A Merchant's Journey
of the Post Classical World
Merchants and trade routes were the conduits through which both good & bad things spread from 600 to 1450 CE
Start
Travel Tips
Before you start your journey
Remember that each person is responsible for their own learning.
This journey, like that of the Post Classical merchants, is taken one step at a time.
Approach each stop ready to think- not just about what you see, but how it links together.
Pay attention to the learning objectives, they focus on what you have to know from this.
Each day, each stop is important, so don't zone out or you'll miss the pay off!
Be mindful of the details at the stops as well- these things can become evidence later.
Like Post Classical merchants, you can make this journey in small groups to help you.
You will have Short Answer AND Long Essay Questions related to this coming soon!
Be on task- we don't have much time at any single stop, and some days we might need to stop at multiple locations!
take the next step
AP World History Learning Objectives
The most material in the Post Classical Period, as well as the rest of the course, relates to political issues connected to states and empires.
Starting small and getting more important throughout the course are social issues connected to social classes and gender issues.
The second most frequently covered topic in the Post Classical Period are cultural issues related to belief systems and the spread of ideas.
Often overlooked is the importance of the interactions with the environmentthat humans have.
Vitally important and continuous throughout the course are the economic issues connected to trade and labor.
Innovations and technology develop and spread in every time period from the Post Classical to today.
moving on...
Post Classical Trade- Wherever I May Roam...
but what about samarkand and bukhara? Constantinople and Venice? the hanseatic league?
- You will document what you learn at each stop on a paper chart that you get from Mr. Laine when you enter a city (the blue slides in this presentation).
- You will then enhance that learning by watching videos related to that region that go deeper than the basics. In writing assignments this stuff is called EVIDENCE!
- Since this material will be assessed in class with a SAQ AND a LEQ, take good notes! It will also be on your AP World History Exam!
Let's get ready to trade...
Genghis Khan is watching you...
push forward
back up
Trade Hub
the links below will take you to each of the trade stops you must make as a virtual post classical merchant
- Kaifeng in Song China on the Silk Road
- Angkor, center of the Khmer Empire
- Delhi, capital of the Delhi Sultanate
- Kilwa among the Swahili City States of the Indian Ocean
- Baghdad in the Abbasid Caliphate on the Silk Road
- Paris in France in Feudal Europe
- Timbuktu in the Mali Empire on the Trans-Sahara
- Cuzco in the Inca Empire in the Andes
learning objectives
Diffusion
pacing
Cultural and environmental diffusion went hand-in-hand with the movement of merchants across the Post Classical world, often resulting from diasporic merchant communities dispersing their cultures far from their homelands. CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW
These are the keys
Take some advice from a seasoned Post Classical traveler like Ibn Battuta- don't rush or you miss things!
Political Issues: What governments are there and how do they run things?
Cultural Issues: What religions are present and how do they impact things?
Economic Issues: What economic innovations or trade links existed?
Let's go...
Trade Stop 1- Chinese Song Dynasty in East Asia
enter kaifeng
Go Deeper
back up
push forward
Innovative Post Classical China
The knowledge of how chinese society was so innovative at this time is vital to your overall understanding
Chinese society was always keen on innovation- much more so than the West. China was revitalized at the start of the Post Classical Period by the monumental efforts of the Sui Dynasty, who built the Grand Canal to connect people along the Yellow River in northern China to the rice producing regions along the Yangtze River in southern China. Soon after, the Tang Dynasty assumed the Mandate of Heaven as emperors, but their origins were only partially Chinese. The Tang also had connections to Central Asia, which strengthened China's role in the Silk Road. China experienced an economic and cultural renaissance during the Tang, which was continued under the rule of the Song, who oversaw the early transition to a commercial economy due to the many innovations being created during the late Post Classical Period.
push forward
back up
Explore Post Classical China
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left gives you some insight into the very hierarchical society that managed to absorb the challenge from Buddhism (which the emperors grew to consider a foreign religion as it came from India) to incorporate some of its ideas along with native beliefs like Confucianism and Daoism, leading to the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The video on the right helps you understand why Chinese writing is so complex (hint- it's ideographic, not phoenetic like western scripts from Europe).
Trade Stop 2- Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia
enter angkor
Go Deeper
PUSH FORWARD
BaCK UP
Don't Sleep on Southeast Asia
while being influenced by both china in east asia and india in south asia, southeast asia developed and preserved its own unique society
Some historians have characterized Southeast Asia's background of competing tribal groups and resulting rival kingdoms as similar to the emergence of feudal states in Western Europe following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the Classical Period. Certainly ehtnicity played a strong role in the development of states in Southeast Asia, but so did the influence of foreign religions upon the ruling elites of the region. As in China, these beliefs did not supercede the local traditions of the common people, who maintained their traditional practices regardless of which new religion was the dominant one in their kingdom. Southeast Asia in the Post Classical Period, as it had been in the previous Classical and yet-to-come Early Modern Period, was not just an intersection of South Asian and East Asian culture; it had valuable natural resources that attracted foreigners to it. The resulting impact of these diasporic merchant communities, along with its unique view of gender relations make it a vital region.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical SE Asia
Watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left gives you some insight into how India influenced the early development of Southeast Asia in terms of its trade, culture, and goverment. This helps you understand the background events that led to the culture upon which the Khmer Empire was built. The video on the right helps you understand how women played a different role in Southeast Asian society than in other regions, and knowing the exceptions to the rule is important. Foreign merchants from China to Europe were in for a surprise when it came to Southeast Asian gender relations!
Trade Stop 3- Delhi Sultanate in South Asia
Enter Delhi
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
The Start of Islamic Subjugation
iNDIA HAD THE POPULATION & THE POWER TO STOP MUSLIM INVADERS FROM TAKING OVER, BUT IT LACKED THE COORDINATION TO AVOID IT
The competing kingdoms of northern India never coordinated their forces to defeat the Islamic invaders from Afghanistan, even though Muslim raiding had been happening for centuries. This led to the Delhi Sultanate that established loose control over northern India by Muslims for the next six centuries. The system for ruling established by the Delhi sultans set the pattern for Muslim empires that followed. The sultanate was divided into provinces that were run by governors called muqtis, who were responsible for collecting taxes and providing soldiers to the sultans. The sultans also used a feudal-like system of granting land to their officials called an iqta. Like feudalism in Europe and Japan, the lands granted in the iqta system could vary widely in size depending upon the importance of the official's service to the sultan. Together with taxes on trade, the iqta system made up the bulk of the sultan's revenue, not the jizya tax on Hindus, which could create considerable animosity among the majority population.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical India
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left gives you insight into the various Hindu kingdoms that resisted the Islamic invasion under the Delhi Sultanate (we may even have a student or two in class who is descended from them). The Rajputs would continue to be challengers to imperial domination even after the Delhi Sultanate (and the follwing Mughal Empire) and the eventually encroachment of Europeans like the British upon India. The video on the right helps you understand a bit of the different dynamic in southern India, which was traditionally outside of the control of the big empires to the north. The Cholas were one of the only Indian kingdoms to exert their dominance beyond India, becoming a player in the politics of SE Asia.
Trade Stop 4- Swahili City State in East Africa
enter kIlwa
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
Want to Make More Money? Learn a New Language
The first arabs in east africa came for slaves but soon found out there were more opportunities if they made deeper ties
Anthropologists have discovered that all modern humans are descended from people that migrated out of the Rift Valley in East Africa. The Bantu people that inhabited East Africa's coast, however, had settled there after a long migration from Western Africa. The Bantus spread farming, iron-working, and their lanuguage tree with them throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Arabs sailing down Africa's eastern coast along the Indian Ocean called the area the Zanj. Innovations in maritime technology like dhow ships, astrolabes, and compasses (which the Chinese invented). When used in conjunction with their knowledge of seasonal monsoon patterns, Arabs were able to sail as far south as Kilwa. The need for merchants to understand each other in trade transactions gave rise to a new language- Swahili, which blended elements of the Bantu languages with Arabic. This syncretism went even deeper as Arab merchants solidified trading ties by marrying local women to form blood ties between regions.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical East Africa
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left details the rise of the Shona kingdom of Great Zimbabwe, whose ruins Europeans were later shocked to find that Africans had built on their own. All that ivory, gold, timber and slaves that Kilwa was trading to the Arabs? Most of it came from Great Zimbabwe. The video on the right tells the story of Africa's Christian stronghold of Ethiopia, a place we will revisit in the future as a leader in the fight against European colonialism and the effort to unite Africa under Pan-Africanism. It might even have a connection to Bob Marley, but that's another story.
Trade Stop 5- Abbasid Caliphate in the Dar al-Islam
enter Baghdad
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
Islam: the First Global Civilization
from beyond the lands of the classical civilizations, a powerful new force grew from the desert wilderness of arabia
No one expected the fastest expanding religion of the time period to come out of the Arabian Peninsula, but given the interaction of merchants from different regions and different faiths passing through there, maybe they should have seen it coming. The connection to previous Abrahamic faiths like Judaism and Christianity, the universalizing message of community and relative equality, and the strong support for merchants in a way that only Buddhism had ever come close to, all gave Islam some clear advantages in its early expansion. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of Islamic conversions were voluntary- some for social reasons, many for economic reasons. From Europe to Africa, and all over Asia, millions came under the authority of the caliphs who inherited the leadership of Islam from its prophet. The transition from Arab dominance to non-Arab dominance of the caliphate will have already happened when AP World History picks up with the story.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore the Post Classical Dar al-Islam
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left will help you grasp how innovative the early Muslims were, especially in comparison to their peers in Christian Europe. Unlike Post Classical Christians, the Muslims collected and preserved the knowledge of previous civilizations, and then they built upon it. Muslims diffused paper from China, numbers from India, and invented checking and hospitals! The video on the right gives you an idea of what life was like in the Dar al-Islam, which wasn't bad until the Mongols rolled up on the place. Still, even the Mongols ended up becoming Muslim in the end (except for the ones in China that is).
Trade Stop 6- Feudal France in Western Europe
enter paris
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
Who Needs Latin When You've Got Lingua Franca
The breakdown of the roman empire led to feudalism & the franks- defenders of christian europe & target of viking raids
Post Classical (or Medieval if you're old school Eurocentric) France developed from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late Classical Period. The Franks embraced Christianity, kept Muslims from Spain from expanding into the rest of Western Europe, and slowly evolved the system that would come to be known as feudalism. Early Post Classical Europe was the result of the integration of tribal warrior culture from the north with Christian civilization from the south. Chieftains became kings, and kings sometimes became emperors, but all were theoretically under the Pope's spiritual power (which caused a lot of tension between France and the Catholic Church). To bring Viking raids on France (and more specifically Paris) to an end, the French king arranged for a political marriage with the dowry of an entire region of his lands with the Viking chieftain Rollo. Rollo settled into his new domain (which came to become known as Normandy, or Land of the Northmen) and Norman culture began. This impacted both the Crusades and the future of England.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical Feudal Europe
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left will give you an idea about what daily life was like for your typical peasant serf. It wasn't great, but it may not have been as bad as you might think. Other than the constant demands from the lord (the local nobleman who pushed you around) and the Lord (the local priest who kept you straight with Jesus), you had lots of ale and plenty of outdoor exercise! The video on the right will explain how Post Classical Europe began to pull out of its slump after 1000 CE. This could be seen in the towns that were technically outside of the feudal system (although they needed permission from the king to have that status) where trade and artisan guilds thrived along with learning.
Trade Stop 7- Mali Empire in West Africa
enter timbuktu
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
All it Took Was Learning How to Ride a Camel
african society begins to transform from tribal stateless to tribal state (with a big s) as trade brings wealth & power
The young heir to the throne is robbed of his birthright when his evil uncle deposes his father and seizes the crown for himself, leaving the young prince vulnerable and having to grow up on his own the hard way. Yes, it's the Lion King, but did you know he was real? West Africa was already feeling the effects of the Trans-Saharan trade with the Kingdom of Ghana when Sundiata, the actual Lion King, took power and created the Mali Empire. It's a great story- full of impressive physical transformations that would rival Forrest Gump, magic, and iron-workers; what else do you need? The gold-salt trade that Mali was vital to made one of Sundiata's descendants, a king named after Moses, so wealthy that no one's matched him since, as in he was probably the richest man in history. For the people of West Africa, what all this really meant was the spread of Islam and the introduction of writing to go along with the tradional oral history by the griots who passed tribal knowledge from one generation to the next.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical West Africa
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left will detail how remote Timbuktu came to rival Baghdad as a center of learning with one of the largest libraries in the world. Timbuktu is a good example of change-over-time in that some of the most important cities of that time period are now just footnotes in history, which is a cautionary tale for Frisco and even the good old USA. The video on the right explains how the Trans-Saharan trade was not just a simple north-south track across the desert. Its trade had deep impact upon both the Islamic and Christian worlds of the time.
Trade Stop 8- Inca Empire in the Americas
eNter cuzcO
Go Deeper
Push Forward
Back Up
Constant Expansion & Assimilation
To build monumental architecture without draft animals, the wheel, or mortar to hold it together is impressive, and they did it in the mountains
South America was the last continent in the world to be inhabited by people- literally the end of the road. The Andes are some of the tallest mountains in the world. The civiliations that emerged here developed in isolation, with very little contact to anyone else in the Americas (we know there was some because of the diffusion of corn to the region). Like most societies in the Americas, the Incas functioned in clan groups where people were related to one another. This deeply impacted most activities in their society, and was even exploited by the Inca emperors, known as Sapa Incas, in a system that had aspects of feudalism to it. The continuous expansion of the empire was bound to create animosity toward them, which could lead to rebellion. The Incas were much more tolerant and inclusive of the tribal cultures of those they conquered than the Aztecs were, but this didn't mean they were a kind of mountain utopian society that some people think they were. You can only get so far with alpacas and llamas!
Back Up
Head Home
Explore Post Classical Andean America
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left explains how a huge empire that's mostly mountains and deserts and jungle could grow enough food to not only feed itself, but expand the population. Some of you subsist on a diet that's 50% French Fries or Potato Chips; you can thank the Incas for that and remember it when you get a job that requires you to say "You want fries with that?" The video on the right gives you a better idea about how work was done in the empire, and it's a unique system to this region. When the Spanish conquer the Incas next semester, they will adapt these Inca practices to meet their needs.
Diffusion
Change either happens when you create it or you borrow it
If Buddhism started in India, and Islam began in Arabia, did you ever wonder how Buddhism got to China, Korea, and Japan, or how Islam got to East and West Africa as well as Central and Southeast Asia? The answer is interregional trade routes like the Silk Road, Trans-Sahara, and Indian Ocean. These trade routes carried more than just religion, they also facilitated the spread of biological change, such as sugar spreading to southern Europe, bananas making their way to Africa, and rice varieties spreading through Asia. Be careful though, because the other thing that spread along these routes was unseen and unwanted- diseases like the Bubonic Plague.
You could say that diasporic merchant communities were "merchants of change." In trading for goods beyond their own home regions, they also spread their culture to new areas. This was true of Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia, Arab merchants in East Africa, and Jewish merchants on nearly every major trade route.
A Merchant's Journey
John Laine
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Transcript
A Merchant's Journey
of the Post Classical World
Merchants and trade routes were the conduits through which both good & bad things spread from 600 to 1450 CE
Start
Travel Tips
Before you start your journey
Remember that each person is responsible for their own learning.
This journey, like that of the Post Classical merchants, is taken one step at a time.
Approach each stop ready to think- not just about what you see, but how it links together.
Pay attention to the learning objectives, they focus on what you have to know from this.
Each day, each stop is important, so don't zone out or you'll miss the pay off!
Be mindful of the details at the stops as well- these things can become evidence later.
Like Post Classical merchants, you can make this journey in small groups to help you.
You will have Short Answer AND Long Essay Questions related to this coming soon!
Be on task- we don't have much time at any single stop, and some days we might need to stop at multiple locations!
take the next step
AP World History Learning Objectives
The most material in the Post Classical Period, as well as the rest of the course, relates to political issues connected to states and empires.
Starting small and getting more important throughout the course are social issues connected to social classes and gender issues.
The second most frequently covered topic in the Post Classical Period are cultural issues related to belief systems and the spread of ideas.
Often overlooked is the importance of the interactions with the environmentthat humans have.
Vitally important and continuous throughout the course are the economic issues connected to trade and labor.
Innovations and technology develop and spread in every time period from the Post Classical to today.
moving on...
Post Classical Trade- Wherever I May Roam...
but what about samarkand and bukhara? Constantinople and Venice? the hanseatic league?
Let's get ready to trade...
Genghis Khan is watching you...
push forward
back up
Trade Hub
the links below will take you to each of the trade stops you must make as a virtual post classical merchant
learning objectives
Diffusion
pacing
Cultural and environmental diffusion went hand-in-hand with the movement of merchants across the Post Classical world, often resulting from diasporic merchant communities dispersing their cultures far from their homelands. CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW
These are the keys
Take some advice from a seasoned Post Classical traveler like Ibn Battuta- don't rush or you miss things!
Political Issues: What governments are there and how do they run things?
Cultural Issues: What religions are present and how do they impact things?
Economic Issues: What economic innovations or trade links existed?
Let's go...
Trade Stop 1- Chinese Song Dynasty in East Asia
enter kaifeng
Go Deeper
back up
push forward
Innovative Post Classical China
The knowledge of how chinese society was so innovative at this time is vital to your overall understanding
Chinese society was always keen on innovation- much more so than the West. China was revitalized at the start of the Post Classical Period by the monumental efforts of the Sui Dynasty, who built the Grand Canal to connect people along the Yellow River in northern China to the rice producing regions along the Yangtze River in southern China. Soon after, the Tang Dynasty assumed the Mandate of Heaven as emperors, but their origins were only partially Chinese. The Tang also had connections to Central Asia, which strengthened China's role in the Silk Road. China experienced an economic and cultural renaissance during the Tang, which was continued under the rule of the Song, who oversaw the early transition to a commercial economy due to the many innovations being created during the late Post Classical Period.
push forward
back up
Explore Post Classical China
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left gives you some insight into the very hierarchical society that managed to absorb the challenge from Buddhism (which the emperors grew to consider a foreign religion as it came from India) to incorporate some of its ideas along with native beliefs like Confucianism and Daoism, leading to the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The video on the right helps you understand why Chinese writing is so complex (hint- it's ideographic, not phoenetic like western scripts from Europe).
Trade Stop 2- Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia
enter angkor
Go Deeper
PUSH FORWARD
BaCK UP
Don't Sleep on Southeast Asia
while being influenced by both china in east asia and india in south asia, southeast asia developed and preserved its own unique society
Some historians have characterized Southeast Asia's background of competing tribal groups and resulting rival kingdoms as similar to the emergence of feudal states in Western Europe following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the Classical Period. Certainly ehtnicity played a strong role in the development of states in Southeast Asia, but so did the influence of foreign religions upon the ruling elites of the region. As in China, these beliefs did not supercede the local traditions of the common people, who maintained their traditional practices regardless of which new religion was the dominant one in their kingdom. Southeast Asia in the Post Classical Period, as it had been in the previous Classical and yet-to-come Early Modern Period, was not just an intersection of South Asian and East Asian culture; it had valuable natural resources that attracted foreigners to it. The resulting impact of these diasporic merchant communities, along with its unique view of gender relations make it a vital region.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical SE Asia
Watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left gives you some insight into how India influenced the early development of Southeast Asia in terms of its trade, culture, and goverment. This helps you understand the background events that led to the culture upon which the Khmer Empire was built. The video on the right helps you understand how women played a different role in Southeast Asian society than in other regions, and knowing the exceptions to the rule is important. Foreign merchants from China to Europe were in for a surprise when it came to Southeast Asian gender relations!
Trade Stop 3- Delhi Sultanate in South Asia
Enter Delhi
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
The Start of Islamic Subjugation
iNDIA HAD THE POPULATION & THE POWER TO STOP MUSLIM INVADERS FROM TAKING OVER, BUT IT LACKED THE COORDINATION TO AVOID IT
The competing kingdoms of northern India never coordinated their forces to defeat the Islamic invaders from Afghanistan, even though Muslim raiding had been happening for centuries. This led to the Delhi Sultanate that established loose control over northern India by Muslims for the next six centuries. The system for ruling established by the Delhi sultans set the pattern for Muslim empires that followed. The sultanate was divided into provinces that were run by governors called muqtis, who were responsible for collecting taxes and providing soldiers to the sultans. The sultans also used a feudal-like system of granting land to their officials called an iqta. Like feudalism in Europe and Japan, the lands granted in the iqta system could vary widely in size depending upon the importance of the official's service to the sultan. Together with taxes on trade, the iqta system made up the bulk of the sultan's revenue, not the jizya tax on Hindus, which could create considerable animosity among the majority population.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical India
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left gives you insight into the various Hindu kingdoms that resisted the Islamic invasion under the Delhi Sultanate (we may even have a student or two in class who is descended from them). The Rajputs would continue to be challengers to imperial domination even after the Delhi Sultanate (and the follwing Mughal Empire) and the eventually encroachment of Europeans like the British upon India. The video on the right helps you understand a bit of the different dynamic in southern India, which was traditionally outside of the control of the big empires to the north. The Cholas were one of the only Indian kingdoms to exert their dominance beyond India, becoming a player in the politics of SE Asia.
Trade Stop 4- Swahili City State in East Africa
enter kIlwa
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
Want to Make More Money? Learn a New Language
The first arabs in east africa came for slaves but soon found out there were more opportunities if they made deeper ties
Anthropologists have discovered that all modern humans are descended from people that migrated out of the Rift Valley in East Africa. The Bantu people that inhabited East Africa's coast, however, had settled there after a long migration from Western Africa. The Bantus spread farming, iron-working, and their lanuguage tree with them throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Arabs sailing down Africa's eastern coast along the Indian Ocean called the area the Zanj. Innovations in maritime technology like dhow ships, astrolabes, and compasses (which the Chinese invented). When used in conjunction with their knowledge of seasonal monsoon patterns, Arabs were able to sail as far south as Kilwa. The need for merchants to understand each other in trade transactions gave rise to a new language- Swahili, which blended elements of the Bantu languages with Arabic. This syncretism went even deeper as Arab merchants solidified trading ties by marrying local women to form blood ties between regions.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical East Africa
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left details the rise of the Shona kingdom of Great Zimbabwe, whose ruins Europeans were later shocked to find that Africans had built on their own. All that ivory, gold, timber and slaves that Kilwa was trading to the Arabs? Most of it came from Great Zimbabwe. The video on the right tells the story of Africa's Christian stronghold of Ethiopia, a place we will revisit in the future as a leader in the fight against European colonialism and the effort to unite Africa under Pan-Africanism. It might even have a connection to Bob Marley, but that's another story.
Trade Stop 5- Abbasid Caliphate in the Dar al-Islam
enter Baghdad
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
Islam: the First Global Civilization
from beyond the lands of the classical civilizations, a powerful new force grew from the desert wilderness of arabia
No one expected the fastest expanding religion of the time period to come out of the Arabian Peninsula, but given the interaction of merchants from different regions and different faiths passing through there, maybe they should have seen it coming. The connection to previous Abrahamic faiths like Judaism and Christianity, the universalizing message of community and relative equality, and the strong support for merchants in a way that only Buddhism had ever come close to, all gave Islam some clear advantages in its early expansion. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of Islamic conversions were voluntary- some for social reasons, many for economic reasons. From Europe to Africa, and all over Asia, millions came under the authority of the caliphs who inherited the leadership of Islam from its prophet. The transition from Arab dominance to non-Arab dominance of the caliphate will have already happened when AP World History picks up with the story.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore the Post Classical Dar al-Islam
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left will help you grasp how innovative the early Muslims were, especially in comparison to their peers in Christian Europe. Unlike Post Classical Christians, the Muslims collected and preserved the knowledge of previous civilizations, and then they built upon it. Muslims diffused paper from China, numbers from India, and invented checking and hospitals! The video on the right gives you an idea of what life was like in the Dar al-Islam, which wasn't bad until the Mongols rolled up on the place. Still, even the Mongols ended up becoming Muslim in the end (except for the ones in China that is).
Trade Stop 6- Feudal France in Western Europe
enter paris
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
Who Needs Latin When You've Got Lingua Franca
The breakdown of the roman empire led to feudalism & the franks- defenders of christian europe & target of viking raids
Post Classical (or Medieval if you're old school Eurocentric) France developed from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late Classical Period. The Franks embraced Christianity, kept Muslims from Spain from expanding into the rest of Western Europe, and slowly evolved the system that would come to be known as feudalism. Early Post Classical Europe was the result of the integration of tribal warrior culture from the north with Christian civilization from the south. Chieftains became kings, and kings sometimes became emperors, but all were theoretically under the Pope's spiritual power (which caused a lot of tension between France and the Catholic Church). To bring Viking raids on France (and more specifically Paris) to an end, the French king arranged for a political marriage with the dowry of an entire region of his lands with the Viking chieftain Rollo. Rollo settled into his new domain (which came to become known as Normandy, or Land of the Northmen) and Norman culture began. This impacted both the Crusades and the future of England.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical Feudal Europe
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left will give you an idea about what daily life was like for your typical peasant serf. It wasn't great, but it may not have been as bad as you might think. Other than the constant demands from the lord (the local nobleman who pushed you around) and the Lord (the local priest who kept you straight with Jesus), you had lots of ale and plenty of outdoor exercise! The video on the right will explain how Post Classical Europe began to pull out of its slump after 1000 CE. This could be seen in the towns that were technically outside of the feudal system (although they needed permission from the king to have that status) where trade and artisan guilds thrived along with learning.
Trade Stop 7- Mali Empire in West Africa
enter timbuktu
Go Deeper
Back Up
Push Forward
All it Took Was Learning How to Ride a Camel
african society begins to transform from tribal stateless to tribal state (with a big s) as trade brings wealth & power
The young heir to the throne is robbed of his birthright when his evil uncle deposes his father and seizes the crown for himself, leaving the young prince vulnerable and having to grow up on his own the hard way. Yes, it's the Lion King, but did you know he was real? West Africa was already feeling the effects of the Trans-Saharan trade with the Kingdom of Ghana when Sundiata, the actual Lion King, took power and created the Mali Empire. It's a great story- full of impressive physical transformations that would rival Forrest Gump, magic, and iron-workers; what else do you need? The gold-salt trade that Mali was vital to made one of Sundiata's descendants, a king named after Moses, so wealthy that no one's matched him since, as in he was probably the richest man in history. For the people of West Africa, what all this really meant was the spread of Islam and the introduction of writing to go along with the tradional oral history by the griots who passed tribal knowledge from one generation to the next.
Back Up
Push Forward
Explore Post Classical West Africa
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left will detail how remote Timbuktu came to rival Baghdad as a center of learning with one of the largest libraries in the world. Timbuktu is a good example of change-over-time in that some of the most important cities of that time period are now just footnotes in history, which is a cautionary tale for Frisco and even the good old USA. The video on the right explains how the Trans-Saharan trade was not just a simple north-south track across the desert. Its trade had deep impact upon both the Islamic and Christian worlds of the time.
Trade Stop 8- Inca Empire in the Americas
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Constant Expansion & Assimilation
To build monumental architecture without draft animals, the wheel, or mortar to hold it together is impressive, and they did it in the mountains
South America was the last continent in the world to be inhabited by people- literally the end of the road. The Andes are some of the tallest mountains in the world. The civiliations that emerged here developed in isolation, with very little contact to anyone else in the Americas (we know there was some because of the diffusion of corn to the region). Like most societies in the Americas, the Incas functioned in clan groups where people were related to one another. This deeply impacted most activities in their society, and was even exploited by the Inca emperors, known as Sapa Incas, in a system that had aspects of feudalism to it. The continuous expansion of the empire was bound to create animosity toward them, which could lead to rebellion. The Incas were much more tolerant and inclusive of the tribal cultures of those they conquered than the Aztecs were, but this didn't mean they were a kind of mountain utopian society that some people think they were. You can only get so far with alpacas and llamas!
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Explore Post Classical Andean America
watch the videos to broaden your understanding
The video on the left explains how a huge empire that's mostly mountains and deserts and jungle could grow enough food to not only feed itself, but expand the population. Some of you subsist on a diet that's 50% French Fries or Potato Chips; you can thank the Incas for that and remember it when you get a job that requires you to say "You want fries with that?" The video on the right gives you a better idea about how work was done in the empire, and it's a unique system to this region. When the Spanish conquer the Incas next semester, they will adapt these Inca practices to meet their needs.
Diffusion
Change either happens when you create it or you borrow it
If Buddhism started in India, and Islam began in Arabia, did you ever wonder how Buddhism got to China, Korea, and Japan, or how Islam got to East and West Africa as well as Central and Southeast Asia? The answer is interregional trade routes like the Silk Road, Trans-Sahara, and Indian Ocean. These trade routes carried more than just religion, they also facilitated the spread of biological change, such as sugar spreading to southern Europe, bananas making their way to Africa, and rice varieties spreading through Asia. Be careful though, because the other thing that spread along these routes was unseen and unwanted- diseases like the Bubonic Plague.
You could say that diasporic merchant communities were "merchants of change." In trading for goods beyond their own home regions, they also spread their culture to new areas. This was true of Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia, Arab merchants in East Africa, and Jewish merchants on nearly every major trade route.