Post Classical Societies 600-1450

Early Post Classical Societies 600-1000 CE

  1. Four Powerful Regions emerged to bring a restoration of order in the aftermath of the fall of Classical societies.
  1. The Byzantine Empire (CH 13)
  2. Political Organization (p.330-333)
  3. Following the collapse of the western half of the Roman Empire in the late 5th CE, Byzantine rulers consolidated their power.
  4. Used concept of Caesaopapsim that was first established by the Roman emperor Constantine
  5. Emperor Justinian poured resources into remaking Constantinople with the same grandeur as Rome
  6. Justinian also reviewed and codified all Roman law into corpus iuriscivilis
  7. General Belisarius attempted to expand empire in early 6th CE but external pressures were to great to hold territories (see map on p.329)
  8. Theme System (p.334 + 336) strengthens economy, military and social order from 7th to 11th CE
  9. External Pressures
  10. Expanding Muslims take Egypt, Palestine and E. Anatolia in mid 7th
  11. The Rise of Islam (Ch 14)
  12. The Umma is born in 622 with the Hijra
  13. Muhammad takes Arabia by 632
  14. Establishes Five Pillars and Sharia Law to bring unity
  15. Sunni and Shia split but Umayyad Dynasty bringsorder from Egypt to Persia in mid 7th as a conquering dynasty (see map on p 362)
  16. Intolerance leads to fall.
  17. Abbasid Dynasty(p.365-366) takes over in mid 8th and influence spreads from Sind region of northern India (modern day Pakistan) to N. Africa + Southern Spain (map on 362).
  18. They use Persian administrational governors, combined w/qadis and ulama.
  19. They were tolerant of differences and incorporated non-Arabs into positions of influence.
  20. They were not a conquering dynasty – allowed Islam to spread through Sufis missionaries, migrations and trade.
  21. The Abbasid Dynasty is considered the historical high point of culture, thought and power of the Islamic world.
  22. Sui and Tang Dynastiesbring back centralized imperial rule(Ch15)
  23. The Sui Dynasty ended period of regional kingdoms through military conquests
  24. Brought back centralized Imperial rule
  25. Ruled with heavy taxes and forced labor
  26. Rebuilt infrastructure and built GRAND CANAL
  27. Harsh rule led to fall in early 7th
  28. Tang rulers took over immediately (p. 386-388) and brought back three Confucian Principals:
  29. Expanded Transport and Communication by building roads, bridges, postal stations and inns
  30. Equal Field System
  31. Bureaucracy of Merit
  32. Expanded power brought about the idea of theMiddle Kingdom: Expands influence to Vietnam, Korea, Tibet and Japan (map on p. 385)
  33. Decentralized political order in India (Ch 16)
  34. The fall of the Gupta in mid 5th CE resulted in political division until Mughal Empire of the 16th century.
  35. Like in Charlamagne (p 445+447)in the 9th century Europe, Harsha brings temporary rule in N. India during mid 7th century but he left no administration to maintain order when he died.
  36. Umayyad and then Abbasid will control Sind region by early 8th century (map on p. 415)
  37. Muslim merchants and Turks slowly move into north (p. 416)
  38. Muslim Delhi Sultanate eventually takes over northern Indian region by 1206-1526 CE.
  39. Hindu Chola Kingdom create a loosely organized order in the deep south by the 9th century till the Vijayanagartake over in 14th
  40. The rest of India remained controlled by loose states and Hindu Jati (p.426)
  41. Hindu Temple Communitiesbring social order and organization (p. 420-421)
  42. Schools, organized agriculture, built irrigation, collected taxes and made loans.
  1. Order brought growth, long distance trade, communication and exchange (The Party Starts)
  1. Spread of Agriculture + Improved Techniques = populationexplosion in China, India and SW Asia.
  2. Islamic Empires cause spike in agricultural production west from India to Mediterranean and N. Africa (p. 368-369)
  3. Spread crops like Sugarcane, rice, Durham wheat, citrus fruits, cotton, indigo and henna
  4. Spread improved techniques like fertilizer, crop rotation and irrigation
  5. Sui and Tang get fast ripening rice from Vietnam, use heavy iron plow and build mass irrigation projects like dams, dikes and canals (p. 392-393)
  6. India also improved irrigation projects (p.419)
  7. Byzantine Theme System improves agricultural production.
  8. Rise in population leads to increase in manufacturing, technology and regional specialization
  9. China – fine porcelain, silk textiles, stronger iron and steel, bridges, gunpowder, block printing, and naval techs like compass, rudders and Junks.
  10. India– Dows, cotton textiles, refined sugar, leather goods and carpets.
  11. Byzantine – fine glass, wool, jewelry and silk
  12. SE Asia – spices
  13. SW Asia – Horses
  14. Sub-Saharan Africa – Gold, ivory and slaves
  15. Regional Specialization = Increased Trade and Communication
  16. Byzantine Economy flourishes (p. 337-338)
  17. Empire became the clearing house for western Eurasia
  18. Bezant became the coin for Mediterranean
  19. Built on classical practice of banks, loans and joint partnerships
  20. Muslims control the center of trade (p. 370-372)
  21. Inherited and expanded Silk Roads of Classical Times
  22. Camel saddles improve transport through SW Asia
  23. I.O. naval technologies increase trades through surrounding waters (map on p. 424)
  24. Also created banks, Joint partnerships and innovated the sakk (letters of credit)
  25. Chinese innovate paper money or “flying cash”
  26. Monsoon wind patterns turn India into an Emporium for the IO Basin
  27. Huge urban centers flourish like Delhi (N. India), Baghdad (Abbasid), Constantinople (Byzantine) and Chang’an (Tang)
  28. Increase trade and Communication = Diffusion and Syncretism of religion, culture and ideas
  29. Muslims diffuse and blend influences (p.377-378)
  30. Chinese technologies and Indian crops are spread
  31. Use of Persian Administration
  32. Spread of Hindi numerals leads to Muslim creation of Algebra, Trigonometry and Geometry
  33. Spread Classical Greek philosophies of Plato and Aristotle all the way to southern Spain
  34. Spread Mesopotamian practice of veiling women (p. 374)
  35. Buddhism spread to E. and SE Asia (p 400-403)
  36. Blends with Daoism to form Chan Buddhism
  37. Blends with Confucianism to form Neo-Confucianism
  38. Chinese influence on Vietnam, Silla Dynasty of Korea, Nara and Heian Japan from 7th to 12th(p.403-407)
  39. Spread writing, education, bureaucracy of merit, improved agriculture and neo-Confucianism.
  40. Byzantines influence Slavic people of Russia and E. Europe (p.349-350)
  41. Cyrillic Alphabet
  42. Eastern Orthodox Christianity
  43. Imperial governmental structure spreads to Russia
  44. Indian spread influence to SE Asia (p.432-437)
  45. Indian literature like the Classical epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata(p.232-233)
  46. Sanskrit writing
  47. Kingships as political structure
  48. Hindu and Buddhist religious ideas and architecture
  49. The CASTE SYSTEM DID NOT SPREAD to SE Asia

III. Formalized Learning Spread

  1. Byzantines create state sponsored primary education for middle class
  2. Focus on Greek language and classical thought
  3. Ulama teach Quran and Sharia law in madrasas
  4. Confucian educational system flourishes with bureaucracy of merit
  5. Hindu Temples provide primary education for upper class

IV.Some early Post Classical lands were not yet – or only partly –integrated into long distance trade, communication and exchange (The Party).

  1. From 6th-10th CE, Medieval Europe is rebuilding from Germanic invasions and lack of agricultural surplus (Ch 17)
  2. Fall of Rome in late 5th brings in Germanic tribes and feudal order
  3. Franks (Northern France) become most powerful regional kingdom
  4. Clovis’ conversion to Christianity in late 5th CE brings administrative help from the Church (p. 444-445)
  5. Carolingian Franks take over in mid 8th and bring temporary centralized rule with Charlemagne in early 9th CE (map on p. 448)
  6. His successors fall to Viking, Muslims and Magyars in late 9th CE (see map on p. 450)
  7. Competing regional kingdoms try to rebuild Europe with feudal political structure and manor estates (p453-455)
  8. Like Post Classical India, Europe was unified culturally with the rise of the Roman Catholic Church (p459-462)
  9. Popes start converting regional kings
  10. Like Temples in India, monasteries spread faith and provide social services in countryside.
  11. Sub-Saharan African people are isolated by the Sahara (Ch 19)
  12. Bantu migrations continue
  13. They create kinship based societies organized by age grades and were polytheistic
  14. Spread iron, agricultural production and domestication of animals
  15. Bananas from Austronesians start to spread from 500 – 1000 CE (p495) and lead to population explosion.
  16. Americas (Ch 6)
  17. Geographic barriers and an absence of large beasts of burden prevent large scale integration and exchange in the Americas
  18. Mayans continue until 9th century
  19. Teohtihuacan continues until 7th
  20. Mochica of S. America stay until 8th
  21. Societies of the P.I.s continue chiefly states and isolated from the rest of the world (Ch6)

Late Post Classical Societies 1000-1450 CE

  1. Greater Regional Concentration of Power
  1. Nomadic Turks migrate from Central Asian steppe lands (p. 473-475)
  2. Advance equestrian fighting skills make them deadly fighters
  3. Start moving into Abbasid empire and Turks convert to Islam by 10th CE
  4. Saljuq Turks take Abbasid control of Baghdad, Syria + Palestine by 11th
  5. They keep Caliphs as puppet rulers until fall to Mongols in mid 13th
  6. Other Turks take Anatolia from Byzantines and spread Islam
  7. Ghaznavid Turks Invade N. Indian Sind region in 11th CE (map on p.415)
  8. Mahmud of Gahzni plunders and destroys Hindu and Buddhist temples, shrines and monestaries.
  9. Turks gradually take over and rule all of N. India through the creation of the Sultanate of Delhi by the early 13th
  10. Mongol Nomads rise in early 13th with leader Chinggis Khan (Ch 18)
  11. Also possessed advanced equestrian skills developed in Central Asian steppe region
  12. They take control of all China, Central Asia, Persia and extended rule as far north west as Kiev in Eastern Europe (map on p. 481).
  13. They ruled as overlords (Golden Horde), brought in outside administrators (Yuan), or allowed locals to run administration (Ilkhanate of Persia) (p.481-483)

SIDE NOTE: Fall of Heian Japan and rise of feudal Japanese order coincided with the fall of China and rise of nomadic warriors in the 12th CE (p.406-408)

  1. Sub-Saharan Africa Joins the Party (Ch 19)
  2. Spread of iron and bananas = surge in population by from 500 to 800 CE.
  3. Kinship based villages soon give way to more centralized chiefdoms
  4. Chiefdoms compete for resources and give way to kingdoms like the Kingdom of Congo of central Africa in 13th CE (p.496-497)
  5. West Africa (p. 497-502)
  6. In late 8th North African Muslims use camels to explore south across the Sahara
  7. Ghana was a small kingdom that was transformed through gold trade with Muslim.
  8. West Africa was taken over by Mali by early 13th
  9. East African Swahili States begin to flourish by early 10th(p. 502-505)
  10. Trade with IO Basin leads to new city states along the East Coast like Mogadishu, Mombasa and Kilwa
  11. Europe also joins the Party (Ch 20)
  12. Expansion of agriculture in late 10th leads to a population boom (p. 524-525)
  13. Local lords expanded farm land
  14. Bring in crop rotation, fertilizer and beasts of burden
  15. New tools like horse shoe, horse collar and Northern heavy plow
  16. New crops from Muslim world enrich diets
  17. Rise in population leads to increasing urbanization, specialization and trade (p.524-531)
  18. Stronger regional states bring order by early 11th(p. 519-523)
  19. Germanic Saxons establish a northern German kingdom founded by Otto I
  20. After he came to the aid of Church controlled lands in Italy, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope and thus was his kingdom named
  21. France – Capetian Kings strengthen control over feudal order
  22. England – Norman invaders take over England in mid 11th CE and create strong feudal kingdom founded by William the Conqueror
  23. Economic and Political growth lead to W. European Expansion (p.540-543)
  24. In the early 11th CE, Viking sailors explore across Atlantic Ocean and create settlement in Newfoundland, Canada (p. 538): Happy Leif Ericson Day!
  25. Christian adventurers from Normandy also ReconquerSicily in early 11th
  26. The Reconquista of Spain takes place by mid 12th CE
  27. The Crusades of the 11th through 13th centuries reintegrate W. Europe into the larger economy of the eastern hemisphere

II.Political stability, economic growth and integration of the entire eastern hemisphere lead to the greatest period of exchange and interactionever before seen

  1. Resulted in the expansion of trade networks throughout the entire hemisphere (see map on p. 576-577)
  2. IO Basin is now connected to entire eastern hemisphere
  3. The Silk Roadsonce again connect land trade and exchange from China to the Mediterranean
  4. The rise of the Trans-Saharan trade network connect West Africa to the entire hemisphere
  5. The return of the Mediterranean reconnects W. Europe with the entre hemisphere
  6. The birth of the Hanseatic League (p.526) connects Scandinavia with the entire hemisphere
  7. Increased urbanization and trade lead to powerful trade cities throughout (map on p. 576-577)
  8. Khanbaliq, Guangzhou, Meleka, Calicut, Cambay, Hormuz, Baghdad, Cairo, Swahili States, Kingdom of Axum (p425+511), Timbuktu and the Italian city states all become major centers ofinteraction and exchange
  9. Stability, exchange and interaction lead to the flourishing and spread of Religions
  10. Sufi missionaries and Islamic scholars like IbnBattuta (p.579-581) spread Islam
  11. A syncretic form of Islam takes root in W. Africa (p 501-502 + 513) and in Swahili city states (p505 + 513)
  12. Mongol tolerance allowed Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism to flourish and spread (p.484)
  13. Christian missionaries and crusaders spread Christianisty
  14. Military campaigns against Muslims and Slavs in Baltic region of E. Europe creates greater Christian presence (p. 539-540)
  15. Christian missionaries spread faith as far as China (p. 581-582)
  16. Cross cultural exchange exploded (582-585)
  17. Naval technologies from IO Basin spread to Mediterranean
  18. Refined sugar reaches Europe and sparks huge demand
  19. Crops continue to diffuse
  20. Mongol Golden Horde diffuses gun powder technology to W. Europe through Russia
  1. The Crash of the 14th century (p. 586-587)
  2. The Little Ice Age brought a global climate change in the early part of the 14th century that caused temperatures to drop around the world
  3. Shorter growing seasons resulted in a drop in agricultural production
  4. Some northern lands were abandoned
  5. The Bubonic Plague devastates Eurasia in 14th CE
  6. Started in SW China in early 14th
  7. Spread all the way to W. Europe by the mid 14th century through land and sea routes
  8. Killed over 10 million in China
  9. Over 19 million died in W. Europe
  10. SW Asia also suffered devastation
  11. Created massive labor shortages and political instability
  12. Mongols lose control and flee to Central Asian steppe lands by the mid 14th CE
  13. India and Sub-Saharan Africa were spared
  14. The Late Post Classical Recovery
  15. The Ming Dynasty restore order and push out all Mongol influences by late 14th(p. 588-589)
  16. They brought back Confucian education and civil administration
  17. Created a tightly centralized empire with Eunuchs serving as a new class of powerful officials known as Mandrins
  18. They rebuilt the infrastructure with forced labor, resulting in a rebound in agriculture
  19. Completed the Great Wall to prevent a Mongol return
  20. Created a revival of Classical Chinese cultural influences (p 589)
  21. Return of the Turks (p. 487-488)
  22. Tamerlane the Conqueror gains control of lands from Mesopotamia to Northern India to Central Asia (see map on p. 488)
  23. He laid the foundation for the rise of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires of Early Modern Times
  24. The European Renaissance (Rebirth) of the late 14th through 16th centuries (p. 590-593)
  25. Holy Roman Empire is severely weakened with the rise of competing German principalities
  26. Monarchs in France, Spain, England and leaders of the Italian city states consolidate power
  27. They all started taxing people directly
  28. Used revenue to create powerful permanent standing armies
  29. Control over reviving Mediterranean trade with Muslims led to the Renaissance creating a renewed focus on Classical art, architecture and Humanist thought (p.591-593)
  30. Exploration Begins in Early 15th CE
  31. Having rebuilt their economy and reestablishing political stability the Ming rulers sponsored a series of naval expeditions into the IO Basin from 1405-1433 (p.593-594)
  32. Led by the eunuch admiral Zheng He, the naval expeditions had two main goals:
  33. Ming rulers wanted to control foreign trade coming into their country
  34. They also wanted to reestablish China as the preeminent power of the IO Basin
  35. European naval exploration started in the early 15th CE for two principal reasons:
  36. There was a desire to spread Roman Catholic Christianity beyond Europe
  37. There was a desire to find alternate trade route into the IO Basin since trade through the eastern Mediterranean was control by Muslims and the Italian city states
  38. One of the principal catalysts for it all was Prince Henry of Portugalwho created the most advanced navigational schools in all of Europe (p.559)
  39. The naval explorations ushered in an entirely new era in human history
  40. Other lands that were not integrated into the greater eastern hemisphere from 1000 to 1450 CE
  41. Mesoamerica (p.549-556)
  42. Mesoamerican people built on the legacy of Olmecs, Mayans and Teotihuacan
  43. Several regional agricultural and trade based empires came under control of militaristic rule, culminating with the Aztec Empire in the 15th century
  44. South America (p.558-563)
  45. Like in Mesoamerica, the western region of South America experienced the rise of a great centralized empire known as the Incas and was focused on agricultural development and trade
  46. North America (p556-558)
  47. North American societies were small by comparison to the Aztecs, Incas and lands across the Atlantic Ocean.
  48. Pueblo and Navajo people of the North American southwest region created settled agricultural societies
  49. Another notable agricultural society was the Iroquois that settled west of the Mississippi river.
  50. Not a great deal is known about these societies because of the lack of written records.
  51. The societies of North and South America were unable to create large integrated systems of interaction and exchange due to geographic barriers and an absence of any large beasts of burden
  52. Oceania and the Pacific Islands (p.563-569)
  53. Australia remained one of the last remaining region in the world inhabited primarily by nomadic foragers
  54. Austronesian societies of the Pacific continued to grow into chiefly states and small island kingdoms but remained isolated from the rest of the world.