Horde (Russia, Northern Eurasia)– Small furry animals and tribute

• Khanate of Persia (E. Abassid Caliphate– Full assimilation and conversion to Islam

Pax Mongolica

• Facilitated trade through massive empire– Protection and taxation

• Increases cultural interaction and diffusion• Exchange of ideas, technology, religion,

disease• Bad= destruction and disease – Bubonic

Plague• People unified through dislike of Mongols

Great Zimbabwe• Southeastern Africa 1200s-1450• Started by Bantu-speakers• Iron working and agriculture• Inland state traded with Swahili Coast city-

states like Kilwa into the IOMS• Export of gold in exchange for:– Fabrics, ceramics, spices and fruits (IOMS)

• Strong political state• Stone architecture w/o use of mortar

Ghana• 400s-1000s• West Africa (based along the Niger River)• Major trade routes– River and Trans-Saharan (did not control trade, just

taxed it)– Gold, salt, ivory

• Taxes and armies; protection of trade– Iron weapons, military forts & garrisons, and iron

agricultural tools

• Began peaceful conversion to Islam via contact with Muslim merchants among elites

Mali• 800-1450 CE• Conquers Ghana (Sundjata accomplished this)• Centralized Government and Bureaucracy using Islamic

forms (shari’a law, Arabic, etc.)• Niger River=Trade and Taxes• Mansa Musa and Timbuktu• Increased Conversion to Islam• Export of Gold and Salt – controlled the mines• Tribute to supply food• Slaves and agriculture• Conquered by Songhai

Songhai (y)• 1000s-1585• Islam to unify and jihads to conquer became stronger

and stronger until it took over Mali & beyond• Strong government– 5 provinces, Islamic Courts, Huge Army

• Political & ethnic social hierarchy (Hindu caste similarity)• Drought, disease, and decline of trade spells doom• Islamic Universities, Arabic & Shari’a law united &

helped centralize

Marco Polo/Ibn Battuta

• World travelers• Documented their journeys and experiences– Marco Polo= Silk Roads– Ibn Battuta= Dar al-Islam

• Ibn Battuta discusses similarities and differences across Dar al-Islam

• Marco Polo discusses advanced Asian continent for backwards Europeans

Japan• Nara period = beginning of unified gov’t through

contact w/ China & the spread of literacy through Buddhism

• Syncretism w/ native Shinto (animist) religion• Heian period followed Nara period…cultural

awesomeness (1st novel ever written; capital at Kyoto, haiku, origami, tea ceremony, etc.

• Central gov’t lost power…feudal period begins: Daimyo (lords) leading samurai (warriors); castles & other similarities to Western Europe at the time