Becoming "The World" 1000-1300 CE: Comprehensive Study Notes

Global Storylines and Themes of the World: $1000-1300\,CE$

• The Maritime Revolution: Advances in ship design and navigation technology led to a significant increase in sea trade. This transformation turned coastal cities into global trading hubs and elevated Afro-Eurasian trade to levels never seen before. By the $10^{th}$ century, sea routes had eclipsed land routes for trade.
• Emergence of Cultural Spheres: Intensified trade and religious integration shaped four major cultural "spheres":     * The Islamic world.     * India.     * China.     * Europe.
• Sub-Saharan African and American Integration: Sub-Saharan Africa was drawn into the Eurasian exchange, creating a true Afro-Eurasia-wide network. Conversely, the Americas experienced more limited political, economic, and cultural integration during this period.
• The Mongol Empire: The Mongols integrated many of the world’s major cultural spheres through conquest and rule over large territories.
• Key Themes of "Becoming The World":     * Trade along sea-based routes increased, leading to the expansion of coastal cities (entrepôts).     * Greater integration and trade generated the primary cultural spheres.     * The Mongol Empire dominated large portions of these spheres.     * Afro-Eurasia became unified through trade, migration, and religious conflict.

Development of Maritime Trade and Commercial Hubs

• Technological Advances in Navigation:     * Magnetic Needle Compass: Crucial to the maritime revolution; invented by the Chinese. It allowed for sailing during cloudy weather and made mapmaking both easier and more accurate.     * Navigational Aids: Improved aids, mapmaking, and shipbuilding refinements facilitated expanded trade.     * Shipbuilding Refinements: New ship types including Dhows (Indian Ocean), Junks (South China Sea), and Cogs (Atlantic/Baltic). These vessels could carry significantly more cargo than porters or animal-drawn wagons.     * Political Support: New political backing for shipping interests emerged.
• Major Commercial Entrepôts:     * Alexandria and Cairo (Egypt): Main maritime commercial centers for the Mediterranean. Numerous Muslim and Jewish firms operated here. The Islamic legal system helped create a favorable trade environment. Primary commodities included silk yarn and textiles.     * Quilon (now Kollam): Located on the Malabar Coast of India.     * Melaka (Malaysia): Strategic location near tropical produce such as herbs, spices, and agrarian staples. Served as a hub for traders, artisans, and sailors.     * Quanzhou and Guangzhou (Canton): Located in China. These cities featured an Office of Seafaring Affairs, which taxed, registered, and examined cargo, sailors, and traders. The Governor hosted an annual ritual to summon favorable winds. These cities contained places of worship for Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.
• Trade Commodities: Significant goods included textiles (specifically Zaytuni or satin from Quanzhou), paper, books, and sacred texts.

The Islamic World in a Time of Fragmentation

• Religious Demographic Shift: Muslims became the majority in the Abbasid Empire during the $9^{th}$ and $10^{th}$ centuries.
• Political Fragmentation and Diversity: Rulers struggled to unite a diverse Muslim world that included large non-Muslim populations. The Jizya tax was applied to non-Muslims, and there was intense proselytizing.
• The Rise and Fall of Shiism:     * Between $950\,CE$ and $1050\,CE$, Shiism appeared to be the vehicle for uniting the Islamic world.     * Fatimid Shiites: Controlled Egypt and North Africa.     * Abbasid State: Baghdad was controlled by a Shiite family.     * Universities in Cairo and Baghdad ensured the leading centers of higher learning were Shiite.
• Sunni Challenge and Geographic Fractures: Sunni Muslims challenged Shiite power. Baghdad eventually surrendered to a Sunni regime from Egypt, mainly composed of Turks who migrated to the heartland. By the $13^{th}$ century, the Islamic core had three regions:     * East: Remnants of the Abbasid state under caliphs.     * Core: Arabic remained the primary language, but military men of non-Arabic origin ruled.     * North Africa: Arab rulers with Berber influence.
• Caliphate Definition: The Chief Muslim ruler.
• The Influence of Sufism:     * Definition: A highly mystical and communal popular form of Islam.     * Practices: Involved rituals and poetry, notably by Jalal al-Din Rumi ($1207-1273\,CE$).     * Social Impact: Appealed through emotional content and strong social bonds (brotherhoods and missionaries). Although the Ulama (religious scholars) often despised Sufis, it helped Islam become "the religion of the people."
• Evolution of Islam: Originating as a religion for Arab peoples, by $1300$, it spanned Afro-Eurasia. Persian became the language of philosophy and art, Turkish the language of law/administration, while Arabic remained the language of religious devotion. The Ottoman Empire began to establish itself as a dominant force.

India: A Cultural Mosaic and the Delhi Sultanate

• Demographics: India possessed the second-largest population in the world during this period, behind China.
• Political and Social Order:     * Prior to Turkish arrival, India was splintered among Rajas (local rulers).     * Rajas supported the Brahmans, who used the opportunity to spread their faith.     * Turkish warlords like Mahmud of Ghazna and Muhammad Ghuri successfully invaded.     * Turks introduced their own customs but accepted local structures, including the Varna (caste) system.
• The Delhi Sultanate ($1206-1526$):     * Brought political integration and strengthened cultural diversity and tolerance.     * Sultans did not force subjects to convert; consequently, Islam never fully dominated South Asia.     * Permitted local areas to develop commercial life independently.
• Hinduism and Buddhism:     * Vedic Brahmanism evolved into Hinduism, absorbing doctrines from Buddhism (e.g., considering Buddha a Hindu deity).     * Following the Turkish invasion in the $13^{th}$ century and the destruction of monasteries, Buddhists were often assimilated into Hinduism or converted to Islam.
• Identity: India served as a mosaic of cultures, religions, and ethnicities where Turks became assimilated while retaining Islamic beliefs.

Song China: Commercial and Manufacturing Revolutions

• Political Transition: After the Tang dynasty split in $907\,CE$, Zhao Kuangyin ended the fragmentation in $960\,CE$, establishing the Song dynasty ($960-1279$) under the Mandate of Heaven.
• Agrarian Roots and Metalworking: The commercial revolution was driven by new technology like stronger iron plows.
• Manufacturing Revolution:     * Foundations of the world's first manufacturing revolution producing consumer goods.     * Gunpowder: Developed in the early $10^{th}$ century.     * Porcelain: Song artisans produced lighter, more durable, and more beautiful porcelains.
• Economic Innovations:     * Minting: The government created currency (specifically coin making).     * Flying Cash: The world’s first paper money, initially an experiment by merchants. The government eventually printed notes to pay bills, leading to runaway inflation.
• The Scholar-Official Class:     * Power shifted from hereditary aristocratic elites to a class of highly schooled scholar-officials.     * Civil Service Exam: Competitive exams used to choose the central bureaucracy. Emperor Taizu administered the final palace exam.     * Bureaucrat: A government official who enforces government procedures and rules.
• Regional Responses and Identity:     * Japan: Maintained a distinctive identity; defined by Samurai warriors by the $14^{th}$ century.     * Khmer Empire ($889-1431$): Capital at Angkor (Cambodia); featured public works and temples for Vedic gods, influenced by Indian Buddhism.     * Han Identity: Chinese identity crystallized as "Han," viewing outsiders as "barbarians."     * Print Culture: The most advanced in Afro-Eurasia. Produced medical texts, calendars, and a range of books through a private publishing industry.

Christian Europe: Manorialism and the Crusades

• Localization of Power: Power was intensely localized, yet there was an increasing belief in "Europe" as an entity.
• Manorialism: A manor-based economy and social structure where the manor was the basic unit of power, driven primarily by agriculture with limited manufacturing.
• Migration: Approximately $200,000$ peasants migrated to European frontiers to escape feudal lords.
• Russia and Byzantium: Kiev became one of Europe’s greatest cities. Russian Christians looked toward Eastern Orthodoxy and Byzantium rather than Roman Catholicism.
• Church and University:     * Christianity became a universalizing faith; parish churches were built extensively.     * The clergy (notably the Franciscans) became involved in private life, making marriage and divorce church matters.     * First universities formed; scholars like Thomas Aquinas (Summa contra Gentiles) sought to prove Christianity as the only rational religion.
• The Crusades: Late $11^{th}$ century attacks against the Muslim world.     * First Crusade ($1095$): Called by Pope Urban II for the warrior nobility to seize Jerusalem.     * Just War: A concept where war served as a means for absolution of sin.     * Mobilization: In $1097$, $60,000$ men (knights and impoverished masses) moved to seize Jerusalem.     * Outcome: Nine Crusades over two centuries; no lasting Christian kingdoms were created, and the conflict hardened Muslim feelings against Western "Franks."
• Expansion in Southern Europe: Successful Christian expansion included the Spanish Reconquista ($100,000$ square miles added) and the conquering of Muslim-held Sicily, shifting Mediterranean power.

Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas

• The Mali Empire: A $13^{th}$ century Mande successor to Ghana.     * Epic of Sundiata: Celebrates the triumph of cavalry over foot soldiers.     * Mansa Musa (r. $1312-1332$): Performed a famous Hajj to Mecca through Cairo, displaying incredible wealth in gold and proving Islam's reach below the Sahara.     * Cities: Jenne (ancient commercial entrepôt) and Timbuktu (founded $1100\,CE$ as a camp; became a thriving intellectual and religious center by the $14^{th}$ century).
• East Africa and Indian Ocean Trade:     * Swahili Peoples: Coastal brokers for trade between the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, and India.     * Gold: Mined by Shona-speaking peoples between the Limpopo and Zambezi Rivers; funded Great Zimbabwe.     * Slavery: Slave trade flourished under Islam; the Quran attempted to mitigate severity by requiring kind treatment. The Zanj rebellion occurred in the $9^{th}$ century.
• The Americas:     * Chimú Empire: The first empire in South America ($1200-1460s$), based in the Andean region. Featured the city of Chan Chan ($30,000$ inhabitants) with complex irrigation for cotton.     * Toltecs: Based in Mesoamerica (capital Tula, peak population $60,000$); maize-based economy and giant pyramid temples.     * Cahokians: Located in North America; population of $15,000$ (similar to contemporary London). Known as "mound people" and acted as a commercial center for regional trade.

The Mongol Transformation

• Society: Forest and steppe peoples who functioned as a perpetual standing army.     * Military Skills: Used heavy compound bows, rode small sturdy horses, and could travel up to $70$ miles a day.     * Social Structure: Expanded through kinship networks; women were vital in child-rearing, logistics, and battle, often sealing alliances through marriage exchange.
• Conquest and Rule:     * Began in $1206$ under a united cluster of tribes led by Chinggis (Genghis) Khan (Supreme Ruler).     * Expanded across the Great Wall into China, westward to Afghanistan and Persia, and into Korea ($1231$).     * Armies reached the Pacific Ocean and the Adriatic Sea, touching all four major Afro-Eurasian cultural spheres.

Questions & Discussion

• Educational Materials: The following videos were used in class to supplement the lecture:     * Understanding the Origins of the Middle East: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNlhcUJzKN0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZdvciII9RY.     * Mali king Mansa Musa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3YJMaL55TM.     * The Mongols: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szxPar0BcMo.