AP World History Unit 1 Notes

State-Building & Maintenance

  • State: An organized political community under one government (country, empire, nation, etc.).

Song Dynasty (960-1276 CE)

  • Maintained and justified rule through:
    • Revival of Confucianism (Neo-Confucianism): Legitimacy from ancient Chinese history.
    • Imperial bureaucracy: Men had to pass the Civil Service Exam based on Confucian classics to be part of the bureaucracy.
  • Confucianism:
    • Society is hierarchical (superiors and inferiors).
    • State superior to citizens; men superior to women.
    • Harmony depended on maintaining proper relationships.
    • Filial piety: Children obey/honor parents, grandparents, and ancestors.
  • Continuity and Innovation:
    • Continuity: Confucianism as state philosophy and Civil Service Exam began in Han Dynasty (202 BCE - 220 CE).
    • Continuity: Large bureaucracy began in Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE).
    • Innovation: Neo-Confucianism.
  • Women in Song China:
    • Subordinate position with limited legal rights.
    • Could not own property or remarry.
    • Limited access to education.
    • Footbinding became popular in elite social circles.
  • Influence on Neighbors:
    • Korea: Adopted civil service exam and Buddhism.
  • Buddhism:
    • Four Noble Truths: Acknowledge suffering exists, caused by desire/craving.
    • Eightfold Path: Way to stop suffering.
    • Reincarnation: Ultimate goal is nirvana through enlightenment.

Forms of Buddhism

  • Theravada Buddhism: Original form; monks lived in monasteries for enlightenment.
  • Mahayana Buddhism: New form that traveled to East Asia; encouraged broader participation, bodhisattvas helping achieve nirvana.
  • Chinese cultural traditions influenced neighboring regions.

Song Dynasty Economy

  • Strong economy due to prosperity inherited from Sui and Tang Dynasties.
  • Population doubled between 8th and 10th centuries.
  • Commercialization: Goods like porcelain and silk sold across Eurasia.
  • Grand Canal expansion facilitated trade.
  • Agricultural Innovation: Champa Rice.
    • Drought resistant, early-maturing crop.
    • Increased food availability, leading to population increase.
  • Silk and Porcelain Production:
    • Relied on free peasant labor (silkworms) and artisanal labor (textiles & ceramics).
  • Iron and Steel Production: Centers all over the country.
  • Chinese Tribute System:
    • Countries acknowledged China’s superiority for trade rights.
    • Champa rice introduced to China from Vietnam via Tribute System (8th-11th c. CE).
    • Japan, Korea, and Vietnam adopted practices like Confucianism (filial piety) and Mahayana Buddhism.

Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE)

  • Connection between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity:
    • Practiced in Dar al-Islam.
    • Prophet Mohammad claimed to be the final prophet in line of God’s messengers from Jewish/Christian scriptures.
    • All three were monotheistic.
  • Decline:
    • By 1200, began to break up and lose power.
    • In 1258, Baghdad conquered by Mongols which was their end.
    • Dominated by ethnic Turks, not Arabs.
  • Seljuk Empire:
    • Turks from Central Asia used by Abbasids to support failing state.
    • Created their own empire, becoming dominant force.
    • Other Turkic Muslim states: Delhi Sultanate in South Asia and Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt (started by slave soldiers).
  • Borrowed Practices: Sharia law (legal code based on Quran).

Intellectual Innovations of Dar al-Islam

  • Nasir al-Din al-Tusi invented trigonometry.
  • Preservation of Greek philosophical works (Plato, Aristotle) in House of Wisdom (Baghdad), translated into Arabic, which were eventually brought back to Europe.
  • Expansion of Islamic World (1200-1450):
    • Military expansion (Seljuks, Mamluks, Delhi Sultanate).
    • Muslim merchant travels (Empire of Mali in West Africa).
    • Missionaries like Sufis (allowed for some local belief).

South and Southeast Asia Religions

  • South Asia:
    • Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism.
    • Buddhists mostly reduced to monastic communities by c. 1200.
    • Most people were Hindu.
    • Bhakti Hinduism: Devotion to one Hindu god; challenged social/gender hierarchies.
    • Delhi Sultanate made Islam the religion of the elite.
  • Southeast Asia:
    • Buddhism and Islam.
    • Islam more widely practiced; Buddhism established in states like Thailand and Cambodia.

New States in South and Southeast Asia

  • Delhi Sultanate:
    • Northern India; Muslims ruling Hindu majority.
    • Rajput kingdoms held them back from conquering more land.
  • Vijayanagara Empire:
    • Hindu kingdom formed by brothers who previously converted to Islam to serve Delhi Sultanate.
    • Rivaled Delhi Sultanate.
  • Majapahit Kingdom:
    • On Java; Buddhist kingdom controlling sea routes for trade.
    • Declined when China supported rival Sultanate of Malacca.
  • Khmer Empire:
    • Began as Hindu Empire, leadership adopted Buddhism.
    • Art and architecture (Angkor Wat) reflect both faiths.
  • Diasporic Communities:
    • Merchants from South Asia formed diasporic communities when trading in Southeast Asia, spreading Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.
    • Governments adopted these religions to build relationships with trade partners and for internal control.

State Building in the Americas

  • Aztec Civilization:
    • Founded in Mesoamerica in 1345 by the Mexica; capital Tenochtitlan.
    • Expansion began in 1428, creating a large empire.
    • Decentralized rule.
    • Conquered people paid tribute (goods or labor), were enslaved and sometimes sacrificed.
  • Inca Empire:
    • Elaborate bureaucracy controlled conquered territories in the Andean region.
    • Mit’a system: Labor for state projects (farms, mining, military service, construction).
    • Highly centralized rule.
  • Mississippian Culture:
    • Located in North America, Mississippi River Valley; focused on agriculture.
    • Larger towns controlled smaller ones.
    • Mound builders; Cahokia people built 80 burial mounds up to 100 feet tall.

State Building in Africa

  • Swahili Civilization (East Africa):
    • City-states grew powerful due to Indian Ocean Trade.
    • Politically independent but influenced by merchants from Dar al-Islam.
    • Swahili language: Combination of Bantu and Arabic.
  • West African Empires (Ghana, Mali, Songhay):
    • Powerful and highly centralized, grew due to trade with Dar al-Islam.
    • Elites converted to Islam, most subjects held indigenous beliefs.
  • Hausa Kingdom (West Africa):
    • Decentralized city-states, like Swahili civilization.
    • Shared common culture, grew powerful through trans-Saharan trade.
  • Great Zimbabwe (Southern Africa):
    • Capital built between 1250-1450; massive structures; population of 18,000.
    • Wealthy due to trade, farming, cattle herding; main source of wealth was gold trade.
    • Rulers and people maintained indigenous shamanistic faith, never adopted Islam.
  • Ethiopia (East Africa):
    • Grew due to trade with Mediterranean and Arabian peninsula.
    • Monarch and strict hierarchy.
    • Christians.

Developments in Europe

  • Belief Systems:
    • Christianity dominated.
    • Byzantine Empire (East): Orthodox Christianity, shared with Kievan Rus by 988.
    • Roman Catholic Church (West): Most powerful entity; bound region together culturally after fall of Rome/rise of decentralized states.
    • Muslims: Primarily in Iberian Peninsula (conquered in 8th century).
    • Jews: Minority group facing anti-Semitism (persecution).
  • Feudalism:
    • Political system of decentralized Europe where powerful lords/kings gained allegiance from lesser lords (vassals).
    • Vassals got land in exchange for military service.
  • Manorialism:
    • Economic system of decentralized Europe where peasants were bound to the land in exchange for lord’s protection.
    • Serfs: Tied to the land, not property of lords, but could not leave without permission.