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The Postclassical Era: 600 CE – 1450 CE

The Postclassical Era: 600 CE – 1450 CE. SO . . . Who would YOU pick as “Person of the Era” for this era?. Why Abdallah Ibn Battuta ?. A devout Muslim in Islam’s greatest era

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The Postclassical Era: 600 CE – 1450 CE

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  1. The Postclassical Era:600 CE – 1450 CE • SO . . . Who would YOU pick as “Person of the Era” for this era?

  2. Why AbdallahIbnBattuta? • A devout Muslim in Islam’s greatest era • An astute observer of most of the era’s most important civilizations (Yuan Dynasty China, the Delhi Sultanate, the Byzantine Empire, the Seljuk Turkish kingdoms, Sub-Saharan Africa) • Probably the greatest traveler in an era of increasing interregional contacts and trade

  3. The Year 600 CE: What has ended? (Or will soon?) • The WESTERN Roman Empire has collapsed (fifth century). • The Gupta Empire (united most of South Asia) has collapsed (also fifth century). • Within 200 years, the Mayan civilization will be much diminished.

  4. The Year 600 CE: What will soon begin (or already has)? • Sui Dynasty reunifies China. • Toltec people will arrive in the Valley of Mexico. • Expansion of Christianity northwards from the Mediterranean • . . . But the most significant change around this year is . . .

  5. The Rise of Islam • 622: The Hijrah • 630: Reconquest of Mecca • 632: Death of Muhammad • 632 – 661: Succession debates lead to Sunni-Shia split • Umayyad Caliphate

  6. Explaining Islam’s Success . . . • Culturally: • Five Pillars of Islam • Arabic

  7. Explaining Islam’s Success . . . • . . . Politically • Conquests of the early Caliphs, the Umayyad Caliphate, and later states • Sharia law

  8. Explaining Islam’s Success . . . • . . . Economically: • Islam traveled along key trade routes of the era: • Indian Ocean • Trans-Sahara • Silk Road • As a bond of trust, facilitated trade & business

  9. Explaining Islam’s Success . . . • . . . Socially: • Religious tolerance • Equality before God

  10. Islam’s Cultural Contributions • Urbanization (Baghdad, Cairo, Delhi, Cordoba) • The Arts (architecture, visual arts, literature) • Language (use of Arabic and Persian [Farsi]) • Science and Technology • Adoption and transmission of South Asian learning

  11. Stages of Central Islamic States • 661 – 750: Umayyad Caliphate • 750 – End of Islamic political unity; beginning of Abbasid Caliphate • Abbasid Caliphate: Mixing of Arab and Persian culture, language, political leadership • 1000s: Turks begin to infiltrate and dominate the Caliphate • 1206: Delhi Sultanate • 1258: Final Collapse of Abbasid Caliphate

  12. Africa: Islam and Tradition • West Africa’s Muslim States: Mali and Songhay • The City-States of the Swahili Coast • Bantu Migrations and Bantu Societies

  13. Postclassical China: Where we would feel most at home? • 589: Restoration of unified rule under Sui Dynasty • 618-906: Tang Dynasty • 960-1279: Song Dynasty

  14. The “Chinese Renaissance”

  15. The “Chinese Renaissance” • State-sponsored public works • Science and Technology • Urban Lifestyles • Leisure Activities • Women’s roles? • Outsiders who want in . . .

  16. Japan, Korea, and China: Cultural Diffusion and Syncretism • Korea ACCEPTS: • Chinese technology (and improves it) • Chinese belief systems (elite adopt Confucianism; Mahayana Buddhism taken by peasantry) • Writing, cultural practices, etc. • Japan ACCEPTS: • Buddhism • Chinese technology, including writing

  17. Feudalism!

  18. The Americas: Mesoamerica • 1300s: Aztec arrival in central Mexico • Cultural syncretism: Religion, technology, government structures. • City-state or empire?

  19. The Andes: The Inca • Twantinsuyu: A “Marxist” state? • Cultural accomplishments: Architecture, quipu, religion • The power of the state: Mita system, Cultural Assimilation • The benefit of the state: leveling

  20. The Byzantine Empire . . . • Solidifying accomplishments of the Classical Era and Christianity • Complex society • Long struggle with various Islamic states

  21. . . . And the Slavic lands. • Slavic migrations: fifth-eighth centuries • Trade and Missionary Efforts North • Vladimir (rules 980-1015) converts • Great Schism: Irrevocable split between Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity

  22. Western Europe: The Civilization Defined by its Church • Migrations: Germanic peoples; Magyars; Slavs • Fifth-Eighth Century: Missionary Efforts Spread Christianity North (along with some elements of Latin civilization) • Feudalism & Manorialism!

  23. The Crusades • 1095: Call to Crusade. • 1099 – 1200s: Crusades of various degrees of success • Fourth Crusade: Religion or Politics? • Effects of the Crusades: Reconnecting Western Europe?

  24. The “High Middle Ages” • Outside influences (the Crusades)

  25. The Mongol Empire • Origins: Chinggis Khan • Different models of rule in different areas (different Khanates) • Trade . . . • . . . And trade of germs. • Ultimately, too unwieldy to survive long.

  26. Towards 1450: Endings • Yuan Dynasty overthrown, 1360s. • Mongol Empire fractures • End of Mongol rule in Eastern Europe • Byzantine “Empire” taken by Ottoman Turks, late 1300s – early 1400s • End of the “Medieval Synthesis” in Europe

  27. The Rise of Islam • 622: The Hijrah • 630: Reconquest of Mecca

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