History Before 1200 C.E.: Human Development, First Civilizations, and Post-Classical Empires

Early Human Migrations and Paleolithic Development

• Arrival of Modern Humans: Modern Homo sapiens first appeared in East Africa between $200,000 \text{ B.C.E.}$ and $100,000 \text{ B.C.E.}$

• Survival Strategies: Early humans survived through hunting animals and foraging for seeds and edible plants.

• Social Structure:

  • Lived in small nomad groups, typically consisting of no more than a few dozen people.

  • Lacked permanent homes, moving constantly in search of food.

  • Social equality was common, though early forms of patriarchy (domination by males) were present.

• Technological and Cultural Advancements:

  • Adapted to diverse new environments, resulting in genetic and cultural differences.

  • Learned to control fire and manufacture stone tools.

  • Developed artistic expression through drawings and paintings.

• Religious Beliefs: Developed animism, a system of reverence for deities associated with nature, such as specific animals, mountains, or rivers.

• Global Expansion:

  • Between $100,000$ and $60,000$ years ago, humans began moving beyond East Africa, possibly due to the end of the last major ice age.

  • By $10,000 \text{ B.C.E.}$, humans populated every continent except Antarctica.

The Agricultural Revolution and Its Consequences

• Emergence: Around $8000 \text{ B.C.E.}$ ($10,000$ years ago), as the climate warmed following an Ice Age, humans began planting crops and raising animals for food. This originated in the Middle East.

• Food Surplus: For the first time, a portion of the population produced enough food to feed the entire group, leading to significant societal changes.

• Specialization of Labor: Specialization allowed individuals to focus on non-food producing activities, creating new roles:

  • Artisans: Focused on making tools and weapons.

  • Merchants: Engaged in the exchange of goods through trade.

  • Priests: Conducted religious rituals.

• Technological Innovations:

  • Improved irrigation systems for farming.

  • Invention and utilization of the wheel for transportation.

  • Transition from stone tools to metallurgy, specifically bronze and iron.

• Social and Governmental Impacts:

  • Population Growth: Settlements grew into larger cities.

  • Government and Taxation: Extensive governments formed to manage resources. The need for record-keeping regarding trade and taxes led to the invention of writing.

  • Social Stratification: Societies divided into classes based on wealth and occupation. Generally, the social status of women declined.

  • Conflict: Accumulation of wealth and competition for resources increased group conflicts, though governments offered peaceful ways to settle disputes between individuals.

The First Civilizations and River Valley Societies

• Characteristics: Large societies featuring cities and powerful states, typically located in river valleys with fresh water and fertile soil.

• Mesopotamia:

  • Located in modern-day Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

  • Developed city-states (independent states consisting of a city and surrounding territory).

  • Architecture: Built monumental ziggurats (religious temples).

  • Social/Religious: Highly patriarchal and polytheistic (belief in many gods).

  • Sumer: A southernmost region where cuneiform (the first written language) was invented to record taxes, trade, and laws.

• Egypt:

  • Located in the Nile River valley; highly centralized under a pharaoh.

  • Architecture: Built pyramids to demonstrate the pharaoh’s power.

  • Culture: Developed hieroglyphics and complex mathematics.

  • Status of Women: Allowed women to own property and maintain legal equality in court, providing higher standing than in other civilizations.

• Indus Valley:

  • Located in South Asia with major cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.

  • Features: Urban planning, indoor plumbing, and long-distance trade with Mesopotamia.

  • Language remains undeciphered, limiting historical clinical detail.

• China:

  • Located along the Huang He River in northern China.

  • Characterized by a highly patriarchal, centralized system and special honor given to ancestors.

• Non-River Valley Civilizations:

  • Olmec: Mesoamerica.

  • Chavin: Andes Mountains.

  • Both were complex societies with extensive trade networks.

Early Religious Developments: Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism

• Shift to Abstraction: Deities transitioned from being fixed in specific locations (animism) to abstract beings that could move with people. Monotheism (one supreme deity) began replacing polytheism.

• Hinduism:

  • Origins date back at least $3,500$ years with the migration of Aryans (Indo-European speakers) south of the Himalayas to Pakistan and India.

  • Scriptures: The Vedas.

  • Beliefs: Reincarnation (soul reborn many times) until liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. All deities are seen as expressions of one supreme deity.

  • Social Structure: The Vedas taught the Caste System, which organized society into sharp classes and prohibited social mobility, but provided social unification.

• Zoroastrianism: Developed in Persia; focused on human free will and an eternal battle between good and evil.

• Judaism:

  • Influential monotheism developed in and around modern-day Israel.

  • Traced to Abraham ($4,000$ years ago).

  • Covenant: A mutual promise between the Jewish people and their God (Yahweh).

  • Scripture: Codification of Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).

Buddhism and the Post-Classical South Asian Dynasties

• Buddhism:

  • Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (born $530 \text{ B.C.E.}$), a wealthy Hindu who left his life to seek the end of suffering.

  • Enlightenment: Known as the Buddha; taught that understanding the cause of suffering ends it.

  • Doctrines: The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path (meditation, reflection, and avoiding earthly pleasures).

  • Nirvana: The goal of ending the cycle of reincarnation.

  • Spread: Universalizing religion (sought converts) that spread via silk roads and the Indian Ocean. Popular among lower castes due to its rejection of the caste system.

• Mauryan Empire ($322 \text{ B.C.E.}$ – $187 \text{ B.C.E.}$):

  • Reached its peak under Ashoka, who built roads for commerce and used pillars to inscribe his edicts.

  • Ashoka converted to Buddhism, spreading the faith throughout India before the empire entered political decentralization.

• Gupta Empire (c. $320 \text{ C.E.}$ – c. $550 \text{ C.E.}$):

  • Known as the Golden Age of India with its capital at Pataliputra.

  • Medical Advances: Used inoculations to prevent disease.

  • Math Advances: Developed the numbering system $0$ through $9$ and the concept of place value.

  • Social/Religious: Strongly patriarchal, but supported Hinduism as a unifying force.

East Asian Governance, Philosophy, and Innovation

• Zhou Dynasty ($1076 \text{ B.C.E.}$ – $256 \text{ B.C.E.}$): Established the Mandate of Heaven, asserting that a universal force justified the rule of an emperor. Disasters like drought were signs a ruler lost this mandate.

• Confucianism:

  • Founded by Confucius (K'ung Fu-tzu) around $551 \text{ B.C.E.}$.

  • Analects: Teachings focused on education, virtue, respect for authority, and filial piety (honoring ancestors).

  • Emphasized a patriarchal social structure and harmony between people.

• Daoism: Focused on harmony with nature and internal reflection rather than external behavior.

• Qin Dynasty ($221 \text{ B.C.E.}$ – $207 \text{ B.C.E.}$): Standardized Chinese script, weights, and measures; built canals and roads to establish centralized control.

• Han Dynasty ($206 \text{ B.C.E.}$ – $220 \text{ C.E.}$):

  • Golden Age Innovations: Magnetic compass, paper, and the sternpost rudder.

  • Trade: Luxury items (silk, spices, tea) traded from Chang'an to the Mediterranean.

  • Civil Service Exam: Established a meritocracy by requiring students to analyze Confucian teachings to secure government bureaucracy jobs.

Civilizations of Western Eurasia: Persia, Greece, and Rome

• Persia (Achaemenid Empire):

  • Founded by Cyrus the Great around $559 \text{ B.C.E.}$.

  • Stretched from the Aegean Sea to India.

  • Characterized by religious toleration, provincial organization, and an efficient bureaucracy.

• Greece:

  • Divided into roughly $1,000$ city-states due to mountainous terrain and islands.

  • Religion: Polytheistic deities with human frailties, leading Greeks to believe they controlled their own destiny.

  • Sparta: Organized around a powerful military; used slaves and women to support soldier training.

  • Athens: Developed direct democracy for free adult males; Golden Age ($400\text{s B.C.E.}$) produced advances in theater, literature, and philosophy.

  • Hellenistic World: Formed by Alexander the Great in the $300\text{s B.C.E.}$ as his army spread Greek culture to Egypt and India.

• Rome:

  • Founded in $753 \text{ B.C.E.}$; borrowed Greek polytheism and relied on slavery.

  • Governance: Developed representative government and the concept "innocent until proven guilty."

  • Twelve Tables: Publicly displayed laws to check government power.

  • Engineering: Built aqueducts to transport water and large stadiums for entertainment.

  • Rights: Women had more rights than in Greece, including owning property and initiating divorce.

  • Decline: Faced corruption, over-extended military, and epidemics (smallpox and bubonic plague). Fell in $476 \text{ C.E.}$ after invasions by Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals.

Christianity and the Byzantine Empire

• Rise of Christianity:

  • Originated from Jesus, a Jewish leader executed by Romans. Followers called him the Christ (savior).

  • Attractive to the poor due to the promise of life after death.

  • Constantine: Legalized Christianity in the $4\text{th}$ century, making it the official religion of the Roman Empire.

  • Universalizing religion with monastic lifestyles for monks and nuns.

• Byzantine Empire:

  • In $330 \text{ C.E.}$, Constantine moved the capital to Byzantium (Constantinople).

  • Capital served as an entrepCt, trading cereals from Egypt and spices from the East.

  • Justinian the Great ($527$ – $565$): Constructed the Hagia Sophia and created the Justinian Code, a consolidation of Roman law used in Europe until the $19\text{th}$ century.

Classical and Early Post-Classical Civilizations in the Americas

• Teotihuacan: Located near modern-day Mexico City; population of $125,000$ by the $6\text{th}$ century. Featured grid streets and temples for the sun and moon.

• Mayans:

  • Peak period: $250 \text{ C.E.}$ to $900 \text{ C.E.}$ in Mesoamerica.

  • Intellectual Feats: Developed complex writing, an accurate calendar, and the concept of zero.

  • Decline: Environmental degradation, drought, and warfare led to the abandonment of cities by $900 \text{ C.E.}$.

• Mississippian Culture: Prospered between the $8\text{th}$ and $16\text{th}$ centuries. Cahokia (near St. Louis) was a major trade hub larger than London.

• Toltecs: Emerged in Mesoamerica in the $10\text{th}$ century; adopted Mayan practices and influenced the later Aztecs.

The Rise and Expansion of Islam

• Origin: Muhammad (7th century, Arabian Peninsula) reported revelations from Allah recorded in the Qur’an.

• Five Pillars: Belief in Allah, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca.

• Sharia Law: A code regulating religious and civic life with no distinction between the two.

• The Split (632 C.E.): After Muhammad’s death, a dispute over the successor (caliph) led to:

  • Sunnis: Believed the caliph could be any leader among the community (majority today).

  • Shi'as: Believed the caliph must be a blood relative of Muhammad (strongest in Iran and Iraq).

• Abbasid Caliphate ($750$ – $1258$):

  • Golden Age with capital in Baghdad. Developed algebra, improved the astrolabe, and built astronomical observatories.

  • Trade: Re-established Silk Road trade with Tang China and promoted Trans-Saharan trade.

  • Policy: Taxed non-Muslims (jizya) for religious toleration. Ended female infanticide and improved women’s property rights.

Post-Classical Eurasia, Africa, and the World in 1200

• Sui Dynasty ($581$ – $618$): Re-unified China and built the Grand Canal ($1,000$ miles), connecting the agricultural south to northern population centers.

• Tang Dynasty ($618$ – $907$): Expanded into Mongolia and Vietnam. Invented gunpowder and paper money. Developed fast-ripening rice and the tributary system (surrounding kingdoms paying tribute for trading rights).

• Song Dynasty ($960$ – $1279$): Meritocracy expanded. China became the leading producer of iron, steel, and porcelain. Neo-Confucianism became popular.

• Japan: Feudal system developed with the Shogun (military general), Daimyos (landowners), Samurais (warriors), and peasants. Shinto was the native religion, often practiced alongside Buddhism.

• Africa:

  • Bantu Migrations ($1000 \text{ B.C.E.}$ – $1500 \text{ C.E.}$): Spread farming techniques, iron-working, and language.

  • Ghana: Profit from taxing Trans-Saharan gold and salt trade; converted to Dar al-Islam via merchants.

  • East Africa: Swahili coast linked to the Indian Ocean network; exported gold, ivory, and enslaved people.

  • Great Zimbabwe: Dominated the southeast from the $12\text{th}$ to $15\text{th}$ centuries.

• Europe in the Post-Classical Age:

  • Decline of Western Rome led to decentralization (fiefdoms and duchies), while Eastern Rome (Byzantine) flourished.

  • Christian Split (1054): Divided into Roman Catholic (West) and Orthodox (East).

  • Crusades (1095): Unsuccessful military attempts to seize Jerusalem from Islamic control, but increased European interest in Asian technology and intellectual advances.

• Global Overview in 1200:

  • Trade networks (Silk Road, Indian Ocean, Trans-Saharan) connected Africa, Europe, and Asia.

  • China and Dar al-Islam were centers of innovation.

  • The Americas and Oceania remained isolated from Afro-Eurasia.

  • The 13th century would see major disruptions from Central Asian nomads (Mongols), and 1492 would mark the start of global reshaping through European voyages.