Exam Review Flashcards

Exam Review

Why 1200?

Islam is dominant in the Middle East & North Africa.
Mongols dramatically affect trade routes, cross-cultural integration, & technology exchanges.

Why 1450?

Cut off before the world becomes globally connected – European exploration.

Big Picture Snapshots of This Time Period

Trade increases on the Silk Road, Indian Ocean, and Trans-Saharan routes – Silk, Sand, Sea.
Technology increases trade – Saddles, ships, gold.
Trade impacts new cities (Swahili City States, Timbuktu) – Major cities are made by trade.
Examples of major cities:
- Calicut
- Malacca
- Tenochtitlan
- Baghdad

Major Empires and Civilizations

Islam dramatically affects history – Consider the breadth of the empire.
Mongols – Largest land empire in history.
Western Europe turns feudal and is compared to feudal Japan – Decentralized.
Byzantine Empire – Highly centralized.
China and its second golden age (Sui, Tang, Song dynasties).
Aztec and Inca comparison in the Americas – Not connected to global trade – Will receive the Europeans.
Mali in Africa.
Oceania – Polynesian migrations.

Catalysts of Change During This Time Period

Catalyst = something that causes a change.
- Islam
- Schism in Christianity
- Manufacturing in Song China
- Chinese and Middle Eastern technology
- Mongols
- Camels
- Black Death

Comparisons

Justinian Code/Hammurabi's Code
Aztecs/Incas
Turks/Vikings/Mongols
Eastern/Western world development

Islam, Part 1

Islam symbol (crescent moon).
Monotheistic religion like Judaism and Christianity – Super-monotheistic – Challenges Christianity as being really monotheistic.
Accepts Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as prophets – Accepts prophets of the past (Jesus was a prophet).
Joins Buddhism and Christianity as a universalizing religion (easily adapted to other cultures).
Islam means “submission” – Muslim means “one who submits”.
Started by Muhammad (600s).
Place of worship: Mosque.
Holy book: Koran.

Five Pillars

Prayer (5 times).
Fasting during Ramadan (Holy month).
Give charity.
Confess there is one God.
Make a trip to Mecca (Pilgrimage) – Moves people to a new place – Makes lots of interactions.
Mansa Musa from Mali (Africa)
- Goes to Mecca and gives tons of gold.
- Turns Mali (Timbuktu) into a great Muslim learning city.
Ibn Battuta (Morocco)
- Went to Mecca, all over Muslim areas.
- Can compare him to Marco Polo.
By 711, (80 years) Islam reaches both India and Spain – Think of how far that is.
Spread by merchants, missionaries, and conquering due to weaker surrounding areas.
Dar Al Islam
- House of Islam – Islam is not just in one area, the house is everywhere.
- Territory of Islam includes the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain.
When Muhammad dies, Abu Bakr is named Caliph (in charge of Muslim religion and government).
- Ali becomes Caliph.
- Sunni (majority) Muslims must select the next Caliph.
- Shia (minority) Caliph must be related to Muhammad.
Spread to Southeast Asia by Indian Ocean trade.
- Indonesia is the most populated Muslim country in the world today.
Islam is a perfect example of religious diffusion.

Islam, Part 2

Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE).
- First Islamic Dynasty.
- Islam expands and the capital is Damascus.
- Spiritual capital is always Mecca.
- All Islamic areas share Arabic Language.
Jizya is a tax on non-Muslims used in Islamic empires.
- “Head tax”.
- Shows religious tolerance.
Al-Andalus:
- Means “Islamic Spain”.
- Spanish Muslims = “Moors”.
- Mosque at Cordoba, Spain great example of diffusion of culture.
- Center of Islamic learning with free education, medicine, and preservation of Greek and Roman learning.
- Later turned into a Christian church.
- Really good example of diffusion.
Charles Martel defeated Muslims at the Battle of Tours.
- Islam was moving through Spain and into France.
- What if Muslims won?
- Would you be Muslim today?
Followed by the Reconquista.
- Catholic Church made all Jews and Muslims get out of Spain.
- Very different than Jizya, right?
Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE).
- Golden Age of Islam.
- Capital moves to Baghdad.
- Other major cities:
  - Cordoba, Spain and Cairo, Egypt
- Trade flourishes on Silk Road.
- Credit used by merchants
  - Bills, receipts
  - Helps trade grow
- Abbasid = Trading and Learning.
- Accomplishments include: Arabic numerals, advancements in algebra, geometry and trigonometry, perfection of the astrolabe, astronomical observatories, optic surgery, medical encyclopedias, and literature like the Arabian Nights.
Arabesques
- Mosques use of geometric patterns
- No pictures
- Never pictures of Muhammad (against Koran)
Mosques
- 4 minarets
- Towers where someone goes to the top and calls for prayer five times a day
Sufis
- Mystical Muslims
- Mix of Islam with tribal religions
- Spread a lot of Islam
Women in Islam
- Better treatment under the Quran
  - Equal protection under religion
  - Not like Hinduism (women not getting moksha)
- Society takes a lot of those protections away
  - Harem, 4 wives,
  - Veiling
  - Show patriarchal society

Byzantine Empire and Western Europe, Part 1

Byzantine Empire
- Eastern part of the Roman Empire
- Why split? Too big to rule
- Other part is Holy Roman Empire
  - West falls to the Goths (476)
- East will survive until 1453
Justinian (Most important Byzantine Emperor)
- Gotta compare Justinian’s Code to Hammurabi’s
- Influenced later law codes
- Builds Hagia Sophia (church)
  - Converted to mosque by Muslims
- Started making silk
  - Outside of China
- Well defended by walls, forts
Highly centralized while western Europe is very decentralized
1054 Holy Roman Church splits with Byzantine Church (Great Schism)
- Because of icons used by Byzantine Church
- Becomes the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Compare Schism to Sunni/Shia split and Catholic/Protestant split (Luther)
Eastern Orthodox Church
- Icons
- Bible in vernacular
- Priests could marry
- Compare all of that to Luther
Huge influence on Russia
- EO moves to Russia after Muslims take over
- Moscow becomes “Third Rome” (After Rome and Constantinople)
Comparison of European and Japanese feudalism:
- Knight/Samurai
- Chivalry/Bushido
- Lords/Daimyo
- Women in Europe mainly midwives and healers/ Some Japanese Samurai
  - European women were damsels in distress, in the home
- SEPPUKU! (Hari-kiri) – ritual suicide if you dishonor the daimyo
- Chivalry only for knights, bushido for men and women

Byzantine Empire and Western Europe, Part 2

Western Europe
- Decentralized government but centralized religion
- Glue that holds it together
- Gothic Architecture
  - Tall spires, flying buttresses, stained glass
  - Pointing up to God, look @ heaven
- Churches
  - Places of learning
  - Not allowed to dissect like Muslims
  - Banned by Church
Crusades:
- Catholic Church wants to get the Muslims out of Holy Lands
- After 1054 Schism
- Wants to show that the Church was powerful and together
- Wouldn't let Muslims hurt the Church like EO did
- Won the first Crusade, lost all the others
- Began in 1095 CE, tried but failed to bring unity to the Christian world
- Lasting impact was the return of knowledge from the Middle East to Europe
  - Antiquity works
  - Astrolabe, compass
  - Will spark the Renaissance
Black Death:
- Began in China and spread through trade routes
  - Silk Roads
  - Big part of spreading disease
  - Mongols played a big part
- Killed 1/3 of European population (circa 1348 CE)
- Collapses feudalism because serfs become more valuable
Nation states develop:
- England: Magna Carta -1215 and Parliament – King can’t raise taxes without consent of ppl
- Germany and Italy are city-states (NOT COUNTRIES UNTIL 1880s)
- France: 100 Years War – ENG v. FR over ENG taking FR land
  - FR wins with help of Joan of Arc
- Spain: Ferdinand and Isabella, Reconquista and their use of Catholicism
  - Country completely based on religion
- Russia: Mongol Horde eventually lose power, Moscow emerges
Economics
- Hanseatic League
  - North Sea (Atlantic) trading alliance of countries
  - Leads Netherlands and England to become strong due to trade
- Reasons why Europe is lifted from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance
  - Gunpowder, longbow, Crusades, Marco Polo’s Travels, Black Death and the Printing press.

China

Spread of Buddhism from India to China, Korea and then to Japan
Xuanxang – Chinese monk who visited India
- Brought back teachings of Buddhism to China
- Traveled 17 miles
- Still hailed as a hero today
Song Dynasty:
- Iron manufacturing makes China manufacturing giant of the world at this time
- Largest cities in the world
- Golden Age of innovation with the compass and printing
- Neo-Confucianism combines both Buddhism and Confucianism
- Foot binding shows patriarchal society
Yuan Dynasty – Mongol rule in China (prejudice towards the Chinese )
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE) – Kicked out the Mongols and Chinese culture reemerges

Japan & India

Japan
- Shinto
- Feudal Japan and Feudal Europe comparison
- Shogun held all the power while the Emperor was a figurehead
India
- Delhi Sultanate
  - Islamic rule in Northern India
  - Hinduism remains a constant especially in Southern India

600 to 1450 CE: The Mongols

Mongol Must Know Information:
- Largest continuous land empire in world history
- Loss to Japan (tsunami) in East
  - JPN never attacked again until 1945
  - Thought gods protected them with Kamikaze (Divine Winds)
- Ogedei died in Austria in West
  - All Mongols have to return to Mongolia to choose new Khan
Nomadic and pastoral
- Stunts Mongol culture (religion, written language etc)
- Because without crops, culture is harder to foster
- Think of culture as flowers growing in a garden
  - No garden = no flowers
Facilitated the 3rd Golden Age of the Silk Road (Pax Mongolica)
- Mongol peace
- Religiously tolerant
- Government = meritocracy
  - High positions come from good works, (nepotism) not who you know
Mongol Khanates
- Golden Horde- Russia
- China- Yuan dynasty
  - Forbade the Chinese from marrying Mongols and learning the Mongol language
Important Mongols
- Genghis Khan (Chinggis)
  - Started it
  - Kahn means “Ruler of the universe”
- Ogedei Khan
  - Genghis’ son
  - Died in Austria
- Kublai Khan
  - Genghis’ grandson
  - Focused on taking China
  - Yuan Dynasty
  - Receives Marco Polo

Africa

Two areas where Christianity remained in Africa was Egypt and Ethiopia
- Coptic Christianity
Remember gold and salt as the major products of Africa
- Salt for flavor and to replenish your body from sweating
- See, it’s hot in Africa and you sweat a lot.
East Africa
- Swahili is a mixture of Bantu and Arabic language
- Swahili city-states thrived due to trade (gold, salt, ivory)
  - Kilwa, Mombasa, Sofala, Mozambique
Trans-Saharan trade
- Camel saddle in the 300s CE and the motivation of gold accelerated trade
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Bantu migrations
  - Iron technology, farming techniques, influence of language
Stateless societies (kinship groups)
- Civilizations without formal governments (IMPORTANTE`!)
Diffusion of bananas from Malaysia increases population
- Major food
Ghana
- Islam and Gold
Mali
- Sundiata
- Mansa Musa (pilgrimage)
- Mosque at Jenne-Jenno
Songhai
- Sonni Ali (Founder)
- Took large area
- Took Timbuktu

The Americas & Oceania

Americas
- Llama: only large domesticated beast of burden
  - Kept Americas from large scale agriculture and trade
    - Plows, transportation
- Lack of agriculture stunts culture growth
  - See Mongols
Aztec (1200 – 1500)
- Capital Tenochtitlan
- Central Mexico (Mexico City)
- Expansionistic, warriors prized
- Very capitalistic
  - Trade encouraged by government
  - Few trade restrictions
- Chinampas showed agriculture advancement
  - Floating gardens in lakes
  - Like growing plants on lily pads
- Like Mongols, collected tribute from conquered groups
Incas (1200 – 1500)
- In Peru
- Major city: Machu Picchu
- No written language (Quipu instead)
  - Like Mongols
- Terrace farming
  - Because the land was mountains
- Expansionistic
- Established a bureaucracy unlike the Aztecs
- State controlled all commerce (communistic)
- Like Romans, built many roads and bridges
Oceania
- Polynesian migrations (600 CE)
  - Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii and New Zealand
  - People migrating around these areas
  - Not connected to the rest of the world
- Agricultural and fishing based
- Regional kingdoms established