Everything AP World (WIP)

China & Buddhism

• Entered through Silk Roads

• Mostly Mahayana form

• Established Pure Land School/Pure Land Buddhism

  • Chinese form of Buddhism that emphasized salvation from faith

• Attacked by Confucianism, resistance from Chinese government

  • Established decrees that destroyed temples, oppressed monks/nuns and the religion

• Neo-Confucianism incorporated the moral standards of buddhism while rejecting the other ideas

Chinese Cultural Spread

• Mostly to neighboring countries (Japan, Vietnam, Korea)

• Korea replicated Chinese administrative system

  • Participated in tribute system

  • Adopted Chinese buddhism

• Japan developed Chinese Buddhist schools

  • Popular among samurai warriors

  • Neo-Confucianism was official ideology of the Tokugawa regime

• Many adopted Chinese writing system (character-based)

China in Sea Roads

• Large expeditions in Indian Ocean

  • Empire Yongle launched large voyages captained by Zheng He

• Meant to get more states in the tribute system

  • Not to conquer areas or establish settlements

• Empire Yongle’s death ended missions

  • Fleets were deemed too expensive

  • Chinese leaving cleared path for Portuguese to dominate sea trade

West African Civilization

• Trans-Saharan trade was incentive for developing civilizations

  • Region in savannah grasslands

• Hausa people formed city-states that urbanized and were intermediary for Sand Roads

  • Goods: kola nuts, dyed textiles from Kano

  • Monarchies were wealthy from taxing passing merchants

• Ghana & Mali monopolized imports and taxed goods for money

• Less patriarchy than Eurasia

Trans-Saharan Slave Trade

• Began w/

  • female slaves who were servants and concubines (non-wife who resides with man)

  • male slaves who did crafting, mining, and farming

  • Slaves were taken from raids in the stateless south

• Many slaves had to trek across Africa to work for the wealthy Islamic north/west

• Eventually evolved into trans-atlantic slave trade

Islam in West Africa

• Spread by Muslim Sand Road traders from Islamic North Africa

  • Mostly voluntary acceptance (no bribes)

• Mali’s ruler Mansa Musa was Muslim and received religious legitimacy

  • Went on pilgrimage to Mecca with a bunch of gold and gave it out

• Islamic cities e.g. Timbuktu had Quranic schools & libraries, Arabic became prominent language

• Islam mostly adopted by elite, with government allowing native religions in common people

  • Some merged Islam with native religions to encourage adoption

Islam & Trade

• Islamic areas made up large region in Afro-Eurasia

  • Islam valued commerce, which was fostered by Mecca pilgrimage & urbanization

  • Urban elites stimulated production & imports of goods

• Muslim merchants were prominent

• Canton commercial colony linked Muslim world to Asia

• Sophisticated economy from banking, credits, other technology

• Agriculture improved from irrigation technology, reservoirs, “Islamic Green Revolution”

  • Goods: sugar, rice, apricots, citrus, almonds, etc.

Islamic Achievements

• Green Revolution - agricultural improvements allowed for pop. growth and urbanization

• Tech - improved Chinese rockets by allowing them to attack ships, adopted papermaking, had written culture, sophisticated medical techniques e.g. diagnostic techniques

• Culture - Adopted Persian language, poetry, courts, and bureaucracy

• Scientific texts translated into Arabic from languages like Greek

• Established House of Wisdom in Baghdad where Arab & Muslim thinkers focused on reasoning vs. religion

  • E.g. numeral notation, medicine, operations

Islam & Sea Roads

• Positive effect on trade

• Muhammad served as positive merchant role model (put merchants in good light since he was one)

• Islam spread Dhar-al Islam political system

  • Economic centers, religious freedom

• Established states e.g. Malacca

Geographic Barriers in Americas

• Long distance trade impossible

  • Lacked pack animals for travel

• Little navigable rivers, constant natural disasters, environmental barriers e.g. dense rainforests

• Less-developed technologies e.g. sailing tech

Causes of Silk Roads

• Demand for luxury goods from Eurasian elite

• Increase in knowledge of silk production and connections of silk to religion/nobility

• Value of silk compensated for expensive & long transport

Sand Roads

• West Africa

• Began in Sahara Desert

  • Oasis with date palms, copper & salt deposits, grain & sorghum farmers

• Sudan was “land of blacks”

• Empires were based on wealth from trade, e.g. Mali, and had cosmopolitan (diverse) cities

• Women acted as laborers & crafters

Diasporic Communities in Sea Roads

• Communities of people w/ multiple cultures, facilitating spread of ideas

  • Made of foreign settler merchants who adopted local traditions/spread their own

• Ex. Swahili coast’s city-states

• Exchanged and developed new religions/cultures, allowed for commerce across different populations

Sand Road Transportation

• Camels in caravans

  • Across Sahara to Southern Africa

  • Islam spread through the caravans

  • Merchants traveled at night to avoid heat in desert

  • Oases were stops for resting & trading

• Travelers went on established routes that had spots for water sources

Sand Road Commercial Practices

• Credit letters instead of valuable currency e.g. gold

• Trade hubs were throughout routes and had services for travelers, connections

• Merchants partnered to avoid large investment risks

• Goods: salt, slaves, textiles, glass, horses, abundant gold, ivory, exotic animal products

Silk Road Diseases

• Smallpox & measles spread on both sides

  • Caused population decline & contributed to fall of empires

• Bubonic plague

  • In mediterranian, killed millions

• Black death (pandemic caused by bubonic plague, not the same)

  • Spread from China to Europe during Mongol control

Malacca

• City on edge of Malay Peninsula

• Large economic hub w/ diverse settler merchant population, considered “globalized city”

  • Appealing to travelers due to stability, low duties (taxes on imports & exports), openness towards merchants

• In tributary relationship w/ China

• Goods: Pepper, gold, foreign goods

Slavery/Social Hierarchies in Sand Roads

• Patriarchy less pronounced than other areas

  • Women could serve as laborers and in government

• Slavery:

  • Slaves taken from stateless societies

  • Mostly served as domestic servants

  • More humane treatment than slavery in the West (no generational status)

Sea Roads

• Indian Ocean

  • Travel was allowed with consistent seasonal Monsoon winds

  • Malay sailors brought bananas & coconuts to East Africa

• Tech: new ships, e.g. dhows & junks, astrolabe, compass, maps, knowledge of climate patterns (e.g. monsoons)

• Allowed for spread of knowledge and technological improvement

Silk Roads

• Trading network in inner (nomadic pastoral groups) & outer (India, China, Mid. East) Eurasia

• Traded in relay system due to large distance

• Caravanserai were inns for travelers

• Goods: mostly luxury & lightweight items, e.g. silk (obv), spices, porcelain, gold, etc.

Silk Road Cultures

• Religion, especially Buddhism

• Converts in pastoral peoples, established monasteries that got involved in politics

• Appealed to traveling merchants

• Mahayana was mostly popular form of Buddhism

  • Encouraged veneration of Bodhisattvas (enlightened people who stayed to help others)

  • Considered original Buddha a god

  • Combined w/ other cultures and religions, e.g. fire rituals

Silk

• Mainly traded through Silk Roads

• Woven by female Chinese peasants

  • Elite women used silk as luxury good

  • Elite men also used it later

  • Wall hangings & clothing

• Eventually spread through trade to other areas

States & Sea Roads in East Africa

• Swahili Coast City-States

  • Coast of E. Africa, trading hub

  • Diverse cultures, declined due to Portuguese interference

  • Exported slaves & goods

    • Imported Indian art & Chinese porcelain

  • Large divide between elite & poor

  • Spoke Swahili, which became common trade language

• Great Zimbabwe

  • Large kingdom more inland Africa

  • Had large reserves of gold

• Rise of Muslim Africans

India & Sea Roads

• India was fulcrum of sea road trade

  • Vibrant economy, central location

  • Wealth prevented incorporation into another empire

• Exported textiles

States & Sea Roads in Southeast Asia

• Srivijaya

  • Wealthy Buddhist state

  • Collected taxes from sea road ships

• Khmer

  • Agriculture-based and traded w/ China & India

  • Made reservoirs from Monsoon rains

  • Dissolved from overpopulation

• Borobudur & Angor Wat were large monuments and temples dedicated to Buddhism and Hinduism

Trade in Americas

• Less dense than Afro-Eurasia

  • E.g. Aztecs & Incas most likely had little contact

  • Absence of pack animals, wheel vehicles, and vessels

  • Environmental barriers e.g. rainforests, natural disasters, diverse climate zones which prevented agricultural diffusion

• American Web - loose web of connections

  • Nodes: Cahokia, Chaco canyon, Mesoamerica, Inca

  • Some things such as maize (corn) and ball games, architectural and pottery styles diffused through Americas

Mesoamerican Civilization

• Maya cities & Teotihuacan city-state traded with each other

  • Maya used dugout canoes for sea trade

• Aztecs had pochteca (merchants) 

  • Went on trading expeditions for the state and privately (mainly luxury goods)

    • Legally commoners but wealthy from trade

  • Got tribute from conquered peoples

  • Settlements had marketplaces with crafted goods

    • Tlatelolco had a large range of goods (food, precious metal ornaments, stones, bones, animal products, etc.)

Cahokia

• North American chiefdom

  • Center of network that traded copper, mica, hides, and obsidian from nearby areas

  • Canoe travel through nearby rivers

• Built pyramids

  • Social/political system with elites and rulers able to organize builders

    • Elites were buried w/ sacrified peoples, beads, and natural resources

Chaco Canyon

• Near modern-day New Mexico

• 5 major settlements or Puebos, many smaller settlements surrounding it

• Pueblo Bonito - 5-story settlement with hundreds of rooms and Kivas (pits for ceremonies)

  • Surrounded by many roads despite no apparent use due to lack of transport tools such as wheeled vehicles, pack animals

• Goods: Turquoise ornaments, in exchange for chocolate, feathers, etc. from Mesoamerica and other areas

• Ended w/ large drought

Incan Civilization

• Along Andes Mountains 

• State-run trade (no private merchants/merchant groups)

  • State storage contained food, clothing, military supplies, materials, etc.

    • Contents recorded on quipus (knotted cord data mechanism)

  • Goods transported by human-llama caravans

• Diverse environments due to size

• Local exchange at borders w/ groups outside state & @ highland fairs (gatherings)

Song Dynasty

• Mid-900s through late 1200s

• Golden age of arts and literature

  • Poetry, painting, ceramics, Confucian philosophy

• Built on precedents of bureaucratic structure

  • 6 ministries overseen by Censorate observing agency

  • Staffed with people who passed the examination system established by Han dynasty

• Relatively stable political rule

  • Dynasties drew on previous traditions

Chinese Exam System

• Upper class men attended rigorous education to prepare them for the exam

  • Village communities could sponsor commoners to get the education

  • Some social mobility in hierarchical society

• Civil service exam went against aristocratic ideals

  • Privileged/nepo babies still got many positions

  • People who passed lower-level exams didn’t get gov. Positions but had nobility and cultural prestige locally

Chinese Innovations

• Printed books, gunpowder, ships, navigation technology

• Commercialized society producing for market (not local consumption)

• Large network of waterways for cheap movement of goods

  • Peasants could purchase staples while selling grown goods

• Taxes in cash instead of sold goods/labor, economic innovations e.g. paper money, credit letters, promissory notes (IOUs)

Chinese Economic Revolution

• Rapid population growth 

  • Due to agricultural improvements, e.g. adoption of drought-resistance strain of rice called Champa rice

• Became rapidly urbanized due to large cities

• Hangzhou was capital of Song dynasty and had over a million residents

• Soaring industrial production

  • Huge metallurgy industry - armor, arrowheads, metal for coins, tools, etc.

  • Fueled by coal, which provided energy and caused pollution

Chinese Patriarchy

• Confucianism supported subordination of women to men

• Masculinity associated with calligraphy, scholarship, painting, poetry

• Femininity associated with weakness, delicacy

  • Foot binding wrapped young girls’ feet to make them smaller

    • Usually in elites who didn’t need to walk

• Commercialization of textile industry displaced female workers

  • Less lucrative for women

• Positives for women - more property rights e.g. ability to inherit from family, stronger education of women

Korea & China (1200-1450)

• Politically independent but in tribute system

  • Brought tribute and performed rituals for Chinese emperors

  • Received bestowals in return

• Adopted Confucianism

  • Restricted women’s rights e.g. free marriage, Korean patterns of female behavior e.g. living in parent’s home, remarriage, inheritance of property

• Culture mostly registered among elite, not peasants or slaves

• Did not adopt examination system

  • Government was monopolized by aristocratic class

• Developed Hangul, some elites continued to use Chinese characters

Vietnam & China (1200-1450)

• Elite adopted Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, art, & government systems

  • Viewed themselves as extension of China

• Politically independent & in tribute system

  • Once fully incorporated into China, until securing independence

• Adopted government ideas

  • Rulers = emperors

  • Claimed Mandate of Heaven (government religious legitimacy)

  • Adopted examination system

• Retained women’s rights and had many female deities in religions

  • Officials tried to impose more strict gender practices

• Developed Chu Nom as new writing script

Japan & China (1200-1450)

• Physically far from China, so less risk of invasion

  • Borrowing was mostly voluntary

• Borrowing from China was useful for creating unified Japanese government

  • Previously decentralized clan-like chiefdoms

• Established Chinese Buddhist schools and elite enjoyed writing system

• Eventually stopped absorbing additional elements and stopped tribute system

• Never created centralized government, emperor lost actual political power

  • Favored aristocratic families and decentralized government

  • Local authorities created own military, class called samurai

    • Samurai valued bushido, which valued bravery, skill, and death or surrender

      • Contrasted with Chinese emphasis on education

• Religiously distinctive

  • Still worshipped Shinto, belief of kami (sacred spirits)

    • Provided religious legitimacy by claiming imperial family descended from a sun goddess

    • Could be combined with Buddhism due to lack of philosophy/ritual

• Courts focused more on art and sophistication

• Adopted Chinese characters and used them with phonetic systems (hiragana and katakana)

• Women retained many rights, e.g. divorce, inheriting property

  • Later began to lose them due to warrior culture, not Confucianism

Abbaside Caliphate

• Arab dynasty that ruled Islamic world since 750

  • Capital in Baghdad (in mid. east)

  • Political grip began to slip away in 1200

• Power lost due to local powers taking control of their regions

• Fractured into sultanates ruled by Persian/Turkish military dynasties

• Ended when Mongols invaded mid-1200s

Turks in Islamic Mid. East

• Turkic-speaking pastoralist from steppes arrived in fragmented Abbasid Empire

  • First served as slave soldiers

  • Took more power as caliphate declined

• Many turkic warriors converted to Muslim and used Muslim titles instead of Turkic ones

Ottoman Empire

• Empire created by Turkic warrior group from Anatolia

  • Brought long-term unity to Middle East & North Africa

  • Expanded into Byzantine empire and acquired large Christian population

• Controlled Mid. East, Egypt, coastal N. Africa, and E. Europe

• Incorporated diverse people, sophistication, very wealthy

  • Turks were dominant people of Islamic world

• Discriminated against Christian people

  • Took Christian boys from families as form of tax

Islam in India

• Turkic warrior groups spread Islam by conquesting India

  • Caused Islamic regimes that ruled India

  • Mostly invaded northern area

• Invaders destroyed Hindu/Buddhist temples and stole treasure

• Sultanate of Delhi in early 1200s established more systematic rule

  • Little penetration of society due to small number of Turks

  • Islam was only adopted by about a quarter of India

    • Muslim communities were concentrated to specific areas e.g. Punjab

      • Lived peacefully and separately from Hindus

    • Hinduism in other areas was not challenged

      • Hindus could serve in Muslim-ruled government

      • See Vijayanagar Empire for more ;)

Vijayanagar Empire

• Hindu state in Southern India

  • Partly founded to resist Muslim invasions from the north

• Site of peaceful Muslim-Hindu encounters

  • Many Muslim traders were at trading ports

Muslim Spain/Al-Andalus

• Conquered by Arab and Berber (indigenous North African people) groups during wave of Islamic expansion

  • Majority of population was Islamic

    • Christians also learned Arabic, veiled women, appreciated Arabic culture, and married Muslims

      • “Assimilated” Christians remained second-class by Muslims

• Site of cross-cultural encounters

  • Muslims, Christians, & Jews mixed freely

  • Upper class of different faiths had good social relationships

  • Abd al-Rahman III declared freedom of worship and equal political opportunities

• Prosperous agricultural economy and high culture (astronomy, arts, medicine, etc.)

  • Secular knowledge of science and other fields attracted European scholars

End of Muslim Spain

• Eventually fragmented into multiple rival states

  • Christian kingdoms had war conflicts, and rigid form of Islam arrived from North Africa

  • al-Mansur persecuted Christians

    • Muslims avoided contact with Christians, religious practice was forbidden, and segregation occured

• Christian reconquest of Spain 

  • Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella unified Spain and outlawed Islam

    • Many Muslims emigrated to N. Africa or Ottoman

    • Jews were expelled from Spain for refusing to convert

  • Still incorporated Arab culture, ec. Architecture, and translation of Arab texts to Latin

Byzantine Empire

• Byzantium viewed as continuation of Roman Empire

  • Roads, government and military systems, Christianity was based on Rome

  • Sought to preserve legacy of classical Roman civilization

    • Constantinople (capital city) was referred to as New Rome

• Lost N. Africa, Egypt, and parts of Mid. East from Islamic expansion

  • Continued to control Mediterranean and Southeastern Europe

  • Active in Mediterranean and Black seas (in between Africa, Europe, and Mid. E.)

• Centralized government and Christian religious legitimacy

  • Caesaropapism - tie of government to Eastern Orthodox Church

  • Emperor also acted as pope of Orthodox church

• Ended due to Western powers, Turk and Catholic invaders, ended when Ottomans took Constantinople

Eastern Orthodox Christianity

• Legitimated emperor as God-anointed ruler

  • Subjects were “right-thinking” Christians

• Tensions between Roman Catholic and East Ortho church grew until they exocommunicated each other

  • Declared the other not real Christians

  • Crusades launched by pope against Islam increased tensions

    • West seized Constantinople and ruled Byzantium, making split between churches irreparable

• Expanded significantly to Rus (Slavic peoples in Ukraine/Russia area), state called Kievan Rus

  • Prince associated with orthodox church to unite his people and borrowed elements from Byzantine empire - religious icons, imperial control of church, cyrillic alphabet

Western Christendom & Western Europe

• Mostly did roman catholicism

• Distant from main trade routes and central Eurasia

  • Unity difficult due to geography e.g. mountains and forests, islands, never achieved it and was highly decentralized

  • Good agriculture due to rainfall and fertile soils, water systems facilitated trade

• Used feudalism

  • Independent and isolated manors owned by powerful lords (manorialism), lesser lords and knights swore allegiance to older ones and received land/resources in return

  • Serfdom - serfs were not personal property but were dependent on master’s estates and owed them services, got land and protection in return

• Eventually turned into competing states, monarchs began establish royal courts and specific cultures formed

• Some city-states remained

West Europe’s Rise (1200-1450)

• Frequent wars that caused conflict and enhanced status of military

  • Elite was very militarilized

• Interstate rivalry stimulated tech development, e.g. cannons, navigational tech and ships, adaptations of other states’ technologies e.g. China

• Rulers were weaker and competed with church

  • Roman church was widespread and was very wealthy, funded rich churchmen, influenced many areas

  • Top churchmen were rivals for power but also reinforced each other and got religious legitimacy

• Urban merchants were independent from political/religious power, were wealthy and exercised local power, opened way for capitalism

  • Some cities acted as city-states

• Kings granted charters that allowed cities to be more independent while paying taxes

• Weakness of rulers led to representative institutions and democracy

  • Represented estates - clergy, nobility, and urban merchants

European Society & Economy (1000-1450)

• High Middle Ages

  • Rapid population growth, new villages on previous marshes and wasteland

    • Larger towns attracted merchants, bankers, artisans, and professionals e.g. doctors

  • Warm weather during summer allowed flocks to be herded to highland regions

  • Expansion allowed peasants to escape serfdom, which accelerated with Black Death’s labor shortages

• Technological breakthroughs - heavy-wheeled plow for dense soils, iron horseshoes and collars, 3-field system that allowed for more land to be planted

  • Caused damage to environment and ecosystems

  • Mechanical energy sources - windmills, water mills, gears, and cranks for production

    • Stimulated long-distance trade

• Offered women more opportunities e.g. midwifery, grain production, weaving, etc.

  • By 1400s many opportunities were gone and they became more oppressed

  • Church offered alternate lifestyle for women, monastic life of poverty and relative freedom from a male husband

    • Curtailed in 1300s

Western Europe’s Crusades

• Wanted to spread Christianity and engage with neighbors

• Crusades - holy wars

  • Crusaders swore vow and received an indulgence that removed penalties for sins and immunity from lawsuits/debt

  • 1 was to take Jerusalem from Islamic control, temporarily had four Christian states later taken back by Muslims

  • Caused many deaths and targeted Muslims, Jews, Western orthodox believers and other non- Roman Christians

  • Target land included Middle East, Iberian Peninsula, Baltic Sea land, Byzantine Empire, Russia

  • Little lasting impact in Middle East, but Spain, Sicily, and Baltic Region were permanently Christian

  • Europeans wanted many of the goods they found in Middle East, causing demand for Asian goods

    • Also learned plantation system that would eventually be transferred to Americas

Renaissance in West

• Intellectual life increased

• Legal system with independence for cities, guilds, professional associations e.g. universities

  • Universities were free from religious or political authorities

  • Studied theology - voice of reason, rationality, logic would be beneficial to Christ

  • Fields that were logic-based including optics, astronomy, law, medicine, and other sciences

    • “Natural philosophy” began to separate from theology

    • Scholars seemed Greek texts that were found in Arabic in Islamic world/Byzantium

    • Aristotle wrote many Greek works that were basis for education and integrated into logical Christianity by Thomas Aquinas

    • Renaissance artists created naturalistic art, ancient mythology art, looked to Islamic world for sophistication standards

Aztecs in Mesoamerica

• Inherited ancient traditions from civilizations in Mesoamerica

• Agricultural technology for beans, maize, peppers, squash

  • Economy based on market exchange

  • Religions worshipped deities, practiced human sacrifice, common ritual calendar, hieroglyphic writing

Maya Civilization

• Region in modern-day Guatamala and part of Mexico

• Accomplishments in art/intellectualism

  • Large urban centers with temples, pyramids, etc.

  • Elaborate writing system and a math system with concept of zero and fractions

• Regional and fragmented states with frequent warfare

Aztec Empire

• Last state in Mesoamerica to emerge before Spanish conquests

• Created by Mexica people from north Mexico

  • Developed military capacity and build capital city of Tenochtitlan

  • Triple Alliance between Mexica and nearby city states launched military conquest that unified the area

  • Aztec authorities claimed descent from early mesoamerican peoples

• Loosely structured with frequent rebellions

  • Subjects had to deliver products e.g. textiles, clothing, animal products, building materials, etc. to rulers

    • Tribute collectors oversaw and recorded the donations

• Canals and bridge system, large temples, and articifial islands called chinampas that supported agriculture, large marketplaces

• Slaves were usually captured from war e.g. expansion and were destined for sacrifice because Aztecs believed human blood was needed to help patron deity from entering darkness, massive sacrificial rituals

The Andes

• Deserts with rivers flowing down mountains

  • Rich marine environment with seabirds and fish

  • Andes were mountain chain with different ecological niches and different resources

    • Seafood from coast, maize/cotton from low valleys, pastureland for llamas in high plains, etc.

• Small civilizations flourished, and in 1400s Quechua-speaking people called Incas built large empire along Andes

  • Incorporated culture from early Andean civilization

Inca Empire

• Bureaucratic empire with emperor seen as descendant of a creator god, each province had governor, local officials were supervised by higher powers, checked on by supervisors

• Recorded population data on knotted cord quipus, resettlement program relocated some citizens to new locations

• Instructed conquered peoples on Quechua and Inca culture

  • Mostly free to follow own religion

  • Required labor service or mita, and everyone had to work or the state through state farms (sun farms), mining, construction, religious institutions, military, etc.

  • Chosen women were specialists in production at state centers that were given as wives to distinctive men or as priestesses of temples (wives of the Sun)

  • Large feasts and necessities during disasters as return for labor services

Temujin/Genghis Khan

• Mongols were fractured collection of clans

• Early life: father was chief, family became social outcasts and had to forage

  • Was able to build up following from personality and ally with a tribal leader

  • Eventually became a chief himself

    • Many military victories and incorporated defeated warriors into own tribe

• Became leader of unified Great Mongol Nation

Mongolian Expansion

• Early 1200s - Mongol World War

  • Large and deadly military campaigns led by Chinggis Khan and his family

    • Constructed new empire containing China, Central Asia, Mid. East, Russia, & parts of Europe

    • Outer expansions limited by defeat in Palestine and environmental barriers

Causes of Mongol Success

• Outnumbered greatly and technologically underdeveloped compared to conquered areas

  • Later acquired tech from invaded areas e.g. China

  • Usually decimated region’s population to avoid retaliation

  • Many surrendered immediately due to Mongol’s terror

• Lucky with timing - China & Middle East were fragmented during invasion

• Good army - military units of 10, 100, etc. warriors and conquered peoples were placed in those units

  • Death penalty for people who deserted in battle

  • Leaders shared hardships with men, e.g. Chinggis Khan ate same food and dressed same rags as his herdsmen

• Wealth - got resources and money from conquered areas, common people could dress in silk and own slaves

• Pastoralists were conscripted into Mongol army’s Calvary units and agricultural peoples supplied for infantry and artillery

  • Other conquered peoples worked as artisans, laborers, and construction workers

Mongol Government & Economy

• Centralized bureaucracy w/ specialized offices in capital of Karakorum

  • Scribes translated decrees into different languages

  • Mongols held highest power, followed by Chinese and Muslim officials in their home states

  • Supported many religious traditions as long as they lacked political opposition

    • Muslims tried to seek converts within Mongol troops

• Census-taking for resources and populations

  • Made systemic taxation of people possible

• Relay stations provided rapid communication and trade support

  • Gave financial support and allowed free use of relay stations for merchants to foster commerce

  • Ortughs - state-formed merchant association that pooled resources and shared risks

    • Also gave merchants low-interest loans and tax breaks

China & Mongols

• Established Yuan Dynasty (Khubilai Khan as ruler)

• Invasion began in N. China which currently had dynastic rule

  • Very violent invasion

• Southern China was ruled by Song dynasty and suffered less violence and more accommodation

  • Landowners were guaranteed estates as long as they had support for Mongols

• Outcome - unified China and persuaded many that Mongols had Mandate of Heaven

  • Goal - extract wealth from advanced Chinese civilization, had to accommodate Chinese culture because no way of operating the society

  • Still treated Chinese like slaves, ignored examination system, laws discriminated against Chinese, and retained steppe life

    • Forbid Chinese scholars from learning Mongol script

• Adopted Chinese postal, taxation, and administrative systems, transferred capital to Beijing

  • Improved systems e.g. roads, patronized scholars, lowered taxes

  • Supported many religious groups including Confucians, Daoists, Buddhists

• Ended due to rebel forces, plague, and economic issues, replaced by Ming dynasty

Ming Dynasty China

• Population decline from war and plague

• Eliminated signs of Mongolian rule, including Mongol names

• Instilled Confucian learning and gender roles

• Constructed Temple of Heaven fro Confucian-based rituals

• Reestablished exam system, highly centralized government,

• Restoring acres of cultivation, replanting trees, restoring water transport system

Persia & Mongols

• Heartland of Islamic civilization

  • Influenced Islamic world through Persian government, arts, and court practices

• Two mongol assaults 30 years apart

  • Sacked Baghdad and killed hundreds of thousands of people

  • Persians saw Mongols as infidels and Mongolian victory was a shock to Muslims

• Heavy taxes and physical discipline pushed many off their lands and pastoral Mongols turned agricultural land into pasture deserts

  • Neglected underground water channels

  • Gains in alcohol and silk industries

• Mongols left most of government in Persian hands, repaired some infrastructure, and became Muslims

  • Learned Persian and turned to farming instead of pastors

• Collapsed due to lack of heir but assimilated into society permanently

Post-Mongol Persia/Safavid Empire

• Political disorder and failed effort to rebuild Mongol empire by a Turkic warrior

• Safavid empire later brought unity, with Turkic leadership emerging from a Sufi religious order

  • Forcibly imposed Shia Islam and defined unique Persian culture

    • Divided Islam because neighbors were mostly Sunni, caused military conflict with Ottoman Emp.

Russia & Mongols

• Various independent princes were weak to Mongols, mass slaughter of citizens

  • Surrendering skilled workers were deported to Mongol lands or became slaves

    • Many Russian crafts were depleted of workers

• Mongols named Kipchak Khanate, Russia named Khanate of the Golden Horde

  • No Mongol settlers or permanent administration, did not assimilate into culture

  • Underdeveloped economy and unsuitable locations gave no incentive for fully conquering

  • Mongols stayed in nearby steppes and exploited Russia from a distance

    • Princes were required to send tribute, taxes and raids put people into poverty and slavery

    • Russian Orthodox Church flourished under Mongol religious toleration, nobles received share of raid loot

    • Cities who collaborated with Mongols received goods, such as Ivan I of Moscow

  • Princes adopted Mongol weapons, court practices, taxation, and other systems

    • Promoted rise of Moscow as capital of new Russia