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Interregional networks and contacts

600 C.E.–1450

  1. Interregional networks and contacts
    1. Development and shifts in interregional trade, technology, and cultural exchange
      1. Buying/trading goods big incentive for interactions
      2. If self-sufficient, you can life in isolation
      3. If you lack a resource, two options
        1. Take or trade
      4. Major trade routes
        1. Mediterranean – western Europe, Byzantine Empire, Islamic Empire
        2. Hanseatic League
          1. Baltic/North Sea Regions
          2. 1241 banded together
            1. Common trade practices
            2. Fight off pirates/foreign governments
            3. Establish a trade monopoly
          3. 100 cities joined league
          4. Impact
            1. substantial middle class in Northern Europe
              1. Drive changes in future centuries
            2. Precedent for large, European trading operations
              1. Affected Dutch/English
        3. Silk Road
        4. Land routes of Mongols
        5. Trade between China/Japan
        6. Trade between India/Persia
        7. Trans-Sharan routes – west Africa/Islamic Empire
      5. Trade aided by
        1. better boats/roads
        2. monetary systems
        3. lines of credit
        4. accounting – record keeping, money management key
          1. Keeping records establishes business relationship
          2. Once you have relationship, you can consider investment
          3. International business the next step
      6. Role in cultural diffusion
        1. Religions and languages spred
        2. Literature and art spread
        3. Plague spread
          1. Bubonic plague – Black Death – Asia 14th century
          2. Eventually 1 out of 3 in Europe
          3. Led to decline of feudal society
      7. Global Trade Network
        1. Global Network not controlled by one entity
          1. Interconnected, highly-independent parts
          2. Managers at each site
          3. No one managing it, but everyone (accept Americas) involved
        2. After 1200 – world interconnected
          1. Europe to Islamic World/Russia
          2. Islamic World > India, Africa, China
          3. India > China/East Africa
    2. Trans-Sahara trade
      1. Ghana – “land of gold”
        1. Dry savannah grasslands
        2. Arab traders
          1. Helped spread Islamic faith
          2. Expanded knowledge of Africa
        3. Economy regulated by monarchy
          1. Gold production controlled
            1. Overproduction caused value to decline
          2. Exports
            1. salt
            2. gold
              1. After 1200, Europe mints gold coins – value increases
              2. Primary supplier of gold to world
            3. honey
            4. slaves
            5. ivory
          3. Imports – more useful metals
            1. copper
            2. horses
            3. textiles
            4. figs
            5. iron
        4. Absorbed by Mali
      2. Mali
        1. Dominant empire until 1350 CE
        2. Already nominally Muslim, now greater numbers converted
        3. Mansa Musa
          1. Greatest of the Malian kings
          2. Libraries and Islamic schools throughout kingdom
          3. Mosques
          4. Timbuktu – regional cultural center for West Africa, capital
          5. 1324 Pilgrimage to Mecca
            1. Entourage of 50,000, many adorned with gold
            2. Wealth paraded fro thousands of miles
          6. After 1350 provinces began to proclaim power, split up
    3. Indian Ocean trade
      1. Persians and Arabs dominated
        1. Arabs controlled west
        2. Middle zone controlled by various Indian kingdoms
        3. East zone controlled by China
      2. Trade routes connected ports in western India to Persian Gulf
        1. Then connected to East Africa
        2. 6000 miles
      3. Travel
        1. Resilient to larger waves
        2. Understand the monsoon season/direction of winds
        3. Routes relatively safe
          1. Mediterranean always had to worry about warfare
      4. Marrige
        1. Sailors married local women at end of routes
          1. Cultures intermix
          2. Foreign wives created bilingual/bicultural families
      5. Goods
        1. From Africa – ivory, animal hides, forest-related goods, gold, slaves
        2. From Middle East – textiles, carpets, glass, Arabian horses
        3. From India – gems, elephants, salt, cotton cloth, cinnamon
        4. From China – silk, porcelain, paper – Japan – silver
      6. China during Ming Dynasty
        1. Refocused trade in early 15th century on Indian Ocean trade
          1. Display glories of Middle Kingdom
        2. Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf/Red Sea
        3. Expeditions led by Zheng He – Chinese general of Muslim faith
          1. Forced to return – jealous of notoriety of Zheng He
          2. Wanted to use money to protect against nomadic invasions
          3. Chinese junks – huge boats
        4. Focused from then on regional trade
    4. Silk routes
      1. Connected China to Mediterranean since era of Roman Empire
      2. Used heavily 1200-1600 – reign of the Mongols
      3. Products
        1. Much more than silk
        2. Porcelain
        3. Paper
        4. Military technology
        5. Buddhism, Islam, Christianity
        6. Food
      4. East met West via Silk Road
      5. Any discussion about international trade must include Silk Road
      6. Marco Polo
        1. Went with Venetian dad and brother to Asia
        2. Returned home and wrote book
        3. Noticed fascinating topics
          1. banking system – paper money/letters of credit
          2. black rock (coal) for fuel
          3. highways linking cities
          4. Express messengers to carry news throughout empire
    5. Missionary outreach of major religions
      1. Christianity
        1. Remained in Africa – Ethiopia and Egypt
          1. Egypt allowed to exist under Islamic empire
          2. Myth of Ethiopian wealth led to Prestor John myth
            1. Led to exploration later on
    6. Contacts between major religions, e.g., Islam and Buddhism, Christianity and Islam
      1. North and East Africa
        1. Christianity
          1. In spite of Muslim influence
          2. Ethiopia
            1. St. Mark preached to East Africans during Roman period
            2. Strong Christian traditions
            3. Coptic monasticism
          3. Egypt
          4. Allowed by Muslims to worship freely
            1. Many preferred rule under Muslims to former Christians
              1. Cheaper and more religious tolerance
          5. Unique linguistic, architectural and artistic version of Christianity
      2. Holy Land – The Crusades
        1. Reasons for crusades
          1. convert nonbelievers
          2. crush Christian movements Church deemed heretical
          3. protect against attacks by foreigners
        2. Reasons for Crusades
          1. Genuine religious fervor
          2. Geopolitical conflict between Europe and Middle East
          3. Europeans desire to become more involved in trade
          4. Personal ambitions – gain wealth and land
          5. Racial and religious prejudice
        3. Period of stability after 1000 CE led to increased trade/higher agricultural output
          1. Population boom tripled number
        4. Pope encouraged military expeditions to reclaim Holy Land
          1. 1059-1212 – take control from Muslims
          2. First Crusade – Jerusalem taken, but then lost
        5. Muslims agreed to allow Christians to journey to holy sites
        6. Ripple effects through Europe
          1. Luxury items created demand for Asian goods
          2. Italian city-states grew wealthy
          3. Merchant class arost that supported stable monarchies – wanted trade protected
          4. Church in Rome became more politically involved/powerful
          5. Europe stimulated by technology/prosperity of Middle East
          6. Women given more influence – cared for estates
            1. Some even went on Crusades
        7. Some of the Crusades merely huge migration of people
    7. Impact of the Mongol empires
      1. Rise
        1. Mongols – epitome of nomadic culture
        2. Superb horsemen and archers
        3. Could have been a world power earlier
          1. Rivalries between tribes/clans prevent unification
          2. Remained isolated
        4. Genghis Khan – Chingiss Khan – “Limitless strength” + “ruler”
          1. military/organizational skills
          2. largest empire ever
          3. Mongol invasion 1234
          4. Spanned Pacific Ocean to eastern Europe
        5. Military Ogranization
          1. Organization based on decimal system
            1. Tjumen (Division) – 10,000, Mingghan (Regiment) – 1,000
              1. Leaders appointed by khan
            2. Jaghun (Company) – 100 men, Arben (Squad) – 10 men
              1. elected by men
          2. Efficient/meritocratic approach
            1. Leaders chosen for ability/not family relations
        6. Why successful?
          1. Choices – die in fight, house burned down, burn religious buildings – or give in
          2. Ruthless warriors, highly organized, highly mobile
          3. 90 miles a day vs. Roman 25 miles a day
          4. Bows range of 300 yards
          5. Armies divided into organized units – light, heavy cavalry + scouts
          6. Motivated
            1. Genghis punished traitors
            2. Rewarded courage generously
          7. Stealthy – network of spies
          8. Goals clear – surrender or entire village destroyed
          9. Adept at cultural borrowing
        7. Military innovations
          1. armor made of lacquered wood and silk
          2. use of feints and flanking maneuvers
          3. concentrated light rations for troops on horseback
        8. Strategy
          1. When coming up to city, promised to spare inhabitants
          2. If they disagreed, they’d slaughter every human and animal – destruction total
          3. Rapid success and brutality spread quickly
          4. Unparalleled military achievements and ruthlessness
        9. Split into hordes – independent empires
          1. Golden Horde – conquered Russia
          2. Kublai Khan ruled China
          3. Destroyed cities, ruthless warriors
      2. Largest single empire in human history
        1. Period of peace – Pax Mongolia
      3. Conquered Areas
        1. Once settled developed
          1. Law code
            1. Yasa – borrowed from several cultures
          2. Written language
            1. Turkik language of Uighur
          3. New religious practices
            1. Sometimes adopted religions of those they conquered
              1. Buddhism and Islam
          4. Better technology – social and cultural advancements
            1. Used paper currency taken from China
            2. Postal system – message carried on horseback – yam – Pony Express
        2. After death of Genghis Khan – brief period of calm while sons organized holdings
        3. Under Ogodei – son – extended into China/Korea and then to Eastern Europe
        4. Failure in Eastern Europe – Ogodei’s nephew Batu led
          1. overextended – too far from home
          2. unfamiliar terrain – forests, mountains
          3. fortresses/castles slowed advance
          4. Batu forced to return after Ogodei’s death
          5. Did conquer Russia and parts of Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania
            1. Called Golden Horde – “orda” = “camp”
        5. Failure in Japan – 1274/1281
          1. Violent storms
        6. Khubilai Khan – shifted power from Domain of the Great Khan to Yuan Empire – China
          1. New Dynasty called Yuan – 1278-1369
            1. Policy of segregation between Mongols and Chinese
              1. Marriage forbidden
            2. Abolishing examination system for choosing government officials
              1. Often appointed non-Chinese for posts
            3. Extended the Grand Canal linking cities
      4. Fall
        1. Hardly lasted 3 to 4 generations
        2. Not able administrators
        3. Overspending led to inflation
        4. “One can conquer an empire on horseback, but one cannot govern that empire from horseback.”
        5. After Kublai Khan died, leadership weak/ineffective
          1. Rivalry among successors destabilized – who would be successor?
          2. empire divided among generals
        6. Russia overthrown by rise of Russia
        7. Ottoman Turks replaced them in Asia
      5. Impact
        1. Once domain established – relative peace – Pax Mongolica
          1. notion of peacefulness an exaggeration
        2. Allowed for exchange of goods, ideas, culture from different regions
          1. Biggest impact – conduit for cultural exchange
        3. Civilization based on territory and conquest, not culture
          1. culture of killing, maiming, destroying
          2. Mongol Empire, not Mongol Civilization
          3. In many cases, stifled growth
          4. Illiterate – no need for arts/sciences
          5. Mongol religion – no place among great faiths
        4. Silk Road flourished
          1. Cities like Samarkand, with oases, bazaars, markets became commercial centers
            1. Merchants, travelers, pilgrims, missionaries all passed through
        5. Some assimilated
          1. Persia became Muslim
        6. China – Kublia Khan
          1. dismissed Confucian scholars
          2. forbade marriage between Mongols and Chinese
          3. Wouldn’t allow Chinese to learn Mongol language
          4. i
          5. Key…not allowed to Mongolize – kept own culture
            1. 1368 – kicked out – Ming Dynasty under traditional Chinese practices
        7. Major consequences
          1. Russia – conquered by illiterate Mongols – didn’t unify, develop like SEuropean neighbors
          2. World trade, cultural diffusion, awareness
            1. Touched nearly all major civilizations
            2. World would never again be disconnected
        8. Summary effects
          1. nations formed and destroyed
          2. nations had social, cultural and political characteristics shaped by decades of rule
          3. much of Eurasian landmass united/connected by political, economic, cultural links
      6. Contrasted with other civilizations
        1. No Golden Age, but larger
        2. Usually slowed cultural developments
        3. Culture shared…but it wasn’t their culture
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US History [1]
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