600-1450 Review
Post-classical societies
Big Picture Questions
 What happens when people come into contact with each
other?
 Why do some things change while others stay the same?
 How does the development of new technology and
movement of people affect the world?
 How do societies organize themselves socially, and what roles
to men and women play?
 How do people identify themselves and express themselves
culturally and intellectually?
 How do people govern themselves?
What happens when people come into
contact with each other?
 Tremendous growth in long-distance trade (Silk Road,
Indian Ocean, Trans-Saharan trade, Mediterranean Sea)
What happens when people come into
contact with each other?
 Pax Mongolia – order established along Mongol empire –
trade and interaction at their peak
Why do some things change while others stay
the same?
 Changes: Classical empires had fallen, new political units
of organization developed to respond to new challenges
 Nomadic migrations caused change (Turks, Mongols,
Bantu)
 Continuity: Religion continued to be important
 Changes: Classical trade routes continue to grow in
importance, Religion spread
 Continuity: Patriarchal gender structures
How does the development of new
technology and movement of people affect
the world?
 Major technological developments shaped the
development of the world.
 Movement of people greatly altered the world
How does the development of new
technology and movement of people affect
the world?
 The compass, improved shipbuilding technology,
gunpowder
How does the development of new
technology and movement of people affect
the world?
 Bantu migrations
spread farming and
crops, language
 Leads to cultural
commonalities in
sub-Saharan Africa
How does the development of new
technology and movement of people affect
the world?
 Turks significant in the
spread of Islam, and
trade
How does the development of new
technology and movement of people affect
the world?
 Mongols bring order to trade
routes, contribute to spread of
religions and disease
How does the development of new
technology and movement of people affect
the world?
 Vikings
contribute to
trade and
influence
Europe’s political
developments
How does the development of new
technology and movement of people affect
the world?
 Bubonic Plague
devastates
populations – spread
due to movement of
people and increased
interaction
 Northern Europe, SubSaharan Africa and
India spared
How do societies organize themselves socially,
and what roles to men and women play?
 Spread of universal religions such as Islam, Christianity
and Buddhism preached equality of all believers in the
eyes of God
 Monastic life of Buddhism and Christianity offered
alternative path for women
 In China, foot binding
How do people identify themselves and
express themselves culturally and
intellectually?
 Religion acted as unifying force – Christianity in western
Europe, Islam in North Africa, Southwest Asia (Dar al-Islam),
Buddhism and Confucianism in East Asia
How do people govern
themselves?
 After fall of classical empires, political structures in many
areas adapted or changed to new conditions.
 Byzantine empire, Arab Caliphates, Tang and Song dynasties
build off successful models of the past
 Europe and Japan decentralized – develop new systems to
meet unique challenges – Feudalism
 Mongol movements lead to largest empire – alters much of
Asia’s political structure
 Recovery from Mongol rule introduced new political
structures in many areas
What happened in this period?
 Europe and China went through periods of decentralization
 China reunited as an imperial empire
 Roman empire never reunited successfully in Europe
 Regional kingdoms developed in Europe
 Islam is the new player on the scene – will have a major impact
on cultures, politics, economics and intellectual developments
 Muslim scholarship is adopted by West African and European
leaders
 Nomadic movements integrate world more
 Europe begins to explore world toward the end of the period
Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)
• Focus on scholars
• Expanded to Tibet
and Korea
• Completed Grand
Canal
• Supported Buddhism,
Conf, and Daoism
• Chang’an – political
ctr.
• Examination System
used
• Decline = high taxes,
peasant rebellions
• Outsiders perform
kowtow
• Military garrisons
protected Silk Road
trade
• Equal field system –
land in exchange for
grain and labor
• Large landowners
conflicted with equal
field system
• Extensive urbanization
• Chang’an – trade
center, cosmopolitan
city of 2 million
• Neighboring people
became tributary
states
• Influenced by spread
of Buddhism
• Empress Wu – started
school for Buddhist
and Confucian
scholars
• Anti-Buddhist
campaign destroyed
monasteries –
weakened religion
• Neo-Confucianism
developed
• Arranged marriages
• Upper class women
could own property
• Poetry- Li Bai & Du Fu
Song Dynasty (960-1229 CE)
• Reestablished centralized
rule
• Retained civil service
exam
• Checked power of
landed aristocracy
• Upward mobility possible
– rare
• De-emphasized military,
reestablished tribute with
nomads
• Military and econ
weakness, inflation
• Northern half lost to
nomads in 1126
• Absorbed by Mongol
empire
• Powerful navy – magnetic
compass and cotton sails
• Economic revolution
• Fast ripening rice doubles
production
• Trade from Yellow Sea to
Grand Canal increased –
more merchants,
population
• Kaifeng – manufacturing
capital
• Cannons, moveable type,
water mill, looms,
porcelain
• Coins and paper
currency
• Flying cash – credit
• Hangzhou – capital
shifted power south
• More goods for sale than
others – reached India,
Persia, E. Africa, SE Asia
• Women could keep
dowries and access to
new jobs
• Development of foot
binding – sign of status
and wealth
• Increased restriction in the
rights of women
• Stylized and symbolic
landscape painting
Islamic Caliphates
• Arabia under Islamic control
by Muhammad’s death
• Shia – Sunni split
• Umayyad clan transforms
caliphate into hereditary
monarchy – ruled from
Damascus
• Conquer Syria, Egypt, Persia,
W. Asia, N. Africa, Spain
• Bureaucratic structure used
local admins.
• Cultures tolerated – paid
taxes, obey rules
• Abbasids move capital to
Baghdad
• Caliphate too large to
control
• Reliance on mercenary
armies contributes to
decline – similar to Rome
• Mamluks – slaves –
weakened rule
• Trade flourished
• Common set of rules for
Muslim merchants
• Irrigation =more crops for
trade and tax revenue
• Extensive urbanization
• Cities – manufacturing
centers for pottery, fabrics,
rugs
• Paper imported from China
– captured prisoners of war
had skills
• Paper mills set up
• Islam spreads to W. Africa
through Trans-Saharan
routes
• Spreads to E. Africa and SE
Asia through Indian Ocean
trade
• Spreads to Central Asia and
China on Silk Roads
• Region united by Islam – Dar
al-Islam
• Mosques, hospitals, schools,
orphanages, built
throughout empire
• Developed Algebra,
latitude and longitude
concept
• Studied Greek philosophy –
Aristotle
• House of Wisdom translated
Greek and Persian texts to
Arabic
• Universities established –
Cordoba, Granada, Toledo
– transmitted Greek and
Arab learning to W. Europe
• Art and Architecture
forbade use of images –
used geometric shapes
instead
• Migration of Turks spread
Islam into India
Byzantine Empire (4th Century-1453)
• Continuation of Roman
Empire
• Eastern Roman Empire
controlled major trade
routes, grain production
• Justinian tries to reconquer Rome
• Justinian’s Code – based
on Roman 12 Tables
• Latin replaced with Greek
as language of empire
• Hereditary monarchy,
strong central
government – dynastic
marriages and diplomatic
alliances
• Emperor head of church –
appointed patriarch
• Empire divided into
themes – military districts
controlled by generals
• Located along key trade
routes
• Mediterranean sea
contributed to strong
trade
• Silk worms smuggled out
of China – Byzantine
develops silk industry
• Artisans produce
glassware, linen, jewelry,
gold, silversmith
• Most subjects spoke
Greek
• Social mobility rare, but
possible by serving in
military, trade,
bureaucracy or Church
service
• Constantinople – political,
commercial and
intellectual center
• Libraries contained works
in Latin, Greek, Persian
and Hebrew
• Byzantine church splits
from Roman Church over
worship of icons
(iconoclasm)
• Eastern Orthodox Church
spreads to Slavic people
and Russia
W. Europe – Early Middle Ages (500-1000)
• Compared to Byzantine,
China, and Islamic world,
W. Europe considered
backward
• Remained politically
decentralized after fall of
Rome
• Franks come close under
to Clovis
• Charlemagne –
Carolingian Empire most
influential
• Leaders used Church to
establish legitimacy
• Rulers could not keep
empires together
• Feudalism developed in
response to challenges
• Lord-vassal relationships
• Peasants seek protection
by large estates – serfs
• Serfs work on land and
get small share, cannot
leave land
• Manors – economically
self sufficient
• Private armies hired by
lords
• Heavy plow led to
increase in agricultural
production
• Agric. surplus not large
enough to support large
cities
• Catholic Church, ruled
by Pope, was unifying
force in Western Europe
• Birth determined status
• Noblewomen had more
power and authority
than peasant women
• Could inherit land if no
widowed and sonless
• Marital alliances key to
success
• Nunneries a way for
women to escape
traditional duties
• Chivalry – code of
conduct stressed honor,
modesty, loyalty, duty
• Monks preserved
knowledge by translating
texts
Japan (600-1000)
• Geography led Japan to
develop small isolated &
independent communities
• Yamato clan attempts to
create a centralized empire –
emperors of Japan
• Fujiwara clan models city of
Nara after Chang’an
• Could not introduce Chinesestyle bureaucracy
• Kamakura Shogunate –
military dictatorship ruled
from Kyoto
• Feudalism developed –
Shogun at top
• Daimyo – regional military
leaders
• Samurai – warriors who
fought for daimyo
• Bushido – strict warrior code
• Primarily agrarian society
• Local weavers, carpenters
and iron workers
• Trade and manufacturing
grow in Kamkura Period
• Trade focused in larger towns
• Foreign trade with Korea and
China
• Most people peasants who
worked on land owned by
lord or Buddhist monasteries
• Peasants could keep harvest
after paying tax quota
• Genin – landless peasants
who could be bought or sold
with the land
• Shinto – native Japanese
religion – everything
possesses a spirit called kami
• Shrines built to honor kami
• Yamato ruler claimed
descent from supreme Shinto
deity – Sun Goddess
• Japan influenced by Korea
and China
• Adopted China’s tech,
written language, Buddhism
• Japan added aesthetic
dimension to Buddhism – Zen
Buddhism
• Heian Period – cut off
contact with China to focus
on Japanese values
• Women dominate literature
• Wives inherit land, own land
• Priestesses dominate relig.
• Women lose power over time
Nomadic Empires
Vikings (Around 800-1100)
 Settled in Scandinavia
 Raids conducted to supplement
farm production
 Small, maneuverable boats used
to terrorize coastal communities
 Evolved from plunderers to traders
– North and Baltic Seas
 Great seafarers
 Vikings in France known as
Normans
 William invades England – 1066
 Vikings Christianized and absorbed
into European society
Turks (Around 1000-1450)
 Pastoral nomads from central
Asian steppes
 Hired as mercenary soldiers by
Muslim leaders
 Seljuk Turks convert to Islam
 Seljuk Turks invade Abbasid
territory- capture Baghdad
 1071 – Defeat the Byzantine
Empire and take most of
Anatolia
 Afghan Turks raid India in 10th
century – destroy Hindu temples
 Turks create Delhi Sultanate –
spread Islam into N. India
Mongols (Around 1200-1550)
 Pastoral nomads from central Asian
steppes
 Clan based society organized
around kin
 Great horsemen
 Temujin united Mongol tribes –
became Genghis Khan
 Males age 17-70 served in military
 “Submit and live. Resist and Die”
 Raided settled societies
 Mamluks defeat Mongols in 1260stop movement into region
Yuan Dynasty
 Kublai Khan defeated Song
Dynasty
 Establishes Yuan Dynasty
 Fixed, regular tax system
 Foreigners employed in
bureaucracy
 No civil service exam
 Chinese purposely
separated from Mongols –
different laws
 Horse relay connected
Beijing to Vienna
Middle East: Ilkhanates
 Hulegu (Kublai’s brother) defeated Abbasid Caliphate
 Mongols in Middle East employ local bureaucrats in gov’t
 Convert to Islam by 1295
 Local rulers remain as long as they pay taxes & maintain order
 Mongol culture mixed with local cultures
Russia: The Golden Horde
 Mongol ruler Batu
conquered and ruled Russia
 Kept large number of local
rulers intact
 Heavy taxes collected by
Russian bureaucrats
 Trade supported
 Muslim conversion
encouraged
 Christian missionaries
allowed to visit
Pax Mongolia
 Peak of Mongolian power
 Huge areas of Asia and Europe under one rule – religious tolerance
 Lasted 100 years – united two continents
 Allowed trade and contact between different cultures by eliminating
tariffs
 Silk Road trade reaches greatest height – paper money used
throughout empire
 Failed invasion of Japan due to typhoon winds
 Mongols poor administrators – only last a few generations
 Rivalry among successors weaken empire – by 1350 most lands
reconquered by other armies
Impact of Interaction
West African Kingdoms
 Domesticated camels = increased trade across Sahara
 Muslim and N. African merchants establish relations with W.
Africa – Spread of Islam as a result of trade
 Ghana (500-1200) – important commercial center for trade in
gold from south (built large army by taxing trade and gold)
 Ghana kings converted to Islam – improved trade relations
 Mali (1235 – 1400s) – controlled and taxed all trade – Islamic
rulers – Capital at Timbuktu
 Mansa Musa – traveled to Mecca, built schools and mosques
Christianity in North and East Africa
 Began in 1st century – most people converted to Islam by
700
 Christians remained in Egypt and Ethiopia
 Ethiopia evolves into a Christian kingdom with unique
traditions and architecture
 Monasticism in Egypt (Coptic) and Ethiopia
 Christians allowed to worship freely
 Unique linguistic and artistic expression emerge
East African City-States
 Indian Ocean trade integrates East Africa
 Bantu people had settled on coast and interacted with Arab
merchants – Swahili language is a direct result of interaction
 Swahili city-states - Mogadishu, Kilwa, Sofala
 Islamic merchants traded gold, ivory and slaves for pottery, glass
and textiles from Persia, China, and India
 City-states grew wealthy – built mosques
 1200s – Great Zimbabwe built
 Ruling elite and merchants convert to Islam, do not completely
give up traditional cultural and religious customs
Europe: High Middle Ages
 Pre-modern economy begins to develop by 1100
 Increase in trade stimulates growth of commercial cities in
heart of Europe
 Bruges (in Flanders) – located on rivers connecting North Sea
and Central Europe – imported wool from England
 Hamburg – part of Hanseatic League – major port on North
Sea
 Florence – controlled flow of goods up and down peninsula –
became banking center
The Crusades
 Christian holy wars against “infidels”
 Pope Urban II sent crusaders to
recapture Palestine from Muslims
 1st crusades – capture Edessa,
Antioch and Jerusalem
 1187 – Muslims retake Jerusalem
 4th Crusade – conquer
Constantinople – weaken Byzantine
Empire
 Crusades encouraged trade with
Muslim Merchants – benefit Italian
city-states like Venice, Genoa
Long Distance Trade
 This period characterized by increase in long-distance trade
 Overland – silk, precious stones
 Sea trade – steel, stone, coral, building materials
 Silk Road linked Eurasian land mass through trade
 Trans-Saharan trade connected West Africa
 Indian Ocean Trade linked China, Southeast Asia, India,
Arabia, and East Africa
 Mediterranean Sea linked Europe with goods from the Muslim
World and Asia
 Collapse of Mongol empire leads to economic dominance of
Indian Ocean trade network
Missionary Campaigns
 Buddhism – Theravada Buddhism spreads in Southeast Asia and
Mahayana Buddhism spreads to Central and East Asia
 Adapted to polytheism and cultural traditions in central Asia –
becomes popular in Tibet
 Missionaries spread Buddhism to Korea and Japan
 Christianity also a missionary religion
 Missionary spread religion to N. Europe – sponsored by Pope
 Eastern Orthodox Church spreads into Russia and E. Europe
 Adopted to pagan beliefs (saints) and holidays (winter solstice)
 Nestorian Christianity spread in Persia and Mesopotamia
Agricultural and Technological Diffusion
 Increased interaction leads to spread of agriculture and
technology
 Compass – From China to Europe via Indian Ocean Trade
increased maritime trade and exploration
 Sugarcane – From SW Asia to European crusaders led to Italian
Mediterranean island plantations and increase in slave labor
 Gunpowder – From China to Persia, Middle East, and Europe
by the Mongols increased weapon technology
Travelers
 Rabban Sauma (1225-1294) –
Nestorian priest from Mongolia in
China – tried to get Europeans to
support Mongol cause
 Marco Polo (1253-1324) –
Merchant from Venice traveled
throughout the Mongol empire –
influenced European interest in
goods from the East
 Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) – Muslim
scholar from Morocco traveled
throughout Dar al-Islam, W,
Africa, India, SE Asia –
demonstrated widespread
influence of Islam
The Spread of Disease: The Plague
 1340s – late 1600s
 Black Death (Bubonic Plague) spread from Yunnan region of SW
China
 Infected rodents – fleas spread disease to humans
 1340s spread by Mongol merchants and travelers on Silk Roads
 Most victims died within days
 Significant population decrease – created labor shortages
 Weakened feudal system
 Anti-Semitism increased – Jews used as scapegoats and accused
of poisoning wells
 Christians questioned faith
Recovery and Renaissance in
Asia and Europe
Beginning Around 1400 CE
Political Developments
China (Ming Dynasty)
Europe
 Hongwu started dynasty after
collapse of Yuan (Mongols)
 Developed strong powerful
monarchies
 Eliminate evidence of Mongol rule
 Taxed citizens, maintained large
standing armies
 Reinstated civil service
 Policies implemented by mandarins
 Italy, Venice, Milan, Florence
benefit from trade – increased tax
collection
 Conscript labor – rebuild irrigation
 Kings in France and England
control feudal lords
 Private merchants continued to
trade
 Competition among European
rulers = increase in military tech
 Roots of European dominance
Intellectual Developments
China
 Neo-Confucianism – stressed filial
piety, self-discipline, obedience to
rulers
 Yongle Encyclopedia
 Increase in printing
 Pop. Culture – The Dream of the
Red Chamber, Journey to the West
 Jesuit missionaries introduce
European science and technology
– fail to convert Chinese
Europe
 Increased interaction leads to
interest in outside world
 Renaissance – intellectual and
artistic movement
 Contact with Islam reintroduces
Greek and Roman texts (Arabs
had translated classics)
 Humanism looked to classics to
update medieval thought
 Wealth in Italy funded artists
(Medici family)
Exploration
China
Europe
 Ming refurbished navy
 Seek profits, spread
Christianity, adventure
 1405-1433 – seven expeditions
 Reestablish presence in Indian
Ocean
 Impose imperial control on trade
 Zheng He – led expeditions
 Abandoned to focus on
protecting northern border
 Spices expensive due to
long journey
 Portuguese begin exploring
ways around Muslim
middlemen
 Prince Henry the Navigator
 Race to dominate seas in
Europe begins
American Civilization
The Mexica, Maya, and Inca
Maya (300-900 CE)
 Borrowed from Olmec tradition
 Yucatan Peninsula
 Agricultural economy
 Ritualistic polytheism
 Urban areas with thousands of
people
 Indep. city-states linked by trade
 Maize and beans – staple crops
 Astronomical consideration for
location and architecture of
buildings such as those in Tikal
Mexica (Aztec) – Around 1400 -1521
 Used fighting skills to gain control
around Lake Texcoco
 Militant warrior tradition
 Priestly class oversaw rituals
 Extensive pantheon – polytheistic
 Tenochtitlan – 150,000 inhabitants
 Agricultural economy – cacao
beans used as currency
 Decentralized network of city-states
that paid tribute
 Innovative farming techniques
Inca (Around 1400 – 1540)
 South American highlands
 Covered 3,000 miles – absorbed many
Andean tribes
 Centralized empire – capital at Cuzco
 Extensive, irrigated agricultural
economy – innovative techniques
 Large urban centers
 Polytheistic – center around worship of
the sun - religion helped rulers secure
political authority as elsewhere
 Patriarchal society with few rights for
women
SUMMARY
 Improved technology = more long distance trade
 Trade on Silk Roads, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, TransSaharan routes spread ideas, technology, religion and disease
 Better ship building, compass, gun powder shaped development
of the world
 Nomadic interaction with settled societies led to improved
technology, change, increased trade and conflict (Vikings,
Mongols, Turks)
 Religions preached equality in eyes of God – Monastic life
offered alternative path for women (Christianity and Buddhism)
 Religion as unifying force, sometimes conflict
 Political structures changed and adapted
Change Over Time
 Describe and analyze the impact of nomads in ONE of
the following areas from 600 to 1450. Be sure to discuss
continuities as well as changes.
 East Asia (China and/or Japan)
 Russia
 Middle East
Comparative Essay
 Major religions and philosophies have served as the
foundation for many societies. Discuss the similarities and
differences in the political and social influence that two
of the following religions had on their respective societies
from 600 – 1450.
 Christianity – Europe
 Islam – West Africa
 Buddhism - China