Unit 1: The Global Tapestry - Key Terms
Confucianism
Confucianism is an ethical belief system, not a religion, that profoundly shaped Chinese thought for over 2,000 years. Originating from the teachings of Confucius (551-479 BCE), it aimed to restore order and moral living. His teachings were compiled by his disciples in the Analects.
Confucianism, along with Daoism and Legalism, arose during the tumultuous Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty.
The core tenets of Confucianism, emphasizing duty and public service, became central to Chinese society and politics, influencing East Asia, including Korea and Japan.
Key concepts include:
Ren: Appropriate feelings, such as humanity, kindness, and benevolence.
Li: Correct actions, including propriety, courtesy, respect, and deference to elders.
Xiao: Filial piety, or respect for family obligations.
Confucius believed societal order is achieved when individuals understand their roles and relationships:
Ruler to subject
Father to son
Husband to wife
Older brother to younger brother
Friend to friend
Historical Relevance: The Song Dynasty (960-1279) utilized Confucianism and an imperial bureaucracy to legitimize and maintain its rule.
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a concept central to the Chinese view of government, dating back to the Zhou Dynasty (1027-221 BCE). Dynasties used it for 3,000 years to legitimize their rule.
The ruler, or emperor, was considered the "Son of Heaven," chosen by the supreme deity and maintained divine favor through wise and just governance.
Prosperity and stability indicated divine favor, ensuring the dynasty's continuation. Corruption, violence, arrogance, insurrection, and natural disasters signaled divine displeasure and the loss of the mandate.
A rival clan's successful rebellion and seizure of power was seen as proof of their receipt of the Mandate of Heaven.
Historical Relevance: The Song Dynasty of China utilized the Mandate of Heaven to maintain and justify its rule during the 13th century.
Merit-Based Civil Service System
The merit-based civil service system, dating back to the Han Dynasty, was a systematic method for Chinese dynasties to select educated and competent bureaucrats.
China's pioneering model was the world's first, predating modern systems by centuries.
Candidates studied Confucian classics extensively, often through rote memorization, to qualify for rigorous examinations involving essay writing over several days in secure facilities.
Administrators were expected to rule through enlightened leadership, modeling proper behavior. Confucian texts were the basis of China’s educational system.
Top performers were selected as government bureaucrats, with higher exam scores leading to more prestigious positions, such as imperial advisor or provincial supervisor.
Selection was based on merit rather than familial connections.
Historical Relevance: The merit-based civil service system was a key method employed by the Song Dynasty of China, utilizing Confucianism and an imperial bureaucracy, to maintain and justify its rule during the 13th century.
Scholar-Gentry
The scholar-gentry comprised individuals who successfully navigated the merit-based civil service system.
Approximately 100 men were selected for high government positions each year, with more in provincial roles.
These individuals held significant power and often enriched themselves and their families through their positions.
While theoretically open to any male, successful candidates often came from wealthy, aristocratic families who could afford years of scholarly education.
During the Song Dynasty, the growing wealth of the merchant class allowed some of their sons to enter the civil service.
The system was fairly merit-based by the Song Dynasty, particularly compared to earlier dynasties like the Han and Tang.
Historical Relevance: The scholar-gentry was integral to the Song Dynasty’s use of Confucianism and bureaucracy to maintain its rule during the 13th century.
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was strong but weakening at the beginning of this course c. 1200.
The late Song Dynasty had a large population, approximately 120 million people (two-thirds residing in the Yangzi Basin), representing 25-30% of the world’s total, within a region of about 1,000 miles north to south and east to west.
Its downfall was attributed to:
An expensive and massive bureaucracy that was difficult to reform.
Distrust of the military, leading to scholar-bureaucrats commanding armies.
This resulted in northern nomads controlling China's north, forcing the Song to move the capital south to Hangzhou.
Kublai Khan and the Mongols toppled the Song Dynasty in 1279.
Historical Relevance: The Song Dynasty of China demonstrated continuity, innovation and diversity in the 13th century but fell to the Mongols in 1279.
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is a syncretic belief system designed to reinvigorate Confucianism by incorporating aspects of Buddhism and Daoism.
It emerged after a backlash against Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty, including an attempt to ban the religion in the 9th century.
Confucian scholars criticized Buddhism's celibacy, which clashed with Confucian values on family, and the large, tax-exempt landholdings of Buddhist monasteries.
The persistence of Buddhism led Confucian scholars to integrate Buddhist and Daoist ideas to appeal to a broader audience.
This cultural innovation impacted surrounding regions like Korea and Japan.
Historical Relevance: Neo-Confucianism was a Chinese cultural tradition that influenced neighboring regions c. 1200-1450 and beyond.
Filial Piety
Filial piety is respect for family obligations, a key tenet of Confucianism tied to ancestor veneration.
Ancestor veneration involves the belief that spirits of dead ancestors can materially affect a family’s fortunes.
Led by the male head of the family, descendants buried ancestors with material goods and diligently tended to graves, conducting ceremonies and rituals, often involving animal sacrifice.
Ancestor veneration promoted family solidarity and good behavior.
Filial piety demands children respect parents and grandparents, provide for their welfare in old age, and honor them after death, never dishonoring the family name.
Historical Relevance: Filial piety was a Chinese cultural tradition that continued and influenced neighboring regions c. 1200-1450.
Confucian Attitudes Toward Women
Confucianism accorded women honor and power within their families as mothers and mothers-in-law, but advocated their subservience to men at all societal levels.
Women were expected to manage the household effectively through self-discipline, humility, chastity, good etiquette, and maintaining proper relationships with in-laws.
Admirable women were unselfishly loyal to their husbands and willing to self-sacrifice for the family's good. Women held no standing until they produced male offspring.
During the Song Dynasty, attitudes became more patriarchal, with increased concubinage and widespread foot binding, especially among aristocratic women.
Foot binding: tightly wrapping girls' feet to deform them, rendering them unable to walk.
Originated among slave dancers in the Tang court but became a status symbol during the Song Dynasty.
Elite families began the process as early as age 5, while less wealthy families waited until their daughters were teenagers.
Nearly universal among elite families due to societal rejection of women with unbound feet. Less common among poorer populations where female labor was needed.
Historical Relevance: Confucian attitudes toward women were part of a Chinese cultural tradition that continued and influenced neighboring regions c. 1200-1450.
China's Tributary System
China’s tributary system was a formal set of practices where non-Chinese states acknowledged Chinese superiority.
Embassies from states like Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Tibet, nomadic confederations, and later European states traveled to the Chinese court.
Foreign representatives sought access to Chinese knowledge and markets, solidifying China as a center of culture and commerce influencing surrounding regions.
Foreigners performed the kowtow and presented tribute (valuable products and gifts) to the Chinese emperor, who reciprocated with gifts and bestowals, sometimes of greater value than the tribute.
This system regulated foreign relations without war, ensured access to Chinese markets, and conferred prestige and official titles to foreign rulers, who remained independent in their own lands.
Historical Relevance: China’s tributary system was a key mechanism through which it influenced neighboring regions c. 1200-1450 and beyond.
The Spread of Chinese Scholarly Traditions to Heian Japan and Korea
The Chinese written script was adopted and adapted by surrounding lands including Korea, Japan and Vietnam.
The Heian period of Japanese history (794-1185) saw literature imitating Chinese models and written in Chinese. Notably, Japanese boys from elite families learned Chinese, studied Chinese classics, and conducted official business in Chinese.
Japanese literary figures wrote histories and treatises in Chinese style. Japanese writing reflected Chinese influence, borrowing Chinese characters and adapting them into a syllabic script.
Heian Japan absorbed Confucian and Buddhist traditions from China but retained Shinto, its indigenous religion centered on ancestor veneration and nature spirits.
Korean scholars in tributary embassies studied Chinese thought and literature, returning with copies of Chinese writings that spread Confucian and Buddhist ideas.
Formal writing in Korea was done in Chinese until the late 19th century.
Historical Relevance: The spread of Chinese literary and scholarly traditions to Heian Japan and Korea were illustrative examples of how Chinese cultural traditions influenced neighboring regions c. 1200-1450 and beyond.
Branches of Buddhism
Buddhism was founded in India by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha (c. 563-483 BCE).
The Buddha taught that anyone can reach nirvana by following the Eightfold Path, or Middle Way.
Different branches and beliefs developed as the belief system spread from India to Central, East, and Southeast Asia.
Theravada Buddhism
The Buddha is not considered a god.
Emphasizes meditation, simplicity, and nirvana as renunciation of human consciousness and self.
Demanding branch, popular in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
Mahayana Buddhism
The Buddha is a godlike deity.
Includes other deities, such as bodhisattvas.
More complicated and ritualistic than the Buddha intended.
Widely practiced in China, Korea, and Japan.
Tibetan Buddhism
A form of Mahayana Buddhism that emerged in Central Asia.
Incorporates elements of shamanism.
Practiced in Tibet, Central Asia, Mongolia, southern Siberia, and surrounding areas of the Himalayas.
Historical Relevance: Buddhism and its core beliefs continued to shape societies in Asia c. 1200-1450 and included a variety of branches, schools, and practices.
The Economy of Song China
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was considered a “golden age,” the most developed, technologically advanced, cosmopolitan, and prosperous country in the world.
Featured the world’s largest cities, at least five with populations over 1 million, including the capital of Hangzhou, and nearly 50 more cities with at least 100,000.
The most commercialized economy:
A flourishing merchant class grew substantially.
The world’s first fully monetized economy, with paper money, silver coins, and credit.
Most major inventions from the first to the 15th centuries came from China. Song innovations included:
The magnetic compass for naval navigation.
The sternpost rudder.
The spinning wheel.
Printing technologies such as moveable type.
Huge ships called junks, which were nearly 500 feet long, featured four decks and up to 12 masts, watertight compartments and capable of carrying 1,000 crewmen and 1,000 tons of cargo
Foreign trade focused on maritime networks. Merchants traded around the Indian Ocean, reaching Persia, India, Egypt, and East Africa.
Historical Relevance: The economy of Song China became increasingly commercialized while continuing to depend on free peasant and artisanal labor during the 13th century.
Fast-Ripening Rice (aka “Champa Rice”)
Tang armies extended China’s borders to the south into Vietnam, where they encountered a drought-resistant variety of rice (Champa rice) capable of producing two crops in a single growing season.
This fast-ripening rice was introduced to southern China.
The resulting agricultural surplus provided the foundation for Tang and Song economic development and sustained massive urbanization.
Historical Relevance: Fast-ripening rice was an innovation in agriculture that helped the economy of Song China to flourish during the 13th century.
Expansion of the Grand Canal
The Grand Canal is a manmade waterway linking the Yellow River in northern China with the Yangzi River in southern China.
Its beginnings date to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), completed during the Sui Dynasty (581-618).
Expanded during the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, serving as the backbone of the Chinese economy for over a millennium.
Facilitated transportation and communication across the country.
The expansion led to the discovery of vast deposits of kaolin clay, or white clay, which led to refinements in China’s highly prized porcelain products.
Historical Relevance: The expansion of the Grand Canal helped the economy of Song China to flourish as a result of expanding trade networks and innovations in manufacturing during the 13th century.
Song Steel and Iron Production
Iron and steel production increased greatly during the Song Dynasty.
Chinese craftsmen discovered they could use coke instead of coal to fire their high-temperature furnaces and produce superior grades of metal.
Iron and steel were used in:
Construction projects involving large structures such as bridges and pagodas.
Tens of millions of iron arrowheads for imperial armaments manufacturers.
Numerous tools, weapons, stoves, ploughshares, cooking equipment, nails and other building materials.
Historical Relevance: Song steel and iron production was an illustrative example of how innovations in manufacturing helped the economy of the Song Dynasty to flourish during the 13th century.
Song Textiles and Porcelain for Export
From Central Asia to southeast Asia, and from India to Persia and the port cities of the Swahili Coast in east Africa, wealthy merchants and rulers wore Chinese silk and set their tables with Chinese porcelain.
By the Song Dynasty, many peasants were moving away from subsistence farming to artisanal manufacturing by hand silk, porcelain and other goods for domestic and export markets, using their profits to buy fruits, vegetables and rice cultivated by others.
Historical Relevance: Song textiles and porcelain for export were illustrative examples of how the economy of Song China became increasingly commercialized while continuing to depend on free peasant and artisanal labor during the 13th century.
Dar al-Islam
Dar al-Islam, meaning “the house of Islam,” refers to the Muslim world, or all the lands under Islamic rule.
During the 13th century, its extensive geographic reach included Spain (al-Andalus), North Africa, West Africa, East Africa’s Swahili Coast, the Middle East, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia.
It encompassed many ethnicities, languages, and religions, including Jews and Christians. Muslims lived by sharia law, which promoted cultural unity.
The ulama (scholarly class) and qadis (judges) were in demand by rulers across the Dar al-Islam due to their knowledge of sharia law.
The Dar al-Islam was fairly tolerant of other religions, but non-Muslims could not proselytize and had to pay a tax called the jizya.
Historical Relevance: The Dar al-Islam was shaped by the core beliefs and practices of Islam and shaped societies across Africa and Asia c. 1200-1450.
Hajj
The hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, requiring all Muslims to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives.
It occurs each year during the second week of the final month in the Islamic lunar calendar.
It demonstrates the solidarity of Muslims worldwide and was a major unifying characteristic of the Dar al-Islam.
Historical Relevance: The hajj was among the core beliefs and practices of Islam that shaped societies across Africa and Asia c. 1200-1450.
Seljuk Empire
Within the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258), the Seljuk Turks took control of Baghdad.
The Seljuks extended their authority to Syria, Palestine, and Anatolia.
Abbasid caliphs remained nominal sovereigns, but Seljuk sultans held true power for two centuries before the arrival of the Mongols in 1258.
Historical Relevance: The Seljuk Empire, which was dominated by Turkic peoples, was a new Islamic political entity that emerged as the Abbasid Caliphate fragmented, and it demonstrated continuity, innovation and diversity into the 13th century.
Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt
Mamluks were Turks captured in battle as boys and raised as warriors.
They ruled Egypt independently of Abbasid control, replenishing their ranks with new slaves trained in military arts.
In 1260, the Mamluks stopped the Mongol advance after they destroyed Baghdad.
The Mamluk sultanate existed until conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517.
Historical Relevance: The Mamluk sultanate of Egypt, which was dominated by Turkic peoples, was a new Islamic political entity that emerged as the Abbasid Caliphate fragmented, and it demonstrated continuity, innovation and diversity c. 1200-1450.
Delhi Sultanate
The sultanate of Delhi was established in the early 13th century by successors to Mahmud of Ghazni.
Mahmud plundered and demolished Hindu and Buddhist sites in northern India in the early 11th century, hastening the decline of Buddhism.
His successors conquered northern India, establishing their capital in Delhi from 1206 to 1526.
Their control outside of Delhi was tenuous.
The sultanate built mosques, shrines, and fortresses but imposed only a thin veneer of Islamic authority, relying on tribute collection and Hindu princes.
Lacked control over its own court, as 19 of the 35 sultans were assassinated.
Historical Relevance: The Delhi Sultanate, which was dominated by Turkic peoples, was a new Islamic political entity that emerged as the Abbasid Caliphate fragmented, and it was an illustrative example of how Muslim rule continued to expand to many parts of Afro-Eurasia due to military expansion c. 1200-1450.
Sufis
Sufis were mystics who were effective missionaries for Islam.
They led ascetic, holy lives devoted to kindness, tolerance, and devotion to Allah.
They encouraged individuals to revere Allah in their own ways, tolerating pre-Islamic customs and association of Allah with other faiths' deities.
They attracted numerous converts in Persia, India, and Southeast Asia.
Historical Relevance: Sufis, along with merchants and missionaries, were a key reason why Islam expanded to many parts of Afro-Eurasia c. 1200-1450.
Muslim Advances in Mathematics
Arab and Persian scholars adopted Indian numerals, calling them "Hindi" numerals, which Europeans later adopted and mistakenly named "Arabic" numerals.
An example equation is:
Indian numerals simplified bookkeeping for Muslim merchants, who no longer needed an abacus.
Indian numerals allowed Muslim scholars to develop algebra, trigonometry, and geometry.
Algebra began with a 9th-century textbook in Baghdad explaining "the art of bringing together unknowns to match a known quantity."
Historical Relevance: Muslim advances in mathematics was an illustrative example of the significant intellectual innovations and transfers that were encouraged by Muslim states and empires c. 1200-1450.
Muslim Advances in Literature
Arabic was the language of religion, theology, philosophy, and law, while Persian was the language of literature, poetry, history, and political reflection.
Themes of bravery, love, generosity, and hospitality persisted in Muslim poetry, often praising the Prophet Muhammad and later caliphs.
Stories from India and Persia were collected in The Thousand and One Nights, popular literature about a king who marries a new wife each day until he marries a young woman who tells him fascinating tales for a thousand and one nights.
Because the Quran forbids idolatry, many artists turned to calligraphy.
Historical Relevance: Muslim advances in literature was an illustrative example of the significant intellectual innovations and transfers that were encouraged by Muslim states and empires c. 1200-1450.
Muslim Advances in Medicine
Muslim scholars drew upon medical knowledge from Greece, Syria, and India to produce advanced medical knowledge.
Muslim surgeons used opium for anesthesia, removed kidney stones and eye cataracts, extracted and replaced teeth, and distinguished smallpox from measles.
They diagnosed diabetes, rabies, diphtheria, and hay fever.
Arab doctors ran the world’s first and best hospitals in Baghdad, instituted traveling clinics, and the first examinations for physicians and pharmacologists.
Historical Relevance: Muslim advances in medicine was an illustrative example of how Muslim states and empires encouraged significant intellectual innovations and transfers c. 1200-1450.
Muslim Preservation of Greek Philosophy
Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs encouraged scholars to collect and translate scientific and philosophical texts, including those by Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle.
Western Europe may have lost touch with these works following the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Muslim scholars used logic to prove religious maxims, creating a body of Muslim literature commenting on Greek philosophical texts.
Historical Relevance: The Muslim preservation of Greek philosophy was an illustrative example of how Muslim states and empires encouraged significant intellectual innovations and transfers c. 1200-1450.
House of Wisdom
The House of Wisdom was the most prominent Islamic research institution built by Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.
Staffed by scholars translating Greek, Syrian, Sanskrit, and Persian works into Arabic.
Included schools, observatories, and a huge library.
Other institutes were established elsewhere in the Dar al-Islam.
Historical Relevance: The House of Wisdom was an illustrative example of how Muslim states and empires encouraged significant intellectual innovations and transfers c. 1200-1450.
Scholarly and Cultural Transfers Resulting from the Crusades
The Crusades were a series of unsuccessful wars launched by Christian crusaders to recapture Palestine.
Europeans were introduced to scholarly and cultural insights and innovations transferred by Muslims.
Knowledge of how to manufacture paper.
Knowledge of new foods and spices, including pasta.
Techniques for cultivating and refining sugar using slave labor.
Advances in mathematics, medicine, and the preservation of Greek philosophy.
Europeans, becoming more curious and willing to borrow from distant lands, were awakened to the wider world of Eurasia.
Historical Relevance: Scholarly and cultural transfers resulting from the Crusades included those significant transfers between Muslim states and empires and the Christian West from the late 11th to the 14th centuries.
Bhakti Movement
The bhakti movement was a South Asian cult of love and devotion that sought to erase the distinction between Hinduism and Islam.
Emerged in southern India in the 12th century.
Rejected exclusive features of both religions, teaching that Shiva, Vishnu, and Allah were manifestations of a single, universal deity.
Failed to harmonize Hinduism and Islam.
Historical Relevance: The bhakti movement was an illustrative example of the practices of Hinduism and Islam shaping the societies of South Asia c. 1200-1450.
Buddhist Monasticism
A monk is a person who has taken vows of poverty and nonattachment to the material world, monasteries are living and working places for monks and nuns.
Earliest monasteries emerged after mendicant followers of the Buddha left their families to meditate and apply the Buddha’s teachings to everyday life.
Monks taught townspeople in exchange for food.
Monasticism is criticized in some religions but is a feature of other religions as well, such as Christianity and Hinduism.
Monks observed roughly 250 rules of the monastic code regulating daily life, with expulsion for life from the monastic order for violating four specific rules:
Having sexual relations
Taking or ordering the taking of life
Taking something as one’s own that has not been given freely
Making claims regarding one’s spiritual attainments, powers or degree of enlightenment
Emperor ordered closure of monasteries and the return to secular life of the monks. Because the monasteries had become wealthy.
Historical Relevance: Buddhist monasticism was among the core beliefs and practices of Buddhism, which continued to shape societies in South and Southeast Asia c. 1200-1450.
Srivijaya Empire
The Srivijaya Empire was a maritime and commercial empire in Southeast Asia that flourished between the 7th and the 13th centuries in what is now Indonesia.
Its power was based on control of international sea trade through the Strait of Malacca.
Originally adhered to Mahayana Buddhism and became a stopping point for Chinese Buddhist pilgrims on their way to India.
Later states promoted Hinduism before rulers converted to and promoted Islam, establishing the Sultanate of Malacca beginning in the 15th century.
Historical Relevance: The Srivijaya Empire was an illustrative example of a Buddhist and later Hindu state that emerged in Southeast Asia and demonstrated continuity, innovation and diversity in the centuries leading up to the 13th century.
Rajput Kingdoms
Rajput kingdoms were Hindu kingdoms in central and northern India, and what is now eastern Pakistan.
Origins date probably to the 6th century and the breakup of the Gupta Empire.
Biggest obstacles to complete Muslim dominance over northern and central India, beginning with the 11th-century invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni.
Historical Relevance: Rajput kingdoms were among the Hindu states that emerged in South Asia and demonstrated continuity, innovation and diversity c. 1200-1450.
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was a powerful state in Southeast Asia from 802 to 1431, covering what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and southern Vietnam.
The Khmer promoted mostly Hinduism, but also Buddhism, and were great builders of monumental temples (including Angkor Wat), reservoirs, canals, roads and bridges, and hundreds of hospitals.
Economic prosperity stemmed from sophisticated irrigation and drainage systems, which allowed for the harvesting of several rice crops annually.
Most commerce was apparently in the hands of women, which brings up an important distinction about Southeast Asia generally, when compared to China: women had a much more prominent role in public life.
Suffered from frequent conflict with neighboring peoples and battles over succession whenever a king died.
Historical Relevance: The Khmer Empire was among the Hindu and Buddhist states that emerged in Southeast Asia and demonstrated continuity, innovation and diversity c. 1200-1450.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex that is the world’s largest religious monument, built in Cambodia for the Khmer Empire.
Covering more than 400 acres, Angkor Wat was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu but was transformed into a Buddhist temple by the end of the 12th century.
Historical Relevance: Angkor Wat was a feature of the Hindu and Buddhist states that emerged in Southeast Asia and demonstrated continuity, innovation and diversity c. 1200-1450.
Maya City-States
The Maya were the earliest heirs to Mesoamerica’s “mother civilization” – the Olmecs, who thrived through much of the first millennium BCE – from about 300 to 900 CE
City-states were the fundamental political organization of this civilization occupying a region in southern Mexico that included the Yucatan Peninsula, and more southern lands including modern-day Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador
At its height, roughly 600-800, the center of Mayan power was Tikal, a wealthy and bustling city of approximately 40,000 people with numerous plazas, temples, pyramids, palaces and public buildings … and the surrounding region of city-states under Tikal’s control may have had a population of more than 500,000
Mayan kingdoms fought constantly, and captives of neighboring kingdoms were displayed as trophies and often became slaves or underwent ritual torture and sacrifice in public ceremonies; interestingly, the object of the warfare was more for the gathering of slaves than for the conquest of land
Mayan society featured:
kings and ruling families at the top, and a large class of priests who maintained an elaborate, very precise calendar and were the keepers of the society’s knowledge of writing (the Americas’ most flexible and sophisticated system of writing that included ideograms and symbols for syllables), astronomy and mathematics (independent of mathematicians in India, they invented the concept of zero and a symbol to represent it
a hereditary nobility that owned most land and organized military forces in support of the kings
merchants trading mostly in exotic or luxury goods (rare animal skins, cacao beans, finely crafted works of art) and serving a political role as ambassadors to neighboring lands with which they traded … professional architects and sculptors overseeing construction of large monuments … and artisans specializing in pottery, tools and cotton textiles
at the bottom, large classes of peasants and slaves providing the labor for agriculture and the building of monuments
The Maya believed, according to their creation myth Popol Vuh, that the gods had created human beings out of maize and water (thus reflecting, like Eastern societies, the central role of agriculture in their lives), and these gods expected honor and reverence from their human subjects … so the Maya participated in ritual bloodletting and human sacrifice so the gods would bring rain to water their crops of maize
Historical Relevance: Maya city-states were an illustrative example in the Americas, as in Afro-Eurasia, of state systems demonstrating continuity, innovation and diversity, and expanding in scope and reach in the centuries leading up to the 13th century.
Aztec Empire
The Mexica, aka the Aztecs, came to central Mexico in the mid-1200s and established an empire of perhaps 12 million people with its capital at Tenochtitlan, where Spanish conquerors would later build Mexico City.
Best known for their warrior mentality and expansionist policy of exacting heavy taxes and captives from neighboring lands … thereby building an empire without a centralized, bureaucratic form of government
conquered areas were allowed to govern themselves, so long as they paid up in the form of tribute (textiles, jewelry and other luxury items, various foodstuffs such as cacao beans [the source of cocoa and chocolate], animal products, building materials, rubber balls, human beings for sacrifice)
overseeing this were local imperial tribute collectors, who kept detailed records and sent the required goods on to Tenochtitlan (see Term 108 – Mexica tribute lists)
Tenochtitlan became enormously wealthy by the early 16th century, as nearly 500 subject territories sent to it annual tribute … items that were then exchanged by merchants for luxury items for the Aztec elite
Tenochtitlan was built on a marshy region of a lake, where they developed the chinampa system of agriculture, which entailed dredging the lake bottom and building it up into small plots of land … this “muck farming” then was able to produce fertile and well-irrigated land suitable year-round for crops of maize, beans, squashes, tomatoes, peppers, and chilies
to facilitate trade, the Mexica built roads across the region surrounding modern-day Mexico City, and trade flourished in such goods as jade, emeralds, tortoise shells, jaguar skins, parrot feathers, seashells, game animals, and gold and silver
The Aztecs adopted the common religious beliefs of Mesoamerica, but ritual bloodletting and human sacrifice rose to unheard of levels (see Term 99)
Mexica society featured:
an elite class of warriors, on whom were showered honors and wealth in the form of land grants and tribute from commoners
priests also belonging to a privileged class
skilled artisans and merchants … and below them commoners working on lands awarded to aristocrats or prominent warriors, and required to contribute labor services to build public works projects involving the construction of palaces, temples, roads and irrigation systems
as in many places elsewhere throughout much of pre-modern history, Mexica women played very little public role, and were expected to bear children (preferably males, who might grow up to distinguish themselves as warriors) and take care of the household … but women could inherit property, and some were involved in crafts and worked in the marketplace
Historical Relevance: The Aztec Empire of the Mexica was an illustrative example in the Americas, as in Afro-Eurasia, of a state system demonstrating continuity, innovation and diversity, and expanding in scope and reach c. 1200-1450.
Inca Empire
The Incas settled around Lake Titicaca in the mid-13th century and established a large, centralized empire of perhaps 11.5 million people spanning some 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America and the Andes Mountains.
The Incas used a large class of bureaucrats to administer their empire, and ruled as a military elite
to quell dissent among subjected peoples, they would dispatch loyal subjects as colonists to a given region, provide them with land and establish them in garrisons to maintain order
if rebellion occurred, Inca armies would force the subjects to leave their homes and resettle somewhere else far away
universal male conscription was used to raise a 200,000-man army … and a key tactic in their expansionist policy was to take hostages from among the ruling elite of the peoples they conquered, and force them to live at the Inca capital in Cuzco
Key to the empire’s administration was an extensive road system that allowed the central government to communicate to all parts of their realm (which also facilitated the spread of their language and religious customs)
spanning a total of maybe 10,000 miles, two roads – one along the coast and the other through the mountains – linked the empire north to south, with connecting roads between the two and suspension bridges built over ravines and waterways
the roads were wide, often shaded and paved with stone, and official runners could carry messages up to 140 miles a day in tag-team fashion using rest houses and storage depots along the way … but the road system wasn’t for private use, as long-distance trade was supervised by the central government, which is why the Inca did not generate a large class of merchants or skilled artisans as local systems of bartering for handcrafted goods and surplus agriculture arose instead
another unique characteristic of the Inca Empire was its system of recordkeeping
instead of a written script, the Incas used a mnemonic device known as the quipu, which was a circular array of knotted strings of various colors and lengths
the quipu was used to record such things as population figures, crop and household inventories, taxes, legal contracts, official statistics and even crime investigations
the main social classes were rulers (the chief Inca ruler was considered a deity descended from the sun, and like Egyptian pharaohs he was mummified after death), aristocrats
