Studied by 3 people
After the fall of classical civilizations, new ones emerged through the more profitable Silk Road, Indian Ocean, and Trans-Saharan routes, spreading tech, ideas, & disease
Islam
- Created in early 600’s Arabian Peninsula when Muhammad received revelations from God, unifying Arab nomads Bedouin who est. ~polytheistic kin-based clans
Quran: 5 pillars include Shahada (declaration of faith), Salah (5 daily prayers), Zakat (Almsgiving), Sawm (Fasting), Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)
Sharia: Islamic civil law
Death of Muhammad (632) led to Sunni (caliph=anyone like Abu Bakr, most Muslims) & Shi’a (caliph=relative to Muhammad like Ali, mostly Iran & Iraq) Muslims
Spread of Islam
-Monotheism & anti-idolatry threatened polytheistic Arabs & wealthy merchants, esp. those who exchanged shrines w/ pilgrims to Mecca = Persecution & Muhammad’s flee into Medina
Umma: Muhammad led Muslim community w/ sharia, commercial ventures, & military expansion
630: Conquered Mecca & replaced pagan shrines w/ mosques except for Ka’ba, cube house for deities that attracted pilgrims, for the first Islamic pilgrimage in 632
-Unified tribes & well-org. Muslim armies attacked when Byzantine & Sasanian (Persian) empires were exhausted from battles w/ e/o, overtaxed peasants, & minorities, stretched from North Africa-Northwest India
Umayyads
-661-750 Elite Meccan merchant clan that est. dynastic & conquering rule & capital in Damascus, Syria, oppressing ethnically & religiously diverse empire w/ Arab military aristocracy as governors & jizya
-711: Muslim forces who refused to recognize Abbasid rule defeat Byzantine & invade Spain/Al-Andalus
Battle of Tours 732: Marked limit of Islamic expansion when defeated by Frankish forces
Trade: Religious toleration for monotheists & allowed Chinese/SEA products into Europe
Dhows: Indian or Chinese ships w/ long thin hulls good for bulk but not warfare
Cordoba: Capital & largest library atp
Muslim, Jewish, & Christian (respectively) philosophers Ibn Rushd, Maimonides, St. Thomas Aquinas paved way for European Renaissance & Scientific Revolution
High-quality ceramics, tiles, lead crystal, gold jewelry
Decline: Luxurious leaders that ignored Islamic doctrines disillusioned both commonwealth & aristocracy
Abbasid Caliphate
- 750-1258 Abu al-Abbas, Sunni Muslim, leads rebellion w/ Shias & non-Arab Muslims by arresting & slaughtering Umayyads
Governance: Multiethnic bureaucracy did not conquer & adopted Persian/Mesopotamian methods, provincial leaders to oversee large empire
Agriculture: Staples (sugarcane, rice, sorghum, wheat) + Vegetables (spinach, eggplants, artichokes) + Fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, coconuts, watermelons, mangoes) + Industrial (cotton indigo, henna) = Diverse, rich diets grown year-round & textile manufacturing + experimentation + urban growth
Baghdad: Prospered Silk Road, Indian Ocean, & Trans-Saharan trade routes w/ Persian (Kings, literature adv.), Indian (Med, astronomy, math), & Greek influences (Preserved philosophical & med. texts, natural reason resented by madrasas)
adv. in med, astronomy, & women’s rights, invented algebra, preserved Greek/Latin texts, est. Jizya (non-Muslim tax)
Ulama: Scholars dev. Islamic public policy
Qadis: Islamic judges
Madrasas: Higher educated institutions recruited Muslim students for administrative positions
Sui Dynasty
- 581 - 618 Centralized gov. that built Grand Canal (1k mile canal that connected agricultural South w/ North & cultural groups)
Tang Dynasty
- 618-907 Created fast ripening rice (pop growth & extended borders), gunpowder, paper currency
Concept of Middle Kingdom (surrounding kingdoms must pay tribute) led to invasions & uprisings
Song Dynasty
- 960 - 1279 Neo-Confucianist (Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, etc.) Meritocracy & lead manufacturer of steel, iron, porcelain, & silk
The Mongols
-Early 1200 Nomadic & more egalitarian military of fast, horse-mounted soldiers skilled w/ bow & arrow
Traded w/ or raided sedentary ppl for extra produce they couldn’t get from animals
Camels carried commercial bulk
Japan
-800-1200: Painting & literacy achievements, decentralizing hierarchy
Emperor’s power declined as clans of land-owning nobles rose & created warfare
Hierarchy: Shogun (general), Daimyo (landlord), Samurais, Peasants, Merchants
- Shintoism: Official religion mixed w/ Buddhism, filial piety & nature spirits
Sub-Saharan Africa
- 600-1200: Small, kin-based, self-governing chiefdoms that worked together to sometimes form larger political units
-1000 BCE - 1500 CE: Bantu-speaking ppl moved from West Central Africa, spreading lang, farming techniques, & knowledge on iron, influencing diverse cultures
-1000: Stronger gov. for surplus production & distribution & trade (camels & saddles)
Ghana
- 700 - 1240 Very wealthy from Trans-Saharan trade & taxed entry/exit on gold & salt
Great Zimbabwe
- 1100 - 1400 Southeast Africa, declined b/c less gold? (Unconfirmed)
East Africa
-Traded gold, ivory, & slaves for silk, spice, porcelain (Indian Ocean)
North Africa
- Joined Dar al-Islam
South Asia
-After 550, caste system kept South somewhat stable, while North faced invasions (Islam 711) & weak govs
India’s center of trade influenced Buddhism, Islam, & Hinduism in Southeast Asia
Europe
- As East Europe flourished, West & Central Europe didn’t reap the benefits of Afro-Eurasian trade, & even as Christianity held them together, it split into 2:
Eastern Orthodox: saw their practice as retreat from world
Roman Catholic: replaced many gov. institutions & education
1095: pope called for a Holy Crusade to free Jerusalem from Islam. It failed after 2 years, but made Europe more aware & interested in intellectual & tech adv.
Mayan cities
- Abandoned (besides notably Chichen Itza) b/c of environmental degradation, drought, & warfare
Mississippian
- Present-day St. Louis
- flourished 700 - 1500, esp. Cahokia ( large trading hub)
Toltecs
- 900- Mesoamerica, polytheistic & animistic, Mayan practises, inspired Aztecs
