AP World History: Unit 1 - Global Tapestry Full Review
Unit 1: Global Tapestry (Circa 1200-1450)
Introduction to State Building
Time Period: Circa 1200 to 1450.
Core Concept: Understanding how major civilizations around the world built and maintained their states.
Definition of "State" (AP World History context): A territory that is politically organized under a single government (e.g., United States, Japan).
China: The Song Dynasty
Dynasty in Power: Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Note: Exact dates are for context, not memorization for the exam.
Maintaining and Justifying Rule:
Emphasis on Confucianism:
Neo-Confucianism: A revival of Confucian philosophy from the preceding Tang Dynasty.
Key Change: Sought to remove Buddhist influence, which had become significant in prior centuries.
Core Idea: Society is hierarchical. There are prescribed orders for everything (above/below: citizens to state, women to men, juniors to elders, children to parents).
Harmony: Achieved when those below defer to those above, and those above care for those below.
Filial Piety: Emphasized the necessity for children to obey and honor parents, grandparents, and deceased ancestors. This strongly unified Chinese society.
Place of Women in Song China: With the Neo-Confucian revival, women were relegated to a subordinate position.
Legal Restrictions: Property became husband's property; widowed or divorced women could not remarry.
Social Restrictions: Limited access to education.
Foot Binding: Practice among elite circles where young girls' toes were bent and bound until broken, making walking difficult or impossible. This was a status symbol, indicating the husband was wealthy enough for his wife not to work.
Expansion of the Imperial Bureaucracy:
Definition of Bureaucracy: A hierarchical government entity that carries out the emperor's will (makes sure rules are followed).
Growth: The Song bureaucracy expanded significantly, aiding state maintenance.
Civil Service Examination: Eligible men had to pass this exam, heavily based on Confucian classics, to get bureaucratic jobs.
Significance: Jobs were earned based on merit, not connections.
Reality: Theoretically open to all socioeconomic statuses, but in practice, studying required wealth to forego work.
Influence on Neighboring Regions:
Chinese traditions influenced Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
Example (Korea): Adopted a similar civil service examination system and officials, and Buddhism.
Buddhism in Song China:
Origin: India, spread to China before the Song Dynasty.
Teachings:
Four Noble Truths: Life is suffering; suffering from craving; cease suffering by ceasing craving; cease craving by living a moral life (Eightfold Path).
Shared Beliefs (with Hinduism): Reincarnation (cycle of death and rebirth), Nirvana (dissolving into the oneness of the universe).
Changes/Branches as it Spread:
Theravada Buddhism (e.g., Sri Lanka): Practice largely confined to monks and monasteries, with a focus on individual enlightenment.
Mahayana Buddhism (e.g., East Asia): Encouraged broader participation; Bodhisattvas (enlightened beings) aimed to help others achieve enlightenment. These new forms arose from interaction with local cultures.
Song China's Economy:
Prosperity & Population Growth: Inherited from Tang and Sui dynasties, which the Song further increased.
Population doubled between the 8^{th} and 10^{th} centuries.
Commercialization: Manufacturers and artisans produced more goods than consumed, selling excess in domestic and Eurasian markets.
Significant Trade Goods: Porcelain and silk.
Agricultural Innovations: Led to population explosion.
Champa Rice: Introduced from the Champa Kingdom. It matured early, resisted drought, and could be harvested multiple times a year, leading to more food and babies.
Transportation Innovations: Facilitated economic growth.
Grand Canal Expansion: Improved trade and communication across China's regions.
Summary: Song China experienced significant prosperity and stability.
Dar al-Islam (House of Islam)
Definition: Refers to all places where the Islamic faith was the organizing principle of civilizations.
Major Religions Present:
Judaism: Ethnic religion of the Jews, centered on the Torah and Hebrew Bible.
Christianity: Extension of Judaism, centered on Jesus Christ's teachings, life, death, and resurrection.
Islam: Related to Judaism and Christianity; Prophet Muhammad claimed to be the final prophet. Salvation found in righteous actions (almsgiving, prayer, fasting).
Monotheistic: All three believed in one God (unlike, for example, Hinduism).
Shift in Muslim Political Dominance:
Decline of Abbasid Caliphate: Centered in Baghdad, ethnically Arab, began to lose power by 1200.
Rise of Turkic Muslim Empires: As Abbasid power waned, new Islamic political entities arose, dominated by Turkic peoples, not Arabs.
Examples: Seljuk Empire, Mamluk Sultanate, Delhi Sultanate.
Seljuk Empire (Illustration): Established in 11^{th} century Central Asia by Turkic pastoralists. Hired by Abbasids for military help but recognized Abbasid weakness and established their own empire.
Note: The Mongols later sacked Baghdad in 1258, definitively ending the Abbasid Caliphate's political power, though they retained religious figurehead status.
Continuities in New Turkic Empires:
Military administration of states.
Establishment of Sharia law (legal code based on the Quran).
Cultural and Scientific Innovations: Dar al-Islam, along with Song China, was a global center of scholarship and wealth.
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi: Muslim scholar, advanced mathematics, invented trigonometry.
Preservation of Greek Philosophy: Muslim scholars translated and commented on works of ancient Greek luminaries like Plato and Aristotle (e.g., at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad).
Significance: These Arabic translations preserved knowledge crucial for the European Renaissance's rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts (circa 15^{th} century).
Expansion of Muslim Rule: Occurred in three main ways across Afro-Eurasia:
1. Military Expansion: Establishment of empires like the Seljuk, Mamluk, and Delhi Sultanate.
2. Traveling Merchants: Muslim rule in North Africa stimulated trade. West African empires (e.g., Mali) converted to Islam partly for increased access to trade networks in Dar al-Islam.
3. Missionary Activities of Sufis: A new sect of Islam emphasizing mystical experience, highly adaptable to local beliefs, which facilitated widespread conversion (e.g., in South Asia).
South and Southeast Asia
Dominant Religions (Vying for Influence): Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.
South Asia (India):
Buddhism: In long decline by 1200, mainly confined to monastic communities in Nepal and Tibet.
Hinduism: Remained the most widespread religion.
Islam: Became the second most important and influential religion with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, making it the religion of the elite and spreading throughout Southeast Asia.
Bhakti Movement (within Hinduism):
Origin: Southern India.
Innovation: Emphasized devotion to one specific Hindu god, moving away from traditional polytheistic Hinduism's complex hierarchies and sacrifices.
Impact: Became appealing to ordinary believers and challenged existing social and gender hierarchies.
Southeast Asia: Predominantly Buddhism and Islam.
State Building in South Asia:
Delhi Sultanate: Muslim rulers in Northern India faced difficulties imposing a total Muslim state on the majority Hindu population.
Hindu Resistance:
Rajput Kingdom: Collection of rival and warring Hindu kingdoms in Northern India that resisted Muslim rule.
Vijayanagara Empire (established 1336): A major Hindu kingdom in the South, founded by former Hindus who had converted to Islam under pressure but reverted once away from Muslim overlords. This empire was a counterpoint to Muslim rule in the North.
State Building in Southeast Asia: Diverse sea-based and land-based empires, influenced by China and India.
Sea-Based Example: Majapahit Kingdom (Java, 1293-1520):
A powerful Buddhist kingdom controlling sea trade routes, not necessarily through naval power but by strategic location.
Decline: Began when China supported its trading rival, the Sultanate of Malacca.
Land-Based Example: Khmer Empire:
Religion: Founded as a Hindu kingdom, later leadership converted to Buddhism.
Angkor Wat: A magnificent temple complex (originally Hindu, later integrated Buddhist elements) symbolizing religious continuity and change over time.
The Americas
Major Population Centers by 1200: Mesoamerica and Andean civilization.
Mesoamerica: The Aztec Empire:
Founding: Established in 1345 by the Mexica people.
Capital: Tenochtitlan, the largest city in the Americas before European arrival.
Expansion: By 1428, formed an alliance with two other states for aggressive expansion.
Administration: Created an elaborate system of tribute states.
Requirements: Conquered peoples provided labor and regular contributions of goods (food, animals, building materials).
Religion: Enslaved people from conquered regions were often candidates for human sacrifice, a major part of Aztec religion.
Rule: Primarily decentralized; Aztecs largely left conquered states alone if tribute was provided.
Andean Civilization: The Inca Empire:
Birth: Early 1400s, stretched across the Andean Mountain Range.
Integration: Incorporated land and languages of older Indian societies.
Administration: Far more intrusive than the Aztecs, with an elaborate bureaucracy and rigid hierarchies of officials.
Requirements: Adopted the Mita system, requiring all peoples under their rule to provide labor for state projects (farms, mining, military service, construction).
Rule: Highly centralized (contrast with decentralized Aztecs).
North America: Mississippian Culture:
First Large-Scale Civilization: Grew around the fertile Mississippi River Valley, focused on agriculture.
State Building: Large towns politically dominated smaller satellite settlements.
Monumental Mounds: Known for human-built mounds, around which towns were organized.
Example: Cahokia people constructed a series of about 80 burial mounds, the largest nearly 100 feet tall.
Africa
East Africa: Swahili Civilization:
Nature: A series of cities organized around commerce along the East African coast.
Growth: Became influential through involvement in the Indian Ocean trade.
Political Structure: Each city was politically independent.
Social Hierarchy: Shared social hierarchy with merchant elites above commoners.
Influence of Muslim Traders: Deeply influenced by Muslim traders (some settled in Swahili states).
Language: Emergence of Swahili, a hybrid language of indigenous African Bantu languages and Arabic, demonstrating cultural intermingling.
Religion: Swahili states rapidly became Islamic, increasing their integration into the wider Islamic trade world.
West Africa:
Centralized Civilizations: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires.
Driven by Trade: Their growth was fueled by trade, leading to conversion to Islam (mostly among elites and government officials; majority population maintained indigenous beliefs).
Decentralized Civilizations: Hausa Kingdoms:
Nature: A series of city-states (like the Swahili states).
Culture: Shared common language and culture.
Trade: Grew powerful through trade, acting as brokers of the trans-Saharan trade (not sea-based).
Great Zimbabwe:
Capital City: Built between 1250 and 1450, covering nearly 200 acres, with a population of about 18,000.
Economy: Started with farming and cattle herding, shifted to gold due to increasing African and international trade, becoming exceedingly wealthy.
Key Contrast: Unlike many other African states (Swahili, Hausa), rulers and people of Great Zimbabwe maintained their indigenous shamanistic religion and never converted to Islam.
Kingdom of Ethiopia:
Growth: Flourished due to trade (especially with Mediterranean and Arabian Peninsula states).
Religion: Distinctive for being a Christian state in a region dominated by Islam and indigenous belief systems.
Power Structure: Hierarchical, with a monarch at the top and various class structures below, resembling other African hierarchical states.
Europe
Belief Systems: Dominance of Christianity, with other influences.
Eastern Christianity:
Byzantine Empire: Represented the eastern half of the Roman Empire, practicing Eastern Orthodox Christianity (declining during this period).
Kievan Rus: A new state that emerged, adopting Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 988, which united its people and connected them to Afro-Eurasian trade networks.
Western Christianity:
Roman Catholic Church: Dominated Western Europe, which was decentralized into tiny states after the fall of the Roman Empire (circa 5^{th} century).
Influence: Culturally linked every state, with a hierarchy of popes, priests, and bishops exerting significant influence over society, culture, and politics.
Other Influences:
Muslims: Conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8^{th} century.
Jews: Lived in smaller pockets, participated in commerce, but often faced anti-Semitism and persecution, keeping them at the outskirts of European life.
State Building and Power Maintenance:
Political Structure: Characterized by decentralization and political fragmentation (no large empires like in other parts of the world).
Feudalism: The main social, political, and economic order.
System: Powerful lords/kings gained allegiance from lesser lords/kings (vassals).
Exchange: Vassals received land from their lords in exchange for military service.
Manorialism: Organized European society and economics on a smaller scale.
Manor: A large piece of land owned by a lord, rented out to peasants who worked it.
Serfs: Working peasants bound to the land (not personal property like slaves, but tied to the manor even if the lord moved).
Power: Political and economic power was centered in the hands of land-owning lords (nobility).
Future Changes: After circa 1000 CE, monarchs began to grow in power, leading to increased state centralization, a process that would continue for centuries.