600 c.e.-1450 Post Classical Era Overview of Chapters 12-20

Gazdzik’s AP World History

1. What is Periodization?

  Each period in history has major developments that are dominant at the time.

  Periodization simply means to name these characteristics and later classify the historical evidence we learn to the generalization we made before studying the period.

Opening and Ending-Post Classical Era

End

  Invasions by the nomadic Mongols ended the Post Classical Period

  Collapse of two political units   Middle East   Byzantine Empire

1. What sets this time apart?   Emergence of new empires

and political systems   Umayyad

  ‘Abbasid   Byzantium

  Russia   Sudanic States

  Swahili Coast   Tang, Song, and Ming China,

  Delhi Sultanate   Mongol

  Turkish   Aztec

  Inca

  How to study these groups?

  Continuities and breaks within the period   (e.g., the effects of the Mongols

on international contacts and on specific societies)

  A key questions of interest in the AP Exam is movement of people, nomadic exchanges, and its impact on cultural change.

2. Rise of the Islamic world

  The rise and role of Dar al-Islam as a unifying cultural and economic force in Eurasia and Africa

  Islamic political structures, notably the caliphate Arts, sciences, and technologies

3. Economic and Environmental Developments

Interregional networks and contacts

  Development and shifts in interregional trade, technology, and cultural exchange   Trans-Sahara trade   Indian Ocean trade   Silk Roads

  Economic innovations   (e.g., Tang, Song, and early Ming China, Swahili, economic systems

in the Americas)   Missionary outreach of major religions

  Contacts between major religions   e.g., Islam and Buddhism, Christianity and Islam

  Impact of the Mongol empire

Economic Environment Cont.

  Trade and commerce-and even banking- were becoming a basic part of economic life.

  Made merchant classes larger and more influential in most societies.

  Creation of Trade Routes Examples:   Med.   Hanseatic League   Silk Roads   trans-Saharan caravan

routes   Gold trade along the Niger

river   Indian-Persian economic

exchange   Indian Ocean   Pacific trade networks.

Most Societies remained fundamentally agricultural

Artisanry and craftsmanship were becoming increasing important.

Give rise to a slow (but steady) trend: URBANIZATION, or the growth of cities.

Important Cities: Venice, Cairo, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Samarkand, Canton (Guangzhou), Melacca (Melaka), Timbuktu, and Calicut.

Environment/Disease

  Massive epidemics (pandemics), in the form of great plagues, struck Eurasia.   The most famous was the wave of bubonic plague that

swept China, the Middle East, and Europe (the “Black Death”) in the 1300s.

4. Political systems and cultural patterns

Regionally

  East Asia

  China’s expansion

  Chinese influence on surrounding areas and its limits (Japan, Vietnam, and Korea)

  Change and continuities in Confucianism

  The Americas

  Apex and decline of the Maya

  Rise of the Aztec

  Rise of the Inca

  Restructuring of Europe   Decentralization—medieval

society   Division of Christianity   Revival of cities

  Africa   Sudanic empires

  (Mali, Ghana, Songhay)   Swahili coast

  South Asia and Southeast Asia   Delhi Sultanate   Vietnam   Arts, sciences, and

technologies

Global Power and International Relations

  The world was coming into increased contact with each other-Exception is the Americas

  The most advanced and politically influential civilizations during these years were China (especially during the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming periods) and the Ottoman Empire

  Nations of medieval Europe, particularly in the west, gained in power and sophistication.

Nomadic and migratory populations (Especially the Vikings, Mongols, and Polynesians) continued to have a profound impact on large parts of the world.

Global Power and International Relations

  Mongols radically altered the balance of power in Eurasia.

  Imposed not political unity, but a measure of economic and cultural connectedness not seen since the days of ancient Rome or Han China.

  Gunpowder would gradually start to change the equation of world power.

Major states and empires- such as Mali, Ghana, Great Zimbabwe, the Delhi Sultanate, the Aztecs, and the Incas- flourished, but only for a comparatively short time.

Political Developments Post Classical Period

Political Developments   Government forms were non-representative

  Only a few placed limitations on kings   England, with its Magna Carta and Parliament, is an excellent example.

  Most states were decentralized or where multi-cultural empires joined only by the fact that a single civilization had conquered them all.

  Feudalism became a common form of political organization in areas that decentralized.   Medieval Europe   Japanese Shogunates.

  Urban centers played a larger role in the political life of most cultures.

5. Demographic and environmental change Impact of migrations on Afro-Eurasia and the Americas (e.g., Aztecs, Mongols, Turks, Vikings, and Arabs) Consequences of plague pandemics in the fourteenth century Growth and role of cities (e.g., the expansion of urban commercial centers in Song China and administrative centers in Africa and the Americas)

Gender Issues

Patterns of Gender Change

  Conditions of women deteriorate   Ironic since religions change by

recognizing equality of souls   i.e., foot-binding in China, suttee in

India, seclusion & complete veiling of women in Middle East – although isolated

  1 possible cause: use prosperity to make women ornamental, don’t need women’s work as much   Earlier patriarchy – men controlled

women to make sure they have sons as heirs

  Involvement in religion may have marginalized them in other aspects of society

Gender Continued   Occupy a secondary role in most societies

  Political rights were minimal or nonexistence.

  Sharply defined occupational roles.   Domestic sphere: child-bearers and homemakers

  In Civilization:   Right to divorce abusive husbands   Right to dowry   Right to inherit and own property.

  Informal Roles:   Managed households and family finances, supervised the

education of children, and influenced their husbands.

Gender Continued African States

  Women enjoyed a great deal of respect, and family trees were matriliniear (traced through the mother), rather than patrilinear.

Class Divisions and Gender

  In most societies, upper class women, lived easier lives but found themselves more constrained by religious and cultural restrictions on their behavior. Lower class women, whose lives were much harder, were often less bound by those restrictions because the rules of “proper” behavior applied to them.

  Societies that feared magic or witchery tended to blame women (especially elderly ones) disproportionately for such things.

Cultural Developments

  Distinct artistic and cultural traditions were developing in each major region of the world.

  The civilizations that possessed the greatest degree of scientific knowledge and cultural sophistication were China, the Middle East, Japan, and Muslim Spain.

  Europe underwent great cultural development, especially during the Renaissance.

  Travelers and Explorers linked societies and gathered increased knowledge of the world

Printing!   The invention of block printing in China

began to alter cultural life not only in Asia but elsewhere as this new innovation spread.

  Even more dramatically, the invention of the movable-type printing press in Europe, during the 1430’s, led to an information explosion, the rapid spread of knowledge and ideas, and a revolution in intellectual life.

Diverse interpretations

  What are the issues involved in using cultural areas rather than states as units of analysis?

  What are the sources of change: nomadic migrations versus urban growth?

  Was there a world economic network in this period?

  Were there common patterns in the new opportunities available to and constraints placed on elite women in this period?

  To what extent was Dar al-Islam a unified cultural/political entity?

Major Comparisons and Analyses

  Compare the role and function of cities in major societies

  Analyze gender systems and changes, such as the effects of Islam

  Analyze the interactions between Jews, Christians, and Muslims

  Compare developments in political and social institutions in both eastern and western Europe

  Compare Japanese and European feudalism

  Compare European and sub-Saharan African contacts with the Islamic world

  Analyze the Chinese civil service exam system and the rise of meritocracy

Questions and Comparisons to Consider

  How important is the nation-state (as opposed to larger cultural units) as an object of study during this historical period?

  How did political and social developments in western Europe resembles and/or differ from that in Eastern Europe?

  Comparisons and contrasts between European and Japanese feudalism

  Comparisons and contrasts between on of the major European states (or Western Europe as a whole) and one of the major African States,.

  How did Europe’s encounter with sub-Saharan Africa differ from and or resemble the Islamic world’s encounter with it?

Consider the differences and likenesses of various world trading systems

Intellectual and cultural developments in different societies, and the ways in which societies influence each other (for example, the Middle Eastern influence on medieval Europe, or India’s influence on Southeast Asian religion, art, and architecture).

Questions and Comparisons to Consider

  Comparison and contrast between Islam, Christianity, not just in terms of doctrine, but also in both faith’s impact on social and political organization, gender relations, and views of how nonbelievers should be treated.

  The role of nomadic movement as cause of historical change during these years compared with the role played by the growth of cities during the same time frame.

The differences and likenesses between the Mongol Empire and earlier conquest states, such as Rome or Han China.

The successes and failures of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Islamic caliphates in their attempts to cerate a large, multinational civilization united by religion.