Time Period III

1. Time Period III 600 CE – 1450 CE

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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)

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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)

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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