chapter 12

Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: Comparing China and Europe

A. By the fifteenth century C.E., a majority of the world’s population lived within a major civilization.

B. Ming Dynasty China

1. China had been badly disrupted by Mongol rule and the plague
2. recovery under the Ming dynasty (1368– 1644)
• effort to eliminate all signs of foreign rule
• promotion of Confucian learning
• Emperor Yongle (r. 1402–1422)
3. reestablished the civil service examination system
4. created a highly centralized government
• great power was given to court eunuchs
• state restored land to cultivation, constructed waterworks, planted perhaps a billion trees
• was perhaps the best-governed and most prosperous civilization of the
• fifteenth century
5. maritime ventures
• Chinese sailors and traders had become important in the South China Sea and in Southeast Asian ports in the eleventh century
• Emperor Yongle commissioned a massive fleet; launched in 1405

Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: The Islamic World

A. The long-fragmented Islamic world crystallized into four major states or empires.

B. In the Islamic Heartland: The Ottoman and Safavid Empires

1. Ottoman Empire lasted from fourteenth to early twentieth century
• huge territory: Anatolia, eastern Europe, much of Middle East, North African coast, lands around Black Sea
• sultans claimed the title “caliph” and the legacy of the Abbasids
• effort to bring new unity to the Islamic world
2. Ottoman aggression toward Christian lands

a. fall of Constantinople in 1453

b. 1529 siege of Vienna

c. Europeans feared Turkish expansion

3. Safavid Empire emerged in Persia from a Sufi religious order
• empire was established shortly after 1500
• imposed Shia Islam as the official religion of the state
4. Sunni Ottoman Empire and Shia Safavid Empire fought periodically between 1534 and 1639

chapter 11

The Mongol Empire

• The Mongols formed the greatest land-based empire in history following their breakout from Mongolia in the thirteenth century.
1. extensive linkage of pastoralists of inner Eurasian steppes with agricultural civilizations
2. created far greater contact between Europe, China, and Islamic world than ever before
3. total Mongol population was only about 700,000
4. did not have a major cultural impact on the world
• did not try to spread their ancestor worship/shamanism to others
• mostly interested in exploiting conquered peoples
• Mongol culture today largely confined to Mongolia
• Mongol Empire was the last great nomadic state
• From Temujin to Chinggis Khan: The Rise of the Mongol Empire
1. Temujin (1162–1227) created the Mongol Empire
2. Mongols before Temujin were unstable collection of feuding tribes and clans
3. Temujin’s rise
• father was a minor chieftain, but was murdered before Temujin turned ten
• Temujin’s mother held family together by hunting and fishing after they were deserted by the clan
• when Temujin grew up, he drew together a small following of friends, allied with a more powerful tribal leader
• shifting series of alliances, betrayals, military victories
• won a reputation as a great leader

C. Explaining the Mongol Moment

1. Mongol Empire grew without any grand scheme

2. by the time of his death, Chinggis Khan saw conquests as a mission to unite the whole world

3. Mongols were vastly outnumbered by their enemies

4. good luck and good timing played a role

a. China was divided

b. Abbassid caliphate was in decline

5. Key to Mongol success was their well-led, organized, disciplined army

a. military units of 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 warriors

b. conquered tribes were broken up and scattered among units

c. tribalism was also weakened by creation of imperial guard

d. all members of a unit were killed if any deserted in battle

e. leaders shared the hardships of their men

f. elaborate tactics: encirclement, retreat, deception

g. vast numbers of conquered peoples were incorporated into army

It was interesting how the Mongols heard a womans opinion. They would take into consideration, everyone's opinion even the women which was rare back in the day women were usually never heard or thought about. The Mongols used it as a success strategy to use everyone's knowledge because it brought new ideas for them. Women were able to have partners as well. They weren’t forced to be with others, they had a choice.

chapter 10

Christian Contraction in Asia and Africa

A. Islam’s spread was a driving force in the contraction of Christianity.

B. Asian Christianity

1. within a century or so of Muhammad’s death, Christianity almost disappeared from Arabia
2. Islamic forces seized Jerusalem and its holy sites
3. in Syria and Persia many Christians
4. converted voluntarily
• those that didn’t were granted the right
• to practice their religion for payment of a special tax
• experiences of individual communities varied
5. Nestorian Christians or the Church of the East survived but shrank in size in Syria, Iraq, and Persia
• Nestorians had some success in Tang China, before ultimately withering
• brief revival under Mongols

C. African Christianity

1. coastal North African Christians largely converted to Islam
2. in Egypt Coptic Church survived
• tolerated by Muslim rulers
• until the Crusades and Mongol threat when repressed
• most rural Coptic Christians convert, survived in urban areas and remote monasteries

Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past

A. The Byzantine Empire has no clear starting point.

1. continuation of the Roman Empire

2. some scholars date it's beginning to 330 C.E., with founding of Constantinople

3. western empire collapsed in fifth century; eastern half survived another 1,000 years

4. eastern empire contained ancient civilizations: Egypt, Greece, Syria, and Anatolia

5. Byzantine advantages over western empire

• wealthier and more urbanized
• more defensible capital (Constantinople)
• shorter frontier
• access to the Black Sea; command of eastern Mediterranean
• stronger army, navy, and merchant marine
• continuation of late Roman infrastructure
• conscious effort to preserve Roman ways

B. The Byzantine State

1. Arab/Islamic expansion reduced size of Byzantine state

2. politics centralized around emperor in Constantinople

3. territory shrank after 1085, as western Europeans and Turks attacked

       a. fell in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks

chapter 9

1. By the start of the twenty-first century, Islam had acquired a significant presence in the United States.

1. more than 1,200 mosques

2. about 8 million Muslims

B. The second half of the twentieth century saw the growing international influence of Islam.

C. Islam had already been prominent in the world between 600 and 1600.

1. encompassed parts of Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Asia
2. enormously significant in world history
3. creation of a new and innovative civilization
4. was the largest and most influential of the third-wave civilizations
5. Islam’s reach generated major cultural encounters

D. In the year 2000, there were perhaps 1.2 billion Muslims in the world (22 percent of the world’s population).

The Birth of a New Religion

A. The Homeland of Islam

1. unlike most religious/cultural traditions, Islam emerged from a marginal region
2. Arabian Peninsula as home of nomadic Arabs (Bedouins)

a. fiercely independent clans and tribes

b. variety of gods

3. Arabia also had sedentary, agricultural areas
4. Arabia lay on important East–West trade routes

a. Mecca became important as a trade center

1. The Transformation of Arabia
1. Muhammad attracted a small following, aroused opposition from Meccan elites
1. in 622, emigrated to Yathrib/Medina (the hijra)
2. created Islamic community (umma) in Medina
3. broke definitively from Judaism 2. rapid expansion throughout Arabia

      b military successes led to alliances b. large-scale conversion

• consolidation of Islamic control
• throughout Arabia by time of Muhammad’s death in 632

B. fundamental differences between births of Islam and Christianity

• Islam did not grow up as persecuted minority religion
• Islam didn’t separate “church” and state
  
  

capter 8

China will be the next superpower.

B. China was a major player among the third- wave civilizations.

1. a China-centered “world order” encompassed most of eastern Asia
2. China’s borders reached far into Central Asia
3. its wealthy and cosmopolitan culture attracted visitors from afar
4. all of China’s neighbors felt its gravitational pull
5. China’s economy and technological innovation had effects throughout Eurasia

C. China was also changed by its interactions with non-Chinese peoples.

1. nomadic military threat

2. international trade as catalyst of change

Together Again: The Reemergence of a Unified China

A. The Han dynasty collapsed around 220 C.E.

1. led to 300 years of political fragmentation
2. nomadic incursion from the north
3. conditions discredited Confucianism in many eyes
4. Chinese migration southward to Yangzi River valley began

B. A “Golden Age” of Chinese Achievement

1. the Sui dynasty (589–618) reunified China
• Sui rulers vastly extended the canal system
• but their ruthlessness and failure to
• conquer Korea alienated people, exhausted state’s resources
• dynasty was overthrown, but state didn’t disintegrate
2. Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties built on Sui foundations

a. established patterns of Chinese life that lasted into twentieth century

b. regarded as a golden age of arts and literature

The Tribute System in Theory

1. the Chinese understood themselves as the center of the world (“middle kingdom”), far superior to the “barbarian” outsiders
2. establishment of “tribute system” to
3. manage relations with non-Chinese peoples
• non-Chinese authorities must acknowledge Chinese superiority
• present tribute to the emperor
• would receive trading privileges and “bestowals” in return (often worth more than the tribute)
4. the system apparently worked for centuries

C. The Tribute System in Practice

1. but the system disguised contradictory realities
2. some nomadic empires could deal with China on at least equal terms
• Xiongnu confederacy (established around 200 B.C.E.)
• Turkic empires of Mongolia were similar
3. steppe nomads usually did not want to conquer and rule China
• preferred extortion
• but nomads moved in when the Chinese state broke down
• several steppe states took over parts of northern China
  
  
  It was interesting reading about China because to many it wasn’t a surprise that China could be the next superpower. China was a major civilization. It has been since the ancient era. It has had continuous existence. It has a huge part in trade. They didn’t produce things for themselves but for trade which created growth economics and technology