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 = Rome continued in the East• Europe experiences disruption and new cultural forms

(Vikings, feudalism, & the rise of Roman Catholic Christianity); Russia’s culture looks to Byzantium

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

• In the Americas, huge new empires develop (Maya & later Aztec & Inca)

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

• 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 5 Pillars and worship

of 1 God.

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• 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 they were internally weak, 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

Byzantine Empire

• Eastern Roman Empire• 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

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• Conquered by the Golden Horde Mongols &

made to pay tribute

Medieval Europe• Roman Empire totally fell apart in the West after

476.• Local (feudal) lords with castles became the

protectors (instead of the central gov’t)• 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 the settled down, assimilating into local populations)

Sui

• 589-618 CE• China after the classical period 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 in during the end of the Han,providing stability)

• Huge army & territory – Silk Road Trade!• Reintroduced the Exam System for bureaucracy• Women = better status• 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)• Women’s status (foot-binding)• Commercial Revolution (flying money, paper

money)• Inventive – compass, paper, printing press,

gunpowder• Conquered by Kublai Khan

Maya

• 600s – 900s• City-states; culturally unified• Religious ritual = blood-letting• Inventive agriculture• Intense inter-city-state rivalries & war

Aztec

• 1300-1500 CE• Conquest State, truly united• Control through tribute and fear– Sacrifice and enslavement of conquered

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

Inca

• 1400s-1500s CE• Military expansion• Highly centralized government– Control of wealth, labor, trade (mit’a)– Redistributive economy

• Capital at Cuzco– Royal families rule outlying areas

• Quipus, terrace farming, irrigation

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• People unified through dislike of Mongols

Great Zimbabwe

• Southeastern Africa 1000s-1450• Started by the Shona (Bantu-speakers)• Iron working and agriculture• Inland state (S.E. Africa) traded with the

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

• Strong political state

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

just taxed it)– Gold, salt, ivory

• Taxes and armies – Iron weapons and agricultural tools

• Began conversion to Islam

Mali• 800-1450 CE• Conquers Ghana (Sundjata)• Centralized Government and Bureaucracy• Niger River=Trade and Taxes• Mansa Musa and Timbuktu–Conversion to Islam

• Export of Gold and Salt – controlled the mines• Tribute to supply food• Slaves and agriculture• Conquered by Songhai

Songhai• 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 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