Strayer Review

The Long History of Pastoral Nomads

• ~11,500 years ago, people started to settle down into agricultural civilizations

  • Where the land/climate wasn’t suited for agriculture, people used their animals (milk, blood, wool, hides, & meat)

  • Animals were a good source of transportation and food => soon became domesticated => pastoral societies formed in Afro-Eurasia (not Americas due to lack of large easily domesticated animals)

The World of Pastoral Societies

• Shared features among pastoral societies

  • Smaller populations (low economic productivity & most land was used for grazing),

  • Instead of villages, people lived in kin-based groups - sometimes grouped together to make tribes

  • Focused on equality & individual achievements, but some had social classes (based on wealth)

  • Had slaves, but women had a higher status (basically = to men)

• All pastoral groups were nomadic, migrated based on seasonal patterns

  • Still depended on goods produced by nearby agriculture groups => nomadic states were formed to better conquer agricultural communities - most famously the Mongol Empire (~13th century)

• Large nomadic confederacies - Not enough money to pay for organized armies & bureaucracies, each clan was independent = hard to organize

  • Some leaders were able to unite different tribes, like Chinggis Khan (Ghengis Khan)

    • Fictive Kinship - allies were “related” but not by blood

  • Advantages of nomadic states - Most people had hunting skills that could be translated into fighting, & gained wealth by trading/raiding/extorting agricultural civilizations (Persia, China, Byzantium)

  • Wealth = unity, so when money ran out nomadic states fractured

• The nomads also had a cultural exchange w/ agricultural civilizations

  • Different nomadic groups “absorbed” Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, & Manichaeism (Zoroastrian + Christian + Buddhist stuff)

  • Horseback riding (very significant) => larger herds, move quicker, new tech (horse harnesses, iron stirrups, new armors & swords)

The Xionghu: An Early Nomadic Empire

• Horseback riding enabled nomads to have a greater impact on the world - greater military power

• The Xiongnu Empire arose after Chinese invasions into their territory - formed a big military confederation

  • Central & hierarchical government (junior & senior classes), power invested in one person

  • Led by Modun

• Model for later Turkic & Mongol empires, & helped collapse Chinese & Roman empires

The Arabs and the Turks

• Nomads impacted the world most ~500-1500 CE (Arabs, Berbers, Turks & Mongols - formed significant empires & thus were impacted themselves

  • Eg. Islam - created by Arabs and spread by Turkic nomads; & most influential civilizations were at one point conquered by the nomads (like China, Persia, India, ect.)

  • The camel saddle improved Bedouin Arabs fighting prowess, letting them control different trade routes & spread Islam

• Turkic nomads - different allied tribes ruled by a kaghan. Their interactions with China, Persia, & Byzantium caused Turkic language & culture to spread

  • Turkish Conversion to Islam - They were the 3rd major spreader of Islam (w/ Arabs & Persians), & soon took over the Abbasids

  • Via invasions, they spread Islam (& Turkish culture) to Anatolia, creating the Ottoman Empire

The Masai of East Africa

• Region had no large empires, instead they had villages & clans

  • For unity, boys would go through a ritual to bind them into an “age-set,” helping to create social identity & easier mobility

• Masai saw nomadic life as superior to agriculture, while they thought the Masai were lazy, arrogant & violent. (Similar to the Chinese & Xionghu)

  • Masai used to grow grains (sorghum & millet) until ~18th & 19th centuries, & some went back to agriculture after conflicts ~19th century

  • Despite believing their culture was superior, they let outsiders to become Masai

• They depended on hunters (animal skins, honey for rituals, and ect.) & sedentary groups (trade & alliance against common enemies, & shelter in desperate times)

• Different agriculture groups took on elements of Masai culture due to their prestige

Breakout: The Mongol Empire

• The Mongols created the biggest land-based empire

  • Joined nomads w/ agriculture people & major Eurasian civilizations in closer contact

• Left a decent culture imprint, mostly in Mongolia

  • Their religion wasn’t universalizing - based on their ancestors & sometimes led by shamans

  • Conquered people had few rights, but a few were put to work for their skills

  • Soon became “settled,” leaning into agriculture & the societies that they took over

• After their decline, pastoralists started to diminish

From Temujin to Chinggis Khan: The Rise of the Mongol Empire

• Temujin/Gengis/Chinggis Khan - born at a time of fractured Mongol tribes

  • Had a rough childhood - family became outcasts (w/o livestock, they lived a poor life)

  • Temujin’s charisma & trust in close friends led to his rise to power, amongst different alliances, betrayals, & lots of conquering and assimilation

  • Mongol tribal assembly named Temujin -> Chinggis Khan as the supreme leader of the Great Mongol Nation, the unified Mongol tribes

• Military campaigns started ~1209 on agricultural groups

  • The Mongol empire was constructed by Chinggis Khan (China, Korea, Central Asia, Russia, & some of the Middle East and Eastern Europe)

  • Setbacks- defeat at Ain Jalut, failed invasion of Japan, ect.

Explaining the Mongol Moment

• Decentralized, grew with each successful military conquest

• They were successful mostly bc of their military might

  • Well disciplined & loyal (deserters were killed), easily mobilized (military units), & brutal (in case of rebellion)

  • Imperial guard - helped get rid of old tribalism

• All Mongols became more wealthy due to conquered civilizations - boosted social standing

• Small population, so those who were conquered were conscripted, or put to work in their trade as laborers

• Took census via relay stations to effectively manage taxes and resources => start of a centralized bureaucracy in Karakorum (capital)

• Certain policies were more appealing to conquered ppl

  • Merchants had access to relay stations & got 10% of their price, Chinese & Muslim officials got lower office positions, religiously tolerant, ect.

Encountering the Mongols: Comparing Three Cases

China and the Mongols

• China was one hardest civilization for the Mongols to conquer

  • Started in the north (more brutal), and spread to the south (accommodating) - unified China, and convinced Chinese that the Mongols had the Mandate of Heaven - legitimacy

• Mongols adopted Chinese taxation, postal, & administration  systems, calling themselves the Yuan dynasty (even moved their capital to Beijing)

• Khubilai Khan (descendant of Chinggis Khan- but really, who isn’t at this point) - gave peasants better rights, improved roads and canals, lowered taxes, and supported starving artists

• Mongols still didn’t “become Chinese,” like the other ruling nomads, and their rule was still resented and brutal

  • Chinese were discriminated, merchants were more supported, they didn’t endorse the civil service exam

• Their rule was short, due to plague, peasant rebellions, rising prices, & divisiveness

Persia and the Mongols

• Unlike the slow takeover in China, the Mongols took over Persia in 2 invasions, by Chinggis Khan and his grandson Hulegu.

• Very destructive, and shocked the perspectives of those used to seeing the Islamic world rise

  • Baghdad was sacked ~1258, ending the Abbasid caliphate along with the death of many people

• Mongol rule led to heavy taxes, damaged agriculture (much of the land turned into desert or pasture)

  • Persian wine & silk production benefitted

• The Mongols themselves were also influenced by Persia (more so than in China)

  • Bureaucracy was still mainly controlled by Persians

    • Ghazan’s reign - Mongols converted to Islam, and they rebuild cities and irrigation

  • Many Mongol elites learned Persian, & started farming

• After the fall of the Hulegu, the Mongols were integrated into Persian society

Russia and the Mongols

• Russia was a group of different princes, who couldn’t unify against the Mongols

• Worst level of devastation, the Mongols slaughtered thousands, or sold them into slavery

• Russia became the Kipchak Khanate, or the Khanate of the Golden Horde

  • Mongols didn’t occupy Russia - not enough resources, and wasn’t developed

    • Controlled them from the steppes - Russian princes paid the capital tribute, taxes were high, but the Russian Orthodox Church benefited (paid no taxes)

    • Those who surrendered benefitted, eg. Moscow, the main tribute collector. Russian princes took on Mongol innovations, eg. tax system, diplomacy, weapons, ect.

  • Bc. they didn’t rule Russia directly, they weren’t influenced by Russian culture, but eventually became Kipchaks

• Mongolian rule was ended due to inner division & growth of the Russian strength ~15th century

The Mongol Empire as a Eurasian Network

• Overall, the Mongol Empire Asia and Europe together

Toward a World Economy

• Mongolian rule boosted international trade (mostly for taxes)

  • Great Khan Ogodei gave merchants extra money to attract merchants to the capital

  • Merchants also got financial benefits, & the empire offered standardized weights and measures

  • Merchants had a (relatively) secure environment to travel across => bringing Eurasia closer together

  • Marco Polo was one of the many European merchants who traveled to China via the Mongol Empire

Diplomacy on a Eurasian Scale

• Even though the Mongols decided against invading Western Europe due to their poverty, the Europeans sent delegations to the Mongolian Capital

  • Wanted to convert them, get help in the crusades, & learn what they wanted

  • The result was a demand for the Europeans to submit, but also info about “the East” 

• ~1287, il-khanate of Persia wanted to ally with Europe to conquer Jerusalem (thwarted by their conversion to Islam)

• Persia & China also grew closer, w/ ambassadors, trade. ect.

Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm

• Artisans & educated people were forced to move throughout the empire, benefitting cultural exchange

  • Religious tolerance + good environment for merchants attracted different missionaries & traders

• Overall: Diverse groups of people moved around, spreading different innovations

  • Chinese tech & art went west - taking pulses became popular in the Middle East (Islam discouraged body contact)

  • Muslim astronomers went to China, for a second opinion

  • Different crops went around, like lemons and carrots

• Europeans finally got the innovations from the rest of Afro Eurasia that they were previously cut off from, without having to go through Mongol Conquest

The Plague: A Eurasian Pandemic ♬🐀♬

• The plague started in Central Asia, and spread through the Mongol empire via fleas on rats

  • Northeast China (1331) -> Middle East & Western Europe (1347)

• Symptoms: Lymph nodes swelling, headaches, fever, internal bleeding - death after a few days

• The plague took a huge toll on the population, almost halving Europe's population

  • India & sub-Saharan Africa were less affected

• European society (studied most) was also heavily impacted, but also 

  • Labor shortages - peasant revolts for better working conditions, and more focus on tech innovations -> women had more work opportunities

• The plague caused the downfall of the Mongol Empire ~14-15th centuries, and the loss of the Central Asia trade route

  • This pushed Europeans to find sea routes to Asia, becoming the “Mongols of the seas”

Third-Wave Civilizations (after the Classical Era)

• Most of Eastern Asia was centered around China, due to its influence and size (imitated by the peoples nearby)

  • China’s borders expanded into Central Asia

  • Tourists flocked to China for its cultural diversity and wealth

  • Economy growing at an exponential rate + technological innovations = ripple effect

• China was also influenced by outside influences

  • Northern nomads were frequently invading, sometimes conquering some parts

  • International trade introduced China to new ideas. Buddhism soon spread in China (so did Christianity and Islam, but less so)

The Reemergence of a Unified China

• ~220 CE, the Han dynasty collapsed -> more than 300 years of of political unrest

  • Noble families rose to power

  • Northern nomads took over and integrated into Chinese society. This disturbed the Chinese, and hurt Confucianism, leading to the rise of Buddhism & Daoism

• Chinese started migrating towards the Yangzi River valley.

  • Agriculture had a devastating impact on the valley, destroying old forests and driving away elephants.

A “Golden Age” of Chinese Achievement

• Sui Dynasty (589 - 618) reunified China

  • Built a canal system that linked northern and southern China together and boosted economic growth.

  • Emperors were ruthless & launched an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Korea, leading to the overthrow of the Sui

• Soon after the fall of the Sui, the Tang (618-907) & Song (960-1279) dynasties built on the Sui’s achievements

  • Created patterns of Chinese life that still continues today

    • Seen as the “golden age”of culture & fine arts, Neo-Confucianism was popular around the Song

    • State structure set a precedent for next 1000 years

      • Ministries - personnel, finance, rites, army justice, & public. Censorate supervised the government

      • Civil service exam was more thorough - extensive measures against cheating, & schools would prepare kids for the test

  • Merit based government -> less aristocrats in power, but most government jobs went to the privileged.

  • Economic revolution (Song) - big population & agriculture production growth

    • More people came to cities in China, -> most urbanized country

    • Complex network of canals, rivers and lakes tied the country together economically

• Hangzhou - capital of the Song dynasty w/ more than a million people. Described by Marco Polo as finest & noblest city in the world

• China became more commercialized

Women in the Song Dynasty

• Before the Song Dynasty under nomadic rule, women had less restrictions

• Bc of Neo-Confucianism and economic boom, society became more patriarchal -> women had to be more submissive and docile towards men

  • The feet of young girls were bound into tiny shapes to match views of “feminine beauty”

• Commercialism took over women in the textile industry. Factories run by men took over the weaving done by women.

  • Instead, women ran restaurants and worked as dressmakers, maids, cooks, ect.

• Positives: more property rights, & education of women was promoted

China and the Northern Nomads: A Chinese World Order in the Making

• China was heavily influenced by the Northern Nomads for 2,000 years or more.

  • Where they lived wasn’t ideal for farming, thus raised livestock & horses instead

  • Organized into tribes that sometimes merged into larger states/confederations for more military power. These larger societies needed products from China (eg. grain, silk, & wine)

  • To get these things, they often traded (although China was often unwilling), raided or extorted China.

• The Great Wall was built to keep out the nomads, even though the Chinese military needed their horses (& skins, furs, amber, ect.)

• The Silk Road (crucial to China) was also controlled partly by the nomads.

The Tribute System in Theory

• Rise of the Tribute System

  • China was seen as the center of the world & civilized compared to the foreigners outside. (Radiating civilization)

  • Since the “barbarians” (non-Chinese) obviously wanted to gain some of China’s riches and knowledge, China gave limited access to them in hopes of them becoming “civilized.”

• The tribute system was a system that needed non-Chinese authorities to recognize the Chinese as superior.

  • If a foreigner wanted to go to China, a delegation had to be sent to pay respects to the Chinese emperor, and give tribute. In return, they would also get a gift (usually more valuable than the tribute)

The Tribute System in Practice

• Sometimes the tribute backfired, since there were nomadic empires on par with China

  • The Xiongnu, a strong nomadic confederacy that got China to pay protection money (rigged tribute system)

  • Turkic empires in Mongolia also extorted “gifts” after helping the Tang with a revolt

• Rather than conquering China, steppe nomads extorted goods from Chinese states, and took over when they broke down.

Cultural Influence across an Ecological Frontier

• When ruling parts of China, some nomadic rulers “became Chinese,” most notably the Jurchen.

• The northern steppes nomads weren’t affected much by Chinese culture, unlike the indigenous people of southern China

  • Weren’t integrated into a Chinese state

  • Geography limited agriculture

• Interactions between the nomads & Chinese - trade, extortions, ect. led to both sides becoming dependent on the other

  • Sui & Tang founders were mixed - nomad & Chinese

  • Chinese military adopted Turkic style of fighting

• During the Tang dynasty, tourists from Asia brought new religions & customs (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Manichaeism). 

  • New ideas were popular among northern Chinese nobility, and looked down on by the more traditional southern Chinese

Coping with China: Comparing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan

• Korea, Vietnam, & Japan were all agricultural & sedentary (not nomadic). They also took some major elements of Chinese culture, while keeping their own identities.

Korea & China

• Korea was influenced by the Chinese via conquests during the Han dynasty & colonization of Chinese settlers. Brought in mainly Buddhism

• Kings of early Korean states were called wang (Chinese term) despite being rivals with China - only joined with China against a local enemy

  • The Silla kingdom teamed up with the Tang dynasty to unify the peninsula

• Through the dynasties (Silla, Koryo, & Yi) stayed politically independent while taking part in tribute.

  • Especially during the Silla dynasty, wanted to copy Tang China.

    • Tribute missions established legitimacy & trade, while students & monks traveled to China to bring back Chinese culture

  • The rise of Chinese culture & confucian values in Korea led to less freedom for Korean women

• Chinese culture in Korea was mainly within the aristocracy, & civil service exam never gained traction

• Hangul, the written Korean language was developed

Vietnam and China

• Vietnam & Korea had similar interactions w/ China

  • Elite in Vietnam borrowed Chinese culture, & participated in the tribute system while staying politically independent (like Korea)

• Seen as “southern barbarians” by the Chinese -> ruled by Chinese officials who wanted to merge Vietnam into China

  • Chinese agriculture, language, Confucianism, ect. took over -> the Vietnamese aristocracy became well knowledgeable about Chinese culture

• Chinese pressure led to many rebellions

  • The revolution of the Trung sisters is most famous as a symbol of Vietnamese resistance against Chinese aggression.

• When the Tang dynasty weakened, a large revolution led to Vietnam being established as a separate state, although still paying tribute to China.

  • Following Vietnamese dynasties styled their government similarly to China’s, using the Mandate of Heaven & the civil service exam

  • Still had their own cultural aspects like language, cockfighting, & better women’s rights

• Chu nom - variation of China which lead to independent vietnamese language

Japan and China

• Physically separate from China

  • China couldn’t invade -> they could “cherry pick” what they wanted.

• Borrowed from the Tang dynasty after Japan’s unification. 

  • First led by Shotoku Taishi (572-622), from a major clan, who sent missions to China.

    • Issued the Seventeen Article Constitution - Japanese ruler = Chinese-style emperor & encouraged Buddhism & Confucianism

  • Japanese authorities set taxes, laws & ministries based off of China, but the emperor was still important

  • Merit based bureaucracy never caught on.

  • Nara & Heian (now Kyoto) were based off of Chang’an, the Chinese capital

  • Chinese culture was also popular - Chinese Buddhism (found in art, architecture, education, ect), & writing system

• Japan soon became more decentralized, lead to rise of samurai

  • Bushido, the way of the warrior, was to be skilled in martial arts, honor (to the point of accepting death rather than defeat), loyalty, bravery, & endurance.

  • China: intellectual & political virtues // Japan: military achievements

• Shinto - Japan’s native belief system

  • Kami, sacred spirits of nature & ancestors

  • Ended up assimilating into Buddhism

• Heian dynasty (794-1192) promoted culture

  • As court’s political power waned, they developed an esthetic culture & a refined taste

• Japanese women

  • Weren’t oppressed by Confucian values

  • Lost status during the rise of a warrior culture as women lost political power

China and the Eurasian World Economy

Spillovers: China’s impact of Eurasia

• China’s economic revolution -> traders, pilgrims, ect. spread Chinese innovations

  • Eg. solar salt making, papermaking, printing ect.

  • These technologies often created a ripple effect, like printing (helped spread religion & knowledge) & gunpowder (driven further by Eurpoeans)

• Song dynasty revived commercialism around the world

  • Lots of people wanted to buy China’s products, and many became reliant on China’s market

On the Receiving End: China as Economic Beneficiary

• China also benefited from the outside world

  • India - processing of cotton & sugar

  • Vietnam - Champa rice (boom in China’s population)

  • Persian windmills inspired a similar invention in China

  • Buddhism helped inspire printing & gunpowder

• Indian ocean trade

  • Foreign merchants settled down -> ports became cosmopolitan centers

    • Cultural difference sometimes led to violence

  • Merchants were socially elevated

• Quanzhou - 

China and Buddhism

• Brought from India via the Silk Road, Buddhism was one of the few times China borrowed a religion on a large scale

  • It was later spread from China to Korea & Japan

Making Buddhism Chinese

• Bc of Han dynasty success, native Chinese wasn’t interested in the “barbarian” religion

  • Buddhism seemed to go against Confucianism - too abstract, spirituality contrasted with Confucian social orientation

• Collapse of the Han dynasty - ↓ Confucianism, ↑ Buddhism

  • Nomadic rulers in China promoted Buddhism since it was foreign, like them.

  • Provided comfort during turbulent times

  • Buddhist monasteries were a sanctuary from China’s turmoils.

  • Monks, scholars & translators tried to make Buddhism more relatable to Chinese. Eg. dharma -> dao

• Forms of Buddhism in China

  • Buddhism was mostly in its Mahayana form (many deities, relics, bodhisattvas, broader).

    • Theravada Buddhism was more individualistic & psychological

  • Pure Land School was the most popular form of Buddhism, due to the promise of salvation without too much effort

• Sui & early Tang dynasties promoted Buddhism

  • Sui Emperor Wendi (581-604) constructed Buddhist monasteries & used it in his military campaigns

• Buddhist monasteries became exceptionally wealthy via trade exemption, running a variety of businesses, ect.

• Never became independent from state, unlike Christianity in Europe

Losing State Support: The Crisis of Chinese Buddhism

• Buddhist establishment was seen as a challenge to imperial authority, especially bc of it’s aforementioned wealth

• Since it was foreign, Confucian & Daoist scholars were offended by Buddhism

  • Resentment against foreign culture grew, until the An Lushan rebellion, led by a foreign general

  • Rebellion set off zenophobic reaction in upper classes, who demanded to “Make China Great Again”

  • Soon Buddhism (& other foreign religions) were attacked by the government

  • Monks & nuns had to become tax paying citizens, and monasteries, temples, & shrines were demolished/given to the public

• Buddhism still remained an important part of Chinese religion, mixed in with Confucianism & Daoism

Reflections: Why Do Things Change?

• History has always been subject to change

  • New ideas, leadership policies, power struggles, social classes, new technologies, population decline or growth, climate/weather ect.

• China demonstrates a lot of internal factors that drive change

  • Warring states period -> Confucianism & Daoism -> shaped Chinese civilization

Islam Prominence on the World Stage

• ~600-1600, Islamic people had a large & successful civilization, including the Middle East, Europe, parts of Africa & Asia.

  • Expanded on both Buddhism & Christianity

• Rise of new religion -> rise of a vast empire, the most influential third-wave civilization

• Islam is now the world’s second most practiced religion - 22% are religion

The Birth of a New Religion

• Most classical era major religions/cultural traditions came from the center of civilizations (eg. Persia - Zoroastrianism, Mediterranean - Greek philosophy)

  • Islam & Christianity were less centralized; Christianity from the Jewish in some Roman province, & Islam in smaller cities around the Arabian Peninsula

The Homeland of Islam

• Bedouins - nomadic Arabs

  • Traveled in independent clans that often fought with each other (blood feuds). Revered nature, ancestors & gods.

• Arabia had sedentary villages & small kingdoms in the north & south

  • Centered on important trade routes -> commercialized cities that conflicted with more traditional Arabian tribes

• Mecca - home to the Kaaba, a religious shrine, the most well known in Arabia. Represented ~360 deities and attracted many pilgrims

  • Quraysh (Mecca’s main tribe) controlled the Kaaba & gained money from the taxes of incoming pilgrims

  • ~6th century C.E., Mecca was home to a diverse cast of people, but most wealth was mostly held by the ruling Quraysh families

• Arabia was between the Byzantine (Roman) & Sassanid Empire (Persian)

  • This (& long distance trading) led to Arabia’s knowledge of the outside world

  • Jews, Christians & Zoroastrians spread monotheistic ideas -> By Muhammad’s time, Arabs believed in Allah (supreme god), although they still followed lesser gods.

  • Allah soon was synonymous with Yahweh (Jewish High God), and Arabians called themselves children of Abraham. Other gods soon became irrelevant

The Messenger and the Message

• Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (570-632 C.E.) was born in Mecca as a Quraysh. He lost his parents young, and worked his way up from a shepherd to a trader, traveling to Syria. Married Khadija (a well off merchant) and had 6 kids.

  • Decided to meditate on religious corruption & inequities in Mecca that troubled him. He had a revelation, and became Allah’s messenger to the Arabs.

  • Revelations (610-632) were written down in the Quran (words of God), the sacred scriptures of Islam.

  • The last prophet (w/ Abraham, Moses, Jesus, ect.)

• The Quran was revolutionary - extremely monotheistic (drew from Christianity & Judaism), rejecting the gods in the Kaaba & the Christian Trinity

  • To get into paradise, believers had to surrender to Allah - submission meant denouncing hoarding wealth, exploiting the poor, abusing women - overall social justice

  • Wanted to return to tribal values - equality, solidarity, & concern for the poor, things that Mecca didn’t have due to commercialism

  • Instead of the often violent Arab society, Islamic society was umma (community of all believers), where everyone was equal & held together by common belief.

• Pillars of Islam

  • Allah is the only god & Muhammad the messenger

  • Prayer is performed 5 times a day towards Mecca

  • Almsgiving, reflecting the social justice required by the Quran

  • Fasting during Ramadan, including sex. It represented purification of the self

  • Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)

  • Jihad (struggle), or fighting against greed. Also interpreted as literal fighting back.

The Transformation of Arabia

• Muhammad’s revelations attracted many people, & opposition from the elite. The opposition caused Muhammad & his followers to move to Yathrib (later Medina), marking a major turning point (hijra)

  • Umma in Medina spread rapidly, & separated from Judaism. Prayer moved from Jerusalem to Mecca.

  • Islamic community expanded from Medina, unifying the fighting Arabian tribes. In 630, Muhammad entered Mecca peacefully & removed Kaaba’s idols

• While Jesus wasn’t initially popular, Islam was an empire early in its history. Muhammad was also both a religious & political leader.

• Sharia - Law of life

The Making of an Arab Empire

• The new Islamic state became an empire - expanded into other civilizations spreading Arabic & Islamic faith

War and Conquest

• Arab armies attacked Byzantine & Persian Sassanid empires after Muhammad’s death (632)

  • Weren’t seen as a serious threat, despite Byzantine & Sassanids being weakened from fighting each other.

• The Islamic-Arab empire went from Spain -> India, continuing to raid bordering territories under a centralized government

• Sassanid empire was defeated (650s), Byzantine lost its southern half

• In 751, Arabs defeated China in the Battle of Talas River.

  • Central asians were converted to Islam, & China stopped westward expansion.

• There were different motivations behind expanding the Arabian empire

  • Merchants wanted good trade routes and rich agricultural areas

  • Expanding outwards gives the common people a goal, holding together the fragile umma

  • Individuals could get rich & social promotion through the military

• Islam became more universalized, from discouraging conversion to looking for converts

  • Jews, Christians & Zoroastrians were given dhimmis status (protected people). They could practice their own religion as long as they paid a special tax (jizya)

  • Jizya was meant to replace military service (forbidden to non-Muslims), but many dhimmis served in the military

• To prevent too much destruction, occupying Arabian armies were restricted to certain places, and local elites were merged into the empire

Conversion to Islam

• ~4 centuries after Muhammad’s death, many people were practicing Islam

  • It shared major elements with Judaism, Christianity & Zoroastrianism so the change was more subtle.

  • Arab Empire’s wealth attracted more converts, & old gods lost credibility after conquests

    • Conversion meant no jizya, a religion friendlier to trade, & social mobility

• Resistance came from North African Berbers, Spanish Christians, & some Persian Zoroastrians

• “Islamizing” & “Arabizing” aren’t synonymous

Divisions and Controversies

• Muhammads death created a power vacuum, leading to many conflicts

• First four Caliphs (Rightly Guided Caliphs 632-661) were chosen by the Muslim elders in Medina

  • Abu Bakr (1st caliph) forcefully suppressed tribal rebellions as counseled by “prophets”

  • Uthman & Ali (3rd & 4th) were assassinated, starting a civil war

•  The civil war lead to the Sunni & Shia Muslims

  • Sunnis believed that caliphs were the rightful leaders, while Shias believed that the leaders should be related to Muhammad by blood.

• The Sunni & Shia became more and more different over time

  • Sunnis were mostly led by the community, especially the ulama (religious scholars)

  • Shias were led by imams, who had religious authority

• Shias thought themselves the minority, & attempted many armed revolts.

• Growth of the Arab Empire -> caliphs went from chiefs to monarchs w/ court rituals, army, centralized taxing system & a complex bureaucracy

• Umayyad caliphate(661-750)

  • Started a dynasty, expanded the empire by a lot, and the capital moved to Damascus (Syria)

  • Time of unrest and complaints due to impiety & luxurious life style of the rulers

  • Overthrown in 750, and replaced by…

• Abbasids

  • Capital was in Baghdad, were Persians were especially influential

    • Persian became common amongst the elite, as well as other Persian culture

  • Mid-ninth century, military rose up, fracturing into sultanates before the empire ended via Mongol conquest (1258)

• The Quran became a blueprint for Islamic society

  • Within the sharia, 4 schools of law were created for Muslims to follow

  • Sufis represented the more spiritual side of Islam, by renouncing the material world, mediating on the Quran, chanting the names of gods, ect.

  • Worried that ulama were corrupted by worldly possessions, so they challenged their authority.

• While ulama & Sufis were often at odds, they never split fully

• al-Ghazali (1058-1111) was both Sufi & a legal scholar, worked out a compromise between both sides

Women and Men in Early Islam

• In the Quran, spiritually both were equal, but socially women were inferior.

  • Women had their own property (incl. dowries), & could inherit (at half rate)

  • Marriage = contract, so there had to be consent on both sides.

    • Divorce was possible, but it was more available for men

  • Taking multiple husbands was banned, while polygyny (mult. wives) was regulated (limited to 4)

  • Men were encouraged to marry the “less fortunate” (widows, orphans, slaves)

• As the empire grew, women had more restrictions - came mostly from Middle Eastern culture rather than the Quran

  • Earlier, women had more public roles, like Aisha.

  • After expansion, Umar had women pray at home -> women stayed at home & were removed from the public

  • Caliph Mansur (754-775) separated the sexes further - a new bridge was built for women.

• Patriarchy was soon embedded in Muslim thinkers, like al-Ghazali

  • “honor killing” of women if they violated sexual taboos (sexuality)

• Hadiths (traditions abt Muhammad’s sayings) - women were weak & a threat to social stability

  • Quran - Adam & Eve shared equal blame, Judeo-Christian interpretations blamed Eve.

  • Despite heavy restrictions, Islam provided relief (eg. Sufis & Shia)

Islam and Cultural Encounter: A Four-Way Comparison

• By the tenth century, the Arab empire had very little political unity

• After the empire disintegrated, the civilization still flourished

The Case of India

• Turick-speaking warriors from Central Asia (converted to Islam) brought the religion to India

  • Turks became the 3rd major spreader of Islam (after Arabs & Persians) through their conquests

  • ~1000, Turkish conquests led to Turkic & Muslim governments in India (before British control)

  • After Sultanate of Delhi (1206), Turkic rule went from violent -> systematic, although they didn’t penetrate much of Indian society

• Muslim communities formed in India, attracting low-caste Hindus and disgruntled Buddhists.

  • Reasons were conversion - egalitarian, transition to agriculture, tax evasion

  • Sufi missionaries developed a version of Islam that was more similar to Hinduism

• Sikhism - Islam + Hinduism (monotheistic + rebirth)

• Islam lacked popularity in India, only 20-25% of the population converted

  • Punjab & Sind regions had the greatest concentration of Muslim communities

  • Hinduism & Islam had lots of contrast - radically monotheistic//polytheistic, prude//erotic, equality//caste system

  • India was decentralized, so they could still keep their own individuality

• Despite differences, many famous Hindus voluntarily served under Muslim rule. Mystics blurred the line between Hindu & Muslim.

The Case of Anatolia (modern day Turkey)

• Ruled by the Byzantine, the population was mainly Christian & spoke Greek.

  • Byzantine rule dissolved as the Turkic invaded

• ~1500, 90% of the population was Muslim & spoke Turkic

  • Sufi missionaries were a huge factor in conversion

  • Compared to India, Anatolia had a smaller population -> Turkic colonizers had greater cultural weight

  • The Byzantine empire was more centralized, so it ended up leaderless & dispirited.

    • Native population dropped by much more - slavery, famine, massacres ect.

    • Christians were treated as lower class (though not forced to convert) & churches/monasteries were destroyed

• Anatolia under Turkic rule gave converts rewards & more opportunities

  • Due to the similarities (Abrahamic, monotheistic, ect.) it was easier to switch from Christianity to Islam

  • Some Sufi teachers saw this as a sign that Islam & Christianity were different versions of one faith

  • Sufis rebuilt broken institutions (schools, mills, orchards, ect.)

• Had a distinctly Turkic version of Islam - spoke a Turkish language, women were more equal to men

• Anatolia laid foundation for the Ottoman Empire

The Case of West Africa

• Instead of invasion, Islam was brought to West Africa via Muslim traders from North Africa

• Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem-Bornu, ect. accepted Islam peacefully

  • Islam linked African merchants to Muslim traders (like Buddhism in SE Asia)

  • For rulers, Islam helped with legitimacy & literate gov. officials

• ~16th century, West African cities were centers of Islamic society 

  • Timbuktu had many Quranic schools - libraries & mosques were built

• Although Arabic was an important language in culture, it wasn’t the dominant one

  • Arab peoples didn’t migrate to West Africa (unlike Middle East and North Africa)

  • Sufis didn’t play a large role, and Islam was mostly for the elites - Islam became “Africanized”

The Case of Spain/al-Andalus

• Spain was the main site of Islamic contact w/ Catholic Europe - conquered by Arab & Berbers

• Islam coexisted w/ Christianity and Judaism

  • Agriculture flourished, & Cordoba prospered - everyone contributed to culture

  • Social relationships were more relaxed (among the elite)

    • Christians converted to Islam, Mozarabs learned Arabic customs

  • Abd al-Rahman III (912-961) declared freedom of worship

• ~10th century, era of tolerance fell apart - non-Muslims were seen as infidels, more conflict w/ Christian states

  • Abu Amir al-Mansur (981-1002) persecuted Christians, who had a lower social status (along w/ other non-Muslims)

• Christian reconquest of Spain after 1200 forced Muslims & Jews out of Spain

The World of Islam as a New Civilization

• What held Islam together while the Abbasid empire fell apart?

Networks of Faith

• Islamic civilization was held together by religion devotion

• Ulama taught the sharia, passing on core teachings of Islam

  • Madrassas (formal Islamic colleges) raught the Quran, Muhammad’s sayings, grammer, ect.

  • Taught informally by mouth, & memorized many texts

  • Overall, the ulama’s system of education unified a huge civilization w/ common texts & famous scholars.

• Sufis shaykhs (teachers) gathered their own disciples who swore allegiance to them

  • ~12-13th centuries, Sufis started to form groups indifferent regions, often following conquering armies/traders. (eg. Qadiriya order)

  • Focused on spirituality, instead of the law

  • Devoted students would make a pilgrimage to tombs of famous teachers.

• Mecca pilgrimage also unified many people

Networks of Exchange

• Islamic civilization also helped the exchange of ideas, goods, ect.

  • Partly bc of its central location & lack of Byzantine & Persian borders

  • Unlike other religions, merchants were viewed favorably

  • Urbanization of the Islamic civilization boosted trade

• Merchants (esp. Arabs & Persians) became more important in Afro-Eurasian trade

  • Created a commercial colony in Canton, linking Islamic trade w/ Asia’s trade

• Different agricultural practices and tech were diffused to other regions, 

  • Introduced crops like sugarcane & cotton to other places

  • Muslim technicians improved rockets (developed in China)

  • Paper making tech was spread, strengthening bureaucratic governments

• Ideas were also exchanged through regions

  • Persian became a major language among elites, as Persia influenced much of elite culture

  • Texts were translated into Arabic, boosting Islamic science & scholars

  • House of Wisdom (est. 830 by al-Mamum) - academic center of translation & learning, stimulated by Greek texts

    • Mutazilites (school of Islamic thinkers) focused on reason instead of revelation or spirituality

• First hospitals were established, along with the boom of Arabian medical technology

Political Structures in South Asia

• After ~550 (end of the Gupta), South Asia was disunified for ~1000 years

  • North & South Asia started their own governments

  • Hinduism kept the region together

• Political Structures in South India

  • It was more stable than northern India

  • Chola (850-1267) ruled first, and expanded out to Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

  • Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1646), founded by brothers Harihara & Bukka

    • Came from the Delhi sultanate, who wanted to expand their empire

    • Born as Hindus, converted to Islam for social mobility. Once they set off on their own, they went back to Hinduism & started the ↑ kingdom

• Political Structures in Northern India

  • Faced a lot more disruption after the fall of the Gupta

  • Rajput kingdoms

    • Led by clan leaders & often fought with each other

    • Decentralized, so they were susceptible to Muslim attacks

  • Invasions from the north & east were stopped by the Himalayas, but muslim armies invaded from NW

    • ~8th century, invaded Pakistan, but caused little change

    • ~11th century, Hindus & Buddhist were angered -  Temples & shrines were looted; mosques were built on holy sites

  • ~13th century, Islamic forces formed the Delhi Sultanate, (13-16th century)

    • Islam & Hinduism mixed, most resented Muslims (jizya)

    • No efficient bureaucracy (unlike Chinese), & couldn’t impose their rule on as large a place as India - local kingdoms still had political power

    • Sultanate stopped the Mongols from conquering South Asia, but 1526, Mughals (partly Mongolian) took over

Religion in South Asia

• Most South Asians were Hindu (a few were Buddhist), so Islam didn’t take well.

  • Monotheistic//polytheistic, idols//no idols, caste system//umma, ect.

• The Arrival of Islam

  • Islam was proselytizing religion - wanted to find converts

  • Hindu/Muslim relationship has always been influential - Muslims wanted to convert Hindu/Buddhists to no avail.

    • Converts had to go willingly, eg. the wives of Muslim merchants

    • Attracted some low caste members, but mostly Buddhists after lots of corruption & monastery raids by Muslim conquerors

Social Structures in South Asia

• The caste system was unchanged by the arrival of Islam, & it held together South Asia

  • Foreigners fit into the caste system depending on occupation. However, it also offered no social mobility

• Muslims (mostly Sufis) started adapting Islam to fit whatever cultural norms already existed, eg. status of women.

Cultural Interactions in South Asia

• Cultural achievements were shared between South Asia & the Middle East

  • Arab astronomers/mathematicians built on Indian achievements - translated into Arabic & spread through Dar al-Islam -> Arabic numbers

  • Indian architecture was influenced by geometric patterns of Islam architecture, most notably the Qutub Minar.

  • Urdu - A language that was Hindi + Arabic + Farsi

• Bhakti Movement (~12th century)

  • Similar to Sufis - focused on spirituality rather than studying texts, & helped spread Hinduism

  • More equality for women or people with low social status

Southeast Asia

• Modern day Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos & Vietnam all influenced each other

• Indian merchants traded valuable metals (gold, silver, metal goods) & textiles in return for spices

  • Spread Buddhism to SE Asia

• Sea-based Kingdoms

  • Srivijaya Empire (670-1025) - Hindu, based in Sumatra. Strong navy & taxed ships traveling between India -> China

  • Majapahit Kingdom (1293-1520) - Buddhist, based in Java. Also controlled sea routes

• Land-Based Kingdoms

  • Sinhala dynasties - Sri Lanka, came from north Indian merchants. Buddhism became deeply embedded (priests advised rulers), no patriarchy, & established infrastructure (irrigation). Weakened by Indian invaders & conflict between religion & rulers.

  • Khmer Empire (aka Angkor Kingdom 802-1431), near Mekong River. Had complex infrastructure -> one of the most successful kingdoms in SE Asia. Angkor Thom was the capital & demonstrated Indian cultural influences. ~12th century, Buddhism was added alongside Hinduism.

    • Angkor Wat was like the Buddhist version of Angkor Thom.

    • 1431, Sukhothai Kingdom invaded the Khmers

• Islam - Spread to SE Asia via merchants (wanted to have better relations w/ Islamic merchants)

  • Eg. Sumatra, Java, and Malay Peninsula. Modern day Indonesia has the most Muslims.

• Sufis

  • Their tolerance & adaptation to local culture helped convert people

Developments in the Americas

• New civilizations rose after the fall of the Olmecs (Mesoamerica) & Chavin (Andes)

The Mississippian Culture

• Emerged ~700-800s, built earthen mounds, the largest (Cahokia) in southern Illinois

• Government and Society

  • Strict class structure: Great Sun (chief) ruled the large towns -> priests & nobles -> farmers, hunters, merchants, artisans -> slaves (prisoners of war).

  • Matrilineal society (passed down through woman’s side)

• The Decline of the Mississippian Civilization

  • Cahokia was abandoned ~1450, & the rest ~1600. Reasons are uncertain - flooding or foreign diseases

Chaco and Mesa Verde

• Dry region -> dealt w/ water efficiently

• Chaco - Large houses w/ stones & clay, ~100 rooms

• Mesa Verde - Homes in the sides of cliffs w/ sand stone

Maya City States

• Peaked ~250-900 C.E., from southern Mexico to Belize, Honduras, & Guatemala

• Mayan Government

  • Mostly city-states - a city & adjacent areas ruled over by a king (passed father -> son/sometimes daughter)

  • Wars were common, but for tribute & human sacrifices rather than territory

  • Kings were “descended from gods,” & directed elite scribes & priests

  • Taxes were paid via crops, & citizens were sometimes pulled into military service.

• Mayan Religion, Science, and Technology

  • Found concept of zero, complex writing system, & rubber.

  • Astronomy linked science & religion - determined religious ceremonies or war via calendar

  • Priests (either gender) were in charge of honoring the deities w/ offerings (sometimes people)

The Aztecs/Mexicas

• Hunter-gatherers who migrated to Mexico ~1200s

• Capital City

  • Tenochtitlan, located on an island in a lake (protection from attacks)

  • Built chinampas, floating gardens for food - built a network of aqueducts & ditches for irrigation

• Government, Economy, and Society

  • Tribute system - conquered people had to give them stuff; local rulers became tribute collectors

  • City-states were merged into provinces, warriors were stationed at each one

  • Theocracy, political + religious leaders - emperor = Great Speaker

  • Hierarchy: land owning nobles, scribes/healers, artisans/traders, peasants/soldiers

• Religion

  • Polytheistic, involved different rituals & human sacrifices (to pay the gods back for their sacrifice)

• Role of Women

  • Important role - wove valuable cloth needed in tribute

  • Some were priestesses, midwives, healers, scribes, or merchants

• Decline of the Aztecs

  • ~15th century low technology (wheels & pack animals) & focus on conquest (empire grew too large)

  • Human sacrifice -> resentment from many

The Inca

• Pachacuti - tribal leader who conquered nearby tribes to form the Incan empire

• Government, Economy, and Society

  • Split into 4 provinces w/ different governors & bureaucracy

  • Conquered were under the mit’a system, public service

• Religion

  • Revered Inti, the sun god -> Temple of the Sun & some animism (huaca)

  • Royal ancestors veneration - extended a leader’s rule, while dead leaders were mummified & thought to continue ruling

  • Priests were in charge of important things, like human sacrifice (less than Aztecs)

• Achievements

  • Quipu, knotted strings used for trade, messages & engineering

  • Waru waru, terrace system that used rain water efficiently for agriculture

  • Carpa Nan, road system used by government & military

• Decline ~1532

  • Civil war during spanish conquistador invasion led to the fall of the Inca

Continuities and Diversity

• Reasons for decline: Maya - environmental, Aztecs - rebels, diseases, attacks, Inca - diseases, attacks, civil war

• Trade: Maya - moderate, Aztecs - lots, Inca - limited

Developments in Africa

Political Structures in Inland Africa

• Shaped by Bantu migration - spread agriculture

• Kin-based networks - families ruled themselves

  • Chief (male) was at the top

  • Villages -> districts, group of chiefs would rule

  • Harder to manage when the population grew

• Hausa Kingdoms

  • City states with specialities, but lack of central government led to domination from outside

  • Benefitted from trans-Saharan trade, & were introduced to Islam by missionaries ~14th century

Political Structures of West and East Africa

• Kingdom of Ghana

  • Between Sahara & West African coast, different location from modern Ghana

  • Sold gold & ivory to Muslims for salt, copper, cloth & tools.

  • Capital Koumbi Saleh, king ruled centralized government

• Mali

  • ~12th century, Ghana fell from outside conquest, leading to rise of Mali

  • Founded by Sundiata, Muslim who established trade relations -> good gold trade

  • Mansa Musa pilgrimage to Mecca, spreading gold & iNfLaTiOn

• Zimbabwe

  • Prospered bc of agriculture, grazing, trade & gold

    • Gold fields & taxes on gold transport

  • Ghana & Mali based on trans-Saharan trade, but Zimbabwe was in the Indian-Ocean trade

  • New language - Swahili: Bantu + Arabic

  • Great Zimbabwe - Capital city, surrounded by massive stone wall

  • Abandoned due to overgrazing

• Ethiopia

  • Christianity spread into Egypt & beyond - ~12th century, new Christian-led kingdom

    • Power was shown via architecture

    • “Island of Christianity”

  • Axum - Traded stuff from India, Arabia, Roman Empire & central Africa

  • Islam spread & created more religious diversity

Social Structures of Sub-Saharan Africa

• Centralized governments were uncommon, but small communities were - age, gender, kinship

  • Men often worked in specialized skills

  • Women did agriculture & gathered food, as well as domestic chores

• Slavery in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southwest Asia

  • War prisoners, debtors, & criminals usually became slaves; some couldn’t own property, but could own slaves

  • Kinds of slavery: Chattel (legal property), domestic (household workers) & debt bondage (repaying a debt)

  • Indian Ocean slave trade arose due to the large demand of slaves (east Africa & Middle East)

  • Zanj, east African slaves worked on Mesopotamian sugar plantations, & eventually revolted w/ Arab workers ~869-883 in Zanj Rebellion. Successfully captured Basra for 10 years before defeat

Cultural Life in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Arts often served a religious purpose - communicating w/ the spirit world, ect.

• Griots & Griottes

  • Literature/history was passed on orally by griots/storytellers

  • Revered & feared due to their power over language - influence downfall or success

  • Griottes (women storytellers) gave women empowerment in patriarchy

Developments in Europe

• In the Middle Ages, intellectual life declined -> feudalism. Roman Catholic church remained in power

• 1000-1450, intellectual life rose again, High Middle Ages

Feudalism: Political and Social Systems

• Decentralized government -> feudalism (protection from invaders, bandits, ect.)

  • Monarch granted fiefs (plots of land) to lords, who then owed them service (vassal)

  • Lords gave knights land, who became vassals of the lord & king. Also gave land & protection to peasants for farm labor, food & loyalty

• Gave peasants security, warriors equipment, & land to vassals - wealth = land not cash

• Code of chivalry: honor, courtesy, & bravery (women were protected, but had no rights)

• Manorial System - large estates = manors. Provided economic stability & defense, since it was self sufficient.

  • Manor grounds: like small villages, where most serfs lived. Serfs couldn’t travel or marry w/o permission.

  • Improvements in climate & tech increased farmland - three-field system (crops were cycled through different fields) -> population growth

Political Trends in the Later Middle Ages

• Monarchies grew more power, had their own bureaucracy & military, gathering more land

• France King Philip II (1180-1223) first developed bureaucracy. In the rule of Phillip IV (1285-1314), the first Estates-General met.

  • Estates-General: representatives from each estate - clergy, nobility & commoners. Had little power, and wasn’t entirely equal

• Holy Roman Empire

  • Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor 962, & his successors survived lay investiture controversy (11th - 12th centuries), over whether a religious or non religious leader could invest bishops with power

  • Resolved w/ Concordat of Worms 1122, church and state separated

  • 30 years war 1618-1648 destroyed the empire, formally ended by Napoleon in 1806

• Norman England

  • Normans were descended from french Vikings in Normandy

  • 1066 William the Conqueror invaded england, ruling over organized feudal system

  • English nobles objected, & had King John sign the Magna Carta - king had to respect noble rights

  • English Parliament 1265, gave nobles more rights. First parliament meeting at the same time, House of Lords for the nobles and church, and the House of Commons for the wealthy townspeople. Eventually gained lots of power.

• The Hundred Years’ War

  • 1337-1453, England & France fought with each other, but England kept the Calais port in France

  • Unified English, and it unified the French despite different languages or dialects

  • Spread use of gunpowder weaponry

• Christians vs. Muslims

  • Normans took over Sicily, taking it from the Muslims. Spain was conquered by Muslims ~8th century, leading to the reconquista by Christians

Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages

• 1054 - Great Schism: Roman Catholic Church was mostly in Europe, & the Orthodox Church was mostly in the East (Greece - Russia)

• People in the Church were literate, unlike most others. Christianity unified people

• Education and Art

  • First universities were established by the Church -> most thinkers were religious leaders.

  • Art was often religious, helping illiterate people read the Bible.

• Church & State

  • Church held a lot of power, w/ lots of regional leaders (bishops) who selected priests

• Monasticism

  • Most monasteries were still part of the economy, w/ agriculture & protection like other manors

  • Women could become nuns

• Reform

  • Clergy had political influence -> some monasteries were rich, leading to corruption ~13th-14th centuries

Christian Crusades

• Palestine was spiritually significant to Jews, Christians, & Muslims -> lots of wars over this area

• Primogeniture - oldest son got the estate -> younger sons had little land/wealth -> saw military campaigns as opportunities (so did peasants w/o jobs)

• Politics & Church’s spiritual authority influenced the Crusades - tensions between Popes & Kings, ect.

• First Crusade - Only clear victory for Christians - Europeans conquered Jerusalem July 1099, but reclaimed by Muslims led by Saladin ~1187. Promoted cultural exchange: ME better living standards, Europe more ME goods

• Fourth Crusade

  • Venice transported Crusaders to Levant (ME), but didn’t pay enough. Crusaders debtors were instead persuaded to sack Zara and then Constantinople (Venice’s competitor). Never made it to the Holy Land, where Islamic forces won.

Economic & Social Change

• Marco Polo - Italian guy who visited Kublai Khan, Dadu, & helped increase curiosity about Asia

• Social Change - The middle class began to grow, rivaling religious/military status due to the growing economy.

  • Bourgeoises/burghers: middle class, eg. shopkeepers, merchants, small landholders, ect.

• Urban Growth

  • More commerce -> large cities (population growth from surplus)

  • The demand for labor increased, decreasing the surplus of food, & Black Death killed ⅓ of the population

    • Serfs had bargaining power w/ lords

  • Little Ice Age - less agricultural productivity - less trade, slower city growth. Also increased disease and more crimes, most blamed on the Jews

• Jews

  • Middle Ages, Jewish population grew, most living around Muslim areas in Iberian Peninsula

  • Welcomed due to experience in business and trade, & became money lenders due to no restrictions from the Catholic Church (boosted Europe economic growth). Also helped bridge trade w/ Christians & Muslims

  • Antisemitism - Jews were expelled from England, France, Spain, & Portugal, but bc of this their #s grew

• Muslims

  • Also faced discrimination, expelled from Spain in 1492. Most moved to SE Europe.

  • The Ottoman Empire expanded into Albania, Kosovo, & Bosnia.

• Gender Roles

  • More & more patriarchy, Islamic women had more rights, esp. in Africa & SE Asia.

Renaissance

• Expansion of trade, agricultural surplus, & middle class sparked the revived interest in Greco-Roman culture.

  • Printing press technology -> rapid spread of ideas

  • Humanism - individuals instead of God

• Southern Renaissance

  • Supported by church, eg. Dante’s Divine Comedy (still independent from the church)

• Northern Renaissance

  • ~1400, renaissance spread to northern Europe, where most artists focused on human concerns

The Origins of Russia

• Fur, fish & grain trade connected Scandinavia to Mediterranean to Central Asia

  • Kiev, Ukraine was in the center of this, & was closer to the Byzantine than RCE

• Overtaken by Mongols ~13th century -> separate from Europe

• Nobles collected taxes, became richer & resisted Mongol rule.

• Ivan the Great helped this area to become independent from Mongol rule, becoming Russia

• Exchange of Goods

• Different regions had their own goods/produce that other places wanted, eg. monopoly of silk by China or spices in SE Asia

  • Motivated trade & exchange of goods & ideas -> long distance trade became crucial

• Significance of trade - caused smaller societies to be more reliant on trade, increased social status of merchants -> social mobility, spread religion & other ideas

Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia

• Silk Road - Land based trade, linked sedentary people & also larger civilizations. Unified the civilizations of Eurasia

The Growth of the Silk Roads

• Outer Eurasia - Climate suited agriculture in civilizations like China, India, Middle East, & Mediterranean.

• Inner Eurasia - Non sedentary civilizations due to harsher climate, e.g. the Steppe Nomads. Helped diffuse different innovations (bronze smelting tech, horses, ect.) & Indo-European languages

• Powerful states/empires -> security for merchants -> flourishing of the Silk Road

  • Eg. During the Byzantine empire ~700-800, Abbasid dynasty, & Tang dynasty

Goods in Transit

• Qualities of tradeable items

  • High demand, limited access/hard to find, luxury goods, long lasting, portable

• Silk was the most significant & highly demanded (hence the silk road).

  • When it was monopolized by China, it moved east -> west

  • ~6th century, Korea, Japan, India, & Persia had access to silk making technology (via smuggling, ect.)

  • More silk supply -> more varieties/usages: symbol of high status (China, Byzantine), sacred (Buddhism, Christianity)

• Silk Road impacts:

  • Smaller direct impact bc of small trade volume & focus on luxury items, but important economic & social impacts.

  • Chinese peasants (Yangzi River in Southern China) moved from agriculture to silk, paper, porcelain, ect.

  • Some people became extremely wealthy from long distance trade, eg. Ramisht (Persian merchant)

Cultures in Transit

• The Silk Road mainly transported culture, especially Buddhism, popular w/ merchants (India -> Central/East Asia)

  • Spread of Buddhism was blocked by Zoroastrianism, but was popular in Central Asia oasis cities (voluntary conversion)

  •  Buddhism took longer to spread in more sedentary places, bc lack of written language & nomadic lifestyle (in contrast to literate religion w/ monasteries)

  • Later, long-distance travel made it seem more attractive

• Overall, Buddhism became more “attached to worldly goods,” monasteries grew wealthy

• Silk Road spread Mahayana Buddhism: Buddha was a deity, bodhisattvas, compassion, & earned merit. Also gained some new features in the process of trade, like Greek influences.

Disease in Transit

• Every major city in Afro-Eurasia had their own diseases w/ immunities, so trade exposed them to new diseases that they didn’t have the immunity for. 

  • Athens after sea trade w/ Europe, killing ~25% of the army & permanently weakening it

  • Smallpox & measles in Roman empire & Han dynasty, helping their political downfall

    • Meanwhile boosted faith in Christianity & Buddhism

• 🐀Bubonic plague🐀 in coastal areas of the Mediterranean sea - ~10,000 people died per day

  • Spread by Mongol Empire (among other diseases), which unified a lot of Eurasia

• Diseases stopped the Byzantine empire from “reabsorbing” Italy, & the Christians from resisting Muslim attack

Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian Ocean

• Linked the Eastern Hemisphere together

  • Venice became a major commercial center, mostly profiting off of Asian goods

• Until 1500, the Indian Ocean was the largest sea-based trade, mostly between other centers of commerce

  • Driven by want for goods that couldn’t be found nearby (eg. porcelain, spices, cotton, & pepper)

  • Cheaper than silk road: ships carried more than camels

  • Made possible because of monsoon winds & lateen sails

Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World

• Indian Ocean trade originated around the First Civilizations (Mesopotamia & Indus Valley civilizations, Malay sailors- spread food like bananas & coconuts), & boomed during the classical civilizations (CE), w/ knowledge of monsoon winds

  • Roman Empire merchants (Greeks, Syrians, Jews) started trading settlements in East African coast & southern India, but mostly centered around India

  • Introduced Christianity & Chinese traders to India (Ethiopia & Kerala), & spread Hinduism & Buddhism in SE Asia

• Major events that benefitted the Indian Ocean Trade

  • Tang & Song dynasties - revived China’s economy & politics, encouraging ocean trade (produced more products & tech innovations that helped with ships)

  • Rise of Islam - Boosted merchants’ social status, Arab Empire created a unified political system

• => more commercialism in Indian Ocean trade - communities of traders East Africa -> southern China, lots of conversion to Islam

Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: Southeast Asia and Srivijaya

• Maritime trade led to political & cultural change (spread of religion like Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam)

• Southeast Asia was between China & India - important geographically in terms of commerce

  • Malay sailors opened a sea route from India-China => Malay Peninsula & Sumatra coast ports attracted more and more travelers traveling through the new route.

• Srivijaya gained the most from this trade

  • It was located on a chokepoint, had lots of gold & spices in high demand, taxed ships passing by, had a large military that helped secure the area

  • Monarchs were still based on local beliefs, but also had Indian political ideas, Buddhist spiritual stuff, ect.

    • Buddhism especially gave rulers more legitimacy magic and prestige of association w/ Indian civilization

    • As a result, Srivijaya became a Buddhist educational center, 

  • Palembang - Capital city, very cosmopolitan

• Sailendra kingdom (central Java) - also influenced by Indian culture

  • Agriculturally rich & allied with Srivijaya

  • Had a building program featuring Buddhist monuments & Hindu temples, most famously Borobudur (a huge mountain).

  • Still remained distinctly Java, Buddhism was “absorbed” into it rather than the other way around

Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa and Swahili Civilization

• Trade gave rise to the Swahili Civilizations

  • Commercial city-states on the coast of East Africa

  • Started off as smaller farming/fishing Bantu speaking groups that traded with the occasional merchant

  • Rise of Islam = more commercial life in western Indian Ocean => more demand for East African products (gold, ivory, quartz, leopard skins, iron, timber, sometimes slaves) => growth of Swahili civilizations

• 1000-1500, Swahili Civilization flourished

  • Different with previous farming culture of East Africa - urban, lots of people (cities like Lamu, Mobasa)

  • Similar to city-states, each city had their own kings & competed with each other

  • Got goods from the interior & traded it outwards for porcelain, silk, rugs, & cottons.

  • Merchants from abroad visited or settled in, & Swahili was a mix of Bantu & Arabic

  • Swahili civilization became Islamic, since Islam helped with trade, which divided them from their neighbors, although they still transported inland goods into the market.

• Great Zimbabwe - growth was connected to growing gold trade

  • ~1250-1350, had resources to build a large stone enclosures

Sand Roads: Exchange across the Sahara

Commercial Beginnings in West Africa

• Trans-African trade - influenced by environment

  • Coastal regions - cloth, glass, weapons, books, ect.

  • Sahara - copper, salt, dates

  • Sub-Saharan: Savanna - grains // Forest - yams & kola nuts

    • Earliest form of trade was through the Sudan, who exchanged goods via boats along rivers

Gold, Salt, and Slaves: Trade and Empire in West Africa

• The introduction of the camel🐪 facilitated trans-Saharan trade

  • Mostly looked for gold (& ivory, kola nuts, and slaves) - In return, horses, cloth, dates, & salt

  • Trans-Saharan became a huge international trade route

• Long distance trade gave people the resources and motivation to make bigger political monuments, creating Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem, & Hausa city-states

  • They were all monarchies that taxed trans-Saharan trade - Mali’s rulers monopolized trade on gold - Mansa Musa

• Slavery set in in West Africa - Most slaves were women, as servants & concubines. Later, male slaves worked as state officials, miners, laborers, ect. - Most came from northern societies & non-Islamic

  • Soon, slave trade formed in trans-Saharan trade network

• Sudanic African states started forming centers of commerce - Koumbi-Saleh, Jenne, Timbuktu, ect.

An American Network: Commerce and Connection in the Western Hemisphere

• There was less direct trade among the Americas, due to a lack of horses, donkeys, large ships, ect. which all facilitated trade in Afro-Eurasia

• Geography also limited contact between different regions, & made it more difficult to spread agricultural innovations/products due to the differences in climate, ect.

• Despite that, culture still spread - pottery styles & architecture spread

• Commerce contributed - Cahokia was the center of a wide trade network - shells, copper, buffalo hides, obsidian, mica, ect.

  • Connected by canoes - for inter-Island trade, & ocean based exchange w/ seagoing rafts

• Mesoamerican trade network went north. Mesoamerican items were found in New Mexico

• Most significant network of trade - between Mesoamerica and the Andes

  • Land based trade between Maya cities and Teotihuacan

  • Seabased trade w/ dugout canoes along both coasts

  • Mostly traded valuables, rather than staples for the elites

• ~15th century, pochteca, professional merchants arose in the Aztec Empire

• In the Andean Inca Empire, trade was recorded on quipus

European Empires in the Americas

• Western European colonies were often far away from the “heartland,” different than other empires

The European Advantage

• Geographical advantage - Europeans were the closest to the Americas, and the air currents were in their favor (Different from the monsoon winds, which often changed).

• Motivation - Chinese, Indian & Muslim merchants already had enough in Indian Ocean trade => didn’t feel the need to expand past that region

  • Europeans realized their inferiority after Mongol conquest, and thus wanted to find another route to the Spice Islands, without having to be dependent on Muslim traders.

  • Trade => Religion, King, & money (Missionaries, merchants, minorities)

• Chinese & Islamic innovations - gunpowder, compass, ironworking, horses, ect.

• Inner turmoil in the Americas - Conquered subjects of the Aztecs joined Cortes, some Incans elites welcomed the Spanish invaders.

• Disease - Native Americans had no immunities to the European diseases => Europeans soon outnumbered some local populations

The Great Dying

• European colonization in the Americas => spread of disease => significant collapse in the population of Native Americans (90%)

  • No immunities to smallpox, measles, typhus, ect. (isolated from Afro-Eurasia and most domestic animals)

• Most died from smallpox, and then the others starved to death (lack of ppl for labor)

• End result - Native Americans lost their cultural identity, land, and got casinos in exchange.

The Columbian Exchange - The network of trade/communication/migration created by European colonies in the Americas - spread diseases, food, ideas

• “Great Dying” led to labor shortage, & gave the European colonizers & enslaved Africans room, who created new societies that replaced the indigenous cultures.

  • New crops took over, like wheat, rice, sugarcane, grapes, fruits, weeds, ect.

  • Domesticated animals, like horses, pigs, cattle, goats, sheep

  • Native crops (corn, potatoes, cassava) were spread in the Eastern Hemisphere, boosted population growth (cheap and nutritious)

    • Ireland/potatoes (later great potato famine), China/sweet potatoes, peanuts, corn, Africa/corn

• Mexican/Peruvian silver mines => Europeans could afford valuable Chinese goods

• Plantations of cotton and sugar => increased slave trade

• Mostly benefited the Western Europeans => Scientific Revolution, & Industrial Revolution

Comparing Colonial Societies in the Americas

In the Lands of the Aztecs and the Incas

• Mercantilism  - creating colonies for more resources/raw materials. Colonies send raw materials and buy manufactured goods, colonists send the manufactured goods and protect the colonies.

• The Aztec and Incan lands were the wealthiest, most urbanized, & populated region => the Spanish conquerors established lots of cities, bureaucracies, monuments, ect.

  • Labor was supplied by the native peoples (unwillingly)

  • The money came from commercial agriculture, or silver/gold mining

• Social hierarchy - casta system

• Spanish settlers, no matter their wealth - resisted Crown restrictions from Spain

  • Peninsulares - Born in Spain, higher ranked than the creoles - Spanish but born in the Americas

• Religious people criticized the Spanish landowners for their treatment of the native ppl

  • Mestizo - mixed-race, partially bc there were more Spanish men than women. Indigenous women saw this as an opportunity to elevate their kids and themselves in society, giving them more security.

    • Often looked down on, but proved to be useful in a variety of jobs like artisans, clerks, ect.

• Indigenous peoples:

  • Bottom of the hierarchical ladder, often abused and exploited into forced labor, eventually forced to assimilate into Spanish culture - converted to Christianity, learned Spanish, went to Spanish courts, ect.

  • Synthesis - Traditional crops like maize, beans, and squash were still often eaten, Christianity blended w/ local deities & beliefs, & traditional markets kept going

Sugar Colonies (Brazil, Caribbean)

• Portuguese colonies in Brazil, & the Spanish, French, Dutch & British Caribbean colonies all gained their profit from sugar.

  • Exported sugar, imported basic necessities - mercantilism!

  • Sugar production originated from the Arabs, & the Europeans used it in their sugar plantations

• Sugar production was labor intensive => increased slave trade

  • Since most of the native population was killed, colonists got their workforce from enslaved Africans

  • Working conditions were awful, many died. (The fact that the plantation owners could get more slaves even as they died out means that they were stupidly rich)

• Brazil’s population soon became mostly of people either fully or partially of African descent

  • Mulattoes - Portuguese-African people formed most of the population, and most of the workforce.

• American Plantations - More women (entire families came over) => less mixed peoples, stricter racial system.

Settler Colonies in North America

• Lacking in wealth compared to the Spanish (who got there first)

• Less of a colonial pattern - easy access to land, & most British colonists were outcasts

  • No dependent laborers, strict class hierarchy, or large privately owned pastures

  • Greater populations - no need for slaves, less race mixing (natives mostly dead, racism due to religious reasons)

• Mostly Protestant - didn’t seek converts - yet, encouraged self literacy (more than Latin America)

  • Encouraged localized governments, like elected colonial assemblies— decentralized

  • Mostly left alone by the British government

The Steppes and Siberia: The Making of a Russian Empire

• The Russian Empire began expanding around when the colonies in the Americas were growing

• Expanded across Siberia looking for animal pelts, building forts and outposts along the way. They had to fight nomads along the way

Experiencing the Russian Empire

• State organization & modern weapons => conquered the Steppes and Siberia as they built their empire

  • Subjects had to swear allegiance to the tsar, and pay yasak (tribute w/ pelts, unequal power dynamic)

  • Conquests spread disease, & conversion to Christianity (not as big of a priority than the Spanish)

    • Incentives to convert - tax breaks, land/money, eviction of Muslims

• Lots of people settled in Russia - native Siberians were a minority

  • Lack of hunting ground/pasturelands => local people had to depend on Russian markets (grain, tea, sugar, tobacco, alcohol)

  • Had to pay a fee to be on any existing agricultural lands

• Mixed-race people were merged into Russia, as were the native peoples, who just ‘became Russian’

  • Came from intermarriage, sexual abuse, ect.

  • Russification - loss of indigenous culture

Russians and Empire

• Multi-ethnic - Ukrainians, & Belorussians dominated

  • In between Asia & Europe, a state based on military

• Wealthy bc of it’s rich rural land, animal pelts & minerals - one of the great powers

Asian Empires

• Didn’t expand globally, mostly regional => no new diseases or epidemics

Making China an Empire - mostly the assimilation  of the nomadic peoples

• Declined after the withdrawal of Zheng He’s huge fleet

• The Qing/Manchu dynasty - expanded the empire to include non-Chinese peoples

  • Forbid intermarriage (despite being of nomadic origin)

• Still interacted (trade, tribute, war) w/ nomadic ppls: Mongolia, Xinjian, & Tibet, all resisted Chinese rule

  • Unified under the Qing dynasty (1680-1760) for security (feared based off of past Mongol conquest)

• As they conquered central Eurasia, local elites (Mongol aristocrats, Muslim officials, ect.) were utilized by the Chinese to budget.

  • Some were corrupt (extra taxes/labor from locals), others “became Chinese”

  • People were mostly left alone - nobles & religious people didn’t have to pay taxes, Chinese didn’t settle here)

• Russian Empire expansion + Chinese conquest meant Central Asia declined

Muslims and Hindus in the Mughal Empire

• The conquests of the Muslim Turks caused (barely) unified India

  • Faced many religious divisions (Muslims, Hindus, ect.))

• Akbar (1556-1605) - made sure to treat the Hindu majority well, didn’t force people to convert, & supported building religious Hindu structures.

  • Extremely tolerant, took away the jizya & restrained the ulama

  • Often spoke with different religious representatives to broaden his view

  • Boosted arts - Persian artists and writers felt more welcomed

• Akbar’s policies offended people like philosopher Shayk Ahmad Sirhindi, who felt that Hindu tolerance was “impure”

• Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

  • Promoted Islamic supremacy, reinforcing the jizya, and getting rid of Hindu practices (like sati- Hindu wives throwing themselves onto the husband’s funeral fire) and temples

  • Raised high taxes for his military conquests, often unreasonably so

• Aurangzeb’s policies all promoted uprisings, eventually fragmenting the Mughal Empire - left a power vacuum for the British.

Muslims, Christians, and the Ottoman Empire

• The Ottoman sultan was both a warrior and a caliph, serving as a defender of Islam.

  • Showed the growing power of the Turkic people- most holy Islamic cities - Mecca, Medina, & Jerusalem were in the (Turkic) Ottoman Empire

• Christian Muslim interactions:

  • The take over of Anatolia and Constantinople led to the conversion of Christians to Islam

  • In the Balkans, the population mostly remained Christian due to religious tolerance and a lack of Turkic people

• Most people welcomed Ottoman rule, due to their (relative) religious tolerance, lower taxes, and the ability to become part of the elite without conversion.

  • While the devshirme meant Christian families had to hand over their kids, it was also a way for  them to move upwards on the social ladder

• The Ottoman Empire was a threat to Christendom (if not the Christians) due to their take over of some of Europe

  • While the Ottoman Empire was feared, Europeans still cooperated with them occasionally

The French government sometimes allied with them against Habsburg Austria

• Most significant large land-based empires - Songhai (West Africa), Safavids (Persia), Mughals (northern India), Ottomans (Middle East, East Europe, northern Africa), & Manchus/Qing (East Asia)

  • Land = power => lots of fighting with neighbors. Power was also demonstrated through monuments

  • Had a centralized government: Bureaucracy (laws) & military officials (defense), which they paid for with taxes and tribute.

  • Usually intertwined w/ religion, so there were often conflicts between state and belief (Roman Catholics/Protestants, Shia/Sunni Muslims conflicts)

European, East Asian, and Gunpowder Empires Expand

• Gunpowder Empires - Large states that used gunpowder to conquer places (Eg. Ottoman Empire, Qing Empire, ect.)

  • Mostly based on military, but also had arts/monuments for legitimacy

Europe

• 1400s was around the end of the “Dark Ages” - Plague died down, Hundred Years’ War ended, & the Gutenberg printing press was invented (again) => more literacy

• New powerful monarchies formed (Tudors, Valois, Queen Isabella, ect.) - more bureaucracy & middle class

Russia

• It’s position was perfect for trade, & was mostly influenced by Europe despite Mongol influence

• Ivan IV 1547-1587 expanded the borders w/ gunpowder, taking over khanates from the Golden Horde.

  • Let landowners (Stroganovs) to hire Cossacks (peasant warriors) to fight -> took over the Volga River, important for trade w/ Persia

    • Pugachev’s rebellion

• Missionaries (For eastern orthodox), militias, & fur traders expanded further east, conquering the indigenous tribes & eventually met the Pacific Ocean

East Asia

• The Ming Dynasty overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, making the region more stable, when Europeans arrived to trade

  • Grew briefly, but 1440s the Mongol armies took back power => restored the Great Wall

• 1644-1911, Manchu took over as the Qing Dynasty

  • Emperor Kangxi 1661-1722 had a long & stable reign, took over Taiwan, Mongolia, & Central Asia (partly Tibet)

  • Emperor Qianlong 1736-1796 had a thriving government & taxes, annexed Xinjiang (Local Muslims/Uighurs were never assimilated). Also sent campaigns into Tibet, Burma & Vietnam (unsuccessfully)

    • Sold the British some trading rights, but only in Canton/Guangzhou. The British asked for more ~1793, but Qianlong said that the Chinese didn’t need their stuff.  (opium wars?)

    • White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) - the bureaucracy became corrupted, but the peasants were killed by the government

Rise of Islamic Gunpowder Empires

• The Ottoman, Safvid, & Mughal Empires all spoke and were descended from Turkic nomads, using the breakup of Mongol khanates and gunpowder weapons to their advantage

Tamerlane

• Invaded Central Asia & Middle East, introducing ghazi ideal - standards for warrior life: Nomadic culture + Islam holy fighter ideals

  • The violent invasions led to the rise of the Ottomans, Safavids & Mughals

• Classic gunpowder empire - used gunpowder to invade places, government depended on military, and still promoted arts & education

Ottoman Empire

• Mehmed II 1451-1481 - In 1453, took over Constantinople - now Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

  • It became a key point in trade, controlling the Bosporus Strait (linked Aegean & Black sea)

  • Also attacked parts of Italy, collecting tribute

• Suleiman I 1520-1566 - ruled during the peak of the Ottoman Empire

  • Conquered Hungary ~1529, but couldn’t take over Vienna (still caused fear in Christian Europe)

  • 1522, took over Rhodes (Christian knights stronghold) and 1550 Tripoli.

• Fell bc of invasion and occupation

Safavid Empire

• Originated from Safavid order of Sufism

• Problems: Was on the coast but had no navy or any natural defenses - was successful bc of their land based military & solid leadership

• Shah Ismail 1501-1521 (Safavid military hero)

  • Conquered Iran & was crowned shah(king) 1501

  • Unified the empire w/ Shi’a Islam

• Shah Abbas I 1588-1629 (peak of the Safavid Empire)

  • His army had Christian boys forced into service (Janissaries?), as well as European weaponry

• Often fought w/ the Ottomans over trade, fighting against the trade embargoes

Women in the Safavid Empire

• Had restricted movements & veils, but had inheritance & divorce via Islamic law

Mughal India

• Founded by Babur (Tamerlane’s descendent), 

• Peaked under his grandson, Akbar - wealthy & well maintained

  • Overseas trade by Arab merchants boomed - textiles, food from the tropics, spices, valuable stones for bullion

  • Merchant castes traded within the empire - made goods and banked

• Caste system - impacted education & job opportunities in India

Decline of the Gunpowder Empires

• Western Europe grew stronger, especially navally

• Only Russia remained, the deciding factor being modernization (Islamic empires didn’t and fell)

Decline of the Ottoman Empire

• After the death of Suleiman, the Ottomans had weak rulers

• Potential heirs were caught in politics as wives & concubines tried to promote their own kids

• Siege of Vienna 1683 - failed, shift in dominance from Ottomans to Europeans

  • Battle of Lepanto - Spaniards + Venetians defeated the Ottomans in an overseas battle

Safavid Decline

• Leaders after Shah Abbas were ineffective - spent too much on their own lifestyles and military => weaker economy (hmm)

• 1722 - Afghan rebellion of Sunni Pashtuns took over, the leader Mahmud taking of as Shah of Persia

  • Safavid still ruled in name only, but the taxation system declined & it became decentralized

• Ottomans & Russians conquered various parts, the Safavids eventually replaced by the Zand Dynasty

Mughal Decline

• Aurangzeb 1658-1707 (Shah Jahan’s son) ruled over a corrupted empire, but still wanted to expand and “purge” Hindu influences

  • Peasant uprisings - bc of religious intolerance

  • Treasury was drained for expansion

• Became more and more unstable until the British & French took over

Empires: Administrations

• Types of administrations: Inca temples, Japanese samurai, & devshirme

Centralizing Control in Europe

• Divine right of kings - like mandate of heaven, but in Europe

Gentry Officials

• Tudors 1485-1603 had justices of the peace - chosen by landowners to keep peace, enforce laws, & settle legal affairs - soon became a very powerful group

• Parliament - gave monarch legitimacy while keeping them in check

  • English Bill of Rights - protected the people from the monarch overarching their powers

  • House of Commons - Elected group of Parliament, most justices of peace served here

Absolutism in France

• While England became more of a republic, the French started giving the king absolute authority

  • Government became more centralized - intendants/royal officials did the will of the royal government, like taxes (thus the name tax farmers)

• Louis XIV 1643-1715

  • Basically a dictator, used divine right, leading to the weakening of the French government

  • Nobles stayed with him at Versailles => couldn’t revolt against him

Reigning in Control of the Russian Empire

• Social hierarchy: Boyars (landowners), merchants, peasants, serfs

• Ivan IV - Boyars & rulers had conflict (like the nobles/rulers in west Europe). In response, Ivain IV took their land and relocated them to Moscow.

  • Oprichnina - Military group loyal to Ivan, usually from lower ranked merchants

• Romanov Dynasty 1613 - Took control after Ivan died

  • 3 main groups: Church (tradition) boyars (power) royals (also power)

  • Peter I/Peter the Great 1682-1725 - Fought against the Streltsy (elite military group), and disbanded them into the regular army. Called the Defender of Orthodoxy, but later lost their support bc of his reforms. Made provinces, giving the officials there salaries, and a senate

Centralizing Control in the Ottoman Empire

• Devshirme 14th-16th centuries - Originated from slavery (considered tribute), Christian boys were forcibly conscripted into the government or military.

  • Janissaries - elite military group, taught to be loyal to the sultan. Soon became a sort of social mobility, despite, well, slavery

Centralizing Control in East and South Asia

Japan

• Powerful daimyos used gunpowder weapons to reunify Japan

  • Tokugawa Ieyasu 1600-1616 was one of them, controlled, Edo (Tokyo, the center of power). Declared shogun in 1603, and started the Period of Great Peace, led to the Tokugawa shogunate

    • Reorganized Japanese government into a feudal system, and had daimyo in control

Mughal Power in South Asia

• Akbar 1556-1605 

  • Expanded the empire, & formed an efficient bureaucracy & fair laws => strong central government.

  • Zamindars - Gov. officials who were in charge of taxes, water supply, and construction. First paid salaries, and then land + some of the local peasant taxes

    • Became corrupt after Akbar’s rule, keeping more taxes to create their own loyal army

Legitimizing Power through Religion and Art

• St. Petersburg - Russian port capital built in a grid pattern (unlike Moscow, ect.) Peasants and POW were conscripted into labor. The Winter Palace was built to show Peter’s respect for Europe

• Askia the Great of Songhai - Promoted Islam to legitimize rule and unify Songhai. Denounced Sunni Ali as a heretic.

• Shah Jahan - Build different monuments like the Taj Mahal (his wife’s tomb). Islam + local cultures to make beautiful architectural structures

• Ottoman Architectural and Artistic Achievements - Legitimized rule, like the Suleymaniye Mosque. Istanbul was a center of the arts, where scholars & artists from the world gathered. Restored buildings of Constantinople (eg. Saint Sophia). Well known for tiny paintings and lit manuscripts

• French Architecture - Versailles became a political tool - nobles were entertained there to prevent rebellions

Financing Empires

Russia

• Tried to get money from state owned industries: shipyards, iron mines; and private ones: metallurgy, woodwork, gunpowder, leather, paper & mining

  • Didn’t get enough money for military campaigns, so taxes were raised & peasants forced to work

Ottoman and Mughal

• Tax farmed the peasants to fund their military - corrupt tax farmers skimmed money (like the zamindars). Agricultural villages had to take care of the military => economic decline

Ming Dynasty

• Private citizens/wealthy families collected taxes in their own region, low tax rate

  • Collected grains for surplus or military, or silver, salt, wine ect. Overspending & rebellions led to bankruptcy

Tributes

• Demonstrated power/authority via allegiance or respect

  • Examples: Korea => China, Conquered ppl => Aztecs, Niger valley => Songhai

Belief Systems

Protestant Reformation

• European governments became centralized => church ran into problems

  • Corruption increased, like indulgences (reform movements didn’t help)

  • Split between different “branches” of religion (eg. translating the Bible to a common vernacular/English)

• Lutheranism - Started by Martin Luther - Roman Catholic Church//Holy Roman Empire

  • Claimed Church practices (Indulgences & simony) were against the Bible

    • 95 theses - challenged the Church & argued for faith alone for salvation - no money

  • The Church didn’t like that since they needed the money from indulgences, ect.

    • Luther was excommunicated, but German leaders took advantage and sided w/ Luther to get out of the Pope’s power

  • While women couldn’t become religious leaders (like Roman Catholic women) they could also “access God” => increased literacy

• Calvinism - John Calvin, French theologian

  • Broke off from the Catholic church ~1530

  • Believed in predestination, those who were predestined to go the heaven (elect) led

  • Puritans - a branch of Calvinism in England. All the branches of Calvinism led to the Protestant Reformation

• Anglicanism - Started by Henry VIII

  • Since he wanted a divorce to marry Anne Boleyn, the pope refused bc of Charles V (Holy Roman Empire emperor)

  • Started the Anglican Church that wouldn’t be controlled by the pope

The Orthodox Church and Reforms in Russia

• Charles V - Defended the Holy Roman Empire from the Protestant Reformation

• Peter the Great - Worked against the Orthodox Church

  • Holy Synod - clergy that answered to the tsar

  • Age req for men to become monks were raised, so there would be more soldiers

Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation

• Counter-Reformation tactics

  • Increased Inquisition, which tortured “nonbelievers”

  • Jesuits converted more people in Japan, India, & the Spanish Empire

  • Council of Trent 1545-1563 reformed some of the Church’s practices, & published the Index of Prohibited Books

• Catholicism was still dominant in Western Europe (French, Spanish & Portuguese colonies)

• After Charles V abdicated (1555), Philip II took over Spain, and tried to convert England only for his Spanish Armada to be defeated

Wars of Religion

• Religious divide led to various wars, like between the Lutherans and Holy Roman Empire => Peace of Augsburg, German states could choose to be Catholic or Lutheran

• France - Edict of Nantes, provided religious tolerance in France. Once it was revoked ~1685, many people left, taking with them important technological knowledge

• Thirty Years’ War - War between Catholics & Protestants, caused lots of destruction

  • Peace of Westphalia - Each region could choose Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism, giving each country more autonomy, some establishing their independence

Islamic Religious Schisms

• Ottoman Empire - Byzantine Empire’s Justinian Law was replaced by sharia

• The Safavids - Shah Ismail unified the empire with Shi’a Islam

• Mughal Toleration and Prosperity - Akbar practiced religious tolerance, giving funds and land to Hindus, Muslims, and Catholics

  • Sikhism - Hinduism + Sufism, monotheistic but was tolerant of other religions

  • To try to reconcile the two, Akbar gave Hindus more rights, like Jizya exemption

  • Successful ruler, but never managed to convert Hindus & Islamic subjects to Din-i Ilahi

Scientific Revolution

• The Renaissance led to developments in science 

  • Empiricism - data needed for a hypothesis (Francis Bacon)

Comparison in Land-Based Empires

Military

• Soldiers - Used to control territories

  • Ottomans & Safavid leaders had enslaved soldiers as a security measure against troops who were more loyal to their tribe/governor. (Janissaries/Ottoman, Ghulams/Safavid). This practice was called the blood tax

• Warfare - Ottoman/Safavid Empire fought for territory, and bc of religion (Sunni/Shi’a)

Centralized Bureaucracy

• Taxes:

  • Mughals - Had zamindars collect taxes

  • Ottomans - Tax farmers, paid themselves with the money they collected

  • Aztecs - Tributes, like human sacrifices

  • Ming dynasty - After counterfeiting of paper money, collected “hard currency,” rice and then silver coins